The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris, his second to feature sociopath psychiatrist and cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In the novel and the film based on it, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is sent to question an imprisoned sociopath/psychiatrist to get information on one of his former clients, a serial killer given the name Buffalo Bill, who is abducting women and skinning them.

Differences in the film version

• Starling's struggles as an FBI trainee are downplayed, with only occasional hints at difficulties, often based on sexism. It is not directly suggested that she was in danger of flunking out.
• Crawford's subplot, regarding the death of his wife, is eliminated for simplicity. Likewise, Klaus is removed, with Raspail's head in the jar instead.
• Lecter's red herrings are altered to include anagrams: Clarice is told to investigate "Miss Hester Mofet" (AKA "miss the rest of me") and his false Buffalo Bill name becomes "Louis Friend" (iron sulfide).
• Bimmel's hometown is depicted as Belvedere, Ohio, the same as Gumb's.
• Lecter never tells Starling that Buffalo Bill wants "a vest with tits in it." Starling deduces this specific motive of Buffalo Bill on her own after seeing a dress in Bimmel's closet.
• After escaping from his cell in Memphis, Lecter is next shown at the end of the movie contacting Starling by telephone immediately following her graduation ceremony from the FBI Academy. Lecter, who informs Starling he is "having an old friend for dinner" is shown ostensibly on a Caribbean island while his nemesis Chilton nervously deplanes nearby.