Doubt Play Vs Movie

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I am always intrigued when a book or play is converted into a movie. Usually there are certain key elements that are deleted or altered in the movie that can produce a different outcome. This is usually a result of the director having a different “vision” than the original author. In contrast to most, the movie Doubt is directed by the same person who wrote the play Doubt: A Parable and the screenplay for the movie, John Patrick Shanley. Because of this, the storyline itself does not change much. In both the play and the movie, there are four main characters: the unyielding Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the naïve Sister James, the suspected child molester Father Brendan Flynn, and the mother of the first black child Mrs. Muller (although…show more content…
For instance, scene two of the play is a conversation that takes place between Sister Aloysius and Sister James in the principal’s office. However, in the movie we see that this conversation is divided into three scenes. In the first scene, we see the nuns eating their dinner quietly. Sister Aloysius rings a bell, then asks Sister James what she thought Father Flynn’s sermon was about. Sister James simply replies “Doubt”. Sister Aloysius goes on to say that she is concerned about issues within St. Nicholas School. When Sister Raymond asks “Academically”, Sister Aloysius says she wasn’t inviting a guessing game. We see this conversation in scene two of the play; however, this particular part of the dialogue is between Sister Aloysius and Sister James in the principal’s office without other nuns. The second scene takes place in the cafeteria with other nuns sitting at a table eating their lunch with children chattering in the background. At this point Sister James asks Sister Aloysius what she did about William London’s nosebleed (in the play, this scene precludes the conversation mentioned above). The third scene takes place in Sister James’ classroom. Sister Aloysius talks about how she despises the use of ballpoint pens, and how it makes the children “write like…show more content…
In scene seven of the play, Father Flynn comes across Sister James sitting in the courtyard. The big difference here is when Father Flynn comes across as threatening Sister James. Father Flynn says, “… I’ve done nothing. There’s no substance to any of this. The most innocent actions can appear sinister to the poisoned mind. I had to throw that poor boy off the altar. He’s devastated. The only reason I haven’t gone to the Monsignor is I don’t want to tear apart the school. Sister Aloysius would most certainly lose her position as principal if I made her accusations known. Since they’re baseless. You might lose your place as well” (1537). Some of the dialogues throughout the movie may be missing a word or two or even a sentence, but the portion where Father Flynn is on the defensive and upset while talking to Sister James was completely
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