On Monday, May 23, 2011 at 11:59:29 AM UTC-10, Dave in Toronto wrote:

Some writers just take the money and run, if the movie turns out to be
a lot different from their book they just shrug their shoulders and
say something like "Thats Hollywood" but some writers get flaming mad
at any changes. here's a few movies where the writers didn't like
what they saw on screen.
The Set-up.
This was based on a long narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March.
March was mad because the boxer in his poem was black with the odd
name of Pansy Jones. Not sure whether his first name was a nickname
because he was a homosexual (Pansy had the same slang meaning in the
late twenties when the poem was written as it does now) or whether it
was his real name, anyway it was important to March that the boxer be
black. When Wyler heard of March's objection he said he had that
there was no black actor around who would fit the bill. Sounds like a
cop-out to me. I can think of one _Canada Lee_ he played John
Garfields sparring partner in _Body and Soul_ and was in Hitchcock's _Lifeboat_.
Here are the opening lines to the poem.
Pansy had the stuff, but his skin was brown:
And he never got a chance at the middleweight crown.

The Quiet American (First American version)
Graham was hopping mad at this and I can't say I blame him It
completely reversed his viewpoint. He was so angry that at the time
of his death he was negotiating with a French movie to make another
version to set the record straight.
Night and the Cty
When Gerald Kersh read the screen treatment of his novel he started to
boast that he must be the highest paid writer in the world as he had
received $40,000 dollars for the film rights of the novel and they had
only used the title
which meant he was getting $10.000 a word. He also sent the script
back to 20th Century Fox, suggesting that they re- print it on flimsy
paper, punch a hole in the top left corner then hang it on a hook
close to a toilet.

Captain From Castile
Samuel Shellabager was so angry when he saw the movie version of his
novel that he sued Twentieth Century Fox because they had only used
the first third of the book. Not quiet sure what the result of his
legal action was but I believe he did manage to get the film's release delayed.
Dave M

(Recent Youtube upload):

How Breakfast at Tiffany's Turned into a Totally Different Movie | Adapting a Classic

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