Top Ten Picks is a bookish meme hosted by Random Ramblings (and which I found through Lady Scribble's Book Lounge) where we pick our top ten favorite things about books according to the topics she picks. This week's topic: Our favorite books into movies!
Not sure I can come up with ten....but here goes, in no particular order:
1. Around the World in 80 Days (Brosnan version)
Although I have a fondness for David Niven and his version of the Jules Verne classic, I have a passion for Pierce Brosnan. I love him as the proper English gentleman who has to keep his word on the bet. I also like the transformation he goes through as Princess Aouda influences his thinking.
2. The Great Train Robbery
The play between the Sean Connery & Donald Sutherland characters is great. This is an instance where I like the movie better than the book. And it's one of the few heist movies that I really like. Probably because it's set in the Victorian era.
3. War of the Worlds
This is one of my favorites by Wells. And I don't care how many times they remake it, you can't beat the 1953 version.
4. Hound of the Baskervilles (Jeremy Brett)
Much as I love the Basil Rathbone version which is actually true to period--unlike most of the Holmes movies with Rathbone, Jeremy Brett lived and breathed the essence of Holmes. He read the original stories and was a stickler for making sure the writers stayed true to the canon. Absolutely the best Holmes ever!
5. The Thin Man
I have to agree with Lady Scribbles on this one...the movie is absolutely better than the book. Myrna Loy and William Powell play Nick & Nora to perfection. And I love the screwball comedy. The series of movies gets a little out of control towards the end, but they're all fun.
6. Gone with the Wind
Love Vivien Leigh as Scarlett and Clark Gable as Rhett. She's feisty and determined. I just wish she'd figure out sooner who she really loves. Ashley is such a waste of her time....
7. Murder on the Orient Express
David Suchet is the better Poroit. But I love the 1973 version with its star-studded cast. I thought this version captured the over-all feel of the Christie classic.
8. Rebecca (1940)
Alfred Hitchcock certainly knew what he was doing with suspense. The casting is perfect. Dame Judith Anderson is wonderful as the woman you love to hate, Mrs. Danvers. I love the old classics.
9. Gettysburg (Killer Angels by Michael Shaara)
I'm not usually a war movie buff. There are just a few that I've seen that I actually like. I love this movie and have watched it over and over again. It would be worth it just for the visuals and the music. But I like the way it follows characters from both sides of the war. I enjoyed learning more about Joshua Chamberlain (one of my favorite personalities from the Civil War) and General John Buford. Two officers who made a difference by holding their ground when it counted.
10. The Maltese Falcon
I love it when a movie takes a genre I don't usually like (like private eye/hard-boiled) and turns it into something I like to watch. Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade--can't be beat!
I made it to ten!
Totally agree on The Thin Man. I read it right after The Maltese Falcon and was a little disappointed with the book. I'd already seen the movie several times by then. And Jeremy Brett is far and away the best Holmes ever - probably a better Holmes than Holmes would have been. Gone With The Wind is my all time favorite movie. Great selection (and good idea for a post).
ReplyDeleteOooh great picks, I also enjoyed the Hounds of Baskerville, and The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart is perfect as the hard boiled detective type, although I've never read the book. My sister watched Murder on the Orient Express but I stayed outta the room for most of it, which I'm happy about because I haven't read the book yet.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more with your thoughts on Jeremy Brett!
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