THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Robert Clouse
SCREENWRITER: John D. MacDonald, Ed Waters
FILM STARS: Rod Taylor, Theodore Bikel, Suzy Kendall, Jane Russell, William Smith
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: John D. MacDonald
TYPE: Novel
PUBLISHER: Pan
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1970
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1966
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Crime
WORDS: I’m a Rod Taylor fan, so, of course I have seen this film (albeit many years ago) but I recall loving its in your face violence. Oddly, though I have read many (and I mean many) John D. MacDonald books, I haven’t read this yet. All John D MacDonald books are readable and he has that knack of creating time and place that create movie images in your head, even if there wasn’t a film made from the novel. Taylor is perfect as “salvage consultant” Travis McGee (who was in a series of MacDonald books). I’m sure this film (and writer) would be a Tarantino favourite.
I trust you have the Drowning Pool by Ross McDonald somewhere in your collection. Travis Mcgee vs Lew Archer. Rod Taylor vs Paul Newman. That’s a fight I’d pay to see…
Yes, I have Drowning Pool … it’s coming up. I think a fight between the characters as portrayed by Taylor and Newman would be great but a win for Taylor, assuming the fight is punch up. Taylor’s McGee is more visceral and physical (more so than in the books) and Newman’s Archer (or Harper) is more contemplative (more so than in the books). Either way it would have been interesting to have both of them work a job together (both the characters and the actors!)