Classic comic lit adaptations.
Which of these THEATRICALLY RELEASED classic literary* feature-length comedies actually make you want to read the original source material in which the movie was adapted from?
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*19th century and earlier.
Join our unofficial Book Club discussion here
*19th century and earlier.
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30 titles
- DirectorGil JungerStarsHeath LedgerJulia StilesJoseph Gordon-LevittA high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew
- DirectorGulzarStarsSanjeev KumarMoushumi ChatterjeeDeven VermaBased on Shakespeare's 'A Comedy of Errors', this is a story of identical twins (2 pairs) and mistaken identities.William Shakespeare's play The Comedy Of Errors
- DirectorGurinder ChadhaStarsMartin HendersonAishwarya Rai BachchanNadira BabbarA modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, that features the lives of four unmarried daughters in an Indian family.Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice
- DirectorGerald ThomasStarsKenneth WilliamsSidney JamesKenneth ConnorTwo Britons, Hengist and Horsa, are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Caesar.William Shakespeare. This "Carry On" comedy film utilizes for story elements two of Will's plays that were set in Ancient Times, "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra.
Source: Carry on Cleo (1964) Trivia, IMDb.com - DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.William Shakespeare's plays "enry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II and Henry V
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsEmin CeylanMuzaffer ÖzdemirFatma CeylanMuzaffer goes to the house where his parents live for the movie he will shoot. He is thinking of starring his relatives in the movie he will shoot. But his father struggles with the forest administration for the oaks he grows. His mother, on the other hand, does not feel well because of the diseases brought by old age.
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsAlicia SilverstoneStacey DashBrittany MurphyShallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.Jane Austen's novel Emma
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsMarcello MastroianniSilvana ManganoMarthe KellerAn Italian tells his story of love to a Russian. In a series of flashbacks, Romano Patroni leaves his wife to visit a spa where he falls in love with a Russian woman. He returns to Italy resolved to leave his wife and marry his love.Anton Chekhov's short stories
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveRichard WattisMichael DenisonWhen Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion.Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest
- DirectorOliver ParkerStarsRupert EverettColin FirthFrances O'ConnorIn 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsKathryn GraysonHoward KeelAnn MillerAn ex-husband and wife team star in a musical version of 'The Taming of the Shrew'; off-stage, the production is troublesome with ex-lovers' quarrels and two gangsters looking for some money owed to them.William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew
- DirectorPatricia RozemaStarsFrances O'ConnorJonny Lee MillerAlessandro NivolaFanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society.Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park
- DirectorWilliam DieterleMax ReinhardtStarsJames CagneyDick PowellIan HunterTwo couples and a troupe of actors have an encounter with some mischievous fairies in the forest.William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Nights Dream
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghEmma ThompsonKeanu ReevesYoung lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing
- DirectorJoss WhedonStarsAlexis DenisofAmy AckerFran KranzA modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsHelena Bonham CarterRichard E. GrantImogen StubbsShakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night
- DirectorTom StoppardStarsGary OldmanTim RothRichard DreyfussTwo minor characters from the play 'Hamlet' stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- DirectorBilly MorrissetteStarsJames Le GrosMaura TierneyChristopher WalkenIn a modernized retelling of "MacBeth" set in 1970s suburban Pennsylvania, Joe McBeth, an unambitious hamburger stand employee, is driven to success by his scheming wife.William Shakespeare's play Macbeth
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonCyril CusackBrutish, fortune-hunting scoundrel Petruchio tames his wealthy, shrewish wife, Katharina.William Shakespeare's play Taming of the Shrew
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsVincent PriceDiana RiggIan HendryA Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.William Shakespeare's play
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsAlbert FinneySusannah YorkGeorge DevineThe romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.Henry Fielding's novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsSteve CooganJeremy NorthamRob BrydonDirector Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."Laurence Sterne's novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
- DirectorTom GustafsonStarsTanner CohenWendy RobieJudy McLaneA bullied and demoralized gay student at an all-boys school uses a magical flower derived from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream' to turn many in his community gay, including a comely rugby player for himself.William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsWallace ShawnPhoebe BrandGeorge GaynesNew York actors rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in a dilapidated theatre.Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsGene WilderMadeline KahnMarty FeldmanAn American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsDanny KayeWalter SlezakBarbara BatesA town's corrupt officials think a fool is actually an investigator in disguise.Nikolai Gogol's play The Inspector General
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohn NevilleEric IdleSarah PolleyAn account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences across late 18th-century Europe with his band of misfits.Gottfried August Bürger and Rudolph Erich Raspe's novel The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
- DirectorRon ClementsJohn MuskerStarsScott WeingerRobin WilliamsLinda LarkinA kind-hearted street urchin and a power-hungry Grand Vizier vie for a magic lamp that has the power to make their deepest wishes come true.Adapted from one of the tales from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights") by Frenchman Antoine Galland
- DirectorDouglas McGrathStarsGwyneth PaltrowJames CosmoGreta ScacchiWhile matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.Jane Austen's novel Emma
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiNinetto DavoliJovan JovanovicAn adaptation of nine stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".An adaptation of nine stories from Bocaccio's "Decameron"