The Great Escape. Poster of the 1963 movie and cover of the 1950 book
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The Great Escape
Paul Brickhill, 1950
movie vs book
John Sturges, 1963

In 1943, having expended enormous resources on recapturing escaped Allied POWs, the German armed forces move the most determined to a new, high-security prisoner-of-war camp supervised by Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger. The prisoners’ escape committee mount an audacious plan to tunnel out of the camp and break out 250 men.


The Bridge on the River Kwai. Poster of the 1957 movie and cover of the 1952 book, The Bridge On The River Kwai
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The Bridge On The River Kwai
Pierre Boulle, 1952
movie vs book
David Lean, 1957

In early 1943, British POWs arrive at a Japanese prison camp in Burma. The commandant, Colonel Saito, informs them that all prisoners, regardless of rank, will work on the construction of a railway bridge over the River Kwai that will connect Bangkok and Rangoon.


King Rat. Poster of the 1965 movie and cover of the 1962 book
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King Rat
James Clavell, 1962
movie vs book
Bryan Forbes, 1965

Taking place in a Japanese POW camp during World War II, this adaptation of the James Clavell novel follows an American corporal who orchestrates several lucrative schemes within the camp’s confines.


Third Man on the Mountain. Poster of the 1959 movie and cover of the 1954 book, Banner in the Sky
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Banner in the Sky
James Ramsey Ullman, 1954
movie vs book
Ken Annakin, 1959

Rudi is a kitchen worker determined to conquer the Citadel -the jagged, snowcapped peak that claimed his father’s life. Encouraged by both a famed English climber and the youth’s devoted girlfriend, Rudi goes through a grueling training period before hi is ready to face the incredible dangers of the killer mountain. The story is slightly inspired by the figure of Edward Wymper and by story of the conquest of the Matterhorn.


The Crystal Trench. Poster of the 1959 movie and cover of the 1915 book
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The Crystal Trench
A.E.W. Mason, 1915
movie vs book
Alfred Hitchcock, 1959

While staying at an Alpine ski resort, English mountain climber Mark learns that a fellow Englishman, a young climber, has perished on a nearby mountain, his body awaiting retrieval. Mark breaks the news to the dead man’s pretty young widow, Stella, before setting off to recover the corpse. The attempt to fetch the body is botched, the corpse falling from the mountain deep into a crevasse below, making it irrecoverable.


The Pickwick Papers. Poster of the 1952 movie and cover of the 1837 book
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The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens, 1837
movie vs book
Noël Langley, 1952

The Pickwick Club sends Mr. Pickwick and a group of friends to travel across England and to report back on the interesting things they find. In the course of their travels, they repeatedly encounter the friendly but disreputable Mr. Jingle, who becomes a continual source of trouble for all who know him.