The hard-to-find book on which the film is based is:
"The Naughty Girls," Arthur Wise, 1972, 1980, New York, New York: Playboy
Paperbacks.
In general the book is a slightly cheap and slightly vulgar novel aimed at
male readers. Despite this, however, it has few of the neotephilic
undertones that exist in the film, and does contain a few gems of
descriptive prose and philosophical insights. Other than the European
setting, the book follows the film quite closely in many parts.
The book elaborates much more on the Robert Burger fraud, the affair between Richard and the older woman, Uncle David's background (he's a doctor from Kensington, England), and Thelma's former dormitory roommates. Here are a few differences and similarities I noticed to give the reader a quick feel for the book:
| topic: | book: | film: |
|---|---|---|
| title | "The Naughty Girls" | "Little Sweetheart" |
| date | 1972, 1980 | 1988 |
| setting | St. Julien les Pins, France [map] |
St. George Island, Florida, USA |
| nearby business towns | Les Sables, St. Martin | Apalachicola, Eastpoint |
| surrounding forest | forest of Olonne | slash pine & palmetto |
| languages used | English, French, German | English |
| opening scene | Mr. Burger's office | Thelma walking beach |
| fishing community | coastal community only | fishing heavily emphasized |
| Thelma's demeanor | always grinning | always gloomy or bratty
|
| Thelma's cunning | naive & inexperienced in real world | constantly wiser & cleverer than adults |
| Thelma's teeth | missing 2 front teeth | full set of teeth |
| Thelma's oral habit | sucking her thumb | eating ice cream |
| shopkeeper | Pierre | Mr. Manny |
| Thelma noisily slurps Coke | habitually | (not depicted) |
| Thelma's constant snack | "lollipops" (frozen) | popsicles |
| Little Billy | (nonexistent) | figures into plot |
| using the word "kid" theme | (nonexistent) | emphasized |
| Cokes as the primary refreshment | emphasized
|
emphasized |
| Richard's age | 16 | 18 |
| Richard's lover | Madame (Lucienne) Girard | Miss Marissa |
| Richard's lover's age | 26 | early- to mid-20's |
| Elizabeth's home | London, England | Texas, USA |
| Thelma's deceased father | Nigel Davies | (not named) |
| Elizabeth's father | Tom Harrison | Harry Harrison |
| Elizabeth's mother | Mrs. Kay Harrison | Mrs. Harrison |
| Elizabeth's father's former wife | Madeleine DeWitt | (no mention he had a former wife) |
| Elizabeth's entertainment aspirations | (not mentioned) | radio & TV star |
| Thelma's boredom of place | emphasized | emphasized |
| Robert Burger meets girls at: | Coq d'Or | The Happy Pelican |
| method of meeting | Robert Burger approaches girls | Robert Burger introduced to girls |
| Robert Burger's home | America | England |
| Robert Burger's mistress | Dorothea P. Lindstrom |
Dorothea |
| Dorothea's nickname | Dolly | Dotty |
| Robert-Dorothea travel arrangements | Dorothea waiting at house before Robert arrives | travel together |
| "oysters don't swim" joke | (nonexistent) | method of introduction |
| Robert Burger's rental | Villa Printemps | Sandcastle |
| currency | francs & centimes | dollars |
| charge account | waitress allows Thelma to charge to Robert Burger's account | waiter always hostile to girls and wants immediate cash only |
| Thelma TV habit | (not mentioned) | always watching TV |
| Robert Burger's former wife | Edna Burger | (not named) |
| Thelma's mother | Mrs. Jenny Davies | Mrs. Davies |
| Thelma's uncle | Uncle David Meacham | Uncle David |
| Robert Burger's fib | aircraft secret | bomb secret |
| Thelma splashing Elizabeth incident | clue to Thelma's psychopathy | (not mentioned) |
| Thelma smashing doll incident | clue to Thelma's psychopathy | (not mentioned) |
| Thelma's feelings towards couple | (no evidence of any feelings) | loves Robert, hates Dorothea |
| use of camera | delayed for 3 days due to rain | used immediately |
| Thelma-Elizabeth relationship | always holding hands as friends | mixture of friendship & disdain
|
| love-making setting | forest | beach |
| Elizabeth's sex education | never seen the sex act | seen sex act on cable TV |
| couple's suspicions of Thelma | neither suspects her | Dorothea is sure it's her |
| developing of sex photographs | illegal | not a crime "in this state" |
| derogatory references to peasants | frequent | (nonexistent) |
| Bob & Dorothea's newspaper photos | old, different likeness | recent, identical likeness |
| Elizabeth leaves sunglasses: | downstairs | on top of bed |
| money drop point | Hôtel de Ville | Lanier's Pharmacy |
| Robert Burger watches from: | Coq d'Or | The Grill Restaurant
|
| Elizabeth hides envelope | completely inside "knickers" | protruding from top of panties |
| Elizabeth says "God": | habitually | only once, before shot |
| Elizabeth's death | dies immediately upon being shot | struggles into ocean, survives |
| Elizabeth's murder panties color | pink | white |
| Thelma buries in woods: | Elizabeth's body | Elizabeth's clothes & gun |
| Elizabeth's corpse | viewed in morgue by parents | never found, since she's alive |
| police official | Inspector Laporte | sheriff |
| Thelma says "I expect": | habitually | only once, to sheriff |
| Uncle David's dinner | takes family to Hôtel de Paris | (not mentioned) |
| giver of "bad people" speech to Thelma | Mrs. Davies | Uncle David |
| Robert Burger calls Thelma a: | "bastard" | "little sweetheart" |
| worst swear words | "damn," "piss," "fuck," "bastard" | "damned," "bloody," "hell," "shit" |
| Richard's lover breakup | tells him she doesn't love him | tells him she's pregnant |
| Richard's competition | Herr Meyer (wealthy German) | (no competition mentioned) |
| Robert Burger's gun | Smith and Wesson Airweight .38 Special | Charter Arms .38 Police Special |
| ending church scene | (nonexistent) | Robert Burger pleads with Thelma |
| couple's demise | Dorothea commits suicide before apprehended | Robert Burger killed by shotgun after apprehended |
| evidence that catches Thelma | hidden negatives | Elizabeth's presumed story |
BACK to "Little Sweetheart" page
File: lscomp.htm
Updated: August 10, 1998
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