Jim Thompson (writer) - Film Adaptations

Film Adaptations

Two of Thompson's books (The Getaway and The Killer Inside Me) were adapted as Hollywood motion pictures during his lifetime. However, Polito argues that neither adaptation was ultimately true to Thompson's spirit. A second, more faithful adaptation of The Killer Inside Me was released in 2010, starring Casey Affleck and directed by Michael Winterbottom.

French director Bertrand Tavernier adapted Pop. 1280 for his 1981 film, Coup de Torchon, changing the setting from the American South to a French colony in West Africa of the 1930s. Aside from shift in setting, Polito argues that Coup de Torchon was remarkably faithful to the plot and the spirit of the novel, and remains arguably the most authentic adaptation of any of Thompson's work.

A Hell of a Woman was also adapted in French as Série noire (1979).

In the early 1990s, Hollywood resumed its interest in Thompson's writing and several of his novels were re-published. Three novels were adapted for new film treatments during that period: The Kill-Off; After Dark, My Sweet; and The Grifters, which garnered four Academy Award nominations.

The Getaway was remade in 1994 with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger in the lead roles but the film retained the happy ending of the earlier film.

In 1996, A Swell-Looking Babe was released as Hit Me, and 1997 saw the release of This World, Then the Fireworks from Thompson's short story of that name. The latter film starred Billy Zane and Gina Gershon as a pair of twisted siblings.