Whistle Stop

I wanted to see this movie because I had read the novel "Whistle Stop" which was written by Maritta Wolff when she was a college student and was recently republished. The novel gave a great presentation of the Post Depression era and Wolff's beautifully descriptive writing won her a prestigious award. The scriptwriter changed the story significantly. While one part would probably have been too sensitive for the time, I think today's movie writers would portray more of Wolff's imagery of life on both "sides of the tracks". I doubt if an author today would allow his or her book to be an inspiration to a screenwriter who would use some characters and some dialogue yet change the story so dramatically. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the movie AFTER reading the book as it was fascinating to see the similarities and the differences. I'd recommend reading the book and then enjoying the mid-1940's black & white film with the gorgeous Ava Gardner and a young Victor McLaghlin. This certainly isn't the best of '40's crime drama but it was fun to see. If you've already seen the movie, read the book!!