Based on...
Books and films are two closely-related forms of art and entertainment. Since the science of film was first established in the late 1800s filmmakers have been using it to tell stories, and they soon began utilising the existing narratives and characters of novels. These films have succeeded (or not) to varying degrees in the transition, some accurately portraying the writer's intention, some building on it and some disappointing the original readers. No matter how well the adaptation is done however, it is still nice to be reminded that yes, happily, there is more to read than Harry Potter.
For screen translations of Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Stephen King and many other notable authors click their links under this category, left. For adaptations of plays and Shakespeare, use the 'Alice's Playhouse' link.
Right: Kubrick's adaptation of Thackeray's novel 'Barry Lyndon'.
Little Women (1933)
7.4/10
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lucas
'Endless pleasure no matter how many times you've seen it' (Leonard Maltin). The Louisa M Alcott novel is portrayed on film featuring Katharine Hepbur... Read more
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
8.1/10
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Paul Muni, Helen Vinson
Mervyn LeRoy's searing adaptation of Robert E. Burns' autobiography stars Paul Muni as a drifter unfairly sentenced to 10 years' hard labour on a Geor... Read more
The Lodger / Downhill (1927)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Marie Ault, Ivor Novello
Aesthetically influenced by German Expressionism, and based on the story of Jack the Ripper, 'The Lodger' was the film in which Hitchcock first demons... Read more
The Lodger (Blu-ray) (1927)
7.6/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Marie Ault, Ivor Novello
2012 restoration. Aesthetically influenced by German Expressionism, and based on the story of Jack the Ripper, 'The Lodger' was the film in which Hitc... Read more
Metropolis (Restored) (1927)
8.3/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Gustav Frohlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel
Perhaps the most famous and influential of all silent films, 'Metropolis' had for 75 years been seen only in shortened or truncated versions. Now, res... Read more
The Lost World (1925)
7.1/10
Director: Harry Hoyt
Starring: Bessie Love, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone
The original silent film version of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure story about a group of travellers who are transported to a world populated... Read more
The Phantom Of The Opera (Chaney) (1925)
7.3/10
Director: Rupert Julian
Starring: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Rupert Julian's 1925 silent masterpiece has Lon Chaney in the great role of his career as Erik, the vengeful composer who lives in the catacombs under... Read more
Greed (1925)
7.9/10
Director: Erich Von Stroheim
Starring: Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt
One of the wonders of film, this miracle of filmmaking made against the most impossible of odds, stars Gibson Gowland as a dentist who marries the dau... Read more
Nosferatu (1922)
8/10
Director: F W Murnau
Starring: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Greta Schroeder
Aka 'Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror'. The first and the greatest (not to mention scariest) Dracula movie ever made starring Max Schreck as Nosferatu,... Read more
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
6.7/10
Director: D W Griffith
Starring: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B Walthall
An epic tale of the Civil War which many consider to be the single most important film in the development of cinema as an art. It is a stunning summar... Read more