Martha (Germany) 1974

[wlah...@gmail.com]

Hey,

There’s a bizarre story about this film that says that Cornell Woolrich noticed similarities in the film to his story For The Rest Of Her Life and sued Rainer Werner Fassbinder. What’s bizarre is that Woolrich wrote the story shortly before he died in 1968. Joel McElhaney gets the story right in A Nagging Discomfort: Fassbinder and Martha in A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder by saying that Woolrich’s estate sued Fassbinder although Francis M Nevins Jr – who runs the estate -- doesn’t mention the suit in his Woolrich biography First You Dream, Then You Die.

Fassbinder denied the connection although the results of the lawsuit granted Woolrich a credit and held up distribution of “Martha” in North America for 20 years. The similarities to Woolrich are obvious although Fassbinder is too good a filmmaker not to make the material his own wherever it came from.

The gist is that Martha (Margit Carstensen) – who lives on Douglas Sirk Street – is on holiday with her father when he drops dead and Martha’s life slowly unravels and seems to gain a mooring in her marriage to Helmut Salomon (Karlheinz Böhm). Salomon is a health food fan and a sadist and little by little Martha sinks deeper and deeper into hell.

Written for German TV by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus. With Gisela Fackeldey, Adrian Hoven and Barbara Valentin.

[dm16...@gmail.com]

Woolrich himself wouldn't have had the nerve to sue anyone. He was as crooked as they come. In the heyday of mystery magazines he would often often dig up an old story give it another name and sell it as a new story. He got caught a few times and had to return the money.

Dave M

[wlah...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, March 14, 2013 7:42:14 PM UTC-4, dm16...@gmail.com wrote:

> Woolrich himself wouldn't have had the nerve to sue anyone. He was as crooked as they come. In the heyday of mystery magazines he would often often dig up an old story give it another name and sell it as a new story. He got caught a few times and had to return the money.
>

It's kind of moot since (a) Woolrich was dead; and, (b) the estate sued. I'm not going to get involved in defending Woolrich's recycling stories. Is it any different than Chandler "cannibalizing" -- his word -- his short stories into his novels?

[dm16...@gmail.com]

Actually I think it is different. For a start Chandler felt guilty about it but he was reaching a different market - In the novels he would flesh out the characters and add more atmosphere. Woolrich didn't change a word apart from the title - which is why researching his early work can be confusing.

Dave M

[wlah...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, March 14, 2013 7:59:52 PM UTC-4, dm16...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Actually I think it is different. For a start Chandler felt guilty about it but he was reaching a different market - In the novels he would flesh out the characters and add more atmosphere. Woolrich didn't change a word apart from the title - which is why researching his early work can be confusing.
>

Have you read the Nevins biography?

[dm16...@gmail.com]

Yes. A few years ago. I didn't care for it too much. I seem to recall that it was more a catalog and synopsis of his novels and stories (useful in its own way) but didn't reveal much of the man himself.

Dave M

[gtr]

On 2013-03-14 23:59:52 +0000, dm16...@gmail.com said:

>> It's kind of moot since (a) Woolrich was dead; and, (b) the estate
>> sued. I'm not going to get involved in defending Woolrich's recycling
>> stories. Is it any different than Chandler "cannibalizing" -- his word
>> -- his short stories into his novels?
>
> Actually I think it is different. For a start Chandler felt guilty
> about it but he was reaching a different market - In the novels he
> would flesh out the characters and add more atmosphere. Woolrich
> didn't change a word apart from the title - which is why researching
> his early work can be confusing.

Someone, Tennessee Williams perhaps, said we write the same story all
the days of our life. Chandler cannablizing or *reworkgin and
reconfiguring* previous material is hardly the same as renaming and old
piece and selling it again.

[dm16...@gmail.com]

About rehashing familiar themes - a critic once remarked (sarcastically) about Mordecai Richler "I am a big admirer of his work - I read his novel every time it's published."

Dave M

[Mack A. Damia]

On Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:17:21 -0700 (PDT), wlah...@gmail.com wrote:

>Hey,
>
>There’s a bizarre story about this film that says that Cornell Woolrich noticed similarities in the film to his story For The Rest Of Her Life and sued Rainer Werner Fassbinder. What’s bizarre is that Woolrich wrote the story shortly before he died in 1968. Joel McElhaney gets the story right in A Nagging Discomfort: Fassbinder and Martha in A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder by saying that Woolrich’s estate sued Fassbinder although Francis M Nevins Jr – who runs the estate -- doesn’t mention the suit in his Woolrich biography First You Dream, Then You Die.

"First You Dream, Then You Die" is the title of the first episode of
the new A & E series, *Bates Motel* airing on March 18 at 10:00 pm.

("Norma" (mom) buys a motel in the opener of the series.....)

--

[wlah...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 15, 2013 3:51:44 PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:

> "First You Dream, Then You Die" is the title of the first episode of
> the new A & E series, *Bates Motel* airing on March 18 at 10:00 pm.
>

Had no urge to see it and now have even less.

[Mack A. Damia]

Another boring soap opera based on a 50 year old film.

--