Books2Movies Club discussion

On this day in history, May 14th 1607, the first permanent settlement in today's United States is founded on the coast of Virginia, Jamestown. The first colonists were heartily welcomed by the local native tribes, but the swampy area that dwindled their population, and the reluctance to grow and harvest their own food have made the relations between the so far pampered and unaccustomed to hard work settlers and at last exhausted and offended natives strenous, to put it mildly, as the so-called Anglo-Powhatan War soon ensued, and ended after the capture of the most famous Indian princess Matoaka, popularly called Pocahontas. (Er, that was quite a sentence...)
The movie that details the formation of Jamestown's colony is of course Terrence Malick's The New World (2005), available in three versions, of which the longest lasts 172 minutes.

Indian scholars disagree with much of the story, as it is manipulated to conform the myth about the romance between Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. But, as the director says, the movie is based on many historical documents and non-fiction books, of which the most prominent would be Love and Hate in Jamestown by David A. Price.

On this day in history, May 14th 1727, a famous English portrait and landscape painter, Thomas Gainsborough was born.

His life was depicted in the movie Kitty (1945).

It is based on the novel of the same name, Kitty by Rosamond Marshall.

On this day in history, May 14th 1936, an American singer, Bobby Darin was born.
His life was presented in the biopic Beyond the Sea (2004), co-written, co-produced and directed by Kevin Spacey, to whom belongs the lead role and the singing voice.

It is mostly based on the book , Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee - By Their Son Dodd Darin. It is worth to mention that the music of the same name song, Beyond the Sea, was taken from the French song, La Mer, and the lyrics written by Jack Lawrence. Its most famous record is of course, that of Bobby Darin, and the most recent is of Robbie Williams, made specially as a cover song for Finding Nemo (2003).

P.S. The links of "the singing voice", Bobby Darin and Robbie Williams lead to YouTube music video clips. Worth hearing if you wish!

On this day in history, May 14th 1987, beautiful American actress Rita Hayworth passed away from Alzheimer's disease.

Her struggle with that heavy disease was documented in the feature-length film, I Remember Better When I Paint (2009), about "the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is viewed by society" (wikipedia).
The television movie about her life, Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess (1983) is based on John Kobal's book, Rita Hayworth.

On this day in history, May 14th 1998, another famous American singer Frank Sinatra passed away.

His life was more-less accurately depicted in a tv mini-series, Sinatra (1992), that won a Golden Globe and an Emmy, as well as a couple of nominations in other categories.

It was produced by Sinatra's youngest daughter, Tina. There are many biographies from which the script could have taken the material, but as he was at that time still alive, I guess he himself and his family were the most important sources.