{"id":16817,"date":"2021-07-13T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=16817"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:14:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:14:20","slug":"rushmore-the-stealth-catcher-in-the-rye-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/rushmore-the-stealth-catcher-in-the-rye-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"Rushmore<\/i>: The Stealth <\/i>Catcher in the Rye<\/i> Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s one thing I hate, it\u2019s the movies. Don\u2019t even mention them to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus concludes the opening paragraph of The Catcher in the Rye<\/em>, which celebrates its 70th publication anniversary this July 16. As of that milestone, J.D. Salinger\u2019s lone novel remains popular enough to land in the top 400 of Amazon\u2019s Best Sellers list, but \u2014 perhaps unsurprisingly, especially with a stinger like that \u2014 don\u2019t go looking for its cinematic equivalent among the online store\u2019s Blu-rays and DVDs. While other popular books from 1951 \u2014 including From Here to Eternity <\/em>(1953), The End of the Affair <\/em>(1955), and Spartacus <\/em>(1960) \u2014 were adapted for the screen in relatively quick fashion, seven decades later, there\u2019s still no official film version of Catcher<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salinger himself didn\u2019t hate the movies<\/a>, but his greatest hit remains (in)famously \u201cunfilmable.\u201d<\/a> Successfully translating the steam-of-consciousness, first-person narration of 16-year-old protagonist Holden Caulfield poses a challenge for even the most imaginative filmmakers \u2014 even the voiceover-friendly Terrence Malick, who was rumored<\/a> to be developing a Catcher <\/em>movie in 2006. And while Holden describes his adventures from the onset as \u201cmadman stuff,\u201d they\u2019re largely straightforward events, exaggerated by his wild imagination that\u2019s in the service of entertaining his undefined audience, and might not make for the most exciting viewing experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These obstacles didn\u2019t stop<\/a> Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg, and even Jerry Lewis<\/a> from seeking Salinger\u2019s approval to film Catcher<\/em>. But after Casablanca <\/em>screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein and director Mark Robson (Peyton Place<\/em>) took Salinger\u2019s short story \u201cUncle Wiggily in Connecticut\u201d \u2014 a sharp critique of wealthy New England housewives \u2014 and diluted it into the sappy, melodramatic My Foolish Heart <\/em>(1949), Salinger refused to allow his works to be adapted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Salinger\u2019s son Matt<\/a>, these and other factors prompted the author to tell an unnamed director who wanted to film the novel, \u201cI write for the private screening room in each reader\u2019s head: that\u2019s the only movie screen that I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the senior Salinger\u2019s death in 2010, the cinematic rights \u2014 which he considered<\/a> \u201ca kind of insurance policy\u201d for his heirs \u2014 passed to his family. Whether they remain consistent with his stance on adaptations remains to be seen, but without the man himself around to reject such proposals, it\u2019s certainly possible that a legitimate screen version may eventually get made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, viewers can opt for a few Catcher<\/em>-esque films about precocious teens testing out adult life in New York City, including Burr Steers\u2019 Igby Goes Down <\/em>(2002) <\/em>and Gary Winick\u2019s Tadpole<\/em> (2002). But while those features rely heavily on their shared setting with the novel, the film that most captures the essence of Salinger\u2019s book arguably has<\/em> to take place apart from Manhattan in order to get away with its multitude of direct Catcher <\/em>references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Filmed in Houston, Texas, but set in a nameless mid-sized city, Wes Anderson\u2019s Rushmore <\/em>(1999) is a sneaky, unofficial adaptation of Holden\u2019s story. Written by Anderson and Owen Wilson, each noted Salinger fans<\/a>, the film overlaps with Catcher <\/em>on micro and macro levels, manifesting small details and overarching themes from the novel while foremost telling its own tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Holden and Rushmore <\/em>protagonist Max Fischer (played by Jason Schwartzman, in one of the all-time great film debuts) are intelligent young white male teenagers who earn poor grades at prep schools, wear red hats, and struggle with the death of an immediate family member. They presume to be adults in numerous regards, including ordering (and receiving) liquor at dining establishments, and forge friendships with individuals twice their age or more, but have difficulty creating similar bonds with their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they\u2019re far more comfortable around younger children, for whom they serve as self-appointed protectors while resembling them in many ways, from immature actions and a penchant for mouthiness (that leads to bloody noses) to quests for innocent romances. Their decisions ultimately lead to transcendent, borderline hallucinatory climaxes that suggest the young men have grown up and learned from their final brush with childhood, but leave just enough ambiguity to hint that the transformation isn\u2019t as complete as it may seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most significant commonalities, however, concern the protagonists\u2019 credos that steer their actions and inspire their respective works\u2019 titles. Spurred by a misinterpretation of a Robert Burns poem, Holden tells his younger sister Phoebe that his preferred profession would be standing on the edge of a cliff and catching children who wander off from playing in an adjacent field of rye before they tumble off the edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This metaphorical desire to prevent kids from becoming adults and losing their innocence is poignantly reworked by Anderson and Wilson to convey Max\u2019s own arrested development and delusional wish for preservation. In their second encounter, Bill Murray\u2019s unhappy millionaire Herman Blume notices Max\u2019s radiating positivity and asks him, \u201cWhat\u2019s the secret, Max? You seem to have it pretty figured out.\u201d Max replies, \u201cI think you\u2019ve just gotta find something you love to do and then do it for the rest of your life. For me, it\u2019s going to Rushmore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The naivet\u00e9 of these noble yet implausible aspirations connect The Catcher in the Rye <\/em>and Rushmore <\/em>at a core level that\u2019s thus far eluded other films inspired by Salinger\u2019s novel. As such, Holden Caulfield is safe to stay on the page and see his rescue mission through \u2014 Anderson, Wilson, and Max Fischer have the screen side covered. \"\"\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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