roman a clef

After reading my BLOG article about not judging a book by its movie, Mona Lisa asked, "So, what movies do you think are better than the books?"

I answered, "The Bridges Of Madison County, definitely!"   See a list from the article FIFTY MOVIES BETTER THAN THE MOVIES.   I disagree about their inclusion of To Kill A Mockingbird , Les Miserables, and Sense And Sensibility.  It's interesting that there are four on the list from Stephen King (Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, Misery,)and two by Elmore Leonard.

I have read books AFTER seeing the adapted movies:  The Godfather, Julie and Julia, and The Princess Bride;  it is difficult to assess whether the books are better after having been influenced by the movies.  I agree with the list that Dr. Strangelove........, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and Breakfast At Tiffany's are better as movies, as I had read those prior to seeing the movies.

When I was 13 I went to see Elvis' movie King Creole.  Even at that young age, I was a reader of credits.  I saw that the movie was based on A Stone For Danny Fisher, with the author's name listed as Harold Robbins.

At that time Robbins was not the fantastically successful novelist that he eventually became, but I just had to get the book.  Being that young, I couldn't get it from the library as it was definitely an "adult" novel.  My brother checked it out, read it, and told me that it was obviously a roman a clef  (NO, I did not know what a roman a clef was at that time!).

When I read the book I learned that the movie was very little like the book.  The book was a Depression-era, coming-of-age story about a Jewish guy in New Orleans.

King Creole was set in New Orleans;  that's about all that is similar to the book.