And speaking of David Cronenberg...the Canadian wasn’t the first director to take a stab at J.G. Ballard’s novel. The San Diego-born (but London educated) Harley Cokeliss directed a version of his own in ‘71.
Since Crash, the novel, was still two years down the road, Cokeliss based the film on some fragments found in Ballard’s Atrocity Exhibition. And, perhaps even more suited to the role than James Spader, Ballard himself starred as the film’s lead. From the Ballardian:
With his brooding, hypermasculine presence, Ballard plays a version of Atrocity’s ‘T’ character alongside the actor Gabrielle Drake, her own role a composite of the book’s archetypal ’sex-kit’ women. The film was a product of the most experimental, the darkest phase of Ballard’s career. It was an era of psychological blowback from the sudden, shocking death of his wife in 1964, an era that had produced the cut-up ‘condensed novels’ of Atrocity, plus a series of strange collages and ‘advertisers’ announcements.’
The Ballardian link includes a scene-by-scene description of the hard-to-see short, but, since it’s a recent addition to YouTube, you can start watching it right now below: