THE MASTER OF BALLAN-
TRAE
(Warner Bros.)
HE flaw in The Master of Ballantrae (which isn’t one of Stevenson’s best stories, anyway) is that R.L.S. ‘thought
of the Master as a Mephistophelian character: a man with the capacity for good. who chose evil instead. And,. of course, Stevenson got him All Wrong. It has been left to Herb. Meadow,’ scriptwriter, to set the record straight. Herb. throws Secundra Dass out of the window, demotes Mackellar almost to vanishing point, junks most of the Master’s overseas wanderings (and with them the contrived Stevensonian climax), and reveals James, the Master, as a wild but warm-blooded adventurer-a little fond of the women, perhaps, but Good at Heart. Erro] Flynn demonstrates, in fact, that he was remarkably like Errol Flynn, which should please’'the ‘small fry (there are plenty of buccaneers and simply buckets of blood). Grown-ups, on the other hand, may find the movie less enthralling than the novel, in spite of some noble colour photography by Jack Cardiff. With so little Stevenson left in, the film really needs retitling. I offer The Master of Ballyhoo. Any other suggestions? TS
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19540219.2.35.1.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 761, 19 February 1954, Page 16
Word count
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186THE MASTER OF BALLAN TRAE New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 761, 19 February 1954, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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