In Robert Benton's handsome, well-appointed Billy Bathgate, adapted by playwright Tom Stoppard, all the sure-fire elements are in place. It's a boy's adventure story, told in Billy's awe-struck, highly literary voice, which conjures up a mythical vision of our outlaw urban past. No doubt Doctorow himself was partly inspired by Hollywood gangster movies of the '30s when he wrote his tour de force. At first glance it seems to have all the right stuff for a blockbuster both popular and prestigious: the legendary gangster Dutch Schultz its teenage hero, Billy, who comes of age under the racketeer's murderous tutelage a beautiful blond socialite drawn to the wild side colorful Depression-era detail, and sex and violence presented with impeccable literary credentials. Doctorow's novel "Billy Bathgate" enticed Hollywood.
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