# Songs, poems, other "short" works made into movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127 "2002-05-03T18:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/21 "2002-05-04T06:51:38Z")
And for that matter, there is an extensive American Short Story series of Videos, though _Emily_ was not one of them. There’s also a feature length version of Richard Connell’s story “The Most Dangerous Game.” ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/22 "2002-05-04T07:52:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JThunder \* > \*\*_Nine To Five_ \*\* As I recall, that song was written specifically for the movie; the movie wasn’t created from the song. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/23 "2002-05-04T07:54:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*\*_Field Of Dreams_ > > _ **National Lampoon’s** Vacation_ > > _Enemy Mine_ if novellas get to count as short enough. > > Speaking of movies made from the individual stories in Stephen King’s _Different Seasons_, _Apt Pupil_ > > Also Stephen King: _The Mangler_ \*\* Am I missing a joke? _Field of Dreams_ was based on W.P. Kinsellas novel _Shoeless Joe._ I thought John Hughes wrote _Vacation_ out of whole cloth - I am loathe to admit that I used to be a big NatLamp reader, and don’t recall any short pieces that might be a source for _Vacation_ – Although _O.C. and Stiggs_ started out as short stories (By Chris Miller, IIRC,) in the mag. The movie was pretty watered down-- “What? No one was sexually abused with live lobsters? I want my $3.00 back!” _Enemy Mine_ – wasn’t that based on _Ancient, My Enemy_? [Spends a nerdy few minutes digging through my sci-fi anthologies.] Argh, I can’t find it. I might be thinking of the source for the Star Trek episode _Arena_ in which Kirk gets marooned with that corny lizard guy. Everything runs together. The upside is, I found some forgotten gems. Whoohoo! My only offering is the Hammer film, _The Raven_ although it’s a bit of a cheat since it doesn’t really resemble Poe’s poem in any significant way. There are too many movies based on short stories to list, but I can’t resist mentioning the excellent film, _The Dead_, based on the story in James Joyce’s _Dubliners_. (I wonder how many people went to see it expecting flesh-eating zombies?) ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/24 "2002-05-04T09:52:25Z")
ISTR a series of tv movies based on the song “The Gambler”, by Kenny Rogers, in which he starred. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/25 "2002-05-04T10:44:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weird\_AL\_Einstein \* > \*\*ISTR a series of tv movies based on the song “The Gambler”, by Kenny Rogers, in which he starred. \*\* Yep, as well as one based on “The Coward of the County.” There was also a movie based on Vicki Lawrence’s single hit song, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/26 "2002-05-04T11:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\* > > Am I missing a joke? _Field of Dreams_ was based on W.P. Kinsellas novel _Shoeless Joe._\*\* Sorry, I retract it. I was thinking of Kinsella’s short story _Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa_, out of which the novel was sprouted. > [@](#): > > \*\*I thought John Hughes wrote _Vacation_ out of whole cloth - I am loathe to admit that I used to be a big NatLamp reader, and don’t recall any short pieces that might be a source for _Vacation_ \*\* I can’t give you the name of the author, but I can tell you that the original story preceded the movie by several years, was reprinted in NatLamp coincident to the release of the film, was set in the late 1950’s, had Disneyland (not Wally World) as the destination, and featured a harrowing trip through a military firing range during a live-shelling exercise (the movie was the poorer for its removal, IMHO, and Christie Brinkley didn’t compensate for its loss – although if we’d gotten a full frontal shot I might have felt otherwise 😉 ). > [@](#): > > **_Enemy Mine_ – wasn’t that based on _Ancient, My Enemy_? > [Spends a nerdy few minutes digging through my sci-fi anthologies.] > Argh, I can’t find it. I might be thinking of the source for the Star Trek episode _Arena_ in which Kirk gets marooned with that corny lizard guy.** Well, once again, I’m becoming unsure of myself. imdb has the story for _Enemy, Mine_ being written by Barry Longyear, but I can’t find that title on Barnes and Noble’s website (Border’s site is down as I type this). OTOH _Ancient, My Enemy_ lists as a novel by Gordon R. Dirkson, but without a plot sysnopsis. So, I can’t say for certain that Dirkson’s work wasn’t re-published under the other title as a movie tie-in. But I CAN say for certain that the Star Trek episode was based on a short story, titled _The Arena_. I first read this story in _The Science Fiction Hall of Fame_, which puts it in the pre-Hugos era. Sorry, I can’t recall the author. As you say, it does all tend to run together. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/27 "2002-05-04T13:38:44Z")
Stephen King’s “Paranoid: A Chant” has been made into a short film. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/28 "2002-05-04T14:13:37Z")
_Deathrace 2000_ is based (rather loosely) on a 3-page story by Ib Melchior called “The Racer”. ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/29 "2002-05-04T21:58:21Z")
The movie _Total Recall_ is **very** roughly based on a decent short story called “We Can Remember for You Wholesale,” by Phillip K. Dick. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/30 "2002-05-04T22:22:35Z")
The movie _Enemy Mine_ (no comma) comes from the novella of the same name written by Barry Longyear. The novella “Enemy Mine” appears in a recent anthology titled _Nebula Award-Winning Novellas_ (ed. Martin Greenberg). ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/31 "2002-05-05T01:09:25Z")
From the IMDB, about the movie “A.I.”: > [@](#): > > While A.I. was based on the short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long”, that short story has less influence on the movie than the famous poem by W.B. Yeats, “The Stolen Child”. The text of the poem appears in the movie in two places, and certain stanzas take on literal meaning as well (i.e. “Till the moon has taken flight”). This would also explain some of the more, well, “Weird-Ass” elements of the film. And, as I recall, “The Stolen Child” was used fpr the movie because Yeats felt unloved by his mother (Hint, hint). Ranchoth ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/32 "2002-05-05T01:52:30Z")
“Bicentennial Man” was a short story by Asimov, but the movie destroyed any deep meaning or quality found in the story so it doesn’t really count. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/33 "2002-05-05T02:53:33Z")
Dammit, **Ranchoth** , you beat me to it. I was going to mention Aldis’s story. … I’ve typed out a reply to this thread about Shirley Jackson’s _The Lottery_, but I think I’ll put that in its own thread. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/34 "2002-05-05T03:09:51Z")
Stanley Kubrik’s 2001 inspired by _The Sentinel_ (short story by Arthur C. Clarke) ---
**Author:** ![OfBlinkingThings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ebca7d/32.png) [@OfBlinkingThings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OfBlinkingThings)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/35 "2002-05-06T20:13:57Z")
1 An occurence at owl creek bridge…ambrose peirce 2 pull my daisy…Allen Ginsberg, jack kerouac (ugh) 3 Less gentle than the locust and a few other Bukowski stories mostly in france 4 Into the Night Life…Henry miller ---
**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 6, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/36 "2002-05-06T20:46:28Z")
\*\* Jesus Christ Superstar \*\* Short section of Bible on last week of Jesus’s life made into musical. \*\* CATS \*\* the stage show and video was based on a small book of T. S. Eliot’s poems. I figured I’d mention that if you’ve spent the last 21 years with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears…in a cave…on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/37 "2002-05-06T20:52:29Z")
_The Charge of the Light Brigade_ (from Alfred Lord Tennyson poem) _In the Bedroom_ (adapted from short story _Killings_) _It Happened One Night_ (adapted from short story _Night Bus_) _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers_ (adapted from short story _Sobbin’ Women_) _Sleepy Hollow_ (from Washington Irving short story) _Sling Blade_ (adapted from short film _Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade_) _Stagecoach_ (adapted from short story _Stage to Lordsburg_) _12 Monkeys_ (adapted from the French short film _La Jetée_) And that’s Ambrose **Bierce** , OBT ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/38 "2002-05-06T20:56:59Z")
Didn’t see any mention of Patricia Highsmith’s short story “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/39 "2002-05-06T21:14:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trucido \* > \*\*The movie _Total Recall_ is **very** roughly based on a decent short story called “We Can Remember for You Wholesale,” by Phillip K. Dick. \*\* This is the one that I first thought of from the OP, because the original story is about five pages long, IIRC. As for _Vacation_ it was originally _Vacation '58_ and was written by John Hughes as a writer for the National Lampoon. The short story was great, in that one the father shoots Walt Disney in the leg and ends up in prison. Much darker than the film. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127/40 "2002-05-06T21:16:15Z")
Here, I found a link to the original [Vacation](http://www.nationallampoon.com/flashbacks/vacation58/vacation.html) story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-poems-other-short-works-made-into-movies/107127.md?page=3)