CaptainHamhock

No, this is not an adaptation, it is more of a 'loosely based on' approach to the novel. The rough outline of the story is there, but the characters are not the same while the tone and sentiment (very important.in the novel) are largely unrelated beyond their names. The one character that does survive from the novel is the man himself, Gatsby. While I can not rate the movie itself highly, I can say that Alan Ladd was a good Gatsby, and that you would have to watch his performance in this film, to really judge him as an actor. Elisha Cook Jr. Had a small but meaningful role here, and is a surprisingly underrated actor at present by the way. Beyond Ladd's performance, there is little of value in this film, and should be recommended only to Ladd fans, and those looking to compare and contrast the different films that the novel led to. It is really too bad, as this could have been a great movie for its day. It has been suggested that The Hays Code was a problem when adapting the novel at the time. That idea has some merit, but a poor movie is still a poor movie. Missed opportunity here.

Yes, it was 'not that bad' but it was not good either. I seldom give such a luke warm rating, and I expected to like this movie much better, but it just seemed to coast along on the strength of the cast. Without giving them much to work with, beyond a premise with potential, the writing just ran out of steam even before the half way mark. Granted, the visuals were interesting, and I felt like it was influenced by Wes Anderson at times. The choice of music was good but tended to be underused instead of balanced through the run time. This ended up being something for Owen Wilson fans, and even then, it is more for a completist than something that will stand out in his list of films. Too bad, as it could have been one of his best, with just some more time spent on the writing.

This is the best of Sherlock Holmes for the small screen, and better than most for the big screen. It is equal for the main character and original stories, to the David Suchet version of the Poirot character and original stories. Nothing second rate. As Jeremy Brett did his Holmes a good ten years before Suchet did his Poirot, there is a different look to the production between the two decades, but that is no distraction. Mr. Brett brought both an eccentricity and a humanity to the main character, that is seldom seen, and rarely as well balanced as he achieved. The completeness of the series is much appreciated as well, this is no 'best of' album of the characters tales. Well done and well worth watching from start to finish.