Let's Tie One In!

This cover shot is of the secretary that resides in my living room. It's not perfect, but it's my pride and joy because I rescued it, filthy and dirt-ridden, from an antique market and cleaned it up/restored it to its warm mahogany finish. Inside is an array of vintage paperback books that have been carefully chosen because - me being me, after all - each one is connected in one way or another to a movie. I have scores more of these in boxes upstairs, but I didn't want to cram the thing full.

I'm not your usual "the book was so much better than the movie" sort of person. For one thing, I NEVER read fiction, EVER, unless it's a book I want to read because I've already seen the movie and want to explore the movie's subjects in greater depth and expand upon what I've already enjoyed. I'm a movie first, book later person, so movies are virtually never likely to disappoint me in their adaptation from the book. (I voraciously read non-fiction, however, with rarely less than two or three showbiz-related books going at once!)

All this is to say that today we're going to look at an array of books connected with a movie (or TV program), the tie-in paperback novel. These are in some cases books that were later transformed into movies or books that have stemmed from the movie's screenplay or at least were re-issued specifically to conjoin with a movie. In some cases, someone has been hired to read the screenplay and adapt the story into book form as a way of promoting the film. (Often, these would be released to bookstores prior to the films being released into theaters.)

These aren't necessarily favorites of mine, just covers I felt the need to share because of some degree of interest or another which I'll describe in the captions. Now let's turn the page to the books themselves!

I loved this artwork of Claudette Colbert from a movie I had never even heard of, Sleep, My Love (1948.) Seeing as it's directed by Douglas Sirk there's a strong chance I would love it!

This one was an existing novel adapted for the screen. I included the back cover because it contained a few more pictures from this obscure movie. (Note that all three renditions of Colbert - front & back - feature her favored left side!)

The lineage of this one is even more convoluted! Kathryn Forbes wrote a book called Mama's Bank Account that was turned into a stage play called I Remember Mama that was then made into a movie. So the book Mama's Bank Account was reissued to promote the movie I Remember Mama (1948.)

We like Myrna Loy (and a dimple-chinned Robert Mitchum is welcome, too) so we offer this promotional version of The Red Pony (1949.)

I liked the cover art chosen for this tie-in to The Unsuspected (1947.) Apart from the trio of startled stars in the foreground, note Audrey Totter's looming visage in the background.

One of the nice things about tie-in books such as this one is that it gave the owner a color portrait of the stars from a black & white movie. Thing is, I think this photo from Night and the City (1950) is flip-flopped! If you visit the film's imdb.com page, you see a source photo that is facing the other way and looks more like the stars in question.

Likewise, this book let readers enjoy a rare shot of Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor in color for Father of the Bride (1950), a black & white movie.

This tie-in has "other adventures" listed along with Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) and doesn't even list an author on the cover! The film was done from a Leon Uris screenplay that had been "suggested by" an article someone wrote on the topic. It's always struck me as amusing that allegedly Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster couldn't make heads nor tails of their characters until they determined that the only way to play them was as two men in love with one another who didn't know how to express it!

Here we finally have an example of the outright tie-in novel, in which Owen Aherne was pressed to turn the screenplay from An Affair to Remember (which was already based on the prior screenplay for Love Affair, 1939) into book form.

Here's a shot of our Joan Collins, sans much make-up, in Sea Wife (1957) with a five o'clock-shadowed Richard Burton. This is the one in which she played a nun shipwrecked on an island with several men who don't readily know of her vocation. Censors wouldn't allow a kiss, so this romantic palm tree had to do.

This tie-in novel for The Tall T (1957), much like the one for Gunfight above, also has no author's name and (in smmmaaallll print) likewise says "and other western adventures." Burt kennedy had written the screenplay though it was actually based upon a story by Elmore Leonard, known for his crime stories.

I included this back cover because of its nice photo of rugged (by now leathery!) Randolph Scott and his female costar Maureen O'Sullivan who played Jane in several Tarzan movies and later gave the world Mia Farrow.

Fun portraiture of some of the stars of Guys and Dolls (1955), though chief female star Jean Simmons is barely visible, tucked behind some gamblers, and Vivian Blaine is yelling at Marlon Brando instead of at her perennial fiance Frank Sinatra!

This is another commissioned "novel" based on a screenplay that was written by Terence Rattigan. Even though The V.I.P.s (1963) was filmed after the infamous and tumultuous Cleopatra (1963), it was completed and released first, allowing it to capitalize on the world famous adulterous relationship of its stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

A color photo adorns this reissue of Someret Maugham's story for the 1964 black & white movie Of Human Bondage. The earlier 1934 film with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis seems to remain the definitive screen adaptation.

Did everyone know that Hud (1963) was based upon a Larry McMurtry novel called Horseman, Pass By? I didn't.  I bet there were quite a few Paul Newman fans who were happy to have this photo of him even though he never intended for his character to be an object of adoration. He considered the character deplorable!

I would be interested to know if this tie-in novel for Harper (1966) has been augmented from the original novel the movie was based upon called The Moving Target. You see, that Ross McDonald book was one of a series about a character named Archer. Paul Newman wanted his character's name to start with an H. So did someone (in those pre-computer days) go through the whole novel and change it from Archer to Harper for this paperback tie-in??

I always enjoyed the 1967 movie Warning Shot, which was made-for-TV but released to theaters instead. Apart from a decent male cast, it manages to also include Stefanie Powers, Joan Collins, Eleanor Parker and Lillian Gish into its storyline!

I thought this was just about the most bizarre selection of a cover photo for Julie Christie's Petulia (1968) considering how great she looks throughout much of the rest of the movie. This portrait reveals nothing, nor is it in any way enticing.

More satisfying is this tie-in for Fahrenheit 451 (1966) in which Christie played dual roles, one being Oskar Werner's shallow wife and the other his deep-feeling, but forbidden lover.

The same man hired to write The V.I.P.s was enlisted to forge this tie-in paperback for Move Over, Darling (1963.) This one was complicated as well for the script of the movie was reworked from the unfinished Marilyn Monroe picture Something's Got to Give, which was already a reworking of the original movie My Favorite Wife (1940)!

This is an obscure one. Surprise Package (1960) has never come my way and I don't know if I'd ever even heard of it before! This book is actually the source novel A Gift from the Boys by humorist Art Buchwald, which is likely a bit different from the screenplay.

As much as I like Paul Newman, I've never been able to generate much interest in 1963's A New Kind of Love (even with its setting in the fashion industry!) I did think the cut-outs of him with wife Joanne Woodward were amusingly strange for this novel derived from the Melville Shavelson screenplay.

You know the sort of laugh you sometimes get in which you start gagging and falling over because it's just THAT funny that you - literally - lose it? Well the first memory I ever have of laughing that way occurred when I was a tyke watching a re-release of Lt. Robinson Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966.) I bet you now I could watch the entire thing in stone-faced silence, but back in the day I recall almost collapsing to the floor of the movie theater during the harried climax. Interestingly, the story for this movie was conceived by Retlaw Yensid. Consider his name in reverse if you will!

This is another instance of a "novel" being completely generated from an original screenplay (Big Jake, 1971) just to seem at first glance as if the movie were based on a book. Interesting that the cover photo practically shows the ending of the film!

Same basic deal, "See the film, READ THE NOVEL" though there never was a prior novel. This is a book derived from the screenplay of The Last of Sheila (1973.) It would be interesting to see how the book handles some of the visuals of the film, which lent the viewer clues to the mystery throughout.

I had to include this one because it is listed on the cover as a "smash hit movie" and yet I have never, ever heard of this film! I like to think I'm up on '70s cinema, but somehow the 1975 "blockbuster" Whiffs has escaped me till now...

This is the lesser-known sequel to Westworld (1973) called Futureworld (1976.) It was one of the scarce leading feature film roles for Blythe Danner. She and costar Peter Fonda were later reunited in a charming Hallmark Hall of Fame TV-movie called Back When We Were Grownups (2004.) This tie-in came with 16 pages of photos from the movie which, for me back then in pre-computer days, was a huge reason to purchase any book of this type.

Freaky Friday (1976) is one of those rather rare instances in which a book's author, in this case Mary Rodgers, was permitted to also write the movie's screenplay! So often, the original writer is prevented from doing so for one reason or another.

This is another one like that. Cameron Crowe, who'd gone undercover as a high school student as research, wrote a book about his observances and then was able to also pen the screenplay for Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982.)

As you can guess, I have all the various tie-in novels for 1970s disaster movies (and the novels that led to Airport, 1970, The Poseidon Adventure, 1972, The Towering Inferno, 1974, and so on.) The Cassandra Crossing (1976) is an extremely unique sort of approach to the genre with a wonderfully eclectic cast.

I couldn't resist sharing this Italian edition of the paperback, which (like so many non-U.S. posters as well) features a far more dramatic cover photo. It stands to reason that the Carlo Ponti-produced movie would feature Sophia Loren most prominently in the Italian market.

Turning to TV now, we find a novel inspired by the hit show I Spy (1965-1968) which features some fun artwork with the show's title formed by stone blocks.

One of Robert Wagner's successful shows was It Takes a Thief (1968-1970), loosely inspired by the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film To Catch a Thief, which starred Cary Grant.

Here's a faceful of David Carradine as Caine, the lead character in the series Kung Fu (1972-1975.)

After seeing this tie-in paperback about The Brady Bunch (1969-1974), I'm starting to wonder if maybe Jan Brady (the omitted Eve Plumb) might have had some grounds for feeling like she was always being left out or otherwise overlooked!

Here we have a case of a truly popular TV show being advertised as such on a book cover, yet not too many people are familiar with the show. The reason? Bridget Loves Bernie (1972-1973) was about a Catholic girl married to a Jewish boy and despite it being #5 in the Nielsen ratings it was canceled after 24 episodes. Strident protests (even threats) from several Jewish organizations caused it to be removed from the air. It remains the highest-rated series ever cancelled after only one season. (Can't we all just get along?)

I never watched Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979), but I used to see so many kids with these paperback tie-in books back in the day! I also recall there was a time when one seemed to see the books Coma, The Legacy or Jaws clasped in every third person's hands.

Anyone remember when the prime-time soaps put out a series of paperbacks, fleshing out the storylines of the parent series? This one is from Knots Landing (1979-1993), but I also recall seeing ones from Dallas and Dynasty in print.

I close with what may have been the ULTIMATE sort of movie tie-in paperback, the Fotonovel. These books were ALL pictures, frames from the chosen movies, with little bits of dialogue printed on them so that one could relive the experience of the film in those (mostly) pre-cable and pre-VCR days. This one is from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), but there were many others from movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Grease (1978), Ice Castles (1978), Hair (1979) and many others. They made an awesome keepsake for fans of the given film.

Trekkers (then known as Trekkies) were also in heaven because all or practically all of the cult favorite TV series Star Trek's (1966-1969) episodes were transfigured into Fotonovels. This way, fans could relive virtually any frame of the show whenever he wanted to by simply cracking open a book.

This is an example of what Fotonovels looked like on the inside, though the ones based upon movies tended to vary the way the dialogue was printed from film to film. I hope you found this peek at paperback diverting. I'll be back soon with something else!