Posted by Adam Quinan on November 12, 1996 at 21:44:36:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Peter Duck posted by Thunder Levin on November 08, 1996 at 23:07:21:
Setting many of the Ransome stories in the present would be possible without
too much distortion, but Peter Duck is not one unless you were prepared to
mangle the settings completely.
When both boats are sailing down the Channel, the tension and interest is
aroused because of their similar performance. In modern life, to make sense,
the Viper at least, would be a powered boat and the Wild Cat run down
immediately in the fog thanks to radar!
Given the locations and settings, American actors would also be a jarring
note. There are many non-American movies that do reasonably well without
blockbuster stars on blockbuster pay scales. There are some good
non-American actors who manage to sell movies and they would be more appropriate.
Personally I don't remember the Swallows & Amazons movie as being
too bad but thought that Ronald Fraser as Captain Flint was completely wrong!
As for romance between John and Nancy, what would she see in a boy like that!