Hickey & Boggs (1972) Novelization

Written by Philip Rock
1972 Popular Library paperback edition.

Based on the 1972 film HICKEY & BOGGS, written by Walter Hill and directed by Robert Culp. It starred Robert Culp, Bill Cosby as the titular heroes.  The film also boasts a pretty impressive cast of people who had not yet achieved stardom (or at least steady work)--Michael Moriarty, Ed Lauter, Vincent Gardenia, James Woods, Jack Colvin and Rosalind Cash. Also included are Robert Mandan and Bill Hickman, who appeared in a number of films around this time more or less playing the same type of character.

This film was largely unavailable in the US on home video until its 2011 DVD release.  Up until that time, you had to try to catch it when it was broadcast on TV.  I've had the book since 1980 or so, and having read it multiple times over the years, when I finally saw the movie I was surprised how different it was from the book.  It tells the same story, but while the film was rated PG the book (and original screenplay I presume) is R-rated, full of graphic violence, adult language, and multiple instances of naked people.  The movie, which was partly trying to cash in on Culp's and Cosby's I SPY success toned all of that way down.  I was disappointed when I first saw the movie, but having watched it a few more times, I can appreciate the differences.  

The book tells a depressing story about people who have largely given up on life in a fairly realistic way.  The film is probably more depressing and makes Culp's character, in particular, seem more of a mess.  The film comes across as a new wave detective story for the 70's, much in the same way that Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE (1973) did.  Altman's film is a lot more artistic than the lower-budget HICKEY & BOGGS could manage.  It has its moments, but too often there are production touches that are barely above the TV-movie level--blood is obviously bright red paint, and lighting is sometimes too flat.  Still, the film is not at all a disaster and is well worth seeking out.  Culp the director is more interested in feel, so a lot of the backstory was omitted from the film.

The book is even more depressing since it tells a more complete, tougher story.  

Excerpt:

Albert Hickey parked his battered Nova in the lot behind Musso and Frank and walked over to Las Palmas and then down to the boulevard. The August heat hammered him into the pavement. He stood well over six feet but he felt like a midget by the time he reached the corner; a fat, wet midget in a chocolate-colored suit. He stood in the meager shade of a shoe store's awning and lit a cigarette. He wanted to go across the street, across the shimmering asphalt to the other side of Hollywood Boulevard, but it seemed such a long way for a melting midget to manage.

"You got any change, mister?"

The voice came from miles away. It floated up to him, thin as heat waves on the freeway.

"What?"

"Change. . . you know."

He stared down at the girl. It was a relief to see her, not that she was worth looking at. She was pale-faced and lank-haired. A strung-out blonde in granny-style patched blue jeans. Her feet were bare and the color of the sidewalk, only dirtier. She was ginning at him, her teeth translucent, like half-cooked rice. No, not much to see, but he was looking down at her. He hadn't shrunk, after all.

"I don't have any. I spent my last quarter on a yacht."

She sneered at him the way a wolf might sneer if you offered it a grapefruit.

"Fuck it. I should have known better."

She ambled along the street toward Cherokee. There was nothing ahead of her but a lot of hot pavement and a group of pale young men handing out slips of paper that foretold the end of the world. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost, but not quite.

All right, he thought, get on with it; it's only across the street All you have to do is put one foot ahead of the other and wing it from there.