As far as movies based on his books are concerned, Elmore Leonard is a tower of resignation. Fellow crime writer Donald Westlake once wrote to him asking why he’d ever hoped to see a good adaptation: “The books are ours, everything else is virgins thrown in the volcano. Be happy if the cheque is good.”

TOP DOGS

52 PICK-UP (1986)
Extortionists video a married man’s fling and blackmail him. John Frankenheimer’s film raised questions in the House of Commons. There is also an excellent villain in a too-tight raincoat.

GET SHORTY (1995)
A reviewer once wrote that Elmore’s prose concealed a Rolls-Royce engine beneath a flatbed truck. This is when Hollywood saw beneath the truck. Travolta is Chili Palmer, a Miami loan-shark chasing a debt all the way to LA — not a bad gig for a film fanatic.

JACKIE BROWN (1997)
Tarantino’s script is close enough to Elmore’s Rum Punch. Pam Grier plays both ends against the middle — the writer’s favoured turf. All the characters are, for once, worthy of the master.

OUT OF SIGHT (1998)
Terrific adaptation by Scott Frank, who also did Get Shorty. Bank-robber George Clooney and federal marshal Jennifer Lopez circle each other throughout.

TOTAL BOW-WOWS

THE TALL T (1957)
Elmore’s first sale to Hollywood, from a short story. OK, in a clichéd way.

HOMBRE (1967)
Selling this western to 20th Century Fox funded Elmore for six months. Paul Newman is white, raised by Apaches, and elects to live as an Indian in white frontier society. Tedious.

VALDEZ IS COMING (1971)
A western vehicle for Burt Lancaster, playing a Mexican sheriff. When the ruling gringos lash him to a cross, Burt recovers, unwraps his old US cavalry gear and lights out on the revenge trail. Yawn.

JOE KIDD (1972)
Clint Eastwood drives a steam train through a saloon bar, probably in desperation. He said: “Jesus — anything at this point. Let's end it.” Audiences agreed.

MR MAJESTYK (1974) “In my books characters are more important than the plot. But Hollywood wants heroes who are major stars.” Elmore got Charles Bronson as a melon-grower in Colorado battling labour racketeers.

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