Casting & Look

This is one of the few movies that looked exactly like I pictured it. All the time I was reading the book back in the '60s, I pictured Paul Newman as Hank. I also had a picture in my mind of his father, and when the movie came out, I was like, "Aah! Henry Fonda! Yes! That's the guy!" So I was very pleased with their casting. Leland, not so much. I pictured someone much smaller and frail. If I recall correctly from the book, the mother named him after Leland Stanford, Jr., who was a sickly child. Years later, I'm perfectly fine with it, but at the time I was disappointed he didn't look like I pictured. And the women in the house were off as well. I didn't picture Viv, for instance, as so well put together.

But the house, the river, the forest, the town, the people, all looked like I pictured them. The only other movie I can think of right now that was so spot-on, for me, was Harry Potter.

For people who had read the book first, how did they compare for you?

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"Don't make me kill you again."