Books on Film – Mark Ellis

We all enjoy a good book, but also a good film. Mark Ellis shares his favourite ten movies adapted from books.

 

I’m pretty sure that most authors of fiction would like to see their books turned into a film or a tv series. One of our number, Bev Jones, as I’m sure many of you know, recently had that experience with her excellent book Wilderness, and I think the producers did a great job. I myself have had a few involvements with film people without as yet any material result. We all know that getting a book on screen is a very long shot.

I enjoy film or book lists and I thought I’d write this blog on the subject of great film adaptations of books. In order to make my list manageable I’ve concentrated on the big screen and have confined myself to titles which I have both read and seen. Here it is.

1 Kidnapped (RL Stevenson/Disney 1960): this was one of the very first films I saw based on a book I’d read. Like most Disney films of that time there had to be an American protagonist (James MacArthur) whose accent some might find grating, but Peter Finch is great as Allan Breck Stewart, and I love the inimitable John Laurie’s cameo as Ebenezer Balfour.

2 Anna Karenina (Tolstoy/Korda 1948): there are several good films of Anna Karenina but this version with Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson is my favourite. Leigh, who usually gets most of the plaudits, is superb but Richardson’s performance as Karenin is equally as good.

3 The Godfather (Puzo/Coppola 1972): in 1971 I was travelling around America on an English-Speaking Union scholarship. In San Francisco I was put up by a rather well-to-do family on Nob Hill. One morning I was leaving the house with the father of the family when he exchanged greetings with a young, bearded man who lived next door. As the man got into his waiting car my host said “That guy’s a film director. Doing some gangster movie at the moment. It’ll never make a dime.” How wrong he was. Great book and a film masterpiece.

4 Great Expectations (Dickens/Lean 1946): is there a greater opening scene in film than Magwitch’s shocking appearance to Pip in the graveyard on Romney Marshes? Wonderfully cast (Mills, Currie, Simmons, Hunt, Miles, Guinness) and directed, this is one of my favourite Dickens films.

5 The Remains of the Day (Ishiguro/Ivory Merchant 1993): in the 1930s a well-meaning aristocrat attempts to broker a peace with the Germans before war breaks out. The story focuses on the personal lives of members of his staff, particularly the butler Stevens and the housekeeper Miss Kenton. A tale of things that might have been, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson are achingly moving in their roles.

6 Une Partie de Campagne (Maupassant/ Renoir 1946): a slight cheat I suppose as this is a film of a short story rather than of a book, but it’s one of my favourite films of all time so what the heck. A 19^th century Parisian shopkeeper takes his family on a summer’s day outing in the country. They lunch, fish, go boating, lie in the sun. Something happens to the daughter of the family which she’ll never forget. It’s exquisite.

7 The Silence of the Lambs (Harris/Demme 1991): a terrific thriller turned into one of the scariest films ever with Anthony Hopkins dominating the screen as the monstrous Hannibal Lecter. A brilliant actor. Must be something to do with being Welsh.

8 Atonement (McEwan/Wright 2007): Ian McEwan’s powerful wartime story of tragic childhood misunderstanding was certainly done justice by Joe Wright’s award-winning film. The launching pad for Keira Knightley and Janes McAvoy’s highly successful acting careers.

9 Doctor Zhivago (Pasternak/Lean 1965): Pasternak’s powerful romance set against the tumultuous background of the Russian Revolution was turned into a classic film by David Lean. I still don’t understand how an Egyptian actor was cast in the leading male role, but Omar Sharif turned out to be wonderful. And has there ever been a more luminous leading lady than the young Julie Christie? Solid support from a heavyweight cast (Courtenay, Guinness, Steiger).

10 Tom Jones (Fielding/Richardson 1963): Albert Finney enjoys himself thoroughly in the role of Fielding’s rambunctious young 18^th century hero. A great treatment of one of the classics of English literature. A special word for another great Welsh actor, Hugh Griffith, who gave one of his many wonderful scene-stealing film performances as Squire Western.

So, there’s my list. You can start on yours now.

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Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur.

He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist. The latest title in the series is Dead in the Water.

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