The Last Picture Show. Poster of the 1971 movie and cover of the 1966 book
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The Last Picture Show
Larry McMurtry, 1966
movie vs book
Peter Bogdanovich, 1971

In 1951 Sonny Crawford and Duane Jackson are high-school seniors and friends in Anarene, Texas, a small declining northern Texas town. She is lonely because her husband is a closeted homosexual. At the Christmas dance Jacy is invited by Lester Marlow to a naked indoor pool party at the home of Bobby Sheen, a wealthy young man who seems to be a better prospect than Duane.


The Wild Bunch. Poster of the 1969 movie and cover of the book novelization
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The Wild Bunch
Brian Fox, 1969
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
Sam Peckinpah, 1969

In 1913 Texas, Pike Bishop, the leader of a gang of aging outlaws, is seeking retirement after one final score: the robbery of a railroad office containing a cache of silver. The gang is ambushed by Pike’s former partner, Deke Thornton, who is leading a posse of bounty hunters hired and deputized by the railroad. A bloody shootout kills several members of the gang.


Shane. Poster of the 1953 movie and cover of the 1949 book
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Shane
Jack Schaefer, 1949
movie vs book
George Stevens, 1953

Shane, a laconic but skilled gunfighter with a mysterious past, is a drifter who rides into an isolated valley in the sparsely settled Wyoming Territory, sometime after the Civil War. On Shane’s next trip to town with the Starrett’s and other homesteaders, he defeats Calloway, and then he and Starrett win a bar room brawl against most of Ryker’s other men.


The Getaway. Poster of the 1972 movie and cover of the 1958 book
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The Getaway
Jim Thompson, 1958
movie vs book
Sam Peckinpah, 1972

Four years into his ten-year sentence for armed robbery, Carter Doc McCoy is denied parole from a Texas prison. When his wife Carol visits him, he tells her to do whatever is necessary to make a deal with Jack Beynon, a corrupt businessman in San Antonio, to free him. Beynon uses his influence and obtains Doc’s parole on the condition that he take part in a bank robbery with two of his henchmen, Rudy and Frank.


Breakheart Pass. Poster of the 1975 movie and cover of the 1974 book
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Breakheart Pass
Alistair MacLean, 1974
movie vs book
Tom Gries, 1975

In the 1870s, residents of the garrison at the Fort Humboldt frontier outpost of the United States Army are reported to be suffering from a diphtheria epidemic. A special express train is heading up into the remote mountain ranges towards the fort filled with reinforcements and medical supplies.


The Red Pony. Poster of the 1973 movie and cover of the 1937 book
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The Red Pony
John Steinbeck, 1937
movie vs book
Robert Totten, 1973

A young boy, Tom Tiflin, is given a small pony by his father. Tom asks the stable helper, Billy Buck, to help him raise and train it so that it can be ridden. During a rain storm the pony gets out of the stable and, having been soaked, becomes fevered. Despite Buck’s best efforts to nurse the pony it develops strangles and requires a tracheotomy. Shortly after the procedure, the pony escapes from the farm.


The Evening Star. Poster of the 1996 movie and cover of the 1992 book
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The Evening Star
Larry McMurtry, 1992
movie vs book
Robert Harling, 1996

Following the story of Aurora Greenway during her later years, the challenges mount following the death of her daughter. Aurora grapples with keeping her family united, contending with a grandson in jail, a defiant granddaughter, and another grandson residing just above the poverty line.