Catcher: The movie!
Scott Wachtler (sfvat@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us)
Wed, 09 Jul 1997 16:12:19 -0400 (EDT)
After reading all the posts about Catcher as a movie, I
remembered a story a once read in Spy magazine. What I'm about
to say is going to sound very strange, but it's true. I read it
in a few places. A few years ago Spy did a story about Jerry Lewis
and some of the strange ideas he's pitched to producers for
movies. One was a surreal WWII movie about a clown hired to
entertain children in a Nazi Concentration camp before they were
to be gassed(!) and the other was his adaptation of Catcher In
The Rye with good ol Jerry (Hello, LADY!!) Lewis as Holden!
When I read the article I thought it had to be a one of Spy's
Pranks so I went to the local library and looked through a few of
Jerry Lewis's bio's and sure enough it was true. He actively
searched out Salinger and even had a few meetings with him, but
nothing, thankfully, came of it. Can you imagine if that had
happened? I think the world would have been a different place.
One thing is certain. The French would have loved it!
Has anyone else ever heard this story?
Scott Wachtler
BTW: I wouldn't be opposed to a movie of CITR, but I doubt it could be be
as good as the book.