The Way to Dusty Death is a thrillernovel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1973. The title is a quotation from the famous soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 5 in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The book was published in 1973 and became a best seller. The Chicago Tribune thought Maclean was writing "as a parody of himself".
Plot introduction
The protagonist, Johnny Harlow, a world champion Formula 1 racing driver, was in a devastating accident during the French Grand Prix, which caused the death of his best friend, a Californian driver and Isaac Jethou, along with maiming his girlfriend. It is only one of a series of crashes which have dogged the Grand Prix circuit in the past season, one of which led to the death of Harlow’s younger brother. The crash appears to have completely destroyed Harlow’s nerve, and the boss of the Coronado team, MacAlpine, for which he drives, is torn between wanting to keep his star driver, and concerns that Harlow has turned into an alcoholic. However, Harlow is playing a role, as he suspects that there is more behind these "accidents" than “acts of God”, and soon finds out that a few people will do anything to prevent him from discovering the truth.
Proposed Film Adaptation
The story was originally written as a screenplay. It was meant to star Maclean's friend Jackie Stewart and be produced by MacLean's second wife. In February 1972 Stewart said the film was going to be called The Hands Are Still Now and that he would play a character called Jonnie Harlow, a world champion racer "but there is not much motorracing. It is about drug trafficking and Harlow is a James Bond type hero." In August 1972 Scott Finch said he was going to work on the script to what was then called The Way to Dusty Death. At one stage J. Lee Thompson, who had directed Guns of Navarone, was attached to direct. The novel came out in September 1973 the New York Times declaring "MacLean does not miss one cliche." The book became a best seller. In October 1973 it was reported that filming of the movie version was postponed "indefinitely." In 1976 Maclean's second wife Mary formed a company with producer Peter Snell, Aleelle Productions, who aimed to make movies based on MacLean novels including Golden Gate, Bear Island, The Way to Dusty Death and Captain Cook. Film rights were taken away from MacLean's wife following their divorce in 1977. In 1979 Peter Snell, who produced the film of Maclean's Bear Island said he wanted to film The Way of Dusty Death next. However the film did not eventuate for over a decade, when it emerged as a TV movie.
Peter Snell managed to get the film financed as a TV movie. It was made by Delux Productions, a company set up by CLT, owner of the Luxembourg- based TV network RTL. The show was made to be sold in the United States and across Europe.
