John D Macdonald was a writer of mystery and thriller novels. He wrote close to 100 novels in his life and countless magazine short stories. 21 of those novels were the Travis McGee series. Travis is best described as a sea-faring Floridan hipster private eye. He's sharp, he wise, he's stylish and he gets the job done. All while living on a houseboat I might add. Amazing as it sounds, the only John D novels of any kind made into a film was Cape Fear and A Flash Of Green and this one, which is the only Travis McGee adaption. It's very rare and considered cult, Rod Taylor stars and is on game, the film is very faithful to the story and character, and the film overall is enjoyable. Using my Pinewoods Rating System, Darker Than Amber gets an adequate Two & 3/4 Pinewoods....The Horror!!
Noirsville - the film noir
This film is hard to pigeon hole into any preset category. Its based on the writings of John D. MacDonald a Pennsylvania native and a very prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many of them set in the South and predominantly the southern tip of the state of Florida.
Sleaze Diary: Darker Than Amber (1970)
Bearing in mind their huge fan following and the sheer number of copies sold, it seems somewhat surprising that there have been only two attempts to date to adapt John D MacDonald's 'Travis McGee' novels to the screen. Even more surprising, it might seem, is the fact that neither of these attempts were judged to be successful.
WHAT THE?.....THE HORROR!!
