50 films, Adaptations from Classic Stage Plays
by g-tyaneus | created - 04 Dec 2012 | updated - 04 Dec 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Anna Christie (I) (1930)
Passed | 89 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman reunites with her estranged father and falls in love with a sailor, but struggles to tell them about her dark past.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion, Marie Dressler
Votes: 3,500 | Gross: $1.01M
2. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Not Rated | 131 min | Drama
A bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use their young houseguests to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Votes: 79,833
3. Barefoot in the Park (1967)
G | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
Paul, a conservative young lawyer, marries the vivacious Corie. Their highly passionate relationship descends into comical discord in a five-flight New York City walk-up apartment.
Director: Gene Saks | Stars: Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Charles Boyer, Mildred Natwick
Votes: 20,472 | Gross: $19.99M
4. The Visit (1964)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
An unwed pregnant teenager is run out of town and years later she returns there as a rich woman, raising the town's expectations with her generosity, but she's only out for revenge.
Director: Bernhard Wicki | Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Quinn, Paolo Stoppa, Romolo Valli
Votes: 1,958
5. Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
Not Rated | 174 min | Drama
At the end of a long and hot summer day, members of one family gather in a large house. Everyone has something painful and offensive to say, and their silence is even worse.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards, Dean Stockwell
Votes: 5,916
6. Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, History
When King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, John Gielgud
Votes: 10,137 | Gross: $0.12M
7. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Brick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Votes: 53,369 | Gross: $17.57M
8. A Doll's House (I) (1973)
G | 105 min | Drama
Years ago, Nora Helmer (Claire Bloom) committed a forgery in order to save the life of her authoritarian husband Torvald (Sir Anthony Hopkins). Now she is being blackmailed and lives in ... See full summary »
Director: Patrick Garland | Stars: Claire Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Richardson, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 1,398 | Gross: $0.31M
9. Death of a Salesman (1985 TV Movie)
PG | 136 min | Drama
An aging traveling salesman recognizes the emptiness of his life and tries to fix it.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang
Votes: 11,702
10. The Crucible (1996)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, History
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield, Joan Allen
Votes: 40,142 | Gross: $7.34M
11. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,361 | Gross: $7.09M
12. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
PG | 122 min | Drama
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Votes: 114,241 | Gross: $8.00M
13. The Merchant of Venice (2004)
R | 131 min | Drama, Romance
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons
Votes: 38,225 | Gross: $3.77M
14. Romeo and Juliet (1968)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Romance
When two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 34,731 | Gross: $38.90M
15. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,631 | Gross: $10.16M
16. Richard III (1995)
R | 110 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, War
The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, Edward Jewesbury
Votes: 15,556 | Gross: $2.60M
17. Twelfth Night (1986)
117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's comedy about twins, Viola and Sebastian, shipwrecked on the island of Illyria.
Director: Neil Armfield | Stars: Gillian Jones, Ivar Kants, Jacquy Phillips, Peter Cummins
Votes: 113
18. Julius Caesar (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, History
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Louis Calhern, Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud
Votes: 12,843
19. Hedda Gabler (1981 TV Movie)
78 min | Drama
Hedda Gabler (Dame Diana Rigg) is a beautiful woman married to the solid and respectable academic George Tesman (Denis Lill). Then an old flame, the dreamer Eilert Lovborg (Philip Bond), turns up on the scene with tragic results.
Director: David Cunliffe | Stars: Elizabeth Bell, Philip Bond, Kathleen Byron, Alan Dobie
Votes: 64
20. An Enemy of the People (1978)
G | 103 min | Drama
A scientist stands against an entire town when he discovers their medicinal spa is polluted.
Director: George Schaefer | Stars: Steve McQueen, Bibi Andersson, Charles Durning, Richard Dysart
Votes: 1,526
21. The Cherry Orchard (1981 TV Movie)
130 min | Drama
Madame Ranevsky (Dame Judi Dench) is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the ... See full summary »
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Judi Dench, Bill Paterson, Anton Lesser, Harriet Walter
Votes: 142
22. Uncle Vanya (1957)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A retired professor has returned to his estate to live with his beautiful young wife, Yelena. The estate originally belonged to his first wife, now deceased; her mother and brother still ... See full summary »
Directors: John Goetz, Franchot Tone | Stars: Franchot Tone, Clarence Derwent, Dolores Dorn, Shirley Gale
Votes: 68
23. Miss Julie (1999)
R | 103 min | Drama
A footman seduces a count's daughter.
Director: Mike Figgis | Stars: Saffron Burrows, Peter Mullan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Tam Dean Burn
Votes: 1,621 | Gross: $0.01M
24. Blood Wedding (1981)
Not Rated | 67 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A group of dancers puts Lorca's 'Blood Wedding' on stage, the tragic play about a married man who is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, and tries to reunite with her despite her planned wedding.
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Juan Antonio Jiménez, Carmen Villena
Votes: 1,954
25. The House of Bernarda Alba (1987)
103 min | Drama
After the death of her husband Bernada Alba puts her daughters under a rigurous mourning which does not even allow them to leave the house for seven years. Adela, the youngest daughter, suffers the most. Pepe el Romano key to all women's despair.
Director: Mario Camus | Stars: Irene Gutiérrez Caba, Ana Belén, Florinda Chico, Enriqueta Carballeira
Votes: 478
26. Yerma (1998)
118 min | Drama
Yerma wants a child but with her dispassionate husband have failed to conceive. On the other hand , Victor courts her but the sense of caste and honor prevent from surrendering to him.
Director: Pilar Távora | Stars: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Juan Diego, Irene Papas, María Alfonsa Rosso
Votes: 190
27. The Glass Menagerie (1973 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 100 min | Drama
Amanda Wingfield dominates her children with her faded gentility and exaggerated tales of her Southern belle past. Her son plans escape; her daughter withdraws into a dream world. When a "... See full summary »
Director: Anthony Harvey | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston, Joanna Miles, Michael Moriarty
Votes: 1,234
28. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Approved | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A drifter and a faded film star, both traumatized by Hollywood, arrive to the guy's hometown, where the old bitter memories revive again.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley
Votes: 8,458
29. The Night of the Iguana (1964)
Approved | 125 min | Drama
An ostracized Episcopal clergyman leads a busload of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon
Votes: 13,088 | Gross: $9.43M
30. The Rose Tattoo (1955)
Unrated | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A Sicilian seamstress who idolizes her husband must deal with several family crises upon his sudden death.
Director: Daniel Mann | Stars: Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan, Ben Cooper
Votes: 4,589
31. Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker
Votes: 17,182 | Gross: $13.90M
32. Strange Interlude (1932)
Passed | 109 min | Drama
After Nina Leeds finds out that insanity runs in her husband's family, she has a love child with a handsome doctor and lets her husband believes the child is his.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Alexander Kirkland, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 837
33. Desire Under the Elms (1958)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Romance
Desperation and secret passions on a family farm lead to tragedy.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Sophia Loren, Anthony Perkins, Burl Ives, Frank Overton
Votes: 1,446
34. Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
Approved | 159 min | Drama
Eugene O'Neill's updated version of the Oresteia set in New England, after the American Civil War.
Director: Dudley Nichols | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Michael Redgrave, Raymond Massey, Katina Paxinou
Votes: 1,298 | Gross: $0.44M
35. The Iceman Cometh (1960 TV Movie)
240 min | Drama
Theodore Hickman, a hardware salesman, makes by-yearly visits to Harry Hope's 1910-era waterfront bar for his periodical drinking binges. But on this visit he has decided to try to save the bar's patrons from their "lying pipe dreams."
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Jason Robards, Myron McCormick, Tom Pedi, James Broderick
Votes: 384
36. All My Sons (1948)
Approved | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir
During WW2, industrialist Joe Keller commits a crime and frames his business partner Herbert Deever but years later his sin comes back to haunt him when Joe's son plans to marry Deever's daughter.
Director: Irving Reis | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Burt Lancaster, Mady Christians, Louisa Horton
Votes: 2,404
37. A View from the Bridge (1962)
110 min | Drama
Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman is unhappily married to Beatrice and unconsciously in love with Catherine, the niece that they have raised from childhood. Into his house come two ... See full summary »
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Raf Vallone, Maureen Stapleton, Carol Lawrence, Jean Sorel
Votes: 563
38. Orpheus Descending (1990 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Val Xavier is a drifter in 1940's Mississippi who brings new life to an Italian immigrant woman trapped in a loveless marriage.
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Kevin Anderson, Brad Sullivan, Manning Redwood, Vanessa Redgrave
Votes: 355
39. Our Town (1940)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Family, Romance
Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century.
Director: Sam Wood | Stars: William Holden, Martha Scott, Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 2,970
40. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
Approved | 103 min | Drama, Romance
An aging actress travels to Rome with her husband; after he suddenly dies during the flight, she begins a passionate affair with a young gigolo.
Director: José Quintero | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Coral Browne, Jill St. John
Votes: 2,980
41. As You Desire Me (1932)
Approved | 70 min | Drama, Romance
An officer tries to convince an amnesiac bar entertainer that she is his long-lost lover.
Director: George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore
Votes: 764 | Gross: $0.71M
42.
Performance (1991–1998)
Episode:
Six Characters in Search of an Author
(1992)
Drama
Six fictional characters in an unwritten play appear to a theatrical company and demand that the company act out the characters' tragic story.
Director: Bill Bryden | Stars: John Hurt, Brian Cox, Tara Fitzgerald, Susan Fleetwood
Votes: 70
43. The Heiress (1949)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A naive young woman falls for a handsome young man her emotionally abusive father suspects is only a fortune hunter.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins
Votes: 17,334
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,783
45. Inherit the Wind (1960)
Passed | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York
Votes: 32,739
46. Coriolanus (2011)
R | 123 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Lubna Azabal
Votes: 33,501 | Gross: $0.76M
47. Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Not Rated | 113 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
The charismatic swordsman-poet helps another woo the woman he loves.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: José Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince, Morris Carnovsky
Votes: 4,564
48. Equus (1977)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery
A psychiatrist attempts to uncover a troubled stable boy's disturbing obsession with horses.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright
Votes: 8,740
49. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968)
Not Rated | 124 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
The adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors and their interactions with fairies come to light in a moonlit forest.
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Derek Godfrey, Barbara Jefford, Nicholas Selby, Hugh Sullivan
Votes: 874
50. The Taming of The Shrew (1967)
Approved | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Brutish, fortune-hunting scoundrel Petruchio tames his wealthy, shrewish wife, Katharina.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack, Michael Hordern
Votes: 8,673 | Gross: $8.00M
Tell Your Friends