In the casting of Amendola-popular in Italy but unknown in America-Eaton put her trust in Waring’s judgment. We were obviously very concerned about the American character and I think they were very lucky to get Brian Dennehy to do it.” “Michael Waring, the executive in charge of this production at the BBC, would call up and talk about who they were thinking of,” Eaton says.

Therefore, it was perfect for miniseries TV.”Īll major casting decisions were discussed with Eaton. “It’s a bigger book than a two-hour film. “Masterpiece” executive producer Rebecca Eaton was eager to participate in “Nostromo.” “It’s very much in the ‘Mobil Masterpiece Theatre’ tradition of classic books adapted for the screen,” she says. If I choose to do Conrad, I want to do Conrad the way he is.” “With ‘Nostromo,’ they would have been asking me naturally and legitimately to bend some of the characters and stories. Ghia decided not to take “Nostromo” to a commercial TV network because, he says, “they need another kind of material. The big thing to do was to tell the story in a line.”īesides the BBC, Ghia also went into partnership with RAI in Italy, and TVE in Spain and WGBH Boston, the PBS station which presents “Masterpiece Theatre.” It doesn’t tell you the story in a straight line. “The novel goes back and forth over 25 years. “I don’t believe the book was properly edited by the author himself,” Ghia says. Two years and four drafts later, Hale completed the script. “I found this writer in England and when I started to have a clear idea of what could be done, I went to the BBC,” Ghia says.Īfter making his arrangement with the BBC in early 1992, Ghia took writer John Hale on a monthlong trip to South America “to have him fully emerged in the world of ‘Nostromo.”’ Meanwhile, Ghia set out on his own to do a TV miniseries. This has been the main subject in the life of Robert Bolt.”īut Lean, even with the help of writer Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”) and Bolt, could not get the project off the ground. “The same person who suggested it to me! Robert was a total fanatic about ‘Nostromo’ because it deals with the corruption of the human being and an extraordinary moral tale. “David Lean was originally suggested to make ‘Nostromo’ by Robert Bolt,” Ghia says, laughing. Ghia wasn’t the only filmmaker intrigued by “Nostromo.” The late director David Lean, who had collaborated with Bolt on “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Doctor Zhivago” and “Ryan’s Daughter,” announced in the late 1980s he was planning a feature version.

Nostromo novel