Cain, James M. Mildred Pierce, London : Orion, 2002.

James M. Cain's best-selling novels were embraced by Hollywood in the post-war era.  His oeuvre is firmly rooted in social realism and was welcome fodder for studio scriptwriters who turned his books into melodramatic epics, censorship issues notwithstanding.

Mildred Pierce is a tale of sex and murder, set against the backdrop of suburban Los Angeles. Cain's characters are average people who find themselves drawn into hazardous situations. the plot is a page-turner of twisted relationships; the ambitious Mildred; her spineless husband; a louche lover; and a venal daughter, Veda. It is Mildred's wise-cracking assistant, Ida, who utters the famous line: "Crocodiles have the right idea - they eat their young."

Mildred Pierce was a wildly successful film for MGM in 1945.  It proved a huge money-spinner, won Joan Crawford a Best Actress Oscar and revitalised a career that had been in decline. Guy Pearce starred in a prestigious version for television in 2011.  Other Cain novels have been filmed:  including Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. 

Tolkin, Michael. The player, New York : Atlantic Monthly, 1988.

This satiric novel is essentially an exploration into a man's skewered psyche.  Along the way author Michael Tolkin enjoys taking Hollywood apart...folly by folly.  A portrait of Tinseltown emerges and one that is very dark.  Griffin Mills, a top studio executive - a player indeed - finds himself stalked by a disgruntled screenwriter and is soon caught in a web that results in murder.

The noir aspect of The Player is defined by interior monologues, a staple of Hollywood B-movies.  But this book is all class with an intriguing plot and well drawn characters. 

As so often happens, Tolkin was invited to adapt The Player for the screen.  Robert Altman directed and a who's-who's cast of stars ensured a world-wide hit in 1992.

Tolkin continues to write.  A sequel, Return of the Player, was published in 2006.  It has yet to be filmed.

Ellroy, James. L.A. confidential, London : Mysterious Press, 1990.

No doubt the screenwriters who adapted this novel for the screen (the smash 2001 film) were grateful for the raw material they were dealing with.

L.A. Confidential maintains Ellroy's reputation as a great writer.  His prose has an authentic ring of truth as he delves back into the corrupt Hollywood of so-called Golden Age.  

The language is profane, the characters hard-boiled, the plot gripping, and the whole novel is a page turner.

Ellroy is a master of the crime genre