Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Each week, we’ll rank the top 10 films in a specific category. While we aim to tie these lists to big releases, that won’t always be the case. Our goal? For you to enjoy, share your own lists, and join in on a lively, friendly debate. This is an interactive space to build community here at The Contending.
No fancy intros, no long essays – just a category and a list. Sound good?
Last week, I tackled the ten greatest original screenplays of all time. As I mentioned then, trying to combine original and adapted screenplays into one list proved to be a pretty ridiculous undertaking. There are simply too many extraordinary examples to do either category justice.
So, as promised, this week we’re turning our attention to adaptations.
What makes a truly great adapted screenplay? Is it faithfully translating a beloved novel to the screen? Finding the cinematic possibilities in a story that began in another medium? Or is it transforming a familiar story into something that feels entirely new?
For me, the greatest adaptations understand that faithfulness isn’t always about following the source material word for word. Sometimes the best decision a screenwriter can make is knowing what to leave out or what to change entirely. Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s Oil!, bears only traces of its source material’s DNA, and we’re all the better for it. The expertise comes into play in knowing what to preserve, what to change, and how to create something that stands on its own as a film.
One thing that struck me while putting this list together was how prominently film noir figured into my selections. Three of my ten films come from the genre, and it’s not difficult to understand why. During its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, writers like Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, and John Huston helped give us some of the sharpest, wittiest, and most deliciously cynical screenplays in Hollywood history. Their dialogue could cut like a knife, their plots were filled with deception and double-crosses, and even the most morally compromised characters had a way of making us hang on their every word.
As with last week’s list, I’m judging the writing itself rather than simply ranking my favorite films. Dialogue, structure, character development, and thematic depth all matter, but I’m also considering how successfully each screenplay transforms its source material into something distinctly cinematic.
Even after splitting the categories, narrowing the field to ten was no easy task. But here they are: my ten greatest adapted screenplays of all time.
10. Apocalypse Now (1979) – written by John Milius, Michael Herr, and Francis Coppola. Based on the novella “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad.
9. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – written by Horton Foote. Based on the novel by Harper Lee.
8. The Maltese Falcon (1941) – written by John Huston. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett.
7. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – written by Ted Tally. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris.
6. Double Indemnity (1944) – written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Based on the novel by James M. Cain.
5. The Third Man (1949) – written by Graham Greene. Story by Graham Greene. Based on the short story by Graham Greene.
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – written by Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern. Based on novel “Red Alert” by Peter George.
3. All About Eve (1950) – written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Based on “The Wisdom of Eve,” a short story and radio play by Mary Orr.
2. The Godfather (1972) – written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo.
1. Casablanca (1943) – written by Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein, and Howard Koch. Based on the play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison.
L.A. Confidential has to be in the discussion.
Wouldn't argue that. Pristine screenplay.