March ClassicsCAT - Classics on the Screen

Classics on the Screen

Be it movies or TV series, so many classics have been adapted to the screen. Even The Muppets have adapted a classic, one we watch every Christmas.
And so many genres of books - childrens, horror, literary fiction, the 'classic' classics; something for everyone!

Here are a few to get you started!

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Sanditon by Jane Austen
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

And 75 billion, trillion more options! :)

Looking forward to seeing what you all read!

Please remember to add it to the wiki - https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/ClassicsCAT_2023#March:_Classics_Adapted...

I'm planning a re-read of Emily of New Moon, which was adapted for television in the late 1990s.

I'm going to read The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini and/or Captain Blood.

Of those, I have never heard of or seen wives and daughters just based on the synopsis and reviews Ill read that one

I might read The Prisoner by Thomas M. Disch, though I believe the TV version is more of a classic than the original novel.

Another possibility is Taken At The Flood by Agatha Christie. It's a Poirot story so has been televised with David Suchet.

I am planning on reading Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster, there is a 1991 film adaptation starring Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter and Judy Davis among the cast.

I probably have several, the one springing to the top of the list is The Taming of the Shrew which has been adapted for film in various guises.

>6 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for the reminder - great movie and I need to read that one for my E.M. Forster readalong. :)
I don't think this was a Merchant Ivory film, not sure, although it has all the hallmarks of their films.

>5 Robertgreaves: Oh, that brings back memories! I never missed The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan on tv back in the late sixties.

I'll probably choose an Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers book.

I am thinking of a children's book for this one, maybe The Railway Children or Mary Poppins. I also have a beautifully illustrated edition of Beauty and the Beast.

>1 JayneCM: "And 75 billion, trillion more options! :) "
So true, and that makes it so hard to choose!

I might go with North and South because I have wanted to read it for ages, I really wish to watch the miniseries and it ties in with AlphaKIT - but I am not sure if I can fit it in. But well, there are so many other options, I will find something!

>11 MissBrangwen: The miniseries is Amazing! I think that's my plan for the month. But then again, there are so many other options...

I'm going to try to read The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I picked this up a few years back in Salem in the gift shop of the actual house and just haven't gotten around to reading it yet. This was adapted into a film in 1910. I haven't seen the movie either so I have no idea what I'm in for LOL

the bridge of snd luis reyis one I have but never read (think I saw the movie ages ago.) so Ill read that one till I get a hold of wives and daugters

>11 MissBrangwen: North and South is my favourite BBC classic miniseries (and Little Dorrit). I definitely need to reread the book.

>13 Jenson_AKA_DL: Oh wow, that would be so great, to go to the actual house!

I am going for Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. I may schedule a binge read of all three Cornwall novels.

I read (and finished early this morning, thanks-but-no-thanks, insomnia!) The Swiss Family Robinson, which has been adapted multiple times. My version was the first English translation from the early 1800s and was very different, much more didactic, than what I remember reading as a child.

I read The Railway Children which was a SantaThing gift a few years ago.

I'm planning to read one or two Miss Marple mysteries: At Bertram's Hotel and/or 4:50 from Paddington, books which I plan to use for my BingoDOG card.

I've finished And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, 4*.

>20 staci426: Have you watched a screen version? I really enjoyed the BBC 3-part series from 2015, starring Charles Dance, Anna Maxwell-Martin, Aidan Turner and Toby Stephens.

>21 kac522: No, I haven't watched any of the adaptations yet. I would like to, so will keep an eye out for that one.

>15 JayneCM: I really enjoy wandering through old houses. Even though it is now a tourist destination it still has some pretty cool features to it.

review of the bridge of san luis rey is here https://www.librarything.com/topic/347243#

I've finished Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. Loved it.

COMPLETED 2 books by Agatha Christie: Taken At the Flood - televised - and Crooked House - filmed

ClassicCat for April is up and can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/349393

I've started The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini.

I just checked out the Errol Flynn film and found that it isn't based on Sabatini's book, so I won't put The Sea-Hawk in the March Wiki. It can be a belated January read.

Listened to The Taming of the Shrew then followed it up with a watch of 10 Things I Hate About You. Been far too long since I watched it and I'd forgotten quite how good it was.

I have finished Pünktchen und Anton, which is a children's classic in Germany and has also been brought to the screen.

I have completed Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster and I really did not care for this book at all. The best review I saw said, "Despicable people doing despicable things" - and that certainly rang true.

Finished Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers that was adapted for a television series featuring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey.

I read The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume, and I'm looking forward to watching the TV adaptation on Acorn sometime in the next week.

I went with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - always a fun read and watch.

I read Washington Square by Henry James (1880). The novel centers around Catherine, a young, simple and shy New York heiress, who is courted by a selfish fortune-hunter, despised by her father, and maneuvered by her meddlesome aunt. The book is relatively short (under 200 pages) and has clear, concise prose (unusual for James!). Slowly but deliberately we watch Catherine's character change over the course of the novel, as she is selfishly used by those around her.

I then watched The Heiress (1949), starring Olivia de Haviland and Montgomery Clift, directed by William Wyler, music by Aaron Copland, and outstanding costumes by Edith Head. The Heiress was a play based on Washington Square and then adapted to the screen. Although there are some changes from the book, the movie retains the basic plot and character development of the book. All the performances were excellent, especially de Haviland. The movie is worth the viewing just for the costuming and interior designs of 1840s New York; Edith Head won her first Academy Award for costume design for this film.

I also re-read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939), and plan to re-watch the 2015 3-part BBC TV production, which stars Charles Dance (chilling!), Anna Maxwell-Martin, Sam Neill, Toby Stephens and Aidan Turner.

>36 kac522: Oh, that's a stellar cast. Taking note of this!

I listened to Brideshead Revisited, which was narrated by Jeremy Irons - very well done. Now I want to watch the tv series featuring Irons.

>36 kac522: I loved that BBC production!!

>37 MissWatson:, >38 Crazymamie: It's really good and keeps up the tension throughout, just as in Christie's book. I hope to re-watch it this weekend. Charles Dance is absolutely perfect as the judge. The first time I watched it, it had been some years since I read the book, so I'm anxious to watch the production with the story fresh in my mind.

I read another one for this month, Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Woudl definitely like to see the adaption of this one.

I finished The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon, from the Inspector Maigret series. This has been adapted to screen several times, but unfortunately, not in the series featuring Bruno Cremer, which is the one I'm most familiar with.