Check out the only site I could find that has reproduced Life Magazine’s article “A Gamble on Novices Almost Works too Well,” which reports on the recruiting and filming of the 1963 version of the movie Lord of the Flies, directed by Peter Brook. In the article, Brook discusses some of the tricks that they tried in order to convince parents to let their children be in the movie based on a book that was still relatively unknown and unpopular:

The English parents were furnished with copies of Golding’s novel and most of them read it. They were predisposed in its favor because it was, after all, an English book about an adventure in the tropics–something like The Coral Island, no doubt. None of them noticed, or at any rate remarked about the fact, that several pages at the end of the book had been artfully razored out. These pages contain a commentary which makes Golding’s meaning crystalline, and some explanations of the symbolism . . .

Janet Maslin also writes an insightful review of the newer film version from 1990, which she criticizes as a “fashionable looking film” that is, unfortunately, “thoroughly Americanized.”

NPR ran a story a few years ago titled “Looking Anew at Lord of Flies.” You may listen to it by clicking on this link.

And finally, below is a scene from The Simpson’s episode titled “Das Bus,” which we will watch as a class to learn about parody and satire. You can also click on the picture to watch the episode online.

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