The thing is, there are a number of very reputable sources who claim that Capote wrote at least half of To Kill a Mockingbird. The fact that Harper Lee never wrote another book might lend some creedence to this theory.
I think the movie clearly shows that Capote was only helping the killers out as his path to get to them, gain the information, write his masterwork. He pulls back from them because he finally realizes that the fact that he's using them, building up their hopes, simply to further his own ambition, may not be such a good thing. He has to start questioning the impact of his own actions and the answers to those questions are not comfortable ones.
The movie also inspired me to buy In Cold Blood, though if I don't have time to read the book then there's always the movie version of that, which ain't half bad.
I realize that I didn't fully complete my thought about Capote's involvement with his subject. Being a former journalist who still has a do-gooder streak intact within me, I can understand the divisive inner torture he might have been going through, where he wants to help someone he thinks is redeemable, but at the same time realizes he is using them to futher his cause. I would like to think he wasn't toally self-serving, but who really knows.
JD Salinger also wrote only one full length yet highly influential book. Did Capote have a hand in that too? 
The older movie looked really interesting. I'll have to check it out sometime, but probably after I read the book. Speaking of In Cold Blood, that's is exactly the temperature that my own blood turned when I heard that one part of the confession from Smith, the one where he talks about thinking the father is a very nice man, was a direct quote from him, no Hollywoodization at all, it seems.
From Wikipedia:
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Capote, a lifelong friend and childhood neighbor, was allegedly the inspiration for the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. He sometimes implied that he himself had written a considerable portion of the novel, and at least one person, Pearl Kazin Bell, an editor at Harper's who cited Lee's failure to produce another novel, has gone on record supporting the theory of his co-authorship. A letter from Capote to his aunt, dated July 9, 1959, indicates that he had seen Lee's manuscript but did not take any credit for it.
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So it can go either way I suppose.
In terms of Capote's motivations, maybe the book Capote, which the film was based on, is clearer on that topic? Didn't buy it when I saw it, not sure I'd have time to read it. Did just get the (legal) Capote DVD and will have to check out what extras are there and if they shed any further light on this topic.
Probably you can find In Cold Blood (the book) at Dymocks. If not, you're welcome to borrow my copy.
It'd be very interesting to read the book Capote and see how it stacked up against the movie! Maybe I'll take you up on your offer of In Cold Blood if I can't find it anywhere next month. (Payday!) Thanks!
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