Hardboiled Hollywood: The Origins of the Great Crime Films [Hardcover]

Max Decharne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

The Big Sleep, The Godfather, Little Caesar, LA Confidential—behind these classic films there’s a story waiting to be told, and pulp novels, bank robbers, and serial killers have all played a part in shaping crime cinema. But after Hollywood throws these elements into the blender—along with the demands of censors, backers, and the frequently rampant egos of stars and directors—the finished film often bears little resemblance to its source. Real crimes are often considered by filmmakers to be too brutal, and their perpetrators too unattractive. When Sam Peckinpah filmed The Getaway, for instance, the novel’s pessimistic ending had to be changed to suit the tastes of its glittering stars, Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. Packed with fascinating facts and anecdotes, Hardboiled Hollywood delves into the origins of the greatest crime films ever, placing them in the context of their times and the studio system that produced them.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

"When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand" was Raymond Chandler's advice to pulp-fiction writers. Chandler's witticism is central to the main theme of this freewheeling work of film criticism and social history. Decharne shows how the guys with guns have jump-started the Hollywood money machine from The Great Train Robbery on, despite screams of protest from pressure groups like the Hays Office and the Legion of Decency. Thirteen chapters focus on classic individual crime films, ranging from Little Caesar to L.A. Confidential. Each chapter analyzes the ways movies translated the news (Chicago gangsters, the Mafia, serial killers) into hardboiled dramas and gives fascinating details about filming and the struggles over censorship. With reprints of lurid pulp-novel covers and movie posters and a bibliography including books, articles, and the commentary from Get Carter and L.A. Confidential. Vastly entertaining and informative. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Vastly entertaining and informative.” -- Booklist

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: No Exit; 1st ed edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 018424370X
• ISBN-13: 978-0184243707
• ASIN: 184243070X
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,168,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Thoroughly British, February 6, 2005

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hardboiled Hollywood: The Origins of the Great Crime Films (Hardcover)

The book is lively and entertaining from beginning to end. As an examination of the ways in which filmmakers have transformed texts both classic and pulp into resonant crime movies, HARDBOILED HOLLYWOOD has a bite and a fervor to it that other books with blander approaches have missed. What a quirky selection of movies he calls the "Great Crime Films" It's a strange classification anyhow, for what links THE GODFATHER to PSYCHO--yes, both of them have killings in them, but other than that they're here because the author, Max Decharne, has a thing for them.

He doesn't bring that much new to the table in his chapters on those two films, but dig a little closer and you'll find some interesting commentary on films by Val Guest, Mike Hodges, and John Boorman. Yes, three British directors whose work in the noir field is often slighted. But for Decharne, HELL IS A CITY, GET CARTER and POINT BLANK rank right up there with THE BIG SLEEP and KISS ME, DEADLY, and as he explains it, his reasons are often cogent. And the gossip he gives is fascinating. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the career of Ted Lewis, the man who wrote the novel on which GET CARTER (the Michael Caine version, not the Sylvester Stallone version) was based.

Decharne always has a sly kind of wit which produces a chuckle every page or so--no bellylaughs, just one brief "ha" and then another.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind-the-scenes examination of the origins of these tales, October 10, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardboiled Hollywood: The Origins of the Great Crime Films (Hardcover)

Film fans with an affinity for crime films and a host of such viewing under their belts won't want to miss Max Decharne's studious Hardboiled Hollywood, a studied behind-the-scenes examination of the real-world origins of these tales. Real life crimes were often considered too brutal to turn into films, so Hollywood modified the stories for screen and sensitive audiences, creating fictional couples, classic good/evil confrontations, and embellishments which went beyond reality. Decharne's guide provides a change to compare actual sources with finished film results and is a 'must' for avid viewers.