The Maltese Falcon. Poster of the 1941 movie and cover of the 1929 book
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The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett, 1929
movie vs book
John Huston, 1941

In San Francisco in 1941, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. He meets his friend, Police Detective Tom Polhaus, at the murder scene and then tries calling his client at her hotel, but she has checked out. Back at his apartment, he is grilled by Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy, who tell him that Thursby was also murdered the same evening.


Arsenic and Old Lace. Poster of the 1944 movie and cover of the 1939 book
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Arsenic and Old Lace
Joseph Kesselring, 1939
movie vs book
Frank Capra, 1944

Mortimer Brewster, a writer who has repeatedly denounced marriage as an old-fashioned superstition, falls in love with Elaine Harper , the minister’s daughter who grew up next door to him. Elaine goes to her father’s house to tell her father and pack for the honeymoon and Mortimer returns to Abby and Martha, the aunts who raised him in the old family home.


Around the World in 80 Days. Poster of the 1956 movie and cover of the 1872 book, Around the World in Eighty Days
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Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne, 1872
movie vs book
Michael Anderson, John Farrow, 1956

In 1872, an English gentleman Phileas Fogg claims he can circumnavigate the world in eighty days. He makes a £20,000 wager with four skeptical fellow members of the Reform Club that he can arrive back eighty days from exactly 8:45 pm that evening. Together with his resourceful valet, Passepartout, they set out on the journey from Paris by a gas balloon.


Casino Royale. Poster of the 1954 movie and cover of the 1953 book
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Casino Royale
Ian Fleming, 1953
movie vs book
William H. Brown Jr., 1954

James Bond comes under fire from an assassin: he manages to dodge the bullets and enters Casino Royale. While Bond explains the rules of baccarat, Leiter explains Bond’s mission: to defeat Le Chiffre at baccarat and force his Soviet spymasters to ‘retire’ him. Bond then encounters a former lover, Valerie Mathis, who is Le Chiffre’s current girlfriend; he also meets Le Chiffre himself.