Brown of Calaveras
by Bret HarteGenre: Drama
Setting:
Format of Original Source: Short Story
Recommended Adaptation Length:
Candidate for Adaptation? Promising
EXCERPT:
Ever since she came here; ever since the day she walked into the Magnolia. I was a fool then; Jack, I’m a fool now; but I didn’t know how much I loved her till then. And she hasn’t been the same woman since.
“But that ain’t all, Jack; and it’s what I wanted to see you about, and I’m glad you’ve come. It ain’t that she doesn’t love me any more; it ain’t that she fools with every chap that comes along, for, perhaps, I staked her love and lost it, as I did everything else at the Magnolia; and, perhaps, foolin’ is nateral to some women, and thar ain’t no great harm done, ‘cept to the fools. But, Jack, I think–I think she loves somebody else. Don’t move, Jack; don’t move; if your pistol hurts ye, take it off.”
COMMENTS:
We’re in the Wild West, and a wife comes out to join her husband unexpectedly, and not always with the happiest result. A strong structure underlies this story, but it would need fleshing out, dramatizing, and true adaptation in order to be satsifying. Well worth the look, if you’re up to it.
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