imagine yourself in a war a war as in certain and violent as world war two and
in your pocket you carried a piece of writing six chapters of a precious and
personal project occasionally you will pull it out and rework in those brief
not so peaceful moments imagine having your work travel with you as you storm
the beaches of Normandy survive the Battle of the Bulge and march through
concentration camps in Nazi Germany what would this piece of writing become
in Jerome David Salinger's case that piece of work is The Catcher in the Rye
asking why the Catcher in the Rye was never made into a movie is a question
about what a writer sees in his own work how much of his soul lies in between
those lines the pages did not simply represent the story written but rather
the turmoil and the resilience of the author it represented who saundra was
this is a story of why the Catcher in the Rye one of the most infamous
literary works was never adapted into a movie JD Salinger began writing The
Catcher in the Rye in 1940 or at least that was when he first spoke about it in
his early 20s sounder was an aspiring writer having completed a writing course
with American writer wit Burnett he had a lot of momentum as many young writers
do Salinger wanted to become financially stable and maybe even famous in those
early years he even told Burnett that he was eager to sell the film rights to his
work so he can ensure that stability dating Oona O'Neill daughter of
playwright Eugene O'Neill appeared to be a move in the right direction he was 22
when he met her and she was 16 a year later they were officially dating and he
joined her at the pinnacle of the social ladder in New York City attending some
of the most elite parties in the country Salinger was
uncomfortable at these gatherings he disliked the company those pretentious
socialites with their entitlement and their full humility those people were
phonies yet he had a complicated relationship with rune O'Neill he would
be hot and then cold at times he would show affection and then in a blink he
would be standoffish this was grounds for O'Neill to find love elsewhere and
with the history of being neglected by her work focused father Eugene she found
the attention from a much older man Charlie Chaplin the superstar film actor
was 54 when he married eighteen-year-old Oona O'Neill jilted and heartbroken
Salinger sent her letters after she wedded a man 36 years her elder
criticizing her he was hurt and the pain lingered the 1940s was an intense time
for Salinger as he began to navigate the world as a published writer each
publication gave him a little bit of hope although they came few and far in
between but even with the successes nothing elevated him to the level he
wanted to be then Pearl Harbor the day that will live in infamy Salinger was
drafted and sent off to war where he literally went through hell and back
with his proficiency in multiple languages French and Italian he served
as an interrogator yet he never stopped being a writer during those dangerous
times members of his counterintelligence team could still recall Salinger writing
even once when they were at risk of enemy fire witnessing the death of many
friends in the horrors of the Holocaust aftermath Salinger was hospitalized for
post-traumatic stress after the war ended upon returning back to America
from World War two in 1946 he brought with him back a wife Sylvia Walter a
former Nazi Party member and his writing a work-in-progress
his marriage didn't last but the novel did Holden Caufield remained his closest
companion in 1946 Salinger sought help from his own instructor whit Burnett in
an effort to get a collection of short stories published the collection like
many of Salinger's attempts amounted to nothing and in that Salinger disengaged
with Burnett as he now had a tendency to do with the people in his life life ebbs
and float for Salinger and in 1948 his short story entitled uncle wiggly in
Connecticut was published in The New Yorker movie producer Samuel Goldwyn
purchased the film rights to the story promising Salinger the career
advancement that he had been yearning in January 21st 1950 the movie which was
retitled my foolish heart starring Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews was released to
the American audience uncle wiggly in Connecticut was a dialogue heavy story
and with that being the case had to be rewritten significantly for the film in
hindsight Salinger would have wanted it to be a staged production but the allure
of the silver screens was too great my foolish heart was very poorly received
to the shock of Salinger who had uncharacteristically relinquish all
control to Samuel Goldwyn when the producer bought the rights according to
the critics the movie was melodramatic and full of typical soap opera cliches
this gave Salinger a writer already lacking confidence
another significant blow leaving a bruise that would not fade the Catcher
in the Rye was published by Little Brown and company on July 16 1951 it received
his fair share of positive reviews but would end up being one of the most
influential novels of his generation for negative reasons while many critics
enjoyed the book they found that the character of Holden Caulfield himself
was immoral this didn't stop The Catcher in the Rye
success within the first two months of publication the novel was reprinted
eight times and would end up spending 30 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers
list by the late 1950s the story of Holden Caulfield represented a group of
brooding adolescents which was coined the Katra cult arising in Sanaa ville
began to form as those who upheld Christian morals found the 277 page
novel to be a threat the words goddamn appeared 237 times bastard 58 and Christ
sakes 31 times this was enough to get the book
condemned in many high schools and libraries across America by 1961 The
Catcher in the Rye was the most censored book of its time and will continue to be
one of the most challenged book for decades to come
nevertheless the novel sold over 65 million copies and rocketed sounder into
the limelight Salinger hated the limelight in as early as 1953 Salinger
stopped interacting with the public and by 1965 he stopped publishing his works
even though he continued to write regularly hiding away from his family to
do so why did Salinger stop publishing it was the same reason he became
reclusive publishing was an invasion of his privacy
he loved writing and continued to do so but with the success of the Catcher in
the Rye he no longer needed people to read his fresh material the 15
potentially completed manuscript in his bunker in New Hampshire
during this period saundra was solicited by many from the film industry who
wanted to adapt The Catcher in the Rye and he would turn them all down he had
many reasons for doing so but one that stood out was that he felt he was the
only person that could have played Holden Caufield honestly and perhaps
with Margaret O'Brien as his co-star that would be most ideal for Salinger
after seeing what someone could do to his work as he had seen in my foolish
heart he was not ready to trust anyone in 1957 saundra answered a letter asking
about the potential for adaptation he responded with the Catcher in the Rye is
a very novelistic novel there are ready-made scenes only a fool would deny
that but for me the weight of the book is in the narrator's voice the nonstop
particularity zuv it his personal extremely discriminating attitude to his
reader listener his asides about gasoline and rainbows and Street puddles
his philosophy a way of looking at cowhide suitcases and empty toothpaste
cartons in a word his thoughts he can't legitimately be separated from his own
first-person technique true if the separation is forcibly made there's
enough material left over for something called an exciting or maybe just
interesting evening in the theater but I find that idea if not odious at least
odious enough to keep me from selling the rights and Holden Caulfield himself
in my undoubtably super bias opinion is essentially
unactive all unactive all not even for the King of Comedy Jerry Lewis who tried
for many years to acquire the rights to play Holden Caulfield Salinger never
even humored him the list of elite filmmakers continued to knock on
Salinger's door as the year passed in 1961 Elia Kazan famous for underwater
front and a streetcar named desire wanted to produce a Broadway version of
the in the RAI Billy Wilder of Double
Indemnity made many attempts to communicate with sounder but it only
ended up making the author annoyed and angry Steven Spielberg Harvey Weinstein
Marlon Brando Jack Nicholson Leonardo DiCaprio Tobey Maguire Ethan Hawke and
John Cusack who famously said that he regretted turning 21 because he was now
officially too old to play Holden Caulfield were not alone many
generations of actors and filmmakers came and went and none of them added
Holden Caulfield or The Catcher in the Rye to their credits acquiring the film
riot is the first step in adapting a novel to a movie without it there is no
moving forward no amount of money was going to sway Salinger convincing him to
relinquish his protection of his most precious work on December 8th 1980 John
Lennon was shot and killed outside of his apartment the Dakota by what police
deemed a local crackpot Mark David Chapman on Chapman's body was a copy of
The Catcher in the Rye the killer continued to endorse the book
during his arrest and trial in 1981 after an attempt to assassinate Ronald
Reagan the authorities found The Catcher in the Rye in culprit John Hinckley Jr's
apartment in 1989 after actress Rebecca Schaeffer was murdered by Robert John
Bardo the novel was found on him when arrested perhaps it was all
circumstantial and merely a correlation but The Catcher
in the Rye was deemed a book with unholy powers JD Salinger hid from all of this
as his novel continued to be read and criticized almost four decades after his
publication to this day The Catcher in the Rye holds a mystique what power does
it have over the readers compelling them to do something so extreme I believe if
the novel was adapted into a movie the power of the text would have been
dampened it would have been unlikely that these
murderers would have been arrested with a DVD starring Marlon Brando or Jack
Nicholson Salinger knew what a poor adaptation could do to literature in
2009 a Swedish writer by the pseudonym of John David California published a
book called 60 years later coming through the Rye which chronicles Holden
Caulfield's life as a 76 year old man when Salinger caught a whiff of it he
sent his lawyers to sue California real name Frederick Colton 60 years later was
banned in America even near the end Salinger did not want his work to be
tainted and defended it until his last breath which came On January 27th 2010
Salinger died at his home in Cornish New Hampshire he was 91 years old it was
then that Hollywood wondered how long they would need to wait now until the
catch in the Rye will be released in theatres in 1957
saundra wrote a letter toying with the idea of giving the unsold film rights to
his family as an insurance policy they could sell it if they were financially
desperate he accepted that he would be dead and cannot see the results anyways
but that letter was written long long ago he had since separated with a second
wife Claire Douglas and his daughter Margaret had written a memoir with a not
so flattering portrayal of her father understanding how Salinger tended to
respond to slights it's unlikely that the rights would have been in their
hands at the time of his death in 1976 the Copyright Act changed and it allowed
the catcher a ride to be renewed in 1979 extending its term by 28 years from its
original publishing in 1951 there have been two more extension in succeeding
decades and sixty-seven years have been added on top of the initial 28-year
extension without getting into too much copyright detail the
Catcher in the Rye will enter public domain in 2046 95 years after the story
was published 2046 if you're eager to see The Catcher in the Rye movie that
will be how long you will have to wait however many have claimed that a Catcher
in the Rye s movie had already been made by director burr steers call egg b goes
down in 2002 starring Kieran Culkin's Claire Danes and Jeff Goldblum the movie
follows a rebellious young boy who recently flunked out of prep school
attempting to deal with all the relationships and circumstances required
of him as he grows up steers acknowledged the similarities but
said that it be Goes Down was inspired by his own experiences living in New
York as a child he had initially wanted to write novel but the project became a
script and then a movie in 2019 Salinger's estate announced they
are planning to release some of the late authors unpublished works and in
addition finally bring his available works to the digital form
saundra had been against ebooks and audio books but in an interview with the
New York Times JD Salinger's son Matt Salinger said he
wouldn't want people to not be able to read his stuff and with that son change
a tired perhaps the movie will come sooner would you go see The Catcher in
the Rye when it comes out in theaters and who should play Holden Caulfield let
me know in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe for more videos on
the journeys of writers and creators