A Man About The House by John Perry

I ordered A Man about the House by Francis Brett Young through a used book site and this little volume arrived in its stead. It's a screen play based on the very book I wanted but has been adapted by the playwright John Perry.

I have never read a screenplay; in fact, when I saw my beloved Cyrano de Bergrerac was written as a dramatization, I put it back on the shelf. Same with Pygmalion. But this was short and I had it in my hands so I figured I'd give it a go.

Its pleasnat enough. Light, fluffy, kind of like watching a half hour TV show when you really wanted to inhale a 12 hour BBC drama, know what I mean? So it's not terribly satisfying but it's ok for an hour's entertainment. And since I haven't read the nice chunky novel this was based on (yet!) I can't say how closely this dramatization follows it. The synopsis is basically the same but FBY can really weave a tale and this, by comparison, feels slightly naked.

But call it a 73 page synopsis! It's entertaining, slightly melodramatic (like any 1940's black and white film) and not too serious. I'm anxious to read the "real" story though!

In a nutshell:

Two sisters inherit a villa in Italy when their uncle passes. The butler/ man of the house is a charismatic ne'er do well who one sister immediately falls for. But does he love her...or the estate? And what will he stoop to to make the land completely his?

You know what it's like? Have you ever seen a cartoon based a Dickens book? It's an introduction to the novel but there's soooo much more in the full length book. There's no way it can do it justice. Character developement? Forget it! But its a taste...and a taste is better than nothing...

By the way, this was also made into a movie in 1947: