# Greatest book AND screen adaptation of all time is.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984 "2015-05-13T23:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/61 "2015-05-18T19:42:53Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Harry Potter 1 in terms of casting, special effects, set design. I was actually thinking that Deathly Hallows might fit in this thread. The movie ending was way, way better than the book ending. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/62 "2015-05-18T19:42:57Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > The television adaptations of John Le Carre’s _Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy_ and _Smiley’s People_, starring Alec Guiness as George Smiley. > > Happy to accept that _To kill a mockingbird_ is much, much worthier in its themes than the tawdry world of cold war spycraft, but television seldom comes to this level of intense perfection while remaining true to such good books both in their text and tone. This was the worked that first popped into my mind after reading the OP. A close second would be the adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove,” with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/63 "2015-05-18T20:56:44Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > So is your post. > 🙂 > [@TBG](#): > > [COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]pfft… that movie’s in black and white, it can’t be no good. Not anymore! Now it’s been graped. by the grapist.[/COLOR] ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/64 "2015-05-18T21:10:35Z")
I agree completely about TKAM. I must have read the book a dozen times between the ages of 12 and 14. I still know bits of it by heart. And the movie is brilliant. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch was a perfect bit of casting. They found terrific child actors as well, no easy task. One of my favorite scenes in all of cinema is the lovely scene near the beginning, when Scout asks to look at Atticus’ watch. It isn’t a scene from the book, but it absolutely captures the relationship between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/65 "2015-05-19T04:44:02Z")
Good entries here, but…no _Gone With the Wind_? Sure, they cut a lot out of the novel, but the feel of it all was near perfect. And it’s one of those films where “every scene is a painting”. Seriously, load it up, and pause just about _anywhere_, and you’ve got yourself a nice painting reference. The music was a labor of love, and the casting was brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/66 "2015-05-19T05:16:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > John Steinbeck’s _ **The Grapes of Wrath** _ This is the one I was going to nominate. I think both book and movie are at least the equal of _To Kill A Mockingbird_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/67 "2015-05-19T13:37:48Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > My responses concern Stephen King adaptations only, because I am culturally limited like that. In the following order: > Misery > Shawshank Redemption > Stand By Me AND The Green Mile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984.md?page=3)