WESTERN NOVELS
CHARRO!
Harry Whittington's novelization of the Elvis
Presley movie Charro! is among his best work in the Western genre. Interestingly,
the cover blurb calls the book a novel, not a novelization—a subtle, but deceptive
difference. Only Whittington’s name appears on front cover, perpetuating the
deception of a novel. On the title page, small print indicates the book is
based on a story by Frederick Louis Fox. This type of treatment was very
unusual for a novelization—presenting it as if the movie was based on the book
instead of the other way around.
There is also another related oddity…Charro! is
the novelization of an Elvis Presley movie. This should have been considered a
huge marketing coup. But if so, why is there no tie-in photo of Elvis in his
role as Charro on the cover? Why is there no mention of it being an Elvis
movie—not even on the back cover? Inquiring minds want to know.
Perhaps there were contractual issues regarding the use of Elvis’ image. Maybe there was a dispute between the
publisher and the movie studio over the novelization. Or possibly the book was
so much better than the final shooting script, it became an embarrassment to
the director/screenwriter of the movie.
There is also a chance the situation ensued
because Whittington put the original sex and violence from the treatment back
into the novelization. This, as stated, didn’t mesh with the director’s
puritanical standards, which had originally caused the sex and violence to be
removed from the treatment. Whatever the reason, Charro! is a less than
inspired movie. It is, however, an inspired example of a genre Western, a
novelization, Harry Whittington’s writing chops.
Charro! isn’t only an outstanding novel. The Gold
Medal first edition paperback has an awesome cover by Ron Lesser. Known for his
iconic posters for Clint Eastwood films, Lesser illustrated covers for hundreds
of paperback westerns, mass market softcovers, and movie posters.
What makes this particular cover exceptional is
the addition of the illustrated dancehall girl on the holster. The first time I
saw the cover, I thought the dancehall girl was an aftermarket doodle. But it
is an example of Lesser’s gift of artistic genius—He gleaned the detail of the
dancehall girl on the holster from the novel, then added it as a unique touch.
The illustration was also reused on the British paperback edition of Rio Bravo
by Gordon Shirreffs (not to be confused with the movie of the same name). It's
also interesting to note that the Ron Lessor cover illustration also shows up
on one of the movie's promotional posters. It was also used on a number of
foreign editions.
To take timely advantage of a movie’s initial
release, many novelizations are written based only on a brief script outline
known as a treatment. As a novelization’s author is rarely privy to the full
elements of characterization, mood, and tone of a finished film, a novelization
can be substantially different. The best novelization writers rely on their own
imagination to flesh out motivations, plot points, and even create new
characters in order to produce a coherent story. In the hands of a top pro like
Whittington, the novelization can become a special entity all its own—as with
Charro!
Charro! is an excellent novel based on a bad film.
Whittington developed his story from a film treatment entitled Come Hell, Come
Sundown by Frederick Louis Fox. The title for the film was later changed to
Charro!—An odd choice since charro is a term applied to Mexican horseman,
particularly those who participate in rodeos. As the character of Charro
(portrayed in the movie by Elvis) is neither Mexican nor a horseman, and there
is nary a rodeo in sight, it is nothing more than a cool moniker.
Fox’s original treatment, Come Hell, Come Sundown,
contained many violent and sexually related scenes. The director of the movie
deemed these too objectionable and excised them from the final script.
Whittington didn’t have any such proclivities, putting all the sex and violence
back in when he wrote the novelization, making his book much better than the
film on which it is based.
The conflict at the heart of Charro! revolves
around a gold-plated Mexican cannon belonging to Emperor Maximilian, which has
been stolen by an outlaw band. The Mexican army, various Mexican thugs, and
bounty hunter Jess Wade are after the $2,000 reward for the return of the
cannon. As the story progresses, the outlaws want to ransom the cannon back to
the town from where it was stolen. By this time they have trapped Wade into
working with them as they use the cannon to terrorize the town into capitulation.
Tension and violence soak Whittington’s take on the story, written with the
lean muscular prose for which he was renown.
CONTRIBUTOR: PAUL BISHOP
