Author | Elmore Leonard |
---|---|
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Series | Jack Ryan |
Genre | Crime |
Publisher | Fawcett Gold Medal |
Publication date | 1969 |
Pages | 192 |
ISBN | 9780060084028 |
Followed by | Unknown Man No. 89 |
The Big Bounce is a crime novel written by Elmore Leonard, published in 1969.
The author's first attempt at the crime genre after having met success with westerns, it was adapted twice into film. It is also Leonard's first book starring the character of Jack Ryan (no relation to Tom Clancy's character of the same name), who would return eight years later in Unknown Man No. 89 . [1]
Jack Ryan, a drifter and small-time delinquent, arrives at the Thumb area of Michigan [2] as a seasonal farm laborer, picking pickles for food tycoon Ray Ritchie. He soon gets involved with Nancy, a young seductress, currently Ray Ritchie's girlfriend, though she is also cheating on him with another man, Bob Jr. For a while, Ryan and Nancy get their thrills smashing windows and breaking and entering, but Ryan soon gets a shot at settling down with the help of justice of the peace Mr. Majestyk, who hires Jack as a handyman at his beach resort. When Nancy grows bored with housebreaking and burglary and conceives a plan to steal the laborers' payroll, Ryan must choose between following her in her chase for "the big bounce" or the stability of an honest life.
Leonard started offering the story to publishers and film producers in the fall of 1966. However, no one would touch it until 1969, when it was first adapted to the screen.[ citation needed ] While the screenplay is credited as an adaptation of the novel, the movie came out earlier.[ citation needed ]
The novel was first turned into a film in 1969, directed by Alex March and scripted by Robert Dozier, starring Ryan O'Neal as Ryan and Leigh Taylor-Young as Nancy. [3] It was a box office and critical disaster, which did not help the book's popularity. The novel went largely unnoticed until Leonard was "discovered" in the 1980s. [4] Praise from filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, [5] along with a successful film adaptation of Get Shorty by director Barry Sonnenfeld in 1995, [6] helped Leonard gain a new generation of fans.
In 2004, a second film adaptation was released. Despite a cast of big-name stars like Owen Wilson, Sara Foster, Morgan Freeman, and Charlie Sheen, it was also a flop, receiving negative reviews from both critics and audiences. [7]
Leonard memorably described the 1969 movie as the "second-worst movie ever made", with the 2004 version being the worst. [5]
In one scene in the novel, the two main characters watch part of a western movie on TV through an outside window. The movie is Budd Boetticher's The Tall T , which was based on Elmore Leonard's story "The Captives."
Jack Ryan returned in the novel Unknown Man No. 89 .
The title character in the 1974 action film Mr. Majestyk, written and later novelized by Leonard and starring Charles Bronson, borrows his name from this novel; however, there seems to be no further relation between both characters. [8]
Thora Birch is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to prominence as a child star during the 1990s through a string of parts in films such as Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she earned a nomination for that year's BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. It was an instant hit and boosted O'Neal's career. He later found success in films, most notably in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Walter Hill's The Driver (1978). From 2005 to 2017, he had a recurring role in the Fox television series Bones as Max, the father of the show's protagonist.
Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the Men in Black trilogy (1997–2012), and Wild Wild West (1999).
Elmore John Leonard Jr. was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.
Get Shorty is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into an eponymous film, and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name.
Out of Sight is a 1998 American crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was released on June 26, 1998.
Mr. Majestyk is a 1974 American action film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Elmore Leonard. Charles Bronson stars as the title character, a melon farmer and Vietnam War veteran who comes into conflict with gangsters. Leonard, who wrote the film with an original screenplay, took the name Majestyk from a character in his 1969 crime novel The Big Bounce. He would also write the novelization of the film.
The Big Bounce is a 2004 American comedy heist film starring Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Sara Foster and Morgan Freeman. It was directed by George Armitage and based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. Leonard's novel had previously been adapted for the big screen in a 1969 film of the same name directed by Alex March and starring Ryan O'Neal.
Sara Foster is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role as Jen Clark on 90210, and for starring as Amy in the 2004 film D.E.B.S. and as Nancy in the 2004 film The Big Bounce.
Stick is a 1985 American crime film based on Elmore Leonard's 1983 novel, and starring and directed by Burt Reynolds.
A Coyote's in the House is a 2004 novel written by Elmore Leonard. The book was Leonard's only novel for children. The book's story involves a hip coyote, and an aging movie-star dog who wants to trade places with him. The novel features references to an earlier novel by Leonard, Get Shorty, specifically to Harry Zimm and his production studio.
Oliver! is a 1968 British period musical drama film based on Lionel Bart's 1960 stage musical of the same name, itself an adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1838 novel Oliver Twist.
A. Scott Frank is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Frank has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for Out of Sight (1998) and Logan (2017). His film work, credited and uncredited, extends to dozens of films. In recent years, he has worked for Netflix on television miniseries, most prominently writing and directing The Queen's Gambit.
Unknown Man #89 is a crime novel written by Elmore Leonard, published in 1977, just after his novel Swag, and preceding The Hunted. It is a sequel to The Big Bounce.
Get Shorty is a 1995 American gangster comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Scott Frank, based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. The film stars John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Dennis Farina, and Danny DeVito. It follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in Hollywood feature film production.
Cat Chaser is a 1989 American heist film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Peter Weller and Kelly McGillis, based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. It was adapted from the novel by Leonard and James Borelli.
The Big Bounce is a 1969 American drama film directed by Alex March, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard and starring Ryan O'Neal, Van Heflin, and Leigh Taylor-Young in what was the first of several films based on Leonard's crime novels. Taylor-Young was nominated for a Laurel Award for her performance in the film. The film was shot on location in Monterey and Carmel, California.
Life of Crime is a 2013 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Daniel Schechter, based on Elmore Leonard's novel The Switch (1978), which includes characters later revisited in his novel Rum Punch (1992), which was adapted into the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown (1997). Life of Crime was screened on the closing night 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, at the 2014 Traverse City Film Festival and released in theaters on August 29, 2014 by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
Out of Sight is a 1996 crime fiction novel by Elmore Leonard.
Get Shorty is an American comedy-drama television series, based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. Created by Davey Holmes, it premiered on August 13, 2017, on Epix. It stars Chris O'Dowd, Ray Romano, Sean Bridgers, Carolyn Dodd, Lidia Porto, Goya Robles, Megan Stevenson, Lucy Walters, and Sarah Stiles. It has aired for three seasons, consisting of twenty-seven episodes. In December 2018, it was renewed for a third season, which began airing on October 6, 2019. Although no further seasons have been commissioned, MGM+ has not officially cancelled the show.