''High Road to China'' is a 1977 novel by Australian author

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

Plot

Set in the 1920s, the plot concerns heiress Eve Tozer who hires two pilots to help her fly from England to China in an effort to rescue her kidnapped father, Bradley.

Adaptation

Film rights were bought almost immediately and plans were announced to star Roger Moore and

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

under the direction of John Huston. Cleary turned down the chance to do the adaption as he did not want to work with John Huston in Ireland for several months. Huston dropped out and was replaced by Sidney Furie then eventually

Brian G. Hutton Brian Geoffrey Hutton (January 1, 1935 – August 19, 2014) was an American actor and film director whose notable credits are for the action films '' Where Eagles Dare'' (1968) and ''Kelly's Heroes'' (1970). Acting career Hutton was born in New Y ...

. The novel was eventually filmed in 1983, with a large number of changes made, notably the removal of the German character. Cleary regarded the adaptation as one of the greatest disappointments in his career because he thought the book could have made "one of the great adventure films".Jon Cleary Interviewed by Stephen Vagg: Oral History
at National Film and Sound Archive

References

External links

''High Road to China''
at AustLit (subscription required) {{Jon Cleary 1977 Australian novels Aviation novels Novels set in China William Collins, Sons books William Morrow and Company books Novels by Jon Cleary Australian novels adapted into films