THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Peter Yates
SCREENWRITER: Paul Monash
FILM STARS: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats, Alex Rocco, Joe Santos
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: George V. Higgins
TYPE: Novel
PUBLISHER: Pan
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1973
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1970
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: The film title
NOTES
GENRE: Crime
WORDS: The book is written by Massachusetts born George V. Higgins. He went to college in Boston, practiced law in Boston and had an ear for accents and dialogue. His books capture the time (post war), place (Boston) and the milieu (the Boston criminal underworld – specifically the lower tier criminals). His book is heavy on dialogue … the dialogue propels the narrative. The film captures the book perfectly. Mitchum, always underrated with accents (and this is a subtle one), does a great job as Eddie Coyle, a low-level criminal without friends (the title is ironic). The supporting cast are authentic.
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I haven’t seen the movie , but the book is great. Higgins was a prosecutor for many years and had a great ear for how crooks, cops and witnesses spoke.
Coogans Trade is another great book, Brad Pitt was in the movie version which was much better than I expected.
One of the great crime novels. Pitch perfect dialogue. A master at using character voices to reveal plot and character. George V Higgins’ book is awesome.