Books into film and television

The Da Vinci code

Dan Brown’s 2003 novel has been the biggest fiction seller in years. It’s an action packed yarn that manages to combine conventional action thrills with material that plays into conspiracy theories with ideas about the Holy Grail and the life of Jesus Christ. The big bestselling books of recent years about code breaking and the old ideas beloved of thrillers about sinister organisations manipulating us all have given Dan Brown a good idea for a thriller that covers most bases you'd like to think of. The film version is directed by Ron Howard and has Tom Hanks as the professor on the trail of the "truth" and Amelie herself, Audrey Tautou, as the French cryptographer who helps crack the codes. Jean Reno also stars.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Dad

From the 1981 novel Dad by William Wharton

Dalziel and Pascoe

Based on the novels by Reginald Hill

Damage

From the novel Damage by Josephine Hart

The Damned United

David Peace’s excellent 2006 novel is a fictionalised account of Brian Clough’s 44 days in charge of Leeds United Football Club in 1974. It will be interesting to see if a movie about football will do well at the box office since sports movies have not traditionally brought in the crowds. Peter Morgan, who has written most of the recent documentary dramas (The Queen, Longford, Frost/Nixon, etc), has adapted the novel and Michael Sheen, who has done excellent impersonations of Tony Blair, Kenneth Williams, David Frost and others, plays the controversial football manager Clough, with Timothy Spall as his right hand man Peter Taylor, Colm Meaney playing Clough’s bitter rival Don Revie and Jim Broadbent as Derby Chairman Sam Longson.
Read the book ~ About the film

A Dance to the music of time

Based on the 12 novel sequence A Dance to the music of time by Anthony Powell

Dances with wolves

From the novel Dances with wolves by Michael Blake

Dancing at the Harvest Moon

From the 1997 novel Dancing at the Harvest Moon by K.C. McKinnon

Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)

From the play Dancing at Lughnasa, first produced 1990, by Brian Friel

Dancing in the streets

Tie-in book by Robert Palmer

Dangerous evidence

From the 1995 book Dangerous evidence by Ellis A. Cohen

Dangerous minds

Based on the book My Posse don’t do homework by Louanne Johnson

Daniel Deronda (2003)

From the 1876 novel Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

Danny Champion of the World

From the novel Danny Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

A Dangerous woman

From the novel A Dangerous woman by Mary Mcgarry Morris

Dark half

From the novel Dark half by Stephen King

The Dark Is Rising

This is an adaptation of the five novel sequence by Susan Cooper - (Over sea, under stone (1965), The dark is rising (1973), Greenwitch (1974), The grey king (1975) and Silver on the tree (1977). The series is an epic fantasy aimed at a young adult readership and about a group of contemporary English children who become involved in a cosmic battle between good and evil, referred to as Light and Dark in the books. The film is directed by David L. Cunningham, who made such disparate television series as The path to 9/11 and Little house on the prairie. The main character, Will, is played by Alexander Ludwig and the old man who mentors him, Lyon, is played by Ian McShane. Others in the cast include Christopher Eccleston, Frances Conroy, Jonathan Jackson, Amelia Warner and Frances Conroy.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

The Dark room

From the novel The Dark room by Minette Walters

The Dark wind

From the 1982 novel The Dark wind by Tony Hillerman

Darling buds of May

From the novels by H. E. Bates

Dating the enemy

Novelisation Dating the enemy by Megan Simpson Huberman

David

From the 1986 book David by Marie Rothenberg and David White

David Copperfield

From the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

David and Lisa

A remake of the 1963 film which was based on the 1961 case history book Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin

David’s mother

From the 1993 play David’s mother by Bob Randall

The Dawning

From the novel The Old jest by Jennifer Johnson

The day after tomorrow (2004)

Based (loosely - more a case of inspired by) the 1999 book The coming global superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber

The Day of the Jackal

From the novel The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

The day the earth stood still

From the short story Farewell to the master by Harry Bates

Daydream believers

From the 1996 book Hey hey we're The Monkees by Harold Bronson

Dead by sunset

Based on the book Dead by sunset by Ann Rule

Dead calm

From the 1964 novel Dead calm by Charles Williams

Dead heart

From a play Dead heart by Nick Parsons

Dead man walking

From the book Dead man walking by Helen Prejean. Also Tim Robbins’s screenplay for the film

Dead man’s island

From the 1993 novel Dead man’s island by Carolyn G. Hart

Dead man’s walk

From the novel Dead man’s walk by Larry McMurtry

The Dead of Jericho

From the 1981 Inspector Morse novel The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter

Dead silence

From the 1995 novel A Maiden’s grave by Jeff Deaver

The Dead Zone

From the novel The Dead Zone by Stephen King

Deadly family secrets

From the 1950 novel Vinegar Hill by Franklin Coen

Dear John

Like Dan Brown, romantic novelist Nicholas Sparks can do no wrong saleswise and most of his sentimental tearjerkers have ended up on the screen. This one, an adaptation of his 2006 bestseller, follows hot on the heels of the recent adaptation of Nights in Rodanthe. This one is about a soldier home on leave who meets a quiet young woman working for Habitat for Humanity. Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Scott Porter are the stars and the director is Lasse Hallstrom who has come down a bit from his previous films like My life as a dog and What’s eating Gilbert Grape.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Death in Brunswick

From the 1987 novel Death in Brunswick by Boyd Oxlade

Death in holy orders (2003)

From the 2000 novel Death in holy orders by P.D. James.

Death is now my neighbour

From the novel Death is now my neighbour by Colin Dexter

Death of an expert witness

From the novel Death of an expert witness by P.D. James. In the volume Omnibus P.D. James

Death on the Nile

From the 1937 novel Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Deceit

From the novel Deceit by Clare Francis

The December Boys

The first post Potter role for Daniel Radcliffe is in this Australian film based on Michael Noonan’s 1960 novel. It’s a book considered a classic in Australia, the tale of a group of close friends who leave the dusty outback orphanage where they’ve grown up for a summer holiday together at the coast, their future is full of possibilities. However, the chance that one of them, just one, might gain a real family to live with calls everything they thought they knew about themselves and each other into question. Radcliffe, Teresa Myers, Lee Cormie and Christian Byers play the principal orphans and there are well known Aussie actors such as Jack Thompson and Kris McQuade.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Decisive weapons

Tie-in book by Martin P. Davidson.

The deep end

A remake of an old Hollywood film which was based on the 1946 novel The Blank wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding.

Deep impact

From the 1993 novel Deep impact by Arthur C. Clarke and the 1933 novel When worlds collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie.

Defiance

This adaptation of the 1993 book, Defiance: the Bielski partisans by Nechama Tec is directed by Edward Zwick who has made previous big war movies such as Glory. The book is about a group of Jews in 1940s Belorusssia, known as the Bielksi Partisans, who mounted an armed rescue of Jewish Europeans, saving hundreds from the Holocaust. This is their story, as gathered through interviews by Holocaust survivor Tec. Daniel Craig is in the lead with Liev Schrieber, Jamie Bell, George MacKay, Alexa Davalos and Allan Corduner also in the cast.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Delia’s how to cook

Tie-in books Delia’s how to cook by Delia Smith

The Delinquents

From the novel The Delinquents by Criena Rohan

Derailed

James Siegel’s 2003 novel was a big bestseller and featured on many a stand at airport bookshops across the world. It’s a racy tale about a businessman, unhappily married and not very happy at work. He misses his train to work one morning and is forced to take a later one. By chance he meets a stunning and seductive woman and they progress from lunches to an out of control affair. This leads to his life going off the rails and a plot full of violent twists and turns. The film version has been made by Mikael Hafstrom, Swedish director on his first international movie and the major actors are Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Melissa George and Vincent Cassel.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Desert flower

The 1998 book by Waris Dirie was a huge bestseller on publication and has taken this long to reach the screen. New York model Liya Kebede plays Dirie whose extraordinary book related how this Somalian woman was circumcised at 5, sold into marriage at 13 but eventually became a famous model and a passionate advocate for stopping female circumcision. American director Sherry Horman, who has made most of her films in Germany, has a strong cast for this British/German co-production, including Juliet Stevenson, Meera Syal, Craig Parkinson and Sally Hawkins (the lead in the Mike Leigh film Happy go lucky).
Read the book ~ About the film

Desire under the elms

From the play Desire under the elms by Eugene O'Neill

The Desperate hours

From the novel The Desperate hours by Joseph Hayes

A Destiny of her own

Based on a book A Destiny of her own by Margaret Rosenthal

Devices and desires

From the novel Devices and desires by P.D. James

Devil in a blue dress

From the 1990 novel Devil in a blue dress by Walter Mosley

Devil in the flesh

From the novel Devil in the flesh by Raymond Radiguet

Devil’s Advocate

From the novel Devil’s Advocate by Andrew Neiderman

The devil wears Prada

In Lauren Weisberger’s bestselling 2003 novel, a small town girl gets a dream job working for a top fashion magazine only to discover that her boss, reputedly modelled on Vogue editor Anna Wintour, is the boss from hell. David Frankel, whose previous credits are largely television directs Anne Hathaway as the innocent abroad, Meryl Streep as her boss, Simon Baker and Emily Blunt.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Devlin

From the 1992 novel Devlin by Roderick Thorp

Die another day

Based upon the character created by Ian Fleming. Novelized Die another day by Raymond Benson. The film and novelization contain many references to past Bond novels and films, however, and it is widely believed the character of Colonel Moon is a nod to the James Bond novel Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham)

Diabolique

From the 1952 novel Celle qui n'etait plus by Boileau-Narcejac

Diamonds are forever

From the Ian Fleming novel Diamonds are forever

Diamonds on wheels

From the French novel Nightmare rally by Pierre Castex

Diana, Her true story

Based on the book Diana, Her true story by Andrew Morton

Diana: story of a princess

Tie-in book by Tim Clayton

Diary of a chambermaid

From the novel Diary of a chambermaid by Octave Mirbeau

Diary of a nobody (TV-2007)

Based on the 1892 novel Diary of a nobody by George & Weedon Grossmith.

Diary of a Wimpy kid

Jeff Kinney has written three children’s novels in this series and the film version seems to be based on the first novel which came out in 2007. There was – so they say – a nine month search to find a boy who could play Greg Heffley, the title character, and the part went to Zachary Gordon. Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris play his parents with Devon Bostick as his brother and Robert Capron as his best friend.
Read the book ~ About the film

The Diary of Evelyn Lau

From the 1989 book Diary of a street kid by Evelyn Lau

Die Hard

From the 1979 novel Nothing lasts forever by Roderick Thorp

Die Hard II

Based on the 1987 novel 58 minutes by Walter Wager

The Dinner game

From the 1993 play Le Diner des cons by Francis Veber

A Dinner of herbs

From the 1985 novel A Dinner of herbs by Catherine Cookson

Dinotopia

From the children’s novel Dinotopia by James Gurney

The Dirty Dozen

From the 1965 novel The Dirty Dozen by E.M. Nathanson

Dirty tricks

From the novel Dirty tricks by Michael Dibdin

The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca

From the book The Death of Lorca by Ian Gibson and Federico Garcia Lorca: a life by Ian Gibson

Disappearing acts

From the 1989 novel Disappearing acts by Terry McMillan

Disappearing world

Tie-in book by Andre Singer

Disclosure

From the novel Disclosure by Michael Crichton

The Ditchdigger’s daughters

From the 1995 book The Ditchdigger’s daughters by Yvonne S. Thornton

Diva

From the novel Diva by Delacorta

The diving bell and the butterfly

The remarkable memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby first appeared in France in 1997 (and in English translation the same year) and the author died two days after the book was published. The book is a diary of what happened in 1995 when Bauby’s brain stem was rendered inactive and he was only able to communicate by blinking his left eye. The book was painstakingly written, letter by letter, as an alphabet was repeatedly read out to him. The film was to have been a vehicle for Johnny Depp but it has ended up with a French cast led by Mathieu Amalric as Bauby, Max Von Sydow, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Emma De Caunes.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Doc Hollywood

From the 1979 novel What … .Dead Again by Neil B. Schulman

The Doctor

Based on the 1988 book A Taste of my own medicine by Edward Rosenbaum

Doctor Doolittle

From the novels by Hugh Lofting

Doctor No

From Ian Fleming’s novel Doctor No

Doctor Zhivago

From the novel Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Dodson’s journey

From the 1998 book Faithful travelers by James Dodson

Doing it

The 2003 novel by Melvin Burgess was a determinedly pushing the envelope tale of the sexual adventures of three teenage boys. A pilot for a television series has been made in the U.S. and the television channel has been describing it as a cross between My so-called life and American pie. The three boys are played by Sean Faris, Jon Foster and Chris Lowell but most of the early publicity has centred on the girlfriend of one of them being played by Kelly Osbourne.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

The Dollmaker

From the 1954 novel The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow

Dolores Claiborne

From the novel Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King

Domenica

From the 1984 novel La ronda di guinardo by Juan Marse

Don King: only in America

Based on the book The Life and crimes of Don King by Jack Newfield

Donnie Brasco

Based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover life In The Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone

The door in the floor

This is an adaptation of John Irving’s 1998 novel A widow for one year, the story of a children’s book author and his wife whose once happy marriage starts to fall apart. The couple are played in the movie by Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger.
About the Film

Dorian Gray

The classic Oscar Wilde novel The picture of Dorian Gray, originally published in 1890, has been on the screen many times in period and modern adaptations and in every format from big Hollywood movies to porn films. This one is described as a modern take on the classic work (although set in the period) and is directed by Oliver Parker who did two previous Wilde works on film, The importance of being Earnest and An ideal husband (both had mixed reviews). Here the title character who maintains his looks while his portrait moulders away in the attic is played by Ben Barnes and his mentor, Lord Henry Wotton, by Colin Firth with a big supporting cast led by Emilia Fox, Rebecca Hall, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Ben Chaplin, Fiona Shaw and Douglas Henshall.
Read the book ~ About the film

Double Indemnity

From the 1944 novel Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. The screenplay by Raymond Chandler is in Chandler’s Later novels and other writings

Doubt

John Patrick Shanley’s stage play, first produced in 2004, is set against the backdrop of a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, telling the story of a strong-minded woman faced with a difficult decision. Should she voice concerns about one of her male colleagues… even if she’s not entirely certain of the truth? Sister Aloysius, the nun with the doubts, is played by Meryl Streep and the priest she suspects of abuse is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Shanley himself has adapted and directed the film and the supporting cast includes Viola Davis, Amy Adams and Joseph Foster.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

The Dove

From the 1972 book The Dove by Robin Lee Graham

Down to earth

From the books by Faith Addis

Down will come baby

From the 1991 novel Down will come baby by Gloria Murphy

Downfall (2005)

Based on two books: Inside Hitler’s bunker: the last days of the Third Reich translated 2004, by Joachim Fest, and Until the final hour: Hitler’s last secretary translated 2003, by Traudl Junge

Dracula

From the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula

There have been huge numbers of adaptations of the Bram Stoker classic over the years even if most people still associate it with Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. As it has immediate audience recognition (possibly, brand recognition!) and it is out of copyright, it is a safe bet for the BBC to add to their schedule. This time around Marc Warren, best known for the T.V. series Hustle, will be playing the evil Count in a version enthusiastically described as “sexy, with added bite.” Van Helsing, the vampire hunter, is played by David Suchet with Sophia Myles as Lucy, Rafe Spall as the solicitor Jonathan Harker and Stephanie Leonidas as Harker’s fiancée Mina. The location chosen for the Transylvanian goings on has been the National Trust property of Tyntesfield in Somerset.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story

From the 1975 book Bruce Lee: The Man only I knew by Linda Lee Caldwell

A Dream is a wish your heart makes

From the book A Dream is a wish your heart makes by Annette Funicello

Dreamcatcher

From the 2001 novel Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

The dreamers

From the 2004 novel The dreamers by Gilbert Adair. This is a new edition of his 1988 novel The holy innocents

Dream Boy

This 1995 novel is the second novel by a leading Southern writer. It’s about a teenage boy in North Carolina who falls in love with the farm boy next door. It’s a disturbing story in that the boy has been sexually abused by his drunken father, abuse his mother turns a blind eye to. The main character is played by Maximillian Roeg (as everyone in the acting profession seems to be related in some way, it is no surprise to find he’s the son of two notables, director Nicolas Roeg and actress Theresa Russell, and his friend by Owen Beckman. The abusive father is played by Thomas Jay Ryan and the mothers of the boys by Diana Scarwid and singer Rickie Lee Jones.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

The Dressmaker

From the novel The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge

Driving Miss Daisy

From the play Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry

A Dry white season

From the novel A Dry white season by Andre Brink

The Duchess

Amanda Foreman’s book, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was a bestseller back in 1998 and won the Biography section of the Whitbread Prize. The title character was a celebrity of her day, a glamorous figure whose scandalous life involved various love affairs, a gambling addiction, drink, all amid the racy world of the powerful and famous of the late 18th century. Saul Dibb, who did the recent television adaptation of the Booker Prize novel The line of beauty, is directing and the Duchess is played by Keira Knightley who seems to be first choice for anything these days. Ralph Fiennes plays the Duke and a large British cast includes Simon McBurney, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling, Hayley Attwell, Aidan McCardle (as the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan) and Richard McCabe.
Read the Book ~ About the Film

Duel

From the short story Duel by Richard Matheson. In the collection Foundations of fear

Dulcima

From the 1953 novel Dulcima by H.E. Bates. In The Nature of love: three short novels by Bates

The Dwelling place

From the 1978 novel The Dwelling place by Catherine Cookson