DVD Review: The Outsiders - The Complete Novel

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
--Robert Frost, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" (1923), featured in S.E. Hinton's book, The Outsiders (1967) and its film adaptation (1983)

"Stay gold, Nancyboy."
--Me to my little brother after he foolishly revealed that he cried when reading the part of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders in which the oh-so-sensitive Johnny Cade dies (1985)


I was never really a fan of S(usan) E(loise) Hinton's book about wild boys on the loose in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960's, but based on the cult of popularity that the millions-selling, often translated novel has spawned, I am in the minority. I must admit, though, that Francis Ford Coppola's new cut of his 1983 film, re-dubbed The Outsiders: The Complete Novel, is an impressive love letter not only to fans of the phenomenally popular book, but to anyone who's ever loved anything passionately.


The story behind the story, detailed generously on the bonus disc, goes like this: In 1980, Jo Ellen Misakian, a school librarian from Fresno, California, wrote a letter to director Francis Ford Coppola, asking him, on behalf of the dozens of students who signed the attached petition, to adapt the novel for the screen. While Coppola was fresh off the 1979's Apocalypse Now, which almost ended his career and his life (see George Hickenlooper's Hearts Of Darkness), Misakian was keen on the job that Coppola and his Zoetrope Studios did adapting Walter Farley's classic children's novel, The Black Stallion. Three years later (and after the abject failure of his self-produced 1982 romantic comedy, One From The Heart), The Outsiders was released, grossing a modestly successful $25.6 million and launching the careers of its young, mostly male cast. Still, despite Coppola's faithful translation, it was not as complete as the fans, as they detailed in letters of mixed praise over the next 20 years, would have liked. When Coppola would occasionally visit school kids across the country and show the film, the young audiences would thrill to a version fuller than the one released theatrically. Twenty years after its initial release, Coppola returned to the editing room and officially added 22 minutes of footage previously shot but unused in the too-curt 91 minute cut, so came the version that studio Warner Brothers released to a handful of theaters in advance of the September 2005 DVD release.

The movie, as it was, was a highly stylized melodrama, recalling West Side Story (less the singing and dancing) and aping (quite intentionally) the lush and epic feel of Gone With The Wind (C. Thomas Howell's Ponyboy Curtis actually reads Margaret Mitchell's novel to Ralph Macchio's Johnny Cade while they are on-the-lam and holed-up in an abandoned church). To anyone who hadn't read Hinton's book, it was all very pretty, thanks to the visual splendor of cinematographer Stephen Burum and its way-dreamy cast, but it left some people cold and wondering what all the hubbub was all about. Yes, Coppola had stated that the loss of childhood innocence was awful and tragic, but did he really make us feel it? Was his point, to reference the title of daughter Sofia's 2003 film, Lost In Translation? Whether or not it was is quite subjective, but nevertheless now, the changes Coppola has made in The Outsiders have actually resulted in a better movie (take that, revisionists Lucas and Spielberg).

First, the entire opening of the film is different (and the whole film is  in stunning 2.35:1 Cinemascope). Now, we meet "Greaser" Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) as he is leaving the town's movie theater, when he is shadowed and accosted the the rich-boy "Socs" (pronounced "SOASH-ez"). It is a far more dramatic way of not only establishing Ponyboy as the main character, but setting up the heated rivalry between the Greasers and Socs and the gang-family relationship these Lost Boys/Greasers have with each other. The additional footage elsewhere in the film solidifies the bond between the orphaned Ponyboy and his two brothers/caretakers, Sodapop (Rob Lowe) and Darry (Patrick Swayze). Even if this beefier film still doesn't affect you, the sheer magnitude of its cast of future stars, which also includes Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez and an absolutely adorable 17-year-old Diane Lane, is worth experiencing. And don't forget rough boy Dallas Winston, played by Tiger Beat heartthrob Matt Dillon, who starred in two other Hinton movies -- Disney's Tex (1982) and another Coppola effort, Rumblefish (also 1983).

Also gone in this version is the late Carmine Coppola's schmaltzy score, though you can enjoy some of its sugary goodness in Stevie Wonder's opening theme, "Stay Gold" by the director's father and Stevie Wonder. In its place, the junior Coppola has licensed a slew of songs of the era -- music he felt was more evocative of the characters, as it was the music that they would have listened to. Using mostly earlier Elvis was smart, as it showed that although the rest of the world was feeling Flower Power, the dingy stillwater of Tulsa (which was about as lively and swank as Dresden in the 1950's) was years behind the rest of the world.

The other extras give tremendous insight into the film's production. There is a solid 26-minute retrospective called "Staying Gold" and a recently taped tour of Tulsa by the seldom-seen Hinton. The coolest value-added feature is "Casting The Outsiders", in which veteran casting director Fred Roos, who had been with the Coppolas since the first Godfather, spins tales of finding the best boys (and girl) for the part. Rare video footage of the cast rehearsing (and living in the actual Curtis house) gives some great perspective on Coppola's methods, and some great thrills to anyone who wants to see these young men in underwear and no shirts. Also cool is audition tapes of those who didn't make the cut, like Helen Slater, Kate Capshaw, Adam Baldwin and Anthony Michael Hall. Alas, however, anyone wondering when the short-lived Outsiders TV series might appear must continue to wait, as there is not a mention of it in this set.

Overall, The Outsiders: The Complete Novel is not a great film -- serving better as an Exhibit A in any "A Book Is Not A Movie" argument -- but in the scheme of things, it is better to have adapted and slightly botched than never to have adapted at all.