I will nominate “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960) by Harper Lee is one of the greatest books ever written and “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) Directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck is the best combination. We have one of the greatest books and one of the great movies with Gregory Peck giving the performance that AFIconsidered the Greatest Movie hero.
The Godfather (1972) & Godfather part II (1974) based on the Mario Puzo classic The Godfather (1969) should be considered. The two best movies from a very good book.
Contenders:
Not my favorite but Gone with the Wind is considered an all time great as was the book.
Wizard of Oz: The book is an all-time classic and the movie that only passingly followed the book is an all time classic. Both have influenced later movies and books to a large degree.
The Lord of the Rings and the three Movies based on them by Peter Jackson combine the greatest book ever written (IMHO) with three movies that wee breathtaking and probably the most ambitious successful adaptation ever. I have not in love with the movies but I understand how great they were and successful in presenting the detailed imagination of Professor Tolkien. The books have influenced an entire genre of writing more so than any other book has affected its genre I believe and the movies appear to have set the benchmark for Fantasy movies and CGI.
Which ones did I forget about? What don’t you like about my choices?
My all-time favorite movie, one of the rare films that surpasses its source novel (IMHO).
I’ll add Watership Down. The movie–as far as I can tell–isn’t as widely appreciated as the novel, but I think it’s very good. There are the obvious disappointments when characters and plotlines are condensed, but it did an excellent job of capturing the tone of the novel. There is an uneasiness and a sense of danger throughout, and it stayed true to the harsh and violent episodes from the book. Not a kiddie movie, for sure.
I nominate “Rebecca” - haunting and gripping melodrama by Daphne Du Maurier turned into a lush, beautiful, gothic movie by Hitchcock and David O’Selznick. I adore them both.
When I saw the thread title I would have come in to nominate the same book and film as the OP. The movie is, IMNSHO, the best ever transfer of a book to a screenplay.
“Stand up Miss Jean Louise. Your father’s passing.”
I need to find and read those books. I especially love The Hotel New Hampshire.
I should have included that, I feel foolish for overlooking them.
There is a Deep quotes/thoughtsthread. I pulled several from the book which made me think about starting this thread. I nearly used the line, but it did not make sense for that thread.
There are many good ones here, I wonder what else will be suggested.
Rosemary’s Baby. The movie is an incredible adaption of the book. Roman Polanski even called author Ira Levin to find out which edition of the New Yorker magazine had the shirt that Guy bought so he could get the same shirt for the scene. Levin admitted to faking it, just assuming any edition of the magazine would have an ad for a nice man’s shirt. But the copy for that week didn’t.
Stephen King wrote in Danse Macabre “If you’ve read the book, you don’t have to see the movie. And vice versa.”
It has been a long time since I read it but “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck is a damn good and classic book and the movie is one of the best ever made.
As I recall the book won the Nobel Prize for Literature and a Pulitzer.
The movie won two Oscars and had 5 other nominations. The movie lost out to another classic Rebecca which was already mentioned above in this thread and Henry Fonda lost out to Jimmy Stewart for the classic portrayal of Macaulay Connor in the The Philadelphia Story. What a year for movies.