I’m contemplating a Robert E. Howard month sometime in the future. However, I can discover only a few movies based on either the stories or the life of Howard, even with the help of the IMDb: both Conan movies, Kull the Conqueror (1997), Solomon Kane (2009), and The Whole Wide World (1996) — the latter a bio-pic, with Vincent D’Onofrio playing Two-Gun Bob. If I squint, I can include Red Sonja (1985), even though it’s more based on a spin-off character created for the comic, and the “Pigeons From Hell” episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted Thriller TV show.
So unless I want to end up reviewing episodes of the Conan TV show, what else is out there which may not be referenced in the IMDb based on Howard’s work?
#1 by Bryan on March 2, 2011 - 11:36 am
Quote
Wikipedia has some more info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard
#2 by Nathan Shumate on March 2, 2011 - 12:07 pm
Quote
No it doesn’t, actually.
#3 by Bryan on March 2, 2011 - 1:56 pm
Quote
Sorry, it mentioned some stuff you didn’t, but I guess it was extraneous to your search. I apoloogize to the Head.
#4 by Alaric on March 2, 2011 - 1:02 pm
Quote
Has anyone ever made a movie based on a story by Clark Ashton Smith? Just curious…
#5 by Jen S on March 2, 2011 - 2:23 pm
Quote
I loved The Whole Wide World, especially the scene where Renee Zellweger’s character goes to Howard’s house for the first time. She knocks at the door but gets no reply. Hearing a voice inside, she circles the place untils she sees an open window. Inside is Howard, pounding away at his typewriter and ranting the the story he’s writing aloud, sounding like a lunatic.
Renee hastens back the way she came, but instead of leaving as you’d expect, she heads right back to the door and pounds on it, determined to get inside and meet this man. She understands him instinctively.
Love that scene, love everything about it.
#6 by Al Harron on March 2, 2011 - 2:38 pm
Quote
Those are the only official Howard “adaptations” in cinema, sad to say, at least until the new Conan the Barbarian comes out. After that, there’s a rash of films in the pipeline: Conan 2, Bran Mak Morn, Dark Agnes, El Borak, Almuric, James Allison, Kull, “Untitled John Kirowan Project,” Pigeons from Hell, Vultures, and “Untitled Vikings & Monsters Project” are all in pre-production, though whether any of them will end up produced is too early to say. They all look… well, read the project page for yourself:
http://www.paradox-entertainment.com/entertainment.html
That said, though Red Sonja isn’t Howard’s creation, she is designed to live in the Hyborian Age, which is Howard’s creation, and so it could still be argued to be based on Howard’s work.
If you do feel compelled to go for the TV show… you have my deepest sympathies.
#7 by Ed on March 2, 2011 - 4:21 pm
Quote
You could retool it slightly so you review one film directly based on Howard’s work and another one merely inspired by it. This would open the door for some other sword and sorcery flicks.
As for the Conan TV show, I’d go with one episode, mainly because it’s likely all you will be able to take.
#8 by Luke Blanchard on March 4, 2011 - 1:39 am
Quote
The Ralph Bakshi film Fire and Ice was based on Frank Frazetta’s work, and might include scenes which derive from Howard’s work through Frazetta’s cover paintings. I don’t know this to be the case, though (did Frazetta’s covers ever illustrate events from Howard’s stories?). I owe the suggestion to a Google cache I found of a message board discussion of movies in the Howard tradition.
I suppose an English language film would be very likely to be listed as deriving from his work at the IMDB, although less so if it was based on a Howard work without acknowledgement. Likewise an Italian film. But films produced for non-English/European markets – India, Turkey or Latin America – mightn’t be. The catch is you can do a Conan-style film without calling your hero Conan. Googling “Turkish Conan” found for me pages on the Tarkan films (based on a Turkish comic), and Altar (1985).
#9 by PB210 on March 5, 2011 - 9:36 am
Quote
http://www.rehupa.com/vanhise_kull_paved.htm
If anyone reviews Kull, this article has helpful background.
#10 by Nathan Shumate on March 5, 2011 - 10:47 am
Quote
Good info, thanks.
#11 by Prankster on March 5, 2011 - 11:03 am
Quote
There’s a Solomon Kane movie with James Purefoy that screened at TIFF two years ago, but it was pretty lousy. I have no idea if it’s seen the light of day yet.
#12 by PB210 on March 6, 2011 - 9:21 am
Quote
Some other pulp era authors who might make interesting roundtables:
Edgar Rice Burroughs-a few of his non-Tarzan works have received adaptations
Johnston McCulley: The problem here, though, few of McCulley’s works outside of Zorro have had adaptations.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MainstreamObscurity
Zorro presents an interesting case. In the book The History of Mystery by Max Allan Collins, Collins asserts, on page 51, that Johnston Mc Culley’s Zorro rivals Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan for influence. While one can easily find Burroughs novels in mainstream bookstores today, Johnston Mc Culley’s work has fallen out of print.
E.E. Smith: other than the Japanese animated version of Lensmen, nothing that I know of, though
C.M. Mulford: Much other than Hopalong Cassidy adapted?
William Colt MacDonald: Three Mesquiteers
#13 by Clown Hammer on March 7, 2011 - 6:32 am
Quote
This is absolutely not what you’re looking for, but Howard’s IMDB page fails to mention one of the two animated series (loosely) based on his work, Conan and the Young Warriors (1994). It’s a spinoff of Conan the Adventurer (1992-1993), in which our hero teaches a trio of orphans important life lessons about (I’m assuming) whoring and murder. There’s also the Conan the Librarian skit from UHF (1989). So, IMDB doesn’t have an exhaustive list. There may be other things floating around out there, but they probably won’t be of any use to you.
If you’re looking for a pulp author who does have a fair amount of film adaptations attached to his name, you may want to consider Sax Rohmer. There’s a Sumuru adaptation that came out as late as ’03, although this one is set in space, so I doubt it’s overly faithful to the source material.
#14 by Nathan Shumate on March 7, 2011 - 6:59 am
Quote
Thanks. I’m specifically looking at Howard because I’m part of a panel on REH at CONduit in May, so I figured I should probably see the film adaptations that I haven’t yet.
And I can’t review Sumuru because one of my good friends, Torsten Dewi, was one of the screenwriters and I don’t want to say anything bad about it.
#15 by Launcifer on March 8, 2011 - 10:44 am
Quote
Solomon Kane was released in the UK last year, I think. I know there’s a region 2 dvd knocking about, at the very least.
#16 by PB210 on March 8, 2011 - 6:12 pm
Quote
http://originalvidjunkie.blogspot.com/
has a special on Howard homages
#17 by Al Harron on March 11, 2011 - 6:08 pm
Quote
“did Frazetta’s covers ever illustrate events from Howard’s stories?”
“Man-Ape” is an extremely accurate depiction of the big fight in “Rogues in the House,” and “Snow Giants” is a good representation of the final battle in “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter.”
“I’m specifically looking at Howard because I’m part of a panel on REH at CONduit in May, so I figured I should probably see the film adaptations that I haven’t yet. ”
Really? *strokes beard*
#18 by Luke Blanchard on March 12, 2011 - 2:02 am
Quote
Thanks, Al.
There are some fan productions on Youtube based on poems by Howard. A blog post at http://theblogthattimeforgot.blogspot.com/2011/01/robert-e-howard-105-today.html has links to a number. I haven’t been through the rest of this blog.