A CAST OF WRITERS?

Sidney Kirkpatrick’s book “A Cast of Killers” is climbing best-seller lists (fifth on The Times’, seventh on the N.Y. Times lists last week) and he’s the toast of talk shows.

But was he alone in writing the nonfiction account of director William Desmond Taylor’s murder in 1922?

The Times and several newspapers received anonymous phone tips that the book was ghostwritten by a man whose name could be found in the acknowledgements. Kirkpatrick dismisses the claim as “absurd and slanderous.” However, reading those acknowledgements led us to Richard Woods, a screenwriter and close friend of Kirkpatrick’s, described in the book’s last and longest acknowledgement as one “who selflessly poured his valuable time and special talents into seeing that this story was told as King Vidor would have wanted it told.”

Woods was surprised to hear of the tipster and, while he said that he did substantial work on “Cast,” he said he bore no malice for Kirkpatrick.

“I don’t have any arguments with Sid,” he said. “I agreed to work on the book in exchange for a couple thousand dollars and a computer, and a percentage of whatever he got for the screen rights if it sold. It’s Sid’s book; it’s not my place to ask for credit.”

However, other friends of Woods maintain that he completely rewrote Kirkpatrick’s original 900-plus page manuscript and are irritated that Kirkpatrick never gave him more credit, nor paid him a percentage of the screenplay rights that have been purchased by Robert Towne.

“I was present at conversations where Sid said that this (project) would help them both get off the ground, that they would open a company together,” Vicki Hamlett, Woods’ former girlfriend, recalled during an interview.

Kirkpatrick acknowledged that he gave Woods the money and computer in return for editing 250 pages out of the book and “helping me with sections,” but called allegations that Woods rewrote his entire book “patently false.” As far as the screenplay rights were concerned, Kirkpatrick said, “We never defined that.”

Said Woods: “I don’t know what he means by that. I guess we didn’t say how much I would get. If he gave me a dollar, he would be holding up his end of the deal.”

Various Kirkpatrick agents (some acquired after the book was written) made unsolicited calls to The Times to vigorously support Kirkpatrick’s authorship, an issue that Woods said he doesn’t plan to contest. Any steps taken toward litigation will center on monies stemming from screenplay rights, Woods’ attorney said.