They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a book title
that I have always been familiar with, despite having no idea as to
what the plot might contain. I probably avoided it when I was younger,
as I wasn’t really into ‘horsey’, ‘girly’ fiction, as that’s what I
judged it to be from the title alone. A brief look at the book when it
first arrived from Serpent’s Tail gave me the idea that Horace McCoy’s
novel was hardboiled American crime fiction. However, the recent death
of Susannah York led to a BBC2 showing of Sydney Pollack’s 1969
adaptation, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. Although it was on
late on a Friday night, my wife and I were mesmerised watching it, as
we were previously unaware that such gruelling dance marathons had
occurred during the 1930s depression. It appears that they were a much
more emotionally draining kind of X-Factor type reality show.
This is especially since both Robert and Gloria have somewhat
unrealistic dreams of Hollywood stardom, which are only boosted whenever
a tinseltown starlet happens to make an appearance at the marathon.
Thus McCoy’s short novel (stretching to only about 120 pages in the
Serpent’s Tail edition) became the next title on my reading list.
Since They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (and other works of this ilk) have undoubtedly influenced modern writing styles, it’s hard to see why the French existentialists were so excited about this book, since so many other similar novels have followed in its wake. Having written that, a great many postmodernist authors could learn a thing or two from McCoy’s brevity and the clarity of his prose. Sydney Pollack’s film remained true to the spirit of McCoy’s book, while taking several liberties with its plot. In McCoy’s original, it’s not Robert and Gloria who are chosen to add to the spectacle by getting married during the marathon (although this does also cause some upset in the book, as the proposed couple are given a great deal of leeway by Rocky when they come last in one of the knockout derbies). In addition to this, Mrs. Layden isn’t accidentally shot in the film, and the novel makes it clearer that she was an early kind of cougar, with Robert very much in her sights. Although the film still centres on Robert and Gloria, the film (fairly sensibly) widens the ensemble by also focusing much more on Alice LeBlanc (who eventually suffers a severe psychological trauma), and Harry Kline, who very publicly has a heart attack and dies while being carried by Gloria during one of the derbies. However, the film does retain McCoy’s flashforwards of the court scenes. Perhaps it was a mistake to read the book so soon after seeing the film, as I’m sure Pollack’s adaptation will last longer in my memory, as I found it far more vivid than McCoy’s novel. Indeed, one could argue that the movie is probably a half-forgotten classic that could do with a revival, as I don’t think it’s one that is often shown on TV (and is thus somewhat divorced from popular culture).
Throughout both narratives, one is puzzled as to how the mild-mannered Robert could ever be a murderer, until one gets to the finale with its famous showpiece line. A death sentence for assisted suicide seems incredibly harsh nowadays, especially if the court had accepted Robert’s submission that it was a mercy killing. So, there could be a double irony operating here, with the justice system acting in exactly in the same manner as Robert, by putting him out of his misery also.
Since They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (and other works of this ilk) have undoubtedly influenced modern writing styles, it’s hard to see why the French existentialists were so excited about this book, since so many other similar novels have followed in its wake. Having written that, a great many postmodernist authors could learn a thing or two from McCoy’s brevity and the clarity of his prose. Sydney Pollack’s film remained true to the spirit of McCoy’s book, while taking several liberties with its plot. In McCoy’s original, it’s not Robert and Gloria who are chosen to add to the spectacle by getting married during the marathon (although this does also cause some upset in the book, as the proposed couple are given a great deal of leeway by Rocky when they come last in one of the knockout derbies). In addition to this, Mrs. Layden isn’t accidentally shot in the film, and the novel makes it clearer that she was an early kind of cougar, with Robert very much in her sights. Although the film still centres on Robert and Gloria, the film (fairly sensibly) widens the ensemble by also focusing much more on Alice LeBlanc (who eventually suffers a severe psychological trauma), and Harry Kline, who very publicly has a heart attack and dies while being carried by Gloria during one of the derbies. However, the film does retain McCoy’s flashforwards of the court scenes. Perhaps it was a mistake to read the book so soon after seeing the film, as I’m sure Pollack’s adaptation will last longer in my memory, as I found it far more vivid than McCoy’s novel. Indeed, one could argue that the movie is probably a half-forgotten classic that could do with a revival, as I don’t think it’s one that is often shown on TV (and is thus somewhat divorced from popular culture).
Throughout both narratives, one is puzzled as to how the mild-mannered Robert could ever be a murderer, until one gets to the finale with its famous showpiece line. A death sentence for assisted suicide seems incredibly harsh nowadays, especially if the court had accepted Robert’s submission that it was a mercy killing. So, there could be a double irony operating here, with the justice system acting in exactly in the same manner as Robert, by putting him out of his misery also.