THE OUTSIDERS (1983)

THE FILM

FILM DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola

SCREENWRITER: Kathleen Rowell

FILM STARS: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Diane Lane, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Leif Garrett

COUNTRY: USA

THIS BOOK

AUTHOR: S.E. Hinton

TYPE: Novel

PUBLISHER: Fontana

THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1983

COUNTRY: Great Britain

COVER: Paperback

THE ORIGINAL BOOK

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above

YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1967

ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title

NOTES

GENRE: Teen Drama

WORDS:  I was a teenager when this film came out the film, and with its keen and romantic eye over socioeconomic differences between groups of kids, it struck a chord and became a favourite of mine (as did the companion piece by both the director and writer, “Rumble Fish”). To track down the book was inevitable. The film follows the book fairly closely (or, rather, if you prefer, the book informs the film intimately). In 2005 director Coppola added (some) deleted scenes that make the book and film even closer and called that version “The Outsiders: The Complete Novel”. I don’t know which I prefer … the version I saw many times as a youth sticks in the mind but the latter works better. The book is a classic and sent me out looking for other novels by Hinton at the time. You can’t mention the film without mentioning the cast, all who would have their time in the sun and then some. I, also, ended up watching every Matt Dillon movie that was released and, like every teenage boy, I fell in love with Diane Lane.

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