The Movie and the Book

At the Sign of The Prancing pony

This chapter in the book was very different from the movie in many ways. Overall, it was shortened a lot and many parts were also changed. First of all, the town of Bree and the Prancing Pony inn were protrayed differently in the movie. In the book, Bree was inhabited by Hobbits and Men who lived together in the town. The movie showed only men in Bree apart from Frodo and his companions. Bree was also given a rather Gothic look in the film with the night being dark and stormy. It was described in the book as being more like a nice quaint country village. Because hobbits lived in Bree, there many hobbit style holes in the hills of Bree. The only thing about Bree that the Hobbits in the story noticed as being strange was the large size of the human's buildings. Most of the following information describes the chapter in the book and ways that it differs from the film.

The Prancing Pony was owned by a large man named Barliman Butturbur, though his name is not mentioned in the film. He is assisted by some young hobbits who work for him. As they arrive, Frodo introduces them all (indroducing himself as Mr Underhill as Gandalf earlier advised him to do). They moved from the inn's parlor in to the common-room though Merry stayed behind, telling them he may go for a walk later. Barliman then introduces them to all the other guests in the common-room of the inn. These included many hobbits and men from Bree. There were also some human and dwarf travellers.

Frodo saw Strider sitting in the corner and asker Butterbur who he was, as he did in the film. After that, Strider motioned for Frodo to come over which he did. He warned Frodo to watch his friends. Frodo then realised that Pippin was telling the hobbits there about Bilbo's party and Frodo worried that Pippin might give away who he was. Strider advised him to do something so Frodo got up on a table and began speaking to those gathered. He then began singing a song he knew (and was then asked to sing it again by the well entertained crowd). As he was singing the song the second time, he fell off the table and accifently put his finger in the ring which he'd been holding in his pocket. During the uproar that followed he moved over to where Strider was sitting, who told him he wanted to speak to him later. One of the locals named Bill Ferney slipped out at this point. The inkeeper also told him that he'd like to speak to him later.

Main differences between the version in the book and the version in the movie are:
Frodo first spoke to strider before he put the ring on.
Pippin didn't give away Frodo's identity, though he was a little careless in his storytelling.
Strider didn't take Frodo away after the incident.