With
hopes rising sky high, as the premiere of Jurassic World is
only a few weeks ahead of us, I thought it would be time to look back
at the man responsible for the dino-revival, and I don't mean the director behind the first Jurassic Park film, but the man who created Jurassic
Park in the first place: author Michael Crichton.
Though
Jurassic Park is undoubtedly his biggest success, spanning a
book sequel and 4 features, of which the first two were (loosely)
based on the two books, Crichton has had more successes.
Originally
Michael studied English literature at Harvard University (his father
had always encouraged him to write and type stories), but quit when
he received poor ratings on his papers.
After
having spent a year in Europe, he went back to Boston Massachusetts where he attended Harvard Medical School, aiming to become a doctor.
During this study he secretly wrote various novels under the
pseudonym of John Lange (Lange in German means tall, and at 6 foot 9 inch height, Michael was considered tall too) and one, called a Case of
Need, under the pseudonym of Jeffrey Hudson (this time using the name
of a 17th century little person). When this last title won
an award, that had to be picked up in person, Michael couldn't hide
behind his pseudonym(s) no more.
He
finished his study and right after that he went to Hollywood, to
pursue his dream of making a living as a writer.
In his
early work he still made the connection with his medical past. One of
the first screenplays he wrote was called Emergency Ward and
dealt with various people working in the Emergency Room. When no one
was interested in it, he hid it away.
Next he
wrote a story about a town in New Mexico where nearly all the
inhabitants have died because of some strange, alien, virus. Only two
people survived the virus, a grown up drunk and a baby. Scientist
start working in a race against the clock, trying to find out what
links these two people in their defense against this alien attack.
The
story, presented as The Andromeda Strain, was successfully
transferred into a film by Robert Wise in 1971.
Two
years later Crichton hit the jackpot (again) when he wrote Westworld,
a story about a Theme Park where the robots run amok and create havoc
and terror among the visitors. This time he decided to make the film
on his story himself, (starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and
James Brolin) and it became a huge hit.
(It even spawned a sequel
called Futureworld, that however was created without the co-operation of
Michael.)
In 1974
another of his books was brought to the big screen. Mike Hodges
directed The Terminal Man, starring George Segal, Richard
Dysart and Joan Hackett, about a man who, in order to control his
violent seizures, agrees to experiment with the insertion of
microchips in his brain. After the insertion however, he experiences
unforeseen side-effects
Crichton
continued with his writing and directing films. In 1978 he delivered
two, totally different films: Coma,
a sci-fi-thriller where a
young nurse uncovers a horrible conspiracy behind the growing number
of people who end up in a coma after surgery in the hospital where
she works , starring Michael Douglas and Genevieve Bujold, based on a
thriller by Robin Cook
(this film was actually my first encounter with
Crichton. -R.)
and The First Great Train Robbery, a
thriller, set in Victorian England where a master criminal, portrayed
by Sean Connery, sets up a plan to rob gold from a moving train. This
film was based on a book by Crichton himself.
to be continued.
Ronny.
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