Authors Who Moved to Movies

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Vicki Baum (dpa Picture-Alliance)

Vicki Baum’s 1929 novel Grand Hotel is well-known for spawning 1932’s Academy Award-winning Grand Hotel movie. But did you know that the Austria-born Baum (actual first name: Hedwig) was not only a prolific novelist but a screenwriter as well? She co-wrote the screenplay for the Grand Hotel film, and also helped script various other movies — which led me to think about how a number of novelists have doubled as screenwriters for financial reasons and/or for a creative change-of-pace and/or to mingle with celebrities and/or for other reasons.

Before I get into that, here are my brief thoughts about the Grand Hotel book, which I read for the first time last week. A very compelling novel about a group of Berlin hotel guests — including an aging ballerina, a charismatic con man with some conscience, a disfigured World War I veteran, an unsavory businessman, a timid clerk who might be dying, and a beautiful/good-natured stenographer — whose lives end up intersecting in quite dramatic ways. A bonus is that Baum gives the hotel’s staffers some page time and personality, too.

Many readers are aware that F. Scott Fitzgerald had a couple of sojourns in Hollywood. His movie-writing output and credits were not much to speak of, but The Great Gatsby author’s time in California had a big impact on his novels: a young actress (Lois Moran) he met influenced his Rosemary Hoyt character in Tender Is the Night, and the protagonist in Fitzgerald’s unfinished The Last Tycoon was based on film executive Irving Thalberg.

Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, Point Counter Point, etc.) was also a Hollywood screenwriter for a number of years — even helping to work on the 1940s movie versions of two all-time novels: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

William Faulkner, too, co-scripted 1940s movies based on novels: Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not and Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. This was after Faulkner authored several of his most famous books, including The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying.

John Steinbeck of The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden fame wrote the screenplay for Viva Zapata! and was earlier involved in co-penning Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat.

Speaking of boats, Ray Bradbury co-wrote the screenplay for the 1956 movie version of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.

Rather than novels, Dorothy Parker penned short stories, clever verse, criticism…and movie scripts — including co-writing the 1937 version of A Star Is Born as well as Hitchcock’s Saboteur.

Among other novelists who worked on film scripts: James Agee, Michael Chabon, the aforementioned Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, Michael Crichton, Dave Eggers, William Goldman, Larry McMurtry, and Mario Puzo, to name a few.

Thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about legal challenges to a massive development and a closed train station waiting room — is here.

69 thoughts on “Authors Who Moved to Movies”

  1. Hi Dave,

    I couldn’t think of any author who fit this, other than those already mentioned, until now.
    One thing I’d like to mention is that I watch “Noir Alley” every Sunday morning.
    The host “Eddie Muller” is a trove of trivia. I know he has mentioned many authors who wrote books, who then wrote scripts…sometimes of their books and sometimes others. Sometimes original screenplays.

    These writers span as early as the 20’s through the 70’s.
    I know Raymond Chandler is one.

    Dashiell Hammett is one also.. I believe, that’s who I’ve thought of. Was he mentioned?.
    Anyway, during the noir era there was a lot of opportunity for moving around from novels to scripts, to directing & producing… even acting… last week there was a writer/director who reverted back to his first love – set decoration.

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  2. Curious factoid: One of the writers most acclaimed for his handling of dialog– and dialog takes up quite the majority of type in screenplays– is George V. Higgins, who burst on the literary/crime fiction scene with “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”(1970). Wrote 25 novels before his death a week before he turned 60 in 1999.

    Yet he has no screenplays to his name.

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  3. Hollywood has been a magnet for writers for a century now, and some famous literary names have done well enough under the swaying palms.

    But some have not– James M. Cain was one such, fired from “The Ten Commandments” when he questioned his boss’ treatment of the story. Yet he had 3 big movies made out of his most successful novels: “The Postman Always Rings Twice”, “Double Indemnity” and “Mildred Pierce”.

    Fanny Hurst,one of the most popular novelists of her era, had a couple of credits to show for her time in Tinseltown, but didn’t really click. Yet something like 30 of her storylines out of short fiction and novels were filmed, and mostly, she had little to do with the screenplays.

    Likewise Cornell Woolrich, a pulp mystery stalwart who turned to the hard-boiled only after striking out as a screenwriter and losing his earlier audience for zeitgeisty fiction in the Fitzgerald mode. 43 of his storylines were made into movies– 16 after his death.

    As for Fitzgerald, so consumed by the place he couldn’t quite conquer, he not only was working on “The Last Tycoon” at the time of his death, but had also written a short fiction collection published as “The Pat Hobby Stories”,featuring a hapless hanger-on at the periphery of the movie business, the first few of which first appeared in “Esquire” during his lifetime before being collected into a book in the 1960’s.

    Raymond Chandler was more successful in Hollywood: wrote the screenplay for “The Blue Dahlia”, which was probably the least successful of all the movies made out of his fiction during his lifetime– “The Lady in the Lake”, “The Big Sleep”, “Farewell My Lovely” aka “Murder, My Sweet”.

    Co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Wilder for Cain’s “Double Indemnity”. He also got screenwriting credit for his work on “Strangers on a Train”, but clashed with director A. Hitchcock, who called him a ‘fat bastard’. Projection, it would seem does not only happen in the projection room.

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      • Thank you, jhNY! An interesting history that James M. Cain had with movies! Certainly three VERY well-known films spawned by his books, even if things didn’t work out for him otherwise in Hollywood.

        And fascinating info on Fanny Hurst, Cornell Woolrich, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Raymond Chandler! That Hitchcock projection statement was Donald Trump-worthy. And your statement — “Projection, it would seem does not only happen in the projection room”: ha ha! 😂

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        • John Houseman directed “The Blue Dahlia”, and was in near-constant contact with Chandler, who finished up the screenplay as the shooting schedule moved along. He was only able to complete his work if self-plied with alcohol, and so was kept in abundant spirits till he’d completed his woozy task. Houseman wrote an account of making the movie years later, which I read- years ago.

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  4. Hi Dave, another entertaining topic. I can’t add much this week as I never watch movies. Even as a teen and young adult I rarely watched TV or movies. I’ve always preferred reading. I do know that Stephen King wrote some screen plays, but that is about all I know.

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    • Thank you, Robbie, for your comment and the mention of Stephen King! I’m not much of a movie watcher, either — also preferring to spend whatever “free” time I have reading. (I did watch more films when I was younger.)

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  5. Very interesting topic, Dave. Had no idea on Faulkner and Dorothy Parker Co writing movie scripts. But it was familiar that esteemed writers would go to Hollywood under contract.

    A favorite Coen Brother’s film is “Barton Fink” in which a writer of plays,musicals in NYC goes to California its both bizarre and a dark comedy, well written and acted. He is a tragic figure.

    “Writing under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, Highsmith published The Price of Salt in 1952, the first lesbian novel with a “happy ending”; it was republished 38 years later as Carol under her own name and later adapted into a 2015 film.”

    She was known for “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” “Strangers On The Train” is a favorite Hitchcock film,the carousel scene is a master class in suspense.

    Cate Blanchett is,in my opinion,one of the Supreme actors of my generation. She stars in the film”Carol.” What role can’t she play,I saw her performance in “Tar” and she was brilliant.

    Michele, E & P back in the day

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    • Thank you, Michele! I appreciate your discussion of Patrica Highsmith and her movie and literary work! A very intriguing author I should read more of; I’ve only gotten to one of her Ripley books. “The Price of Salt”/”Carol” is among the Highsmith titles I’ll look for.

      “Barton Fink” (which I have not seen) is a very relevant mention!

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  7. I just watched Hitchcock’s movie Strangers On A Train a book by Patricia Highsmith–Raymond Chandler collaborated on the screenplay. And to mention a rather prolific screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, who wrote Johnny Got His Gun, his biography became a film as well starring Bryan Cranston as Trumbo. Capote helped with the screenplay for The Innocents, based on Henry James book Turn Of The Screw. Nice theme, Dave. Thanks Susi. Btw Re: Ray Bradbury, he and Gene Kelly were friends see link: https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/ray-bradbury-something-wicked-this-way-comes-book-facts

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    • Thank you, Susi! Hitchcock, Highsmith, and Chandler were quite a trio. 🙂 And “Strangers on a Train” was definitely a classic. Hitchcock clearly respected the work of fiction writers; he adapted a good number of novels and short stories — including, of course, several by Daphne du Maurier. And GREAT mention of Dalton Trumbo having had a foot in both screenplays and novel writing. “Johnny Got His Gun” is a harrowing must-read.

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      • I would guess if you could do both, that is write a novel as well as the screenplay, it could be a real moneymaker, like Henry Farrell and his Whatever happened books, ie Baby Jane, Cousin Charlotte (which became Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte). I’m sure there are a great many authors who have the movie playing inside their heads before they even finish the book. Never read Johnny Got His Gun only because what I had heard about it really turned me off. Susi

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        • Thank you for the follow-up comment, Susi!

          “I’m sure there are a great many authors who have the movie playing inside their heads before they even finish the book” — certainly the dream, at least for some authors.

          “Johnny Got His Gun” is ultra-depressing, but I’m glad I read it. There’s no anti-war novel quite like it.

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  9. Thank you for the very interesting information in this post, some of which I knew and some of which I didn’t.

    In addition to novelists, there were also some songwriters who doubled as screenwriters. Two who come to mind were Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, who co-wrote (with George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind) the screenplay for the Marx Brothers film ANIMAL CRACKERS. I’m sure there were others, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of them without research.

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    • Thank you, mistermuse! I like your angle of songwriters who were also screenwriters! And I’m a big fan of The Marx Brothers. 🙂 As you probably know, Irving Thalberg, who I mentioned in the blog post, produced some of The Marx Brothers’ movies.

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  10. Although he primarily wrote plays and screenplays, Rod Serling also published a group of three novellas ”The Season to Be Wary” and several collections of short stories. My daughter gave me “The Season to Be Wary” last year for Christmas. Most of the short stories and at least one of the novellas were later adapted to television.

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  11. I find this a particularly intriguing subject because novels and films are very different media of expression. Just because someone can write novels doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she can write film scripts–and vice versa. In the case of adapting a novel for the screen, I’ve always thought that the starting point of the basic story and the characters should be driven by the medium of expression, not strict adherence to the novel itself. The same holds true for adapting a stage play to the screen. My understanding of Faulkner’s time in Hollywood is that he was not very successful.

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    • Thank you, Liz! VERY good point about novels and movies being much different forms of expression, with film writing usually also a more collaborative process than book writing. Definitely hard to be an expert, and successful, at both.

      I’ve heard the same about Faulkner re Hollywood. Not sure anyone has ever been both a great novelist and a great scriptwriter on any consistent basis.

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    • So often when people are arguing if the book is better, my very clever and witty comment is the book is different. I might start copying and pasting your comment instead though as it’s pretty much what I think, but much better said than anything I could come up with.

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        • There are obviously all sorts of reasons that one might be ‘better’. I often find the books better, but that’s generally because I prefer reading. If you prefer the sights and sounds of the screen over a book, then maybe the movie will be better, and I can understand that. For me, I didn’t love the writing in “Harry Potter” but I loved the stories, and so I think the movies were better than the source material. I can get disappointed if adaptations stray too far away from the source, but I don’t really watch them enough to be too bothered by them. And if they do get it ‘wrong’, I can always read the book again. So far, none of my books have been ‘ruined’ by a movie.

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          • Thank you, Sue! I also usually find novels to be better than their screen adaptations — which can leave some things out, occasionally change things that shouldn’t be changed (such as making the endings happier), often make the characters more glamorous than they are, usually aren’t as psychologically nuanced, etc. But, as you note, there ARE great screen adaptations, with a few better than the books. Like you, I loved the eight “Harry Potter” films (though I liked the seven books better). And I agree that a movie can’t ruin a book; the book doesn’t change. 🙂

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  12. A few months ago, I read Joan Didion’s book, “The Year of Magical Thinking,” I knew that she was a renowned novelist and literary journalist. I discovered that she also ventured into screenwriting when she relocated to Hollywood with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in the early 1970s. Collaborating closely, Didion and Dunne dedicated their efforts to the rock musical adaptation of A Star Is Born, featuring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, during the 1970s. Additionally, in 1996, they adapted journalist Jessica Savitch’s memoir, Up Close & Personal. I read that In a 2004 interview with The Paris Review, Didion expressed her perspective on screenwriting, stating that it is not the act of writing, but rather the creation of notes primarily for the director’s benefit, rather than the actors’.

    Looking forward to following this conversation! Another great topic, Dave!

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