Film Adaption: My Foolish Heart (1950)
Shortly after The New Yorker published Uncle Wiggly in March 1948, Salinger sold the movie rights to Darryl Zanuck. The sale promised to advance Salinger’s career, and was financially lucrative.
With its dialog driven plot, Uncle Wiggily was more appropriate for a stage adaption, and the story would require a major rewrite by the movie studios to achieve a film version. Salinger had relinquished all control over the screenplay, which was written by Julius and Philip Epstein. In the process of making a Hollywood film version, the story was transformed from “an exposé of the suburban society” into a sentimental love story with a happy ending.
Salinger was horrified by the results, and to his dismay, My Foolish Heart received two Academy Award nominations (best actress and best theme song), and did well at the box office.
Read more about this topic: Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut
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