Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite classic novels, thanks to relatable characters and their timeless conflict between the dreams of the young and the reality of adulthood. Imagine my surprise when I heard that our team discovered that the file for the movie script adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995) was almost completely lost.
The renowned writer and actor Emma Thompson shared the story of how she almost lost the screenplay to the incredible movie adaptation (and, potentially, even her Oscar) if not for her friend and fellow actor, Stephen Fry. Inspired by success cases, like when our experts managed to save the data from a completely crashed MacBook, and the Toy Story 2 (1999) example of the importance in keeping backups, we realized that the data recovery story behind this classic movie should be shared as well.
What happened to the screenplay
The story was told by Emma Thompson herself, when she was a guest in the British comedy quiz show QI Series XL Series F, episode 11: “Film”.
The group starts a discussion on Thompson’s awards, including how she actually won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for the movie Sense and Sensibility. An award that Stephen Fry jokingly claims he deserved as well. And that is indeed a good point, since he saved the script.
Using their acting and comedic talent, Thompson and Fry recount the incident hilariously. Thompson says that she felt panicked when the text on her computer screen suddenly turned into “just funny shapes” and became like “hieroglyphs” with “not words” or anything that she could recognize.
How Stephen Fry helped restore Sense & Sensibility’s screenplay
Getting nowhere herself or even with the help of the IT person she consulted, Thompson turned to Stephen Fry, who was already a known aficionado of Apple computers. She took the computer in a taxi to his house, still in her nightgown, where he spent seven hours painstakingly working to restore the corrupted file.
For the joy of every Austen fan and movie enthusiast, the script was successfully recovered.
Was Stephen Fry in the movie’s credits?
Even at the start of her story, Emma Thompson agrees with Stephen Fry that he should have also won the Oscar for the screenplay, given his part in the file recovery. And, even though he didn’t share the award, the movie’s credits include the producer’s special thanks to Fry for his contribution.
Stephen Fry celebrates his birthday on August 24th, and this is a humble homage to this great man who brings joy to many people with his work. Thank you, Sir Stephen Fry, and happy birthday from your fans at the SalvageData team!