Best Play to Film Adaptations

[Jay94]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 3:02am

I would include:
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Amadeus
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Philadelphia Story

[MattDean]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 5:52am

On Golden Pond.
The diary of Anne Frank.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.
The Woman in Black (Not sure this one counts as it is based on the book that then became the play...I think!)




Updated On: 8/30/13 at 05:52 AM

[NoName3]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 5:59am

The Matchmaker
Come Back Little Sheba
Picnic
The Rose Tattoo
The Time of the Cuckoo, released in the US as Summertime and as Summer Madness in the UK
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Born Yesterday
The Elephant Man isn't based on the play but on the same source material as the play. I hadn't seen it in years but I saw it last month and it's such a fine film.
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Lion in Winter
Blithe Spirit
A Man for All Seasons
Becket
The Little Foxes
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1935 (Warner Bros.)
Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet by Olivier and by Branagh
Polanski's Macbeth
Olivier's Henry V
Barefoot in the Park - guilty pleasure
Updated On: 8/30/13 at 05:59 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 6:29am

In addition to the ones mentioned:

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof
You Can't Take It With You
The King's Speech
Driving Miss Daisy
Gaslight (Angel Street)
Idiot's Delight
Casablanca
The Trip to Bountiful
His Girl Friday (The Front Page)

Updated On: 8/30/13 at 06:29 AM

[The Other One]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 6:45am

Putting in a word for:
A Hatful of Rain
The History Boys
The Odd Couple
The Great White Hope
The Best Man
Play It Again, Sam
Marvin's Room
Mister Roberts
Wait Until Dark
Dial 'M' For Murder
The Country Girl
Six Degrees of Separation
Glengarry Glen Ross
Middle of the Night
A Raisin In The Sun
Separate Tables
The Winslow Boy
An Ideal Husband
Pygmalion
Major Barbara
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
The Night of the Iguana
The Killing of Sister George













Updated On: 9/1/13 at 06:45 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 7:10am

~ i love the film versions of:

~ steel magnolias
~ crimes of the heart
~ a thousand clowns
~ the moon is blue
~ the prime of miss jean brodie
~ dinner at eight
~ same time, next year
and
~ cactus flower







Updated On: 8/30/13 at 07:10 AM

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 7:37am

La Cage aux Folles
Le Dîner de Cons
The Matchmaker

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:03am

Hopefully we can add August Osage County to the list soon!!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:10am

Gaslight
Rashomon
His Girl Friday
Summertime
The Member of the Wedding
Dangerous Liaisons (counting this as from the play in addition to from the novel)
The Winslow Boy (Mamet)
The Dresser
Brief Encounter
The Little Foxes
Dinner at Eight
The Philadelphia Story
You Can't Take It With You
The Sunshine Boys
Becket
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Pygmalion
La Cage aux Folles
The Public Eye
Henry V (Branagh)
Henry V (Olivier)
Richard III (Olivier)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Reinhardt)
Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli)
The Children's Hour
Stage Door
The Women

hon. mention:

The Rose Tattoo and Marvin's Room (because Magnani and Keaton, respectively, give two of the most perfect performances one could ever hope to see on screen)
The Lion in Winter (Anthony Harvey's direction and a stellar cast somehow miraculously made a great film out of a mediocre play)
The Old Maid and Old Acquaintance (Davis and Hopkins together x 2)
Dial M for Murder and Rope (because second rate Hitchcock is better than first rate just about anyone else)
These Three (the most artful bowdlerization (a delesbianization of the Children's Hour) ever made)













Updated On: 8/31/13 at 08:10 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:13am

And while i wouldn't call them entirely successful, I have a great fondness for:

Arsenic and Old Lace
Our Town (the performances and the score)
Only When I Laugh (The Gingerbread Lady)
The Odd Couple
Miss Firecracker
A Member of the Wedding
Shirley Valentine

Updated On: 8/30/13 at 08:13 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:23am

Not to turn this thread "bitchy," but the worst play to film adaptations:

Agnes of God
Torch Song Trilogy
Brighton Beach Memoirs
The Corn Is Green
The Front Page

[dreaming]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:26am

The Miracle Worker is atop my list
(most of the others have been mentioned)

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:40am

I'm so sick of people turning plays into movies!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:41am

~ well, since besty did start it i would add:

'star spangled girl' - - - unwatchable - - - ugh.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 8:51am

^ I was given a copy of the DVD, and I've never opened it.

I remember seeing the movie as a kid (in the theatre) and thinking it was "dumb" back then.

And I even loved "Lost Horizon" back then. LOL

EDIT: There are a lot of really great ones listed here. I think I need to have a play-to-movie marathon this weekend.

Updated On: 8/30/13 at 08:51 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:02am

~ how could i have forgotten!

~ one of my all-time favorites: butterflies are free!!!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:08am

Having recently watched "Butterflies Are Free," I concur!

Great performances by Hawn, Albert, and especially Eileen Heckart's Oscar-winning turn.

[hanschens]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:20am

I thought that the HBO adaptation of Angels in America was pretty good, even if they did cut out/alter two scenes that I love.

[The Other One]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:39am

I Am a Camera and The Member of the Wedding are good ones no one mentioned. Odd, you'd think we'd have Julie Harris on our minds right now! IAaC seems awfully hard to come by these days, maybe people aren't familiar with it.

[The Other One]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:45am

One I forgot is the underrated film version of Craig Lucas's The Dying Gaul.

One that might have made a "worst adaptations" list is the film version of Craig Lucas's Reckless. Awful! And the original production at Circle Rep was such a gem.

[Jay94]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 9:53am

No one has mentioned 'Sleuth'. Great performances with a great production design.

The 1953 version of 'Julius Caesar' with James Mason and Marlon Brando hasn't been mentioned. Sometimes Shakespeare doesn't always play well on screen (particularly with Hollywood actors way out of their depth) but that production was extremely entertaining and accessible. Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet was also top-notch.

I'm really looking forward to August: Osage County. I hope it lives up to the play.

Updated On: 8/30/13 at 09:53 AM

[Jay94]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 10:00am

And Frost/Nixon of course. A remarkable example of translating a play to the screen by opening it up and making it cinematic. Just terrific.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 10:00am

Born Yesterday, folks. I also liked The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds and Equus, but I know I'm in the minority.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 10:09am

Miracle Worker is on top of my list also.
And Wait until Dark
(not that I would not LOVE to see these stage again.)

Updated On: 8/30/13 at 10:09 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 8/30/13 at 10:12am

RASHOMON wasn't based on a play.