On Tue, 14 Nov 2000
Moorich2@aol.com wrote:
> Juri, Westlake may have had Lionel White in mind
when he wrote PLUNDER SQUAD.
> He was certainly very familiar with White's work. I
recall an MWA anthology
> back in the 70s or early 80s that had a piece by
Westlake that involved a
> White novel. A gang (I think in Europe somewhere)
used a White novel as a
> plan for a caper. It worked beautifully but then, as
Westlake gleefully
> pointed out, "They ran out of book." Life continued
beyond the point where
> the book ended and they began to screw things up and
were caught.
They kidnapped a child of the Peugeot family. I don't
remember which Lionel White that is, but the idea came from
him: kidnap a baby, so he can't recognize you afterwards. I
think Westlake was ordered to write a movie based on the
incident, but the project went down and Westlake put the
stuff into a non-existent Parker book that Dortmunder &
Co. read in one novel. (The name? I remember only the
translation's name!)
> Does the 1958 movie you mentioned, "Plunder Road,"
star Wayne Morris and
> include a scene where two cars lock bumpers in a
traffic jam? That was the
> first caper movie I can remember seeing and it
really had an impact. I
> haven't seen it in forty years and I would be
curious to see it again and see
> how it holds up.
The very same film. I haven't seen it myself, though I'd very
much like to.
Juri
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