True Grit Was Only A Hit Because Paramount Rigged It

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/The-True-Grit-Novel-Was-Only-A-Hit-Because-Paramount-Rigged-It-22376.html

Fans of old school Westerns, and particularly of John Wayne, are
usually the only ones who stand by the original True Grit as a
classic, while the rest of the world has kind of moved on without it.
But even less well-remembered is the Charles Portis novel it was based
on, and which the Coen Brothers studied thoroughly as they prepared
their new version of the story, which hit theaters a few days ago. The
novel was the #2-best-selling book in the country when the True Grit
movie came out in 1968, but there may be an explanation for why not
that many people remember it-- no one actually read it the first time
around either.

The New York Times talked to former Paramount publicity exec Bob
Rehme, who confessed that he was in charge of goosing sales of the
book before the movie adaptation hit theaters. Paramount wanted the
book to "live up to its reputation as a best seller" before the movie
was released, so Rehme, in their words, "set out to rig the game":

Mr. Rehme recalled sending out members of the Paramount office staff
to buy boxes of books from stores that, according to his information,
were being monitored by The New York Times in compiling its
best-seller list. (These days a dagger symbol next to a book on the
best-seller list indicates that booksellers have noted bulk sales.)

“It worked,” maintains Mr. Rehme, who then circulated all those books
to people in the news media and others, pumping up interest in a story
Paramount was promoting as “a brand-new brand of American frontier
story.”

Sure that whole dagger-symbol thing means this exact scheme wouldn't
work these days-- and they'd want to increase the Amazon ranking above
anything anyway-- but this story is just another example of how
endlessly inventive Hollywood can be when money is on the line. No
word on similar shenanigans happening at Paramount for the Coens' take
on the story, but if it turns out Jeff Bridges' Oscar win last year
was a coordinated effort between Paramount and Sony to make Bridges a
big star in time for True Grit and Tron: Legacy to hit theaters,
you're not allowed to be surprised.

=

This is an interesting story, but I seriously doubt one production
team could purchase enough copies of a book to make it a national
bestseller. I also have no doubt such things still go on, only now as
more obvious coordinated marketing efforts.

-- 
-pcg
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