It also revealed Bent as an Army officer, visiting New Orleans, Louisiana around the same period. The first miniseries did show Charles serving in the U.S. However, this plotline was present in Jakes’ 1982 novel. No such story arc had been present in the first miniseries, ”NORTH AND SOUTH”. * Charles Main and Elkhannah Bent in Texas - Another plotline that took the fans of Jakes’ saga by surprise was the revelation that Charles Main had served under Elkhannah Bent in Texas, during the late 1850s. This failure made his appearance in this third chapter rather incongruous. My only problem with Cooper’s presence in this third miniseries is that Jakes and Clauser had failed to create a back story to explain his disappearance from the first two miniseries. After all, his presence proved to be vital to the saga by the third novel. Personally, I never understood why the screenwriters of ”NORTH AND SOUTH” and ”NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II” had failed to include Cooper. Those fans who had never read Jakes’ novels had accused the producers and screenwriters of creating the character for the miniseries. His appearance finally came in the third miniseries, ”HEAVEN AND HELL”.
However, Cooper was never featured in the first two miniseries. * Cooper Main - Prodigal Son - In John Jakes’ literary saga, South Carolina planter Tillet Main and his wife Clarissa had one nephew – Charles, and four children – Orry, Ashton, Brett and the oldest offspring, Cooper (Robert Wagner). Especially since the miniseries was obviously set between 18.ĭuring my last viewing of ”HEAVEN AND HELL: North and South Book III”, I was surprised to discover that a good number of its so-called “bloopers” originated from writing mistakes that appeared in both ”NORTH AND SOUTH” and ”NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II”. Worse, Gus failed to age, as the story for ”HEAVEN AND HELL” progressed. Then they aged Gus even more, despite the fact that only a few months had passed between the second and third miniseries. Where did this come from? It was bad enough that Gus looked older than he should have in ”BOOK II”. According to Charles, Gus had been born just before the war. The third miniseries began with young Gus around the age of five.
Jakes and Clauser managed to repeat this mistake in their screenplay for ”HEAVEN AND HELL”. * Augustus “Gus” Main’s Age - In an article I had written about ”NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II”, I had pointed out that the screenwriters managed to foul up the age of Augustus Main, Charles Main’s (Kyle Chandler) only son by his first love, Augusta Main. For example, Clauser and Jakes could have used a funeral for an old comrade as an excuse to get Orry and Madeline to Richmond. This could have been achieved in simpler fashion. I realize that screenwriters Suzanne Clauser and John Jakes wanted an excuse to get Orry in Richmond so that he would be murdered by his old nemesis, Elkhannah Bent (Philip Casnoff). And yet, they left their devastated home to raise funds for a cause that would have been implausible for them to achieve. What in the hell for? The pair had a burnt home, an estate and family to care. However, ”HEAVEN AND HELL” began with Orry and Madeline staying at a friend’s home in Richmond, in order to raise funds to feed the defeated post-war South. * Orry and Madeline Main’s Presence in Richmond - BOOK II ended with Orry and Madeline Main (Patrick Swayze and Lesley Anne Down) attending the funeral of family matriarch, Clarissa Main. And after the montage, Charles wore corporal stripes again. It went like this – Charles first wore corporal stripes, a fringe jacket and then sergeant stripes. Army in the first episode.ĭuring a montage that featured Charles’ early courtship of actress Willa Parker (Rya Kihlstedt), Charles either wore corporal or sergeant stripes on his jacket. The problem with these montages was that they had exposed a blooper regarding Charles’ rank with the post-war U.S. Most of these montages centered on the Charles Main character, portrayed by Kyle Chandler.
* Use of Montages - The miniseries did not hesitate to use montages to indicate a passage of time. Below is a list of I consider to be its major flaws. But I will not deny that ”HEAVEN AND HELL” had its share of problems. Unlike many of these fans, I do not share their low opinion of the three-part miniseries. Those fans would be speaking of the 1994 television adaptation, not the novel itself. The Major Problems of “HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III” (1994)Īny fan of the John Jakes’ NORTH AND SOUTH trilogy would be more than happy to tell you that the worst entry in the author’s saga about two American families in the mid 19th century was the last one, ”HEAVEN AND HELL: North and South Book III”.
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