The Great Trimalchio

Christmas is only one hundred and forty-eight days away but get your tickets now for the n-teenth film version of the Great Gatsby. However, it is the first to star Leonardo DiCaprio, who is/was also under contract to portray none other than F. Scott Fitzgerald himself in "The Beautiful & The Damned."
If Leonardo can re-do Robert Redford, then why not re-do Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront?
However, the most succulent & succinctly quotable Brando line from that classic film, I coulda been a contendah might be subject to a Fitzgerald twist of logic and get re-phrased as

I coulda been a Trimalchio

On November 7, 1924, this letter was written to Maxwell Perkins, FSF's publisher. It is taken from A LIFE IN LETTERS F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby was published on April 10, 1925 and that naturally begs the question

Who da hell is Trimalchio?

This book, written by Petronius in the first century of the first millennium, is a tour guide through the deliciously decadent days of the Roman Empire. The longest bacchanalia chapter is entitled TRIMALCHIO. A former slave, he is–at the time of this story–a man of immeasurable wealth. To call the parties that he hosts "extravagant" makes me guilty of understatement. He now owned ten slaves per square yard but some were allowed to dine along with the guests. The only requirement for this privilege was knowing which of the seventeen pieces of silverware corresponded to which of the seventeen courses of the meal. No easy task since each course may or may not be interrupted by a circus act.

Trimalchio's palatial estate makes Cleopatra's palace look like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. This doyen of decadence is featured in Fellini's Satyricon.

Trimalchio inspired Fitzgerald but inspiration is not a crime, especially when blessed by the Divine Intervention of Zelda. With a little bit of help from their friends–in particular, Ring Lardner–she convinced her husband to entitle his perfect novel THE GREAT GATSBY.
Were Scott to have used the title "Trimalchio" there would have been one and only one film version–albeit an epic–starring none less than Arnold Schwarzenegger.