High Sierra by W.R. Burnett
Actually got some work done this summer.
Came across a treasure trove of collectable books at an estate sale in June. Lots of naughty gossip books. Dishy star bios. A few first editions. . . .and this beauty. Don’t know if this was ever read. Barely any shelf wear. High Sierra was the second novel of W.R. Burnett’s to be made three times*. Besides the idolized Huston/Bogart version, High Sierra was made into a western in 1949, Colorado Territory . Jack Palance and Shelley Winters starred in the darker and grittier I Died a Thousand Times in 1955. The third version also ups the sleaze factor with gang boy performances by Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman and Dennis Hopper. More on this film, like later, since it is in my poster stash.
The Original, first edition of this novel in Primo condition (published by Alfred. A. Knopt in 1940) sells for several hundred bucks. This version looks very similar, but it is published by Sun Dial Press in 1943. And it is so much cheaper.
Condition:
Fine in Very Fine jacket. First edition thus. Book is fine, no markings or bookplates. The dust jakcet if very good plus to near fine. Exceptional in this condition..
Please email editor@morenoirposters.com for price information
*Iron Man was filmed three times.
Iron Man, Original Half Sheet, 1951
If You Care…
Way before Robert Downey Jr. was born, and even thought of donning metal armor and downing massive quantities of pharmaceuticals with no apparent ill affect, there was another Iron Man in town.
In 1951, Universal decided to remake noir great W. R. Burnett’s novel, Iron Man. It had already been made as a Jean Harlow vehicle in 1931. But the boxing story didn’t feature blondes and boobs, so rewrites were necessary. In the end Harlow plays a scheming harlot with a skimpy pre-code wardrobe –what a switch! What a box office success!
Nobody Lives Forever, Half Shhet
Unbelievable. You would not believe how long your hostess has spent trying to track down a copy of W.R. Burnett’s story, I Wasn’t Born Yesterday, the basis for this lovely flick. Nothing at the bookstores. Nothing at the Libraries. Nothing to download. Nothing to buy unless I’m willing to say adios to a pretty big chunk of change. It’s easier to find a copy of Pat Boone’s CD,”In a Metal Mood.”
William Riley Burnett was the original Gangster scribe. Before Burnett gangsters were not cool, just sinister plot points*. Burnett gave them a voice, a view, a vision. Burnett’s first smash novel, Little Ceasar, in 1929 was based on a hit man Burnett met while working as desk clerk in Chicago. It was adapted by First National into a movie in 1930 and Ticketgoers went nuts. The heroes on the screen now matched up with the general public’s machine-gun toting heros on the street: Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dillinger. A new star was born and he wasn’t pretty. Overnight Edward G. Robinson became the biggest star in the country.
