Adapting Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat in the Information Age \-\- an Interview with Screenwriter Bill U'Ren

Abstract

Adapting Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat in the Information Age—an Interview with Screenwriter Bill U'Ren Charles Raymond Fowler Click for larger view Figure 1 Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield in a still shot from the film of Tortilla Flat (1942), directed by Victor Fleming. Garfield as the Happy-go-lucky Danny has broken in on Dolores "Sweets" Ramirez' job in the fish cannery. Hedy Lamarr, as the fiery Portuguese girl, refuses to be bothered by her suitor unless he reforms [End Page 56] It is often said that the world of adaptation involves more complications than any other field related to the artistic process. The writer undertaking the project—whether converting source material for theater, film or other medium—is already one level removed from the core and yet must work simultaneously to preserve the integrity of the original material and fulfill criteria specified by the project's producers. This often relegates the adapter to a likely Catch-22 scenario, and sometimes added to that are the potentially debilitating issues of estate control over artistic vision. Occasionally, an even greater complication featuring estranged heirs surfaces, and property control in general is put at issue. Adapter Bill U'Ren encountered a little of both once John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat had been finalized for San Diego-based Canum Entertainment. The studio had successfully completed a selective process to option one of John Steinbeck's first commercially successful books, but complications seemingly emerged after Elaine Steinbeck's death in April of 2003, some of which were likely related to a civil suit filed by other heirs regarding future control of Steinbeck's properties. At last report, the production appears to be in legal limbo for the time being. When the adaptation was first underway, I was able to convince Bill U'Ren to discuss Tortilla Flat's conversion, citing the relevance of the artistic process to both Steinbeck fans and critics. He agreed that all deserved an inside look at the concerns involved with adapting one of the esteemed writer's earlier works. The Q&A text that follows is culled from that original session [End Page 57] in Washington, D.C., not far from where Mr. U'Ren teaches screenwriting for John Hopkins University's Odyssey Program. CF: How did the Tortilla Flat project begin taking shape? BU: The producer, John Moores, fell in love with the book many years ago, and when his production company, Canum Entertainment, got off the ground in San Diego, Tortilla was one of the first books he wanted in terms of securing rights. We did the adaptation together, with each of us taking a swing at the script and then doing ensuing drafts as a team. CF: It seems like there would be serious pressure adapting a John Steinbeck novel. BU: Yes, [think of] the legions of Steinbeck aficionados out there. It's not like working on a project with an author who doesn't have a following. One of my first adaptation assignments out of UCLA was a book called Box 100. It was a crime novel written by a guy who'd committed suicide not too long after it was published. Working on that project really had no built-in expectations. With a canonical author like Steinbeck, you have so many people watching your every step, that it could become almost paralyzing if you thought about it every day. CF: How did you escape that? BU: Mostly, we tried to envision it as a story that we'd been tossing around like it was something original and not an historical artifact, hoping this would free us up to work. This is harder than you might think. You really have to break down the piece into plot points and look at it from a practical narrative perspective. "Does this work here?" "Would this character cry here?" and so on. If you keep thinking about each question in the context of...