# Favourite Film Adapted from a Brit Novel



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I hate pretty much everything by Jane Austen. But love a couple of Shakespeare adaptations, Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet, and Polanski's Macbeth. I couldn't find a good film version of Wuthering Heights, but love the book. But the one that really gets me is the Remains of the Day. What's your favourite(s)?


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy would be my first pick.


----------



## Guest (Sep 6, 2018)

I like both LOTR and Remains of the Day. But it would be difficult to pick a favourite. Just look at how many there are listed here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:British_novels_adapted_into_films

(Who compiles this kind of stuff??)


----------



## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

From Russia with Love was my first thought.


----------



## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

Joseph Losey's 'The Go-Between' based upon the novel by L.P. Hartley.
Ken Russell's 'Women in Love' from D.H. Lawrence's novel.
Ken Loach's 'Kes' based upon Barry Hines's 'A Kestrel for a Knave'.
David Lean's 'Great Expectations' from Dickens's great novel.
Roman Polanski's 'Tess' based upon Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the d'Urbevilles'.
Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' based upon the short story by Daphne du Maurier.
Sam Woods's 'Goodbye, Mr Chips' from the novella of the same name by James Hilton. 
William Wyler's ' The Collector', adapted from John Fowles's novel of the same name.


I am sure that I have forgotten quite a few but these are ones that stand out immediately for me. In terms of choosing a favourite, I can't as they are all special in different ways. The top three, for me and not in any particular order, would be The Go-Between, Kes and The Collector.


----------



## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

MacLeod said:


> I like both LOTR and Remains of the Day. But it would be difficult to pick a favourite. Just look at how many there are listed here...
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:British_novels_adapted_into_films
> 
> (Who compiles this kind of stuff??)


Great resource, thank you!


----------



## Guest (Sep 8, 2018)

Templeton said:


> Joseph Losey's 'The Go-Between' etc


Joseph Losey's 'The Go-Between' based upon the novel by L.P. Hartley. - yes, excellent.
Ken Russell's 'Women in Love' from D.H. Lawrence's novel. - um, haven't seen this in ages - male wrestling sticks in my head a bit!
Ken Loach's 'Kes' based upon Barry Hines's 'A Kestrel for a Knave'. - saw it as a teen - hated it. I suspect I might like it better as an adult.
David Lean's 'Great Expectations' from Dickens's great novel. - yes, excellent, though I think I prefer his 'Oliver Twist'.
Roman Polanski's 'Tess' based upon Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the d'Urbevilles'. - not seen this.
Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' based upon the short story by Daphne du Maurier. - scary, and utterly bizarre storyline.
Sam Woods's 'Goodbye, Mr Chips' from the novella of the same name by James Hilton. - makes me blub (Donat - haven't seen the O'Toole).
William Wyler's ' The Collector', adapted from John Fowles's novel of the same name - and again, yes, excellent

Thanks for picking these out.

I would add the adaptations of Forster's A Passage To India and Where Angels Fear To Tread.


----------



## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

If Henry James is considered a British author (instead of American), then "The Innocents" (1961).



"macabre love"?


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Some that I don't think have been mentioned:

Women in Love
Tom Jones
(Long ago I saw these two as a double bill.)

A Passage to India (oops - I see it was mentioned)
The Thirty-Nine Steps
and
Clueless


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

The turn of the screw > The innocents Jack Clayton, 1961
(one of the best gothic/horror movies ever)

Strange case of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Rouben Mamoulian, 1931
Alice's Adventures in wonderland> Alice in Wonderland, Disney, 1951
Walkabout> Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg, 1971
A clockwork Orange > A clockwork orange, Stanley Kubrick, 1971

basically to me great adaptations of british novels can be done only in the first (or second? I've never got that) year of a decade.


----------



## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

_A Clockwork Orange_ and _Don't Look Now_ were mentioned, I like to add _The Invisible Man_ (1933) directed by	James Whale and _Trainspotting_ (1996) directed by Danny Boyle. Both films have the same names as the novels.


----------



## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

No love for the 1971 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' starring Gene Wilder, from Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?'


----------



## BiscuityBoyle (Feb 5, 2018)

The Cement Garden (1993) based on Ian McEwan's novel of the same name. Very neat incest flick.


----------



## Zhdanov (Feb 16, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> love a couple of Shakespeare adaptations


love the Kozintsev adaptations, with music score by Shostakovich, of _Hamlet_ and _King Lear_ -


----------



## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Barry Lyndon would be mine


----------



## josquindesprez (Aug 20, 2017)

Rebecca (Du Maurier/Hitchcock)
A High Wind in Jamaica (Hughes/Mackendrick)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (loosely Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Henry James’s The Other House/Rivette)


----------



## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

All Creatures Great and Small (1978) mini-series, James Wight (James Herriot)
Captains Courageous (1937) Rudyard Kipling 
The Canterville Ghost (1944) Oscar Wilde 
Chocolat (2000) Joanne Harris 
A Christmas Carol (1938) Charles Dickens 
Great Expectations (1946) Charles Dickens 
I, Claudius (1976) mini-series, Robert Graves
A Room with a View (1985) E.M.Forster 
Howards End (1991) E.M.Forster 
Pride and Predjudice (1995) mini-series, Jane Austen
Fingersmith (2005) mini-series, Sarah Waters. 
Rebecca (1940) Daphne du Maurier
A Single Man (2009) Christopher Isherwood 
Trainspotting (1996) Irvine Welsh 
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) Roald Dahl
Witchfinder General (1968) Ronald Bassett
Wuthering Heights (2009 TV serial) Emily Brontë. Tom Hardy gives a fine performance as Healthcliff. 
Jane Eyre (1996) Charlotte Brontë. Many people found much to criticize in this film (casting William Hurt for one thing), but I found this version enjoyable. The 2011 Jane Eyre production is also beautifully filmed.


----------



## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Ran (1985)

Adaption of King Lear, really really good.


----------



## Metairie Road (Apr 30, 2014)

Biwa

You're probably aware that an attempt to film 'I Claudius' was made in the 1930's. It was never completed. I guess it was just too big to handle. Too bad.

Some of my favorite British films from novels -

Barry Lyndon
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Third Man
The Taming Of The Shrew (Ok, it's a play. Taylor and Burton were perfect)
Black Narcissus
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best wishes 
Metairie Road


----------

