The Carpetbaggers

The Carpetbaggers is a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title. The prequel Nevada Smith was also based on a character in the novel.

The term "carpetbagger" refers to an outsider relocating to exploit locals. It derives from post-bellum South usage, where it referred specifically to opportunistic Northerners who flocked to pillage the occupied southern states. At the time, bags made of carpet-weave cloth from northern mills were a ubiquitous form of hand-carried luggage. In Robbins' novel, the exploited territory is the movie industry, and the newcomer is a wealthy heir to an industrial fortune who, like Howard Hughes, simultaneously pursued aviation and moviemaking avocations.