Tweet The Great Gatsby (2013)

I'm actually a big fan of the '74 version; it interprets the Gatsby novel on a realistic scale. This new trailer doesn't bother me at all (though I hope some authentic jazz is played in the actual movie); I like that it isn't a conventional retread; the '20s setting allows for the gratuitous excess, and the visuals on this film are stunning. I just hope the story and characters emerge from it.

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From this photo it looks (from the gentlemen's outfits) that the story has been up-dated from it's 1920's setting. Am I correct in this summation?

(I've just read that Baz Luhrmann is directing it. That alone is enough to put me off. I haven't enjoyed any picture he has had something to do with)

http://www.nitrateville.com/download/file.php?id=57" target="_blank" target="_blank

From this photo it looks (from the gentlemen's outfits) that the story has been up-dated from it's 1920's setting. Am I correct in this summation?

(I've just read that Baz Luhrmann is directing it. That alone is enough to put me off. I haven't enjoyed any picture he has had something to do with)

When I watched the trailer, I noticed that when they were showing broadway I guess, the marquee stated Blood and Sand and Robin Hood.

http://www.nitrateville.com/download/file.php?id=57" target="_blank" target="_blank
(I've just read that Baz Luhrmann is directing it. That alone is enough to put me off. I haven't enjoyed any picture he has had something to do with)

But you've seen all of them? Why?

I think the trailer is very impressive in every respect and I'm looking forward to GATSBY 2012.

~Roger

We shall see what we shall see. By the looks of the trailer, there seem to be plenty of opportunities for "3D moments", whether well-chosen or not. For the record, I've seen two Luhrmann films, Romeo + Juliet which was very good and Moulin Rouge which was sheer hell. I won't judge this one before I've seen it, and I do think DiCaprio seems a good choice.

As for the music, my hunch is that the modern rock stuff heard in the trailer is representative. Certainly a "Luhrmannesque" touch.

When I watched the trailer, I noticed that when they were showing broadway I guess, the marquee stated Blood and Sand and Robin Hood.

Very good - they've done their homework. Now it's up to some hair-splitting Nitratevillain to say that those two films wouldn't have been running at the same time...

However, I also noticed the Times Square shot with the big ad for the ZEIGFELD FOLLIES [sic].

When I watched the trailer, I noticed that when they were showing broadway I guess, the marquee stated Blood and Sand and Robin Hood.

Very good - they've done their homework. Now it's up to some hair-splitting Nitratevillain to say that those two films wouldn't have been running at the same time...

However, I also noticed the Times Square shot with the big ad for the ZEIGFELD FOLLIES [sic].

Is that the one and only Florence Zeigfeld? I hate seeing namecheck marquees even if they're spelled right. I'd be more impressed if they used a couple of lesser films and maybe instead of the Follies, the Scandals or Vanities. I mean, would it kill them to be a little subtle? It's one of the banes of the period picture, this bloody obviousness.

To examine the potential of actors in 3D without the gimmickry of contemporary action sequences, Luhrmann turned to Alfred Hitchcock's 3D version of Dial M for Murder from 1954. It wasn't easy. He was able to locate only two projectors - one in New York, one in Burbank, California - that could still play the film.


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Shouldn't this be four projectors ????

I think the trailer is very impressive in every respect and I'm looking forward to GATSBY 2012.

~Roger

It looks exciting and sexy, two things I can't say about any previous production of 'Gatsby' that I've seen. I will be at the front of the line to see this one.

Since this picture was shooting almost literally in my back yard for some months, I'm interested to recognise some of the locations. The most obvious is the International College of Management at Manly (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/10816453@N00/2570494376/). I've attended a wedding there, and you couldn't get much of a better choice for Gatsby's house. It's even situated on one of two opposite heads, just like East Egg and West Egg.

http://www.nitrateville.com/download/file.php?id=57" target="_blank" target="_blank
(I've just read that Baz Luhrmann is directing it. That alone is enough to put me off. I haven't enjoyed any picture he has had something to do with)

But you've seen all of them? Why?

I must be a glutton for punishment - but as he has tackled something different each time I thought I might at least enjoy something - I only felt disappointed. I agree that the trailer to "The Great Gatsby" looks lavish - but the fact that he has replaced the music of the 1920's with what passes for music these days to me would be one big reason to give this flik a miss.

The trailer is interesting but it sure doesn't look like The Hamptons to me. Fitzgerald's book was not about ostentation.

I'm not sure about DiCaprio - he makes it look kinda like a "Bugsy Malone" version.

The reason that the Redford version didn't tell him who Gatsby was is because Gatsby is nobody.

Bob

I wouldn't hold the trailer's music as indicative of the actual movie, but I wouldn't be surprised either if contemporary music is added for effect. However, I can't imagine this film not having some sort of vintage jazz or songs of that era somewhere. Just a 2012 remix, I guess. Nothing though will match the brilliant selection of Berlin's 1924 "What'll I Do?" as the theme for the '74 version.

I think the trailer is very impressive in every respect and I'm looking forward to GATSBY 2012.

~Roger

It looks exciting and sexy, two things I can't say about any previous production of 'Gatsby' that I've seen. I will be at the front of the line to see this one.

Ditto.

Very good - they've done their homework. Now it's up to some hair-splitting Nitratevillain to say that those two films wouldn't have been running at the same time...

Heh, I did in a comment on Facebook already.

Actually, Robin Hood (1922) was released October of 1922, while Blood and Sand (1922) was released August 1922, so they could well have been playing in New York City at the same time.

As for Zeigfeld ... at least it wasn't the usual ZiegFIELD....

Daisy's eyebrows don't look right.....

Daisy's eyebrows don't look right.....

Nobody ran film at that speed in the 1920s!

Jim

There was no Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 with an "All Star Chorus"

1922

Gallagher and Shean
Jack Whiting
Will Rogers
Mary Eaton
Olsen and Johnson
Gilda Gray
Nervo and Knox
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Barbara Stanwyck and Anastasia Reilly)

Who was in the chorus? Even the stars are pretty lackluster.

Lackluster? The audiences might have thought otherwise

Will Rogers was already a headliner

Gilda Gray and Mary Eaton were both ephemeral talents, but they drew a lot of attention at the time.

Gallagher and Shean were at the top of their popularity, though they were involved in an odd lawsuit:

"In 1921, they were sued by the Shubert organization for breach of contract. According to Shubert, they could not perform for the competing Ziegfeld Follies. The case claimed that Gallagher and Shean's act was "unique and irreplaceable". The comedians' defense was that their act was mediocre, and the judge initially found in their favor, although the decision was later reversed."

Olsen and Johnson were just hitting the big time and would really draw crowds in the late 1930's.

Nervo and Knox: a British act touring the US- in a couple of years they'd make a DeForest film. in 1931 they'd become part of the Crazy Gang and become a sensation.

I wouldn't hold the trailer's music as indicative of the actual movie, but I wouldn't be surprised either if contemporary music is added for effect. However, I can't imagine this film not having some sort of vintage jazz or songs of that era somewhere. Just a 2012 remix, I guess. Nothing though will match the brilliant selection of Berlin's 1924 "What'll I Do?" as the theme for the '74 version.

Yes, that tune was haunting if not strictly in time with the setting - 1922. I was trying to remember what came out in '22 but could only think of "Whispering" and "The Shriek of Araby" both from '21.

Still, I would think any music of the 1920-1930 period would be preferable to a music track of contempary music. I find it all totally out of whack. (Maybe that's just me?)

"1922

Gallagher and Shean
Jack Whiting
Will Rogers
Mary Eaton
Olsen and Johnson
Gilda Gray
Nervo and Knox
The Ziegfeld Girls (including Barbara Stanwyck and Anastasia Reilly)"

Now how about a remake of that?
Worth shelling out for the 3d glasses.

Yes, that tune was haunting if not strictly in time with the setting - 1922. I was trying to remember what came out in '22 but could only think of "Whispering" and "The Shriek of Araby" both from '21.


"The Shriek of Araby?" I like that. So does the Sheik.

I'm pretty elastic with '20s songs that are off by a few years since many of the classic ones didn't even show up until past the midway point, but would still be quite fitting if slightly retro-fitted. By the way, I think the '74 GATSBY had one car from 1931!

As for the possible use of modern music in GATSBY, I'm certainly not a fan of this usually, when such rich musical resources of the '20s are available to draw upon, but the '74 version pretty well locked up all the most famous standards. If the same rehash was used in 2012 it'd kind of reinforce the same 'ol here we are again in cliched '20s land. I'd nonetheless prefer to hear a different batch of '20s songs or jazz instrumentals, but if some shock uses of a more modern sound infiltrates, I'll just wait 'n see if it fits this particular vision. However, if the '74 version didn't exist I'd be waaaay more concerned.

Lackluster in that there is no Fanny Brice or W.C. Fields. Aside from Rogers there's no "A" list Ziegfeld star in the show. There may be some big names of the day, but they weren't THAT big.

Eddie Cantor was apparently busy too.

On a sidenote, I once met two former Ziegfeld chorus girls--Dana O'Connell, and the celebrated Doris Eaton Travis (sister of Mary). O'Connell, who was about 92 at time, said, "Jolson! You HAD to be there to really appreciate him." Jolson in this case being a Winter Garden mega-star, never a Follies performer. Still, I envy O'Connell being in the audience during Jolson's prime. Travis was 95 when I briefly met her, and she could have easily passed for 65 the way she talked and moved around. I mentioned having recently seen her on cable in a 1929 movie! "Yes, THE VERY IDEA" she replied. It would be her last film until 70 years later when she appeared in MAN IN THE MOON with Jim Carrey.

I'm glad I had at least a passing moment with those who were participants from that time and place.

Nice you got to meet them. That was certainly one of the great theater eras.

Yes, there's something about meeting people who were there , speaking in the first person as an eyewitness, that makes that part of history briefly alive, albeit like a momentary glow from a firefly.

As for the possible use of modern music in GATSBY, I'm certainly not a fan of this usually, when such rich musical resources of the '20s are available to draw upon, but the '74 version pretty well locked up all the most famous standards. If the same rehash was used in 2012 it'd kind of reinforce the same 'ol here we are again in cliched '20s land.

The rationale Luhrmann gives for his practice of using non-period music played in a period style is to demonstrate that the songs were the pop music of their day and not museum pieces. Intellectually it's an interesting idea (as Luhrmann points out, it has much in common with the approach to movie musicals of the 1940s), but I'm not sure if it works for me. The same practice in 'Moulin Rouge' came off as a little too gimmicky. To me, the music of the 20s still sounds fresh and naughty, but I can understand an average audience not seeing it that way.

I agree.... I would prefer 20s music. Why bother recreating an era via costumes, hair, sets, cars, etc and then louse it up with crappy music?