Do Movies Influence Us?

Not all movies are based on novels, but some of them have probably shaped the kind of writing we aspire to.

As a young child, my movie exposure was limited to what my parents watched on Sunday Afternoons (remember Jason and the Argonauts? The King and I?) and what we watched when Dad packed us into the Buick to take in a Drive-In movie.

I remember those days, or rather, nights when my siblings and I played on the swings and see-saws (in our pyjamas) just underneath the big white screen while we waited for the blue light of evening settle into the navy of night. The two movies that I remember distinctly are: The Nutty Professor and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

I remember the music, but mostly I remember the scene where the nutty professor drank the formula that would turn him into Buddy, Playboy Extraordinaire. Jerry Lewis writhed on the floor, with technicolour splashes of spilled beakers all around him. It kind of freaked me out. Now that I look at it, The Nutty Professor was a very dark movie. Plus, I think Buddy was an ass. A complete ass. Nothing like Eddie Murphie's character.

I also remember the late drive home. It was before mandatory seat belt days, and I draped myself along the rear dash of the car with a pillow under my head, staring up at the explosion of stars above my head.

Does anyone remember any big screen movies that influenced their writing? Or at least fired up their imagination?