Five Came Back. Poster of the 2017 TV series and cover of the 2014 book
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Five Came Back
Mark Harris, 2014
TV series vs book
Laurent Bouzereau, 2017

The documentary explores the experiences of five U.S. film directors – John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens – and their frontline work during the Second World War. Each modern director discusses the impact and legacies of one of the five earlier directors: Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass, and Lawrence Kasdan.


The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Poster of the 1962 movie and cover of the 1953 book
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Dorothy M. Johnson, 1953
movie vs book
John Ford, 1962

Senator Ranse Stoddard and his wife Hallie arrive in Shinbone, a frontier town in an unnamed western state, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon. Upon entering the territory as a young attorney, Ranse is beaten and robbed by Liberty Valance and his gang. Tom is the only man who stands up to Valance, stating that force is all Valance understands.


The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Poster of the 1962 movie and cover of the book novelization
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
James Warner Bellah, 1962
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
John Ford, 1962

Senator Ranse Stoddard and his wife Hallie arrive in Shinbone, a frontier town in an unnamed western state, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon. Upon entering the territory as a young attorney, Ranse is beaten and robbed by Liberty Valance and his gang. Tom is the only man who stands up to Valance, stating that force is all Valance understands.


The Grapes of Wrath. Poster of the 1940 movie and cover of the 1939 book
VS3
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck, 1939
movie vs book
John Ford, 1940

The film opens with Tom Joad, released from prison and hitchhiking his way back to his parents’ family farm in Oklahoma. Casy was the preacher who baptized Tom, but now Casy has ‘lost the spirit’ and his faith. A local boy, hired for the purpose, is shown knocking down Muley’s house with a Caterpillar tractor. They pack everything into a dilapidated 1926 Hudson ‘Super Six’ sedan adapted to serve as a truck in order to make the long journey to the promised land of California.


The Searchers. Poster of the 1956 movie and cover of the 1954 book
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The Searchers
Alan LeMay, 1954
movie vs book
John Ford, 1956

In 1868, Ethan Edwards returns after an eight-year absence to the home of his brother Aaron in the wilderness of West Texas. Shortly after Ethan’s arrival, cattle belonging to his neighbor Lars Jorgensen are stolen, and when Captain Clayton leads Ethan and a group of Rangers to recover them, they discover that the theft was a Comanche ploy to draw the men away from their families.


Stagecoach. Poster of the 1939 movie and cover of the 1937 book, Stage to Lordsburg
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Stage to Lordsburg
Ernest Haycox, 1937
movie vs book
John Ford, 1939

In June 1880, a group of strangers boards the stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. pregnant Lucy Mallory, who is travelling to join her cavalry officer husband; When the stage driver, Buck, looks for his shotgun guard, Marshal Curley Wilcox tells him that the guard is off searching for a fugitive.


Stagecoach. Poster of the 1939 movie and cover of the book novelization
VS3
Stagecoach
Robert W. Krepps, 1966
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
John Ford, 1939

In June 1880, a group of strangers boards the stagecoach from Tonto, Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. pregnant Lucy Mallory, who is travelling to join her cavalry officer husband; When the stage driver, Buck, looks for his shotgun guard, Marshal Curley Wilcox tells him that the guard is off searching for a fugitive.


The Quiet Man. Poster of the 1952 movie and cover of the 1935 book
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The Quiet Man
Maurice Walsh, 1935
movie vs book
John Ford, 1952

In the 1920s, Sean Trooper Thorn Thornton, an Irish-born retired boxer from Pittsburgh, travels to his birthplace of Inisfree to purchase back the old family farm. Shortly after arriving, he meets and falls in love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher, the sister of the bullying Squire Red Will Danaher.


How Green Was My Valley. Poster of the 1941 movie and cover of the 1939 book
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How Green Was My Valley
Richard Llewellyn, 1939
movie vs book
John Ford, 1941

A young Huw, the youngest child of Gwilym Morgan, walks home with his father to meet his mother, Beth. Huw’s childhood is idyllic, the town, not yet overrun with mining spoil, is beautiful, and the household is warm and loving, the miners sing as they walk home (in this case Bread of Heaven in Welsh). Afterwards the spending money is given out.