Book vs. Movie: High Sierra (1941)

Following the success of They Drive by Night, Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino hit the big screen together again, once again directed by Raoul Walsh, in 1941’s High Sierra.

High Sierra occupies an interesting space in the world of gangster films. Not only does it star an actor very famous for playing lots of gangsters and tough guys, it was based on a book written by someone who was very influential on the gangster/crime film genre.

High Sierra was based on W.R. Burnett’s book by the same name, published in 1940. In addition to High Sierra, Burnett wrote the novels Little Caesar and The Asphalt Jungle and worked as a screenwriter on movies such as Scarface (1931), This Gun for Hire, and Beast of the City.

Book & Movie Differences

While They Drive by Night was a very loose adaptation of its source material, High Sierra does a pretty good job of following the book. It doesn’t follow the book right down to the letter, but the core story is there.

As was the case with They Drive by Night, one of the most significant changes in the film version of High Sierra involves Ida Lupino. While the movie ends with her character making a very dramatic appearance at the standoff in the mountains between Roy and the police, her character in the book stays on the bus out of town with Pard the dog. However, Roy does imagine feeling Marie’s hand in his final moments.

During the big standoff, Roy also has a vision of his beloved Aunt Minnie. The book delves more into Roy’s tendency to remember his childhood with rose-tinted glasses. For example, the book opens by explaining that when Roy thinks back on being a kid, he always tends to think of happy memories like having fun in the summertime while forgetting all about the fact that he was already earning a reputation as a troublemaker as a kid. Near the end of the book, he has a revelation about how he only remembers certain people from his life, like Aunt Minnie, in an idealized way rather than as the multi-faceted people they actually were. This also helps explain his relationship with the Goodhue family. It isn’t just that he’s attracted to Velma and Pa likes Roy because they come from similar backgrounds. Velma, before she had her surgery, had reminded him of a girl he used to know and he viewed Ma and Pa as stand-ins for his own parents. All those illusions were shattered when he no longer saw Velma as the innocent, helpless young woman he initially met.

The depiction of the relationship between Roy and Velma is also a bit different in the book than it is in the movie. For the most part, what you see in the movie is what happens in the book. But the movie leaves out a part where Roy does get to take Velma out one night. The scene where Roy stops by to see Velma after her surgery and she’s dancing around with her fiance, Lon, also plays out differently in the movie. In the movie, Velma openly accuses Roy of being jealous of Lon. In the book, Marie stirs up the tensions a bit more during that visit by dancing with Lon.

Is the Book Worth Reading?

It’s easy to see why High Sierra remains a staple gangster story. Mad Dog Roy is a really compelling character, and the book gives more insights to his worldview that we don’t see in the movie. So if you’re a fan of the movie, the book is very much worth checking out. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, it’s a very solid read on its own.

There are some aspects of the book that haven’t aged well, specifically the characterization of Algernon and the way people treat Velma’s club foot. Those things aside, it’s great. The only thing from the book that I wish had made it into the movie was the final line, “Sic transit Gloria Mundi or something.” It’s such a perfect line for this type of story.

This review is part of the 2023 classic film summer reading challenge hosted by Out of the Past. For more reviews on books related to classic film, be sure to follow the #ClassicFilmReading hashtag on social media.