Novel vs. Film - MR. SKEFFINGTON

I'm reading the novel MR. SKEFFINGTON by "Elizabeth" which was originally published in 1940 and was the basis for the 1944 Warner Bros. film starring Bette Davis.

There are many differences between the novel and film - I'm about 130 pages in, and here are some:

The novel is set in England, and Fanny is actually "Lady Frances Skeffington." As the novel opens, Fanny has just had dipitheria and is approaching her 50th birthday. She has begun to "see" her former husband, Job Skeffington, around the house, but at this point he has yet to physically appear in the novel (in fact, even at 130 or so pages I still feel like I'm waiting for the story to begin).

In the film, Fanny and Job have a daughter, Young Fanny - however, they have no children in the novel, which, unlike her screen counterpart, the novel's Fanny actually regrets!

In the novel, it's mentioned that Fanny converted to Judaism when she married Job, and although she practices no particular faith now, she never "un-converted".

Those are the main points so far.

EDIT 11/15/08: Well, I finally finished it a little while ago, over breakfast at I-Hop (their Spinach-and-Mushroom omelet, smothered in Hollandaise Sauce - highly recommended!).

Essentially the novel covers the two or three weeks in Fanny's life prior to her 50th birthday, during which she reflects on the past and, whether by intent, coincidence, or contrivance, meets up with several of her previous suitors (including one who is a minister, and whose sister mistakes Fanny for a prostitute her brother is trying to help!). Although there are reflections on the past, the novel is set very much in the present (as of 1939). The circumstances of Fanny's marriage to - and divorce from - Job Skeffington are essentially a "back-story" that is merely sketched out.

The Epstein brothers turned this backstory into the film MR. SKEFFINGTON, borrowing a few elements from the novel's present-day story (the reunions with the suitors, which in the film takes place at a party she gives, and her last, much-younger suitor, who in this case Fanny discovers with a woman closer to his own age, who mistakes Fanny for his mother!). So, much credit is due the Epsteins, who ably fleshed-out the story and some of its characters, especially Job Skeffington - his courtship and marriage to Fanny as depicted in the film is entirely their creation. There's no Janie Clarkson, and nowhere in the novel does Job say "A woman is beautiful only when she is loved." In fact, Skeffington doesn't appear in the novel "in the flesh" until the final scene, which was transferred almost intact to the the film - maybe that's why my eyes were wet as I read it, because I kept seeing Davis and Rains.

Elizabeth's (Elizabeth von Armin's) other most famous novel is probably THE ENCHANTED APRIL - several of her novels were brought back into paperback print several years ago, but I've not sure if they've remained available.

You can currently view a picture of the original U.S. edition of MR SKEFFINGTON at
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=928459589&searchu rl=an%3DElizabeth%26bi%3D0%26bx%3Doff%26ds%3D30%26fe%3Don%26sortby%3D1 %26sts%3Dt%26tn%3DMr%2BSkeffington%26x%3D56%26y%3D10
click on the image to enlarge it.

The novel was very much the stuff of ladies' magazines of the day - pure fluff. The most likely comparison to a contemporary author of today would be Danielle Steel.

By the way, the title MR SKEFFINGTON is really a misnomer, as the book is hardly about him at all - Elizabeth would have done better to title the novel POOR FANNY (a phrase which recurs frequently throughout the novel) or even DARLING FANNY ("darling" being another word frequently used in the novel - in fact, it's hard to believe people ever spoke in the manner some of the novel's characters do).

"If I'd been a ranch they'd have named me the 'Bar-None'."