Strangers on a Train. Poster of the 1951 movie and cover of the 1950 book
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Strangers on a Train
Patricia Highsmith, 1950
movie vs book
Alfred Hitchcock, 1951

Amateur tennis star Guy Haines wants to divorce his promiscuous wife Miriam so he can marry Anne Morton, the daughter of a US Senator. On a train, smooth-talking psychopath Bruno Antony recognizes Haines and reveals his idea for a murder scheme: two perfect strangers meet and swap murders — Bruno suggests he kill Miriam and Guy kill Bruno’s hated father.


Spellbound. Poster of the 1945 movie and cover of the 1927 book, The House of Dr. Edwardes
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The House of Dr. Edwardes
Francis Beeding (John Palmer), Hilary Saint George Saunders, 1927
movie vs book
Alfred Hitchcock, 1945

Dr. Constance Petersen is a psychoanalyst at Green Manors, a therapeutic community mental hospital in Vermont. At the same time, it becomes public knowledge that the supposed Edwardes is an impostor, and that the real Edwardes is missing and may have been killed.


A Christmas Carol. Poster of the 1938 movie and cover of the 1843 book
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A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens, 1843
movie vs book
Edwin L. Marin, 1938

On Christmas Eve in 19th-century London, Fred is sliding on ice on a sidewalk. He meets Peter and Tim Cratchit, sons of his uncle Ebenezer’s clerk, Bob Cratchit. When Fred reveals who he is, the boys take off in terror. After declining an invitation from his nephew to dine with him on Christmas, Scrooge rejects two gentlemen collecting money for charity.


Father of the Bride. Poster of the 1950 movie and cover of the 1948 book
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Father of the Bride
Edward Streeter, 1948
movie vs book
Vincente Minnelli, 1950

Following the wedding of his daughter Kay, Stanley T. Banks, a successful suburban lawyer, recalls the day, three months earlier, when he first learned of Kay’s engagement to Buckley Dunstan. At the family dinner table, Kay’s casual announcement that she is in love with Buckley and has accepted his proposal makes Stanley feel uneasy, but he soon comes to realize that his daughter has grown up and the wedding is inevitable.


The Parent Trap. Poster of the 1961 movie and cover of the 1949 book, Lottie and Lisa
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Lottie and Lisa
Erich Kästner, 1949
movie vs book
David Swift, 1961

Identical twins Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers meet at Miss Inch’s Summer Camp for Girls, unaware that they are sisters. Their identical appearance initially creates rivalry, and they pull pranks on each other. After discovering that they both come from single-parent homes, they soon realize they are twin sisters and that their parents, divorced shortly after their birth, with each parent having custody of one of them.