takes liberties with the plot, exaggerating Babbitt's affair and a sour real estate deal. Both films were Warner Bros. productions. Cultural influence In American literature and popular culture, the character and behaviors of George F. Babbitt became established as negative archetypes of person and personality; a Babbitt is “a materialistic and complacent businessman conforming to the standards of his [social] set” and Babbittry is the “Philistine behaviour of a Babbitt”. Examples include C. E. M. Joad's 1927 book The Babbitt Warren, a scathing critique of American society, and Vachel Lindsay's 1922 poem "The Babbitt Jambouree." Elizabeth Stevenson referenced the character in the title of her popular history of the 1920s, Babbitts and Bohemians: From the Great War to the Great Depression. Bilbo Baggins, the main character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit was partly inspired by Babbitt, as was the title of the book itself. Bilbo and hobbits in general are known for being most comfortable at home and uninterested in adventure.Shippey, Tom. The Road to Middle Earth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, p. 67 Other fictional influences are found in Aldous Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza and Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift. In both novels, one character compares another character to George Babbitt, contrasting their aspirational qualities with their ultimate complacency. The novel is one of the inspirations of the novel Rabbit, Run and its sequels by John Updike. See also Service club, Rotary International Boosterism, Booster Club Winesburg, OhioReferences Bibliography Hines, Thomas S. "Echoes from 'Zenith': Reactions of American Businessmen to Babbitt" Business History Review 41, no. 2 (1967) Hutchisson, James M. "All of Us at 46: The Making of Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt," Journal of Modern Literature 18, no. 1 (1992): 98. Hutchisson, James M. The Rise of Sinclair Lewis: 1920–1930 (State College, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996). Lewis, Sinclair. "Unpublished Introduction to Babbitt," in Go East, Young Man: Sinclair Lewis on Class in America, ed. Sally E. Parry (New York: Signet Classics, 2005) Love, Glen A. Babbitt: An American Life (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993) Schorer, Mark. Sinclair Lewis: An American Life'' (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961) External links 1922 American novels American novels adapted into films American satirical novels Harcourt (publisher) books Novels set in the Midwestern United States Novels about consumerism Novels by Sinclair Lewis