Book to movie, 16: Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator

Every four weeks, I will be writing about a book that I think could make a great movie.

Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator by Homer Hickman is one of those books that sticks out in my mind even more than a decade since it was published.

Elsie and Homer (who is actually the father of the author) have been married for sometime, but it also took a while to get there. Homer had initially asked Elise to marry him when they were quite young, but Elsie jetted off for a life in showbiz. After her entertainer boyfriend at the time, Buddy Ebsen, left town and her, Elsie went back home and married Homer.

But, Buddy did leave Elsie and Homer a wedding gift: an alligator named Albert. One day though, Homer is finally scared enough of Albert to give Elsie an ultimatum: me or Albert. Elsie decides that the best thing is find Albert a new home and so Elsie, Homer, and Albert set off on a trip filled with bizarre adventures.

The line that stuck with me the most was towards the end when the author asks his mom, Elsie, if all of the stories she's told him over the years really happened. She answers, "It all happened, even when it didn't."

Carrying Albert Home somehow makes some completely unrelatable experiences like having a pet alligator or starring in a Tarzan movie on a whim, feel so grounded and easy to relate to. Perhaps this is because, the real story is that of love, our expectations of life, how memories stay with us or not, and letting go.

I think these relatable themes along with the quirky premise are a great hook for a movie. I do think it'd need a shorter title as we like our movie titles quippy (perhaps My Parents' Alligator Road Trip), but without the word alligator in there, I think it wouldn't have that same intrigue. I do realize that this movie would require either a highly trained alligator or some impressive animatronics/puppetry/special effects. But, I think this is doable. The actors and director(s) (as well as the whole team I suppose) would also need to understand the assignment of poignant emotion wrapped up in wild circumstances.

When it's all said and done, I think this book could be a great movie.

Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator by Homer Hickman, William Morrow