<p>I’ve never read it and never seen the movie, WashDad, but I have learned to beware when someone proclaims it to be their favorite book.</p>
<p>Hi Marite -</p>
<p>I am hoping to watch The Innocents with Deborah Kerr. This is supposedly an excellent adaptation of The Turn of the Screw.</p>
<p>Also: “The Accidental Tourist” is a great book and the movie of it is excellent.</p>
<p>WashDad,</p>
<p>Completely agree with The Da Vinci Code…I don’t know what all the fuss was about. Since I did not like the book at all, I didn’t even mess with the movie.</p>
<p>One movie I really liked but did not like the book that much (not a classic or anything) was Ordinary People.</p>
<p>I just ran across the books written by Anna Leonowens, inspiration for the musical “The King and I.” As I understand it, her books have disputable truths, but I am looking forward to reading them anyways.</p>
<p>I never read the davinci code or saw the movie- and I am proud of my self that I didn’t smirk when my D rented it.
(I did read Name of the Rose though)</p>
<p>I agree with Accidental Tourist- I also liked both the book Cider House rules and the movie- same with Garp- and A Prayer for Owen Meany</p>
<p>I will give a another vote to To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the best film adatations of a novel!</p>
<p>Skimming this thread quickly, I didn’t see “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” mentioned (apologies if it has been). Not a strictly defined literary classic, perhaps, but a beautiful book with timeless appeal. Somehow, the movie is almost just as good. It’s missing much of the texture and detail of the book, but it’s amazingly effective, especially considering the sanitized way Hollywood tended to portray poverty during the studio era. Elia Kazan’s first film as a director with superb performances from James Dunn (Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and Peggy Ann Garner, who gives one of the best performances ever given by a juvenile actor. </p>
<p>If you rent it, have a box of Kleenex handy. If you read the book, have two.</p>
<p>I agree, frazzled1 !! I loved “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and all the other books that Betty Smith wrote (“Joy in the Morning” is another good one!). And the movie is absolutely wonderful–Dorothy McGuire played her mother–she didn’t receive an Oscar, but she was great, too!</p>
<p>I did read the book, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” I didn’t know there was a movie. I’ll check it out right now.</p>
<p>Film of The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a great adaptation by the playwright Harold Pinter (terse) of a pretty good novel by John Fowles (verbose). Fowles’ great novel, The Magus, was turned into a not-very-good film, with screenplay by Fowles himself.</p>
<p>I read “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” when I was about 12 - and got in big trouble for doing so!</p>
<p>The French Lieutenant’s Woman (the book) infuriated me with its wink-wink double ending. Pinter’s solution in the movie was brilliant. I liked the movie much better! I have fond memories of having dinner with Samuel Beer, a politcal science professor at Harvard, and disagreeing with him vehemently about that book!</p>
<p>Last of the Mohicans <em>is</em> unreadable these days…but Daniel Day-Lewis in the movie was brilliant. Though Jane Austen remains entirely readable, the recent Keira Knightley version was the first to use actors the same ages as the characters. Compare it to the Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier version for fun. Most of the Austen films of the last dozen years or so are excellent…Emma, Sense and Sensibility, etc., except for the film Mansfield Park which was pretty horrible. </p>
<p>I have to disagree with the LOTR assessment. Loved the movies as movies but they twisted some key ideas in the books to make for more visual drama which made me very impatient. If you do watch the movies…definitely get the extended versions. Huge difference in quality. </p>
<p>If you like the 1973 version of the 3 Musketeers (Michael York, etc.), there is also a 4 Musketeers shot at the same time with the same cast. As well as version of “20 Years After” which I have not seen. Yeah, Dumas practically invented the concept of never-ending sequels. I’ve seen a lot of versions of the 3 Musketeers. Nothing has ever come anywhere near to the book(s) except for the Richard Lester '73. </p>
<p>For some other suggestions of movies from books/short stories: Portrait of Jennie, The Great Escape (after which you should watch Chicken Run), James and the Giant Peach, Handmaid’s Tale (check with your mom), the 1939 Goodbye Mr. Chips, and finally two Gary Cooper films… Friendly Persuasion and Sergeant York.</p>
<p>Stephen King is not exactly a “classical” author, but I am intrigued to read his Green Mile books after having seen the movie, “The Green Mile” late last night. Quite an interesting film. I haven’t read any Steven King books and, except for perhaps his prison books, probably won’t - horror is not my favorite genre.</p>
<p>I want to see the 3 Musketeers/4Musketeers. I’ve never looked for film versions of 20 Years After - - since I love Dumas, that is a must. Haven’t heard of Handmaid’s Tale. I’ll check that out. I was just looking at Sergeant York. I had no idea that there was a literary connection.</p>
<p>Sergeant York had at least one book written about him in his lifetime. I believe they used this bio (plus York’s own writing) to do the movie. I know that York himself insisted on getting Cooper to do the role.</p>
<p>Don’t know if these have been mentioned…
Grapes of Wrath with HEnry Fonda
Streetcar Named Desire (a play, but still a classic)
and what about…Gone with the Wind?</p>
<p>Gone with the Wind - my favorite movie!</p>
<p>I saw 4 Musketeers once – as far as I remember, it was disappointing compared to the companion 3 Musketeers, although it’s the only movie version to tackle the last third of the novel. I’ve never seen – or heard – of a movie version of 20 Years On, although I love that book.</p>
<p>Speaking of which . . . On and off for the past decade, Arturo Perez-Reverte has been writing a series of novels intended to be a Spanish version of The Three Musketeers. (If you read his Club Dumas, you know there’s a little aside in it about how Spain has suffered by not having had a Dumas to popularize its history. Shortly thereafter, Perez-Reverte decided to step into the breach.) It was originally projected as a six-book series, but he’s published six books already and is still promising three more, the last of which, “Mission To Paris”, is certain to include a meeting with the Musketeers. (Buckingham is a significant character in the first book.) The first three have been translated into English: Captain Alatriste, Purity Of Blood, and The Sun Over Brede. I’m a huge fan of the books, which are second only to Harry Potter in popularity in Spain.</p>
<p>Anyway, there’s a movie floating around called Capitan Alatriste that pulls elements from three or four of the books. It stars Viggo Mortensen, who grew up the child of a Danish diplomat in South America – Spanish was his school language. I’ve never seen it, and I don’t think it ever got a U.S. theatrical release, but I would love to see it. (Antonio Banderas purchased the rights when the first book was published, and intended to play the adult central character, a much darker version of Athos as a rapier-for-hire. But he basically aged out of the role before the movie could get made.)</p>