Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a 2021 novel written by Quentin Tarantino. It is a novelization of his 2019 film of the same name and Tarantino's literary debut.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: As a novel, the story has a lot more room for additional scenes and details. Some examples include:
- Cliff is introduced hitting on Martin Schwarz's secretary.
- The backstory of how Cliff came to own Brandy is told in full.
- Cliff is established as a huge cinephile, and all of his various opinions are laid out in exhaustive detail. His war record is also examined for long sequences.
- The book features whole sequences with characters who have only bit roles in the film, including Charles Manson, Squeaky Fromme, Jay Sebring, Roman Polanski, Wojciech Frykowski, and James Stacy. As such, the book is much more of an ensemble story than the film.
- One chapter is given over to Sharon Tate hitchhiking to California.
- A great deal of the pilot episode and general premise of Lancer is told in-universe.
- The entire story is told behind Cliff's murder of his wife and how he got away with it. The first time he got away with murder is also told in full, which is completely new to the book.
- A considerable amount of context is added to Cliff's fight with Bruce Lee.
- There's a new sequence in which Cliff visits Paris shortly after the war and considers a career in pimping but decides that it's too much work after learning about the responsibilities and dangers of the trade from a French "mac."
- Rick has a long conversation with Trudy about a hypothetical romantic relationship between their characters and the power dynamic therein.
- New to the book is a chapter outlining the later career of Aldo Ray and depicting a scene in which Cliff chats with him in Italy and sneaks the alcoholic a bottle of gin.
- Rick and Cliff meet James Stacy and his friends at an old Hollywood bar and gossip about their careers and various colleagues. Rick ends the night by giving a lengthy speech about how he was never really in line for The Great Escape.
- Adaptational Badass:
- In the book, Cliff isn't just an extremely tough stunt man. He's a highly decorated war hero who is said to have personally killed more Japanese than any other soldier in the war.
- The film presents Brandy as simply a well-trained guard dog. The book establishes that she's a champion fighting dog, adding some additional justification for how she's able to carve through the Manson Family invaders.
- Adaptational Context Change: The book adds a lot of context to Cliff's fight with Bruce Lee that was not present (or was only implied) in the film:
- Cliff has already spent much of his career as a paid Bully Hunter for actors who injure or terrorize crew members. He wasn't paid to go after Bruce, but it does contribute to his decision to pick a fight with him, as Bruce is known to "tag" stunt performers without mercy. None of this is established in the film.
- Cliff's loss of the first round is a deliberate Batman Gambit he always employs in "best of three" fights, while in the film he seems to lose the first round honestly. In both film and book, it's obvious that Cliff wins the second round by tricking Bruce into using the same technique again, but the book establishes that this was always Cliff's plan.
- The book establishes that Bruce is deliberately holding back on the first round to avoid hurting Cliff too badly. He does try to hurt Cliff on the second round. In the third round, Bruce is considerably hurt. He realizes that Cliff is only holding himself back from murdering Bruce and would be fine with crippling him for life. None of this is suggested in the film.
- In the film, when Cliff arrives at Spahn Ranch, a large group of Manson Family members are gathered to watch television, making it seem like this is a regular pastime at the ranch. The book establishes that the crowd assembled because television is normally prohibited to everyone but Squeaky, and they're catching an opportunity while Manson is away.
- In the book, we get a whole sequence about Squeaky and George Spahn long before the scene in which Cliff visits Spahn Ranch. There is therefore no tension about what he'll find there, like in the movie. For this reason, Cliff's visit is told from Squeaky's perspective.
- Adaptational Villainy: Cliff is a much darker person in the book than his film version:
- He's gotten away with murder three times by the time the story starts, including killing his wife. When Bruce Lee fights him, Lee realizes that Cliff will have to hold himself back from trying to murder him. In the film, it's left ambiguous as to whether he killed his wife, and no other murders or murderous urges are implied.
- The book reveals that Cliff used to enter Brandy into dog fights for money.
- In the book, Cliff considered becoming a pimp shortly after the war and only decided against it because it sounded like too much work.
- Age Lift: Rick's given birth date in the film would put him at 36, while in the book his age is explicitly given as 42, perhaps to be closer to Leonardo Dicaprio's actual age when filming the movie.
- The Alcoholic:
- The narration reveals that Rick's excessive drinking is self-medication for undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
- The narrative brings up quite a few other Hollywood denizens who are alcoholics. Aldo Ray shows up and is in such a bad state that film productions need to babysit him nonstop to prevent him from drinking himself into uselessness. Rick and Cliff also visit a bar with portraits adorning the walls of Hollywood alcoholics across the years.
- Alternate History:
- As with the original film, Cliff and Rick kill the three Manson family killers who invade Rick's house rather than 10050 Cielo Drive.
- In this universe, Rick rides his newfound notoriety into a role in Cannon For Cordoba, taking the role that in reality went to Don Gordon.
- Rick Dalton appears as The Heavy in the pilot episode of Lancer. In reality, the heavy is a different character played by Joe Don Baker. Baker is mentioned as a runner-up for the role. The show also has a character named Mirabella Lancer, the 12-year-old half-sister of the two leads, played by the fictional actress Trudi Fraser. In reality, the equivalent character is Teresa O'Brien, the adult ward of the Lancer family, played by Elizabeth Baur.
- The narrator rattles off a summary of the fictional Trudy's Hollywood career following the events of the film, listing roles she had that in reality went to other people or don't exist. In this universe, Quentin Tarantino directed a 1999 remake of John Sayles' The Lady In Red starring Trudy.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's unclear if Cliff meant to kill his wife. Cliff asserts to himself that his trigger pull was more of an instinctive twitch than a conscious decision, but this could be self-serving revisionism.
- Cliff is rumored to be the only white man to beat Jim Brown in a fight, though the narrator lists several reasons why this might be pure myth.
- Anachronic Order: Unlike the film, the book jumps around in time. In fact, the infamous finale of the film is summarized in Chapter 7 of the book, about one-quarter of the way through.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Bruce Lee is established to be a braggart who is infamous for injuring people on set and then blaming them for it. The narrator notes that he's given conflicting answers to the question of how he'd fare in a fight with Mohammed Ali. Sometimes he says that Ali is too big, but other times he asserts that he'd destroy him. In his interior monologue, Lee asserts that he's deduced a weakness in Ali's skills and would demolish him if he were allowed to kick and fight without boxing gloves. Upon hearing his boasts, Cliff can't help but challenge him.
- Artistic License – History: Rick films the pilot episode of Lancer in 1969, shortly before the Manson Family invades Cielo Drive, but Lancer debuted in 1968.
- Artistic License – Pharmacology: A cowboy has a wad of "snuff" under his lip and spits out "snuff juice," but snuff is sniffed. Tarantino was apparently thinking of chewing tobacco, or "chaw."
- Author Appeal:
- The story name-drops just about every 1960s movie, actor, studio executive, film, TV show, and Los Angeles radio station of note. Tarantino largely grew up in the greater LA area and is famous for his love of '60s and '70s cinema, music, and culture.
- As you might expect from a story written by Quentin Tarantino, women's feet are mentioned a lot. Sharon Tate, Pussycat, and Squeaky are all notably barefoot in their various scenes.
- Author Filibuster: The book goes on for pages detailing Cliff's many highly critical opinions on various films, and it's hard not to hear Tarantino's voice coming through.
- Batman Gambit: Whenever Cliff fights someone in a "best of three" contest, he always lets his opponent to win the first round while offering almost no resistance, counting on the man to use his best technique. The opponent will use this same technique on the second round 19 times out of 20 and will also assume that Cliff is helpless, allowing Cliff to easily counter it and seriously hurt the guy, giving him a major advantage going into the third round. This is how Cliff fights Bruce Lee.
- Beastly Bloodsports: Brandy was once a champion fighting dog. A friend who owed Cliff money proposed paying him back by splitting her winnings. Clliff eventually murdered the man when he proposed betting against her on a fight she would likely lose.
- Broken Pedestal: Charles Manson loses face in front of his followers after getting stood up by Terry Melchior, inserting the kernel of doubt that he's not a visionary guru but just another hippy with a guitar.
- Bully Hunter: Cliff has spent a large portion of his career as a "ringer," which the book defines as a stuntman hired for a single day for the purpose of picking a fight with a troublesome bully on set and pummeling him.
- Chick Magnet: The handsome and charismatic Cliff is said to hook up with plenty of women and always avoids long-term attachments after the death of his wife. The narration notes that his looks have allowed him to manipulate women into getting what he wants from them for most of his life.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Terry Melchior describes Charles Manson's music as "very, very, very not bad."
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- Roman Polanski has to explain to his fellow Polishman Wojciech Frykowski that Americans love their pets like children.
- Rick is a decent man at heart but displays all the bigoted views against minorities, gays, and hippies that you'd expect from a conservative 1960s man.
- The Dog Bites Back: Everyone who knew how much Cliff's wife would berate him when she got drunk believes that he killed her deliberately.
- Disposable Sex Worker: This trope appears in the Show Within a Show Lancer. Johnny Lancer's mother is a Mexican prostitute whose throat is slit by a Mexico City man of wealth and influence, who is acquitted by a Kangaroo Court.
- Faux Affably Evil: Charles Manson puts on a harmlessly chipper and humble persona when talking to Rudi Altobelli, but it's a carefully constructed act.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Literally. Rick initially disliked Cliff because he was jealous of his looks, but after Cliff saved him from being burned alive in a stunt mishap, they became lifelong friends.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Squeaky is surprised to discover that, after caring for and occasionally sexually gratifying the aged George Spahn, she's come to love him, though "not in a Romeo and Juliet way." It's clear that she enjoys his company because she makes him take a nap in the afternoon so that he doesn't nod off while they watch evening television together, robbing Squeaky of her "George TV time."
- Fragile Speedster: Rick is impressed with Bruce Lee's lightning-fast kicks, but Cliff asserts that they have no power behind them and that fast patty-cake is still patty-cake.
- Functional Addict: The narration breaks to note how many successful actors in the 1950s were alcoholics who could get to set having memorized their lines even after a bender.
- Genius Bruiser: Cliff is a studly war hero and stunt man. He also has extremely nuanced opinions on cinema and an encyclopedic knowledge of foreign films, directors and actors.
- The Heavy: Discussed and featured in-universe. Rick's career has been reduced to playing the heavy in a number of television shows. Each role is only good for one episode, and constantly getting defeated by the hero of each show is gradually diminishing his status as a leading man.
- Hotter and Sexier: The scene between Pussycat and Cliff in his car is considerably more sexually graphic in the book, and both Cliff and Rick go through pages of having one-night stands with women, whereas the closest we get to their love lives in the movie is Rick getting hitched to an Italian and Cliff refusing to do anything to Pussycat.
- Hypocrite: Charles Manson pretends to be on a path of spiritual enlightenment unencumbered by desire for fame or wealth. In reality, he desperately wants to become a rock star.
- Informed Attractiveness:
- Cliff is described as extremely attractive. Rick recalls disliking Cliff when they first met while working on Bounty Law because he wanted to be the only handsome man on set.
- A 22-year-old Sharon Tate is described as "god-damned good looking."
- Insistent Terminology: Trudy insists in being called an "actor," not an "actress."
- Kangaroo Court: Appears in the the Show Within a Show Lancer, in which the murderer of Johnny's mother Marta is said to have been acquitted by a jury who seem to bear a grudge against her. The narrator states that he could have set her on fire and still walked.
- Karma Houdini: The narrator notes several times that Cliff got away with murdering his wife. It's an open secret in Hollywood, which blackballed him from the industry.
- The Mafia: The first time Cliff got away with murder was when two Italian mob goons tried to muscle him out of dating one of the girlfriends of a connected guy.
- Manchild: Jay Sebring is partial to large bowls of Cap'n Crunch cereal for breakfast and staying in bed late into the morning to watch cartoons. Roman Polanski views many of his other American friends in this way, though he does enjoy their company regardless.
- May–December Romance: The young Squeaky Fromme genuinely loves the blind old George Spahn, though it's a love borne of sympathy rather than passion. She tells Cliff that she wants to marry him, and nothing in her inner narration suggests that she's lying.
- Miles Gloriosus: Discussed. Cliff is annoyed that Bruce Lee presents himself as the most deadly martial artist around. He asserts to Rick that Lee is simply an actor with some flashy moves that wouldn't amount to much in a real fight. According to him, any Green Beret would take Lee apart. When Cliff fights him, Lee falls into the same Batman Gambit that Cliff pulls on all of his opponents.
- Mugging the Monster: Two mafia goons confront Cliff in a pizza joint and try to strongarm him into abandoning his pursuit of a young lady. Cliff displays his war medal for killing Italians, and when that doesn't scare them off, he promptly shoots both of them in the head.
- Mythology Gag: Sharon Tate meets a cowboy named Ace Woody. This is a recycled name originally belonging to a character that was written out of the script of Django Unchained before it got filmed.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The character of "Pussycat" is a blend of two teenage Manson family members. Her nickname is taken from Kathryn "Kitty" Lutesinger. Her physical appearance (with dark hair and eyebrows that nearly form a unibrow) and sexual relationship with record producer Terry Melchior are taken from Ruth Ann Moorehouse.
- No Hero to His Valet: Jay Sebring may be an influential hair stylist and successful business owner, but his proper British valet obviously disapproves of his carefree, Manchild lifestyle.
- Novelization: The book is a novelization of Tarantino's own film, released two years after the film's debut.
- Perspective Flip: The book tells some scenes that were also in the film from the opposite character's perspective. Some examples include:
- Cliff's fight with Bruce Lee in the film is entirely told as a flashback memory of Cliff's, but in the book, the perspective shifts to Bruce's. When Cliff confronts Squeaky, the perspective is now from Squeaky, and we stay with her even when Cliff converses with George mostly out of her earshot.
- In the film, we stay tight on Cliff through his entire visit to Spahn Ranch. In the book, the perspective is from Squeaky, so much of Cliff's actions are conveyed by what people tell her he's doing or what she can overhear from outside George's room.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Sam Wanamaker's incessant references to Hamlet sail over the head of Rick, who struggles to make sense of Wanamaker's direction.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Sharon Tate is described several times as going barefoot, even when hitchhiking.
- Present Tense Narrative: The novel is written in present tense, much like a screenplay.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: Rick is in awe of Cliff's war record and one time consulted his perspective on what it's like to kill a man.
- Really Gets Around: Cliff sleeps around as much as possible and isn't very particular about his women. If they're willing to service him, he thinks they're gorgeous.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: The narration notes that many successful actors in the 1950s were veterans of World War 2 or the Korean War and carried trauma from combat, often resulting in them becoming alcoholics.
- Serious Business: James Stacy really wanted to wear a mustache for his leading role in Lancer to distinguish himself from other Western actors of the era and look more trendy to modern viewers, but he was prevented by the stodgy studio execs. He's still angry about it. Sam Wanamaker decides to get some enforced method acting out of Stacy by having Rick Dalton wear a mustache for his role as the heavy, which he knows will seriously piss off Stacy and make the antipathy between the two men more real. That's a whole lot of fuss over a soup strainer!
- Show Within a Show:
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The premise of Lancer is based on this dynamic, with Scott as the fancy lad and Johnny as the lower-class lout, though they're both tough.
- Throwing the Fight: When Cliff co-owned Brandy with another man during her fighting career, the man proposed pitting her against another champion dog while she was still too injured to win and betting against her. Cliff responded by and murdering the man in a rage.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Trudy is only eight years old, but her maturity and intelligence could easily pass for a talented middle-aged woman.
