Ripped from the Headlines!: The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies’ Most Memorable Crimes

Nearly everyone has seen a film or two that is promoted as being \”Based on a True Story\”, and most of us are vaguely aware that films like \”Psycho\” and \”Chicago\” are based on real people and real crimes. Now, along comes veteran crime author Harold Schechter to give us the facts behind the Hollywood fiction, and produces one amazing read! The near-perfect murder at the center of \”Double Indemnity\” was, in reality, so inept it was practically laughable. In contrast, the real case that inspired \”Psycho\” was so bizarre, so repulsive, that the Hitchcock version feels as though it was produced by Sunday school teachers. And who knew that the comedy classic \”Arsenic and Old Lace\” was based on real events that weren\’t the least bit funny? If you love classic film, true crime, or believe that that truth is stranger than fiction, this book is for you.

NOTE: Says 354 pages, is only 328; rest is bibliography and index It is very rare that I give a book 5 stars, and I thought long and hard before doing this review. First, when I saw the title, read the synopsis, AND new that it was written by Harold Schechter, I had to have it. I will admit, Schechter may have the occasional slipup no writer is perfect but this is not one. The only thing I too issue with here was the inconsistent format: sometimes a chapter started off detailing the movie, then discussing the case(s)/criminal(s) it was based on, other times it was done the other way around. This may have been for the purpose of keeping things interesting, but for me it did the opposite. However, this was more than made up for by the sheer amount of research and detail to be found herein. The fact that I was able to learn new (to me) information about Richard Speck and Ed Gein, alone was mind-blowing. Then to learn that so many famous movies with big name actors were actually based on real life events and/or people, many I had never even heard about, makes this book more than worth the purchase. I recommend this to any true crime aficionado.

What a novel idea for a book. Certainly not for the faint of heart but impeccably written. As disturbing as some of these movies are, in most cases the real crimes on which they were based were so much worse. One of the best aspects of this book is the author goes into the reasons that the killers turned out to be monsters. Unbelievable but I don\’t doubt the stories for a moment. If the author reads this review I hope he will write a second book in a similar vein. I wonder if there is other material available for additional movies to be covered.

I downloaded this book not realizing it was by the same author who wrote about the Belle Gunness murders. This was a pleasant surprise, since I felt that book was a great true crime novel. This one, however, did not seem as well thought out. Some chapters started out with the true crime story first, while others opened with the movie plots based on the crimes. As others pointed out, the author doesn\’t even try to be objective in his descriptions of people, whether criminal or victim. Same goes for many situations. While it was interesting to read about some of the crimes behind the Hollywood versions, I found myself wondering how \”truly\” some of the crimes were depicted by the author.

Parallel descriptions of movies and the crimes at their core make this book doubly fascinating. Written in clear prose, with many interesting observations, Ripped From the Headlines by Schechter keeps you reading with compelling stories and surprising details. Strongly recommended. / Gene Stewart

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