Re: the book was....

["Peter T. Chattaway" <petert at interchange_ubc.ca>]

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 GidgetTMsMan at aol_com wrote:
> Also, the novel does not allow him the comfort of a female companion at
> the end.

No?  Doesn't the girl come to him at the end and ask him to give up his
violent ways?

> Nothing Last Forever by Roderick Thorp.

Not only was the original _Die Hard_ based on this novel, but _Die Hard 2_
was based on Walter Wager's novel _58 Minutes_ and _Die Hard with a
Vengeance_ was based on a spec script called _Simon Says_.  So all three
films in the series were based on earlier stories, none of which
originally had anything to do with John McClane!

Incidentally, Thorp's novel was apparently inspired by another novel that
became the basis for _The Towering Inferno_:

   http://www.topica.com/lists/dadl-ot/read/message.html?mid=800384283

   [ snip ]

   "Die Hard" began life as a sequel to another movie. In 1968, Roderick
   Thorp's best selling novel "The Detective" had been made into a film
   starring Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick, released by 20th Century Fox.
   When the film became a hit, the producers told Thorp if he wrote a
   sequel, they would buy it. Thorp's response was "I'm writing one now."
   Then he went home and started writing a new chapter in the life of the
   detective played by Frank Sinatra. He had read a book titled "The Glass
   Tower" (which would eventually be made into the film "The Towering
   Inferno") about a group of people trapped on the top floor of a high
   rise office building by a raging fire, and found the idea of people
   trapped above the reach of rescue equipment intriguing.

   In that time period, the newspaper headlines seldom reported fires.
   What they did report was civil unrest, the latest bombings by the
   Weather Underground, and the latest kidnapping or bank robbery
   committed by the Red Army terrorist group. So Thorp substituted
   terrorists for fire, his Detective for the firemen... and "Nothing
   Lasts Forever" was born.

   Fox made a "back loaded" purchase deal with Thorp, with the majority of
   his payment coming when the film went into production. This didn't
   bother Thorp, as the hardback book would certainly become a best seller
   as soon as the film was officially announced. Thorp was on easy street.

   Until Frank Sinatra turned down the film. And the hardback book
   (without the heat of the film deal) didn't become a best seller.
   "Nothing Lasts Forever" didn't even go to paperback until 1979, and
   even with good reviews ("Single mindedly brilliant in concept and
   execution" - Los Angeles Times) it did not sell well.

   Fifteen years later, Joel Silver was looking for a project they could
   make on the cheap. He found "Nothing Lasts Forever" in the Fox archives
   and commissioned a script.

   The first person they offered the lead to was, of course, Frank
   Sinatra. He had played the character in the hit film "The Detective",
   after all. Sinatra turned it down again. Silver offered it to Robert
   Mitchum. Mitchum thought there was too much running and jumping for a
   man his age, and declined.

   With the clock ticking, Silver decided to change the story from the
   father/estranged daughter conflict of the novel to a husband/estranged
   wife conflict, and hire a younger man. Steven deSouza made revisions,
   and turned "Nothing Lasts Forever" into "Die Hard". Bruce Willis was
   paid the unbelievable fee of five million dollars for his first film
   role... And Roderick Thorp's novel finally became a paperback best
   seller!

   [ snip ]

BTW, this wasn't really Willis's first film -- before this, he had made
the comedies _Blind Date_ and _Sunset_.  But did anyone see them?

> Factoid:  Rear Window is based on a short story as well in which the
> reader has much more doubt as to the veracity of the murder since the
> protagonist isn't Jimmy Stewart.  I mean honestly, who can doubt Mr.
> Smith?

I dunno, if you've seen _Vertigo_, then you know that Hitchcock *was*
capable of screwing with Jimmy Stewart's wholesome image ...

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 If true love never did exist how could we know its name? -- Sam Phillips
          Happiness happens but I want joy. -- Marjorie Cardwell

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