Stay Hungry - Differences Between Film and Novel

Differences Between Film and Novel

There are a great deal of differences between the novel and the film version of Stay Hungry. There are two primary differences between the film, and the original novel by Charles Gaines. One is that the character of Joe Santo (Schwarzenegger) was originally an American bodybuilder of French Canadian and Native American descent. The novel also features a great deal more back-story into Santo's past - he is shown to have served in the Korean War, received a Purple Heart after being wounded by an enemy bullet, and then spent time as an international envoy promoting peace and brotherhood through music and traditional Menominee Indian folk songs. He also made handcrafted Native American jewelry which became very popular - even making a necklace for Mamie Eisenhower. After this, Santo spent time working on a drilling rig in the Berry Islands, and then was a professional fishing guide before becoming a bodybuilder.

The film omits all of this backstory and changes the character of Santo to an Austrian - to better fit with the real life personality of Arnold Schwarzenegger. In Stay Hungry, Santo is instead described as having been a competitive swimmer and a curling champion - both of which Schwarzenegger actually was.

The other major difference is that the entire plot-line about the crooked real-estate firm, and the attempt to buy the gym to make room for a high-rise building, is not part of the original story at all. In the novel, Craig Blake becomes involved with Santo and the gym crowd after simply walking into the Olympic Spa on a whim. The film screenplay constructs the story about Blake being involved with a real-estate firm attempting to buy the gym - probably to add more cohesion to the events of the movie.

The novel also features a very long and detailed account of a camping trip taken by Craig Blake, Joe Santo, Franklin Coates and Mary Tate, in which Blake ingests peyote and has a powerful psychedelic experience. This was also left out of the film.

Near the end the novel, Santo begins a passionate relationship with country club socialite Zoe Miller, and they spend weeks in the Bahamas fishing for tarpon, in a section of the book that is highly detailed. In the film, Santo and Zoe do become romantically involved, but only implicitly.

The final and perhaps most important difference between the film and the novel is that the film ends optimistically, with Blake deciding to "go into the gym business" with Joe Santo and leaving behind his old, unfulfilling life. In the original novel, after the Mr. Universe contest, Blake eventually loses touch with Santo, Mary Tate, and most of his other friends, and finds himself bleakly confronting a life that is no longer satisfying or exciting - having failed to cultivate the new identity that he had briefly grasped at during his time with Mary Tate, Santo and the rest of his carefree group. The book ends on a decidedly dreary and melancholy note, with Craig Blake once again lacking an identity and finding no purpose in life. Another difference omitted from the film version is the death of Mary Tate in the novel: she dies after breaking and falling through the second story plate glass window of the gym during a struggle with Thor.