TV airing of The Tale of Sweeney Todd

It's certainly an interesting version. There's an American protagonist for some reason.

Retroboy, "Is it any count?" is a Southern expression. The poster is either from the South and has been around people who are/were.

I kinda want to see it, as there's a good cast (including Joanna Lumley and Campbell Scott). But it's on ION, which I think is the Christian channel, so I do wonder if some extra editing may be happening, seeing as I think this was released in some European markets with and adult rating.

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Apparently its not in S.C.

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Updated On: 1/2/08 at 10:23 PM

I saw an ad and wondered what this was.

When was it made?

Sorry. I meet lazy first, and we hit it off really well!

I've got it scheduled for recording.
It'll be interesting to see it w/o the usual characters.
I love me some Patsy!

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"It didn't seem quite faithful to the original tale."

And Sondheim's version is? b12b just posted that Turpin, Beadle, Pirelli, Anthony, and Johanna were added inventions. I don't suppose there is an original, definitive account.

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There is no "original tale." That would be like trying to find the original rumor of something.

This was folklore, passed down orally through the streets of London, starting in the late 18th century. It wasn't written down and published until almost 50 years later (around 1840) with the Penny Dreadfuls.

Before that, you'd have many different versions of what "may or may not have happened" in a barber shop and pie shop on Fleet Street.

I'm sure this version took bits and pieces of the legend, and added their own salt & pepper to the pie crust... like changing Toby's name to Charlie, adding the Campbell Scott character, etc.

Just like Christopher Bond's version where he took it upon himself to add "revenge" as a motive, plus a tragic backstory for Sweeney.

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Updated On: 1/2/08 at 09:24 AM

I'm reading The String of Pearls right now. Came across it in the bookstore while trying to find the companion book to the film. The edition I have includes the full original 1846 story that was published as a 'penny dreadful' series. It also includes a very extensive and detailed chronology of the tale from its vague beginnings through its current Burton incarnation. It has the giant Depp head on the cover.

I'm only a few chapters into it but it is interesting to note that the series' first chapters were written with the intention of presenting a romance story of Johanna (as Ljay says, not the one we know) and Mark. Sweeney is presented in the first chapter as a murderous plot device to explain how someone bringing a message to Johanna went missing. It seems that the public became so captivated by this character that the subsequent chapters gradually shifted to focus of the story away from the lovers towards Sweeney and Lovett.

Tobias does exist in this story as an apprentice to Sweeney. There is no Pirelli connection. And, so far, his main connection is to Sweeney, not Lovett, who he hasn't even met yet. Though there is some hint that Sweeney does already have an 'arrangement' in place with her.

This is a much more extensive story than I imagined it to be. The book is a good 300 pages of small print. It's quite a fun read so far.

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Updated On: 1/2/08 at 09:53 AM

Is it worth counting? Worth noting? Or worth remembering?

Is there any relevance to it?

(that sort of thing)

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is this the version that's playing on "on demand" this month?

i watched it a few days ago... i was disappointed that it wasn't a musical

i watched a really good version when i was younger.... it was by some little independent film company... i wish i remembered who it was by and who was in it so i could find it again.

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