Dallas (1978) Novelization

Based on the original television mini-series written by David Jacobs, Arthur Bernard Lewis, Camille Marchetta and Virginia Aldridge. It starred Larry Hagman, Ken Kercheval, Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Barbara Bel Geddes, Howard Keel, Victoria Principal, Charlene Tilton and Jim Davis.

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Dallas was an American television series that debuted in 1978 as a five-episode mini-series. It detailed the lives and loves of the Ewing family, and did so well that it was continued as a series. It ultimately ran for fourteen seasons, ending in 1990. Dallas was the prototypical Prime-Time soap opera, and it opened the door to a variety of similar shows in the 1980s such as Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest. Dallas was arguably the best of these and was enormously popular in the early 1980's. If you are of a certain age, the question "Who Shot J.R.?" should resonate. Along the way, it even courted controversy by bringing back a character who had been killed off by declaring that the season that occurred while they were off the show was a dream by one of the characters. I watched the show in the 1979-1983 time-frame and remember it fondly.

What is it one wants from a novelization? They were never meant to be anything other than advertising for whatever movie or TV Show they were based on. In all honesty, most are not good reads. So why do people read them? For me, it was always looking for the experience of the film, but with more. More story, more characterization, more dialog--something that gives more insight into the source material. Some novelizations have scenes that were ultimately omitted from the released version; some are based on earlier versions of the screenplay, so they can differ, sometimes substantially. And some are expanded by the author into something altogether different. This last category is pretty rare. You need a few things to line up for something like that to work: the author has to have the leeway to add new material, they have to be invested enough to add new material, and they have to have the talent to add it.

The novelization for Dallas falls into the last category. The author has systematically revised the world depicted in the screenplays into something earthier, perverse, and twisted.  This is not a world where good and bad are clearly defined—everyone exhibits dark tendencies. It's a world where everyone walks around looking to get it on, and where murder is mentioned casually.  I think it is the author's experience writing erotica that powers this transformation, although this is not to say that the novelization is just about sex.  There are other factors at work as well that complete the reimagining.

Lee Raintree is a pseudonym for Con Sellers, an author who published more than 230 books using more than 60 pseudonyms1. He specialized in adventure, historical romances, and erotica. He was hired by Dell Books to write a novelization of the original five-part mini-series, which he wrote in six weeks. The book was successful, ultimately selling over 300,000 copies by 1979.  He passed away in 19922.

This is very much a product of the 1970s. The men are REAL men, the women are all big-breasted, the language is rough. And my word, there is a lot of sex. Throw in some of the casual staples of the decade as well--misogyny and racism--and you have a rollicking potboiler.

It technically tells the same story as the mini-series, but the author has expanded the parameters dramatically. The book covers all five parts of the mini-series, so you would expect it to be a little longer than typical, but the first 100 pages take place before the mini-series even starts. These first 100 pages are the complete history of the Ewing family--how Jock and Miss Ellie got together and how the family rose to power. This backstory helps set up some plot points covered in the mini-series, but also establishes the world we are going to read about, which is ultimately quite different from the television version. 

You will recognize most of the characters, but there are some divergences as well, and it is in these divergences that the book is most surprising. There are numerous plot points in the book that simply do not exist in the television counterpart. Some of these plot points are character expansions, but some change the overall story being told. I am reluctant to detail them as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who wants to read this, but the world of Dallas depicted in this book is darker, more savage, and ultimately realistic than what could acceptably be shown on television in the late 1970s in America. Murder, rape, extensive profanity, and pretty explicit love scenes abound.

True, the men are misogynistic, but the author is not. He knew who his target audience was--women--and the most dramatic changes made to the story involve the women. They are, with one exception, described as intelligent, strong-willed, and most importantly as women who enjoy sex and are not afraid to admit it. Miss Ellie is shown as a primary partner to Jock in the early years, helping shape how the business grew while she bore him three children. When criminals break into the Ewing house near the end of the story, the television version has the women cowering until the menfolk arrive just in time. The book version has Miss Ellie getting her daddy's Colt .45s and taking care of the criminals herself. Which is entirely fitting given the backstory established in the book, and which is completely absent in the television version.

I am not saying this is high art but it is consistently readable, entertaining and tells the source story much better than the TV show itself.  You can't can't ask for more than that. 

1. https://lib.usm.edu/spcol/exhibitions/item_of_the_month/iotm_sep_2013
2. https://www.lmtribune.com/obituaries/author-con-sellers-dies-at-69-6383c41c

The Untouchables (1987) Novelization

Chicago. . . the 1930s. . . gangsters. All the action, all the violence, all the good guys and bad guys that made The Untouchables one of the most popular TV series comes this summer in paperback and on the big screen. The Untouchables is sure to do for the movie tie-in business what Elliot Ness did for Chicago--clean up! The movie stars Robert DeNiro, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery and is scheduled for release June 5, 1987.

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The author of the novelization is a long-time mystery writer, so he does a decent job of fleshing out the characters and telling the story well.  It is obviously based on an early draft of the script, and lacks the great style that director Brian DePalma brought to the film.  Still, a good read and fills in much detail that is not in the film.

Last Tango In Paris (1972) Novelization

Last Tango in Paris (Italian: Ultimo tango a Parigi; French: Le Dernier Tango à Paris) is a 1972 erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud, and portrays a recently widowed American who begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 14, 1972, and grossed $36 million in its U.S. theatrical release, making it the seventh highest-grossing film of 1973. The film's raw portrayal of sexual violence and emotional turmoil led to international controversy and drew various levels of government censorship in different jurisdictions. Upon release in the United States, the MPAA gave the film an X rating. United Artists Classics released an R-rated cut in 1981. In 1997, after the film became part of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library, the film was reclassified as NC-17.

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As a novelization it hews pretty closely to the script, and offers some backstory not found in the film.  It does not adequately convey the power of the film, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Torn Curtain (1966) Novelization

TORN CURTAIN

Richard Wormser

Based on a screenplay by Brian Moore

1966

A razor-edged spy thriller that puts a senator's daughter in the arms of a traitor...and eccentric countess in control of an extraordinary escape...a left-wing ballerina on stage for the secret police...and a top U.S. physicist in a violent cross-fire of deadly equations...

Paul Newman, Julie Andrews in Alfred Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN

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A lesser Hitchcock film, TORN CURTAIN nevertheless still works well enough to be an agreeable time killer (your mileage may vary, of course). The film's biggest problem is one of casting. Newman's method acting approach clashes with the escapist nature of the plot, and he and Andrews have zero chemistry. This novelization appears to have been based on a version of the script that was subsequently revised but the changes are not dramatic. The film has a couple of notable set pieces--there is a visually striking sequence in an East German Museum for instance, and a fight scene notable for its realistic violence. In the novelization, the museum is casually mentioned in one sentence. The fight scene is if anything more intense than what is in the film, as it is described as significantly gorier than what was allowable in 1966. All in all, not a bad read.

The Bad News Bears (1976) Novelization

The beer-guzzling big league has-been --

A team of bungling half-pints --

Together they made baseball history...

Sort of!

It was the greatest challenge of Buttermaker's fading career--to whip this bruised and battered gang of "jerks, foreigner, sissies, nose-pickers, delinquents and clumsy little runts" into a winning team.

Impossible? Maybe.

But a thirsty man can always use a few bucks. And he did have one secret weapon--Amanda, the spitball wizard!

***

This is somewhat different than the final film. The most notable difference is that the children do not use profanity. Whether this element was added during filming or a later script I don't know. The film is far funnier as a result. Buttermaker, played by Walter Matthau in the film, is described as a 35-year-old in the novelization--more like Chevy Chase--and is again not as humorous as what ended up in the film.

It tells the same basic plot, but we get glimpses of the Bears at home, all of which amps up the sentimental nature of the story. The film wisely plays down sentimentality and is all the better for it.

Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow (1975) Novelization

Who was THE SCARECROW?

Was the country parson, Dr. Syn, really the leader of a band of smugglers? John Banks, the judge's son, knew for sure. But he was sworn to secrecy, just like all the "Gentlemen" who were helping the poor of England pay the taxes of the king.

Follow the exciting adventures of Doctor Syn alias THE SCARECROW in a super book based on the Walt Disney movie.

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This does a reasonable job of conveying the somewhat complex story of the 1963 Disney film DR. SYN, ALIAS THE SCARECROW. That film ran 98 minutes. An alternate 129 minute version ran on the weekly Magical World of Disney as "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh". Not having seen the shorter theatrical version, I can say that this novelization matches the Television version pretty closely.

Big Jake (1971) Novelization

In this action-filled western, John Wayne stars as Big Jake McCandles, a husband who hasn't seen his wife (Maureen O'Hara) in over 18 years. But he returns home after his grandson is kidnapped by a vicious outlaw gang. While the law gives chase in rickety automobiles, Jake saddles up with an Indian scout (Bruce Cabot) and a box of money - even though paying a ransom isn't how Jake plans to exact good old frontier justice. Spiced with humor and first-class gunfights, this is a vivid depiction of the last days of the wild frontier. Wayne's oldest son produced Big Jake and two other sons, Patrick and John Ethan, appear in it. The film also marks the second time Richard Boone and John Wayne worked together and the fifth time Wayne worked with Maureen O'Hara.

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This novelization is somewhat different than the film. I am not a fan of the film, finding it one of the lesser John Wayne films--too jokey and has the look of a made for television movie. This novelization reads much more seriously. When I took another look at the film after converting this, I was surprised to see how brightly lit the film is. The book comes across as 'darker' in every aspect--it reads more like HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER than the PG-rated family film the movie turned out to be. The violence is more realistic, and Wayne's character is tougher in a more realistic way. The absence of the jokey music score also helps change the tone. Additional work was done to the script, as the final film is a great deal more sentimental than this book is.

Worth reading.

Performance (1970) Novelization

Written by William Hughes

1970 Award Books paperback edition.

Based on the 1970 film PERFORMANCE, written by Doanld Cammell and directed by Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg. It starred James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg.

PERFORMANCE was made at a time when the rules of what you could do in a film were loosening. It was originally rated X in the US, before that rating became synonymous with pornography.  There is nothing explicit in the film and it has subsequently been re-rated as R. It tells the story of a gangster on the run and a rock star who takes him in.  The film's story is all Donald Cammell, while Nicolas Roeg handled the cinematography and editing, which like Roeg's WALKABOUT (1971) and DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) is at times non-linear and impressionistic, especially in the second half.  The film remains powerful precisely because it is ultimately ambiguous as to what really happens.

The novelization tells the story much straighter than the film does, in part because the film changed during the filming of it.  The plot is relayed in a linear fashion which robs the story of much of if not all of the mystique that the film has.  It is not uninteresting, however, especially if you are very familiar with the film.  The sex and violence is still there, which perhaps hit harder due to it not being stylized.  The book explains much of what goes on clearly, and the ending is very different in execution than the film, and perhaps in story.  But, as noted above, the plot of the second half of the film seemed to be re-shaped during the filming.

Well worth reading if you are a fan of the film.

Excerpt:

Number twenty-two Melbury Terrace was different from the other houses in the drab street, looked as if it belonged in another world. It was larger than the others and set back from the road, a small patch of waste round the front, obviously once a garden, but beyond recall. It looked as if it continued round the back of the house.

It was the colour that really set number twenty-two apart. Though the house looked in a poor state of repair, it had been painted in bright clashing colours---even some of the windows were painted over in deep rich patterns. On the, side of the cracked steps that led up to the front door stood a series of stone idols, eastern, Chas guessed, erotica from a monumental mason.

He spoke quietly. "Jesus wept. You've seen the lot now What a bloody Kazi."

He walked across the road and mounted the steps to the front door. The letter-box was open wide, crammed with mail. Automatically, Chas extracted some of it: air-mailed copies of the Village Voice, circulars, bills, mainly bills. He noticed that there were no English newspapers either in the slot or on the mat. He felt relieved, all the more chance of safe refuge until he could get hold of Farrell and get some of his "rainy day" money.

Chas tried to door, but it was locked. He stepped back down the steps and looked up to the first floor windows. Nothing. Most of the curtains were drawn, proclaiming that the house was still asleep. Chas put his ear to the letter-box, there was no sound from within.

Making sure that his shades were on straight and his camel's hair coat was fastened to avoid scrutiny, he leant on the bell, and was happy to hear it peel loud and long somewhere in the depths of the building.

It was seven thirty when Charles Devlin rang the bell of Turner's house, and life was never going to be the same again.

The Wind and the Lion (1975) Novelization

Written by John Milius
1975 Award Books paperback edition.

Based on the 1975 film THE WIND AND THE LION, written and directed by John Milius. It starred Sean Connery, Candace Bergen, and Brian Keith.

I have not watched this movie in a great many years, but I remember liking it quite a bit. I don't remember the movie well enough to know how close the novelization is to it. According to Wikipedia it is slightly different from the film, with a few extra scenes.

It is a short book, but effective.

The Gauntlet (1977) Novelization

Written by Michael Butler & Dennis Shryack

1977 Corgi Books paperback edition.

Based on the 1977 film THE GAUNTLET, written by Michael Butler & Dennis Shryack and directed by Clint Eastwood. It starred Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke and Pat Hingle.

I have to admit that I've always been a fan of Clint Eastwood's 1970s films. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of them. A lot of this is due to having seen the majority of them at the right age. I say this, understanding that most of his films from the 1970's are problematic for modern sensibilities, but I've always found most of them enjoyable. KELLY'S HEROES, the DIRTY HARRY films (DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE and THE ENFORCER), PLAY MISTY FOR ME, THE EIGER SANCTION, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, heck even EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE are all films I find myself watching over and over again. Aside from JOSEY WALES, very few of the above could be considered 'artistic'--that isn't what Eastwood did. This is not to say there are not artistic streaks in in work--there are, but for the most part Eastwood was about selling movie tickets.

Alas, THE GAUNTLET is not one of Eastwood's 70's movie that I enjoy. I try it again every few years but every time I watch it I remember why I don't like it--it requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief to go along with the plot. In a way, it takes the morality of a Western film and transplants it to a modern-day setting, but I find it a bit too much. Your mileage may vary of course.

The novelization tells the story much better than the film does. It adds many little touches that try to keep things believable and also include two lengthy flashbacks that more fully explain the two lead characters. 

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) Novelization

Written by Joe Millard
1974 Award Books paperback edition.

Based on the 1974 film THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT, written and directed by Michael Cimino. It starred Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis.

THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT is something of an outlier to the films that Clint Eastwood made in the 1970's. True, it is a 'caper' film and enjoyable enough, but it hits differently than your typical Eastwood movie for a couple of reasons. First, screenwriter and director Michael Cimino brings elements not usually found in the Eastwood films of this era, such as a visual style that shows flashes of what he would bring to his next two films, THE DEER HUNTER and HEAVEN'S GATE. The landscapes of the Southwest are a major part of this film's overall character. Second, the acting is way above average. Jeff Bridges is outstanding in his role, and the chemistry between him and Eastwood is engaging, believable and affecting. George Kennedy is just as good.

The novelization tells the story but lacks the character details that emerged during filming--the screenplay had a fair amount of humor in it that the actors enhanced either through improvisation or at the direction of Cimino on the set. The book does fill in more of the backstory of the characters. 

Eyewitness (1981) Novelization

Written by John Minahan.  The film was written by Steve Tesich and directed by Peter Yates.  It starred William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer and James Woods. 

This is not your typical novelization. It's written in the first person from the main character's perspective (William Hurt) and uses what could be described as a method-acting approach. The opening chapters are a deep dive into everything about the main character and is so divergent from the final film that I initially thought that the author used an early, radically different version of the script. The first-person narrative imposes changes on the story, as the book only recounts what the main character experiences. As a result, some scenes featuring Sigourney Weaver's character are omitted; they are covered in dialogue later to maintain continuity. The book eventually veers into the lane that aligns more closely with the final film. This was an interesting approach and it made me want to see the film again.

From the back cover:

If he had seen the killer, he'd know why the killer wants him dead.

EYEWITNESS.

Daryll Deever didn't see a thing that night. But whoever brutally snuffed out the diamond dealer in Daryll's building obviously thinks Daryll knows too much. So do the police. The only thing Daryll does know for sure is that his best friend had a strong motive for murder. But if his friend did do it, why does he also want to get rid of Daryll? And why resort to such sadistic means? The one hope left in Daryll's life now is TV newswoman Tony Sokolow. And Tony is closer to the killer than she thinks. So very close, in fact, that his next move will bring him near enough to kill again.

Hanover Street (1978) Novelization

Amid war-shattered London, three extraordinary people play out their lives in a haunting novel of love, passion and violence...Halloran, the reckless American bomber whose fiery affair with the Englishwoman gave him something to live for. Sellinger, the mild-mannered British agent who risked his live trying to prove himself to his wife. Margaret, the woman they both loved. Beautiful, brave, unforgettable--she was torn by her desire for the two men.

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Written by Maureen Gregson, based upon a screenplay by Peter Hyams.  This is a good novelization for a film that has a good cast—Harrison Ford, Christopher Plummer and Lesley-Anne Down—and a great music score by John Barry. The screenplay by director Peter Hyams is the weak link here, with some major plot points poorly handled. There is also a tonal problem with the film, as it wobbles unsatisfactorily between old-fashioned love story and action film. 

Still, the film is not uninteresting. Harrison Ford shows glimpses of the action star he would become.  The bombing raid sequences are well done via miniatures.  The film obviously had a big budget and it looks like it all made it on the screen.  Despite its faults, it still makes us care about the lead characters.

The novelization fleshes out much more than the movie can, and as a result the story plays out more naturally. We learn more about everyone, and war-time London is described with reasonable realism. The script's big issues are still weak here--Harrison Ford snapping on his final flight still seems awfully unmotivated, for instance--but I ended up liking the novel more than the film. Your mileage may vary, of course.