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2.)NORTHANGER ABBEY AS A MOVIE:

2.1)SREENWRITER: Andrew Davies

Andrew Davies, first noted by Jane Austen fans for his Emmy nominated adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (1995) has since then also scripted Jane Austen's Emma for the same producers. Andrew Davies is also noted for his other literary adaptations including works by Thackary, Defoe, Dumas and Elliot.

The idea for writing one of Jane Austen's works came after previewing the 1986 version of Northanger Abbey.He remembers the evening well: 'It was an interesting, quirky adaptation adn afterwards Sue [Birtwistle - Producer of Pride and Prejudice and Emma] turned to me and said: "I know what I'd like to do: Pride and Prejudice and make it look like a fresh, lively story about real people.....Would you like to adapt it?" It's a favorite book of mine, so I said, "Yes," and that was that.'

Sue Birwistle and Andrew Davies fisrt met when she was his student at Coventry College of Education. "It was always my ambition when I was a lecturer that my pupils would eventually get powerful positions and be able to employ me in my old age," he explained. "But Sue seems to have been the only one that's managed to do it!" The two later worked on Pride and Prejudice. "I thought it would get good reviews," Davies said, but admits "I was absolutely astonished it turned out to be such a big hit [with] all sorts of people."

Regarding Jane Austen's works, Davies says, "there is a certain amount of liberty that you can take. You can't change the actual story, but there's always some hidden scenes in the book that Austen didn't get around to writing herself, and it's nice to fill in some of the little gaps." Davies says he had great material to work with, since Austen "writes the best plots and characters, and her dialogue is terrific. So while there's this little craze I'm just going to take advantage of it for all I'm worth."

Northanger Abbey (2000) will be his third time scripting one of Jane Austen's novels, and as her biographer Deirdre Le Faye says, "The 1986 version was awful. Andrew Davies certainly could not do worse than that."

2.2) Odd facts about Northanger Abbey

In the beginning:

1798: Jane begins a book, Susan, which will become Northanger Abbey.

1803: Manuscript of Susan sold to the publisher Crosby, who never actually publishes the work.

1816: Manuscript is bought back by the family for £10.

1817: Jane Austen starts a new novel, which her family thought was called The Brothers. By March 18 she had written 24,000 words. Eventually this work became known as Sandition. Austen dies on Friday, July 18 at the age of 42. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral the next day. In December, Northanger Abbey (the revised Susan) and Persuasion are published in one volume, dated 1818.

Baseball was supposedly invented by Abner Doubleday, in the United States, sometime during the Civil War. How is it then that it shows up in children's textbooks as far back as 1744, and is even mentioned in Northanger Abbey?

Mrs Morland was a very good woman, and wished to see her children everything they ought to be; but her time was so much occupied in lying-in and teaching the little ones, that her elder daughters were inevitably left to shift for themselves; and it was not very wonderful that Catherine, who had by nature nothing heroic about her, should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback, and running about the country at the age of fourteen, to books -- or at least books of information -- for, provided that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they were all story and no reflection, she had never any objection to books at all.

Perhaps this is another evidence of varied translations of the same word? (i.e. Football/Soccer)

Northanger Abbey has already been filmed twice, as well as being the subject of an off-broadway play in the US, and a production by the Northcott Theater Co., in Britain. Of the two film versions, one is the much maligned NA1, starring Peter Firth as Henry, and Katharine Schlesinger as Catherine. The other, lesser known copy is, of course, NAW -- The Wishbone version, done as a half-hour short on that program. Wishbone certainly did make an admirable Henry :~D.

http://tackytree.tripod.com/northanger/funstaff.html

2.3) NORTHANGER ABBEY: THE FILM

LOS ANGELES - Another Jane Austen novel is being dusted off for the big screen. This time, Miramax films is co-producing Northanger Abbey. It's a $9 million feature adaptation of Jane Austen's first published novel.
Shooting begins this fall in Bath, an historic city to about 150 kilometres southwest of London and well-known to Austen. Bath is noted for its handsome 18th century architecture. Although Jane Austen would probably have not phrased it quite so bluntly, Northanger Abbey is essentially the story of young woman's sexual awakening.
Casting remains to be decided, but since the lead character, Catherine Morland, is a teenager in Northanger Abbey, the role could end up going to a newcomer.
Miramax released a screen version of Jane Austen's Emma in 1996 with Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role. This fall it will also release Canadian director Patricia Rozema's adaptation of Austen's Mansfield Park.

2.4) CHARACTERS:

IOAN GRUFFUD AS HENRY TILNEY:

Ioan is a wonderful actors who fits the physical description of Henry Tilney in the novel of Jane Austen.

KATE BECKINSALE AS ELEANOR TILNEY:

Kate has Eleanor´s sophistication and strength and could definitely play Ioan´s sister.

SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS AS GENERAL TILNEY:

The General Tilney is a handome man, sexy but with that menacing edge.

DOUGRAY SCOTT AS CAPTAIN FREDERICK TILNEY, a terrific actor.

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