Written by Jack Nicholson

Saw this on TCM the other night.

Wanted to share some notes I found about Jack's writing process and what inspired him.

Apparently he went to the Los Angeles Public Library and dug up some "frontier dairies" which were in a book, "Bandits of the Plains."

Below is an excerpt from the book "Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson (Updated and Expanded)" by Patrick McGilligan. ***WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS*** spoilers are behind spoiler tags.

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"Jack's script for 'Ride in the Whirlwind' was more conventional in some ways, more plot-driven. But he revealed a growing maturity in the writing, with quirky, naturalistic dialogue that rang true.

'VERNE (Cameron Mitchell): It's peculiar sitting here playing checkers while a bunch of men want to string us up.
'WES (Nicholson): Why don't you put a tune to it?

"Rummaging in the Los Angeles Public Library, Jack had found a book called 'Bandits of the Plains,' consisting of dairies and tales of the Old West, full of idiomatic expressions. He drew on the vernacular, and borrowed one of the frontier tales, describing [spoiler]an all-out siege on a cabin of outlaws.[/spoiler] Nicholson used it as the first major setpiece of 'Ride in the Whirlwind.'

"In his script, [spoiler]a trio of saddle-sore cowhands stumble on a stage robbery gang hiding out in a mountain shack, just prior to an assault by vigilantes. The attack wipes out everybody except two of the cowboys (Mitchell and Nicholson), who flee and are hunted across the badlands by a vengeful posse.[/spoiler]

"Jack liked to say this script too was heavily influenced by Camus's essay 'The Myth of Sisyphus,' exploring the plight of the mythical hero who eternally pushes a rock toward the heights of a mountain only to have it slip back down over and over. But Nicholson was always parading his stripes as an intellectual, and references to Camus made great PR, especially in foreign film magazines.

"To Cameron Mitchell, who loved Jack's script when he read it, 'Ride in the Whirlwind' instantly reminded him of something else, not Camus--but another Western, a classic starring Henry Fonda, 'The Oxbow Incident,' about ***SPOILER***[spoiler] a posse who hang the wrong man.[/spoiler] Mitchell thought he understood the subtext perfectly: 'Ride in the Whirlwind' evoked the victimization of the Hollywood Ten and the guilt-by-association of other blacklisted screen figures."

There is a lot more; the book looks like it would be a good read. Apparently the movie became a hit overseas after it was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the open market. It played for six months in Paris.