Again, Mariella Frostrup narrates what might be my favourite genre. There are so many of the featured movies that I have seen, although I have rarely read one of the books from which they are adapted. We start with an episode called "The Three Apples" from the ancient book 1,001 Nights. But the first crime story to be filmed came from Edgar Allan Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue. A locked room mystery. Bela Lugosi starred in the 1954 film adaptation The Phantom of the Rue Morgue. We are told that more stories by Poe "became a whole new genre". It was Wilkie Collins who wrote The Moonstone that was published in 1868 ("hailed by many as the greatest English detective novel") and became an American film in 1934 and subsequently many tv series. But it was Arthur Conan Doyle who mastered the genre with his series of books about Sherlock Holmes. In an interview with the writer, he explains how his own scientific background prompted the creation of Holmes and Watson. His first novel was A Study in Scarlet in 1887 but it was the 1939 movie of The Hound of the Baskervilles that we see. With Basil Rathbone as Holmes.
Next up is, of course, Agatha Christie. She introduced Hercule Poirot in 1929, but it was the 1974 movie of Murder on the Orient Express that was selected for an excerpt. We hear that her first novel was The Mysterious Affair at Styles based in her home town of Torquay. She wrote thirty three novels including Death on the Nile (filmed in 1978 and 2022) and finally Then There Were None, the 1945 film from her novel of 1939. And many, many more adaptations of her work.
The programme then turns to American fiction. William R Burnett wrote Little Caesar in 1929 and it was soon adapted for the big screen in 1931 with a young Edward G Robinson. Al Capone was obviously a great source for crime fiction and inspired Scarface filmed in 1932 and loosely based on the 1929 book by Armitage Trail. This controversial movie was directed by Howard Hawks. Two more of Trail's novels were filmed when Bennet formed a partnership with John Huston to adapt The Asphalt Jungle in 1950 and High Sierra in 1941.
The prolific French writer Georges Simenon created the famous detective Jules Maigret among his four hundred novels. These included eighty four with Maigret and we see a clip from 1958's Maigret Sets a Trap. We then come to 1941's The Maltese Falcon. Sam Spade is the star created by Dasheill Hammett and played by Humphrey Bogart. Then it was James M Cain who published The Postman Always Rings Twice in 1934, another controversial book that became the 1946 movie. His Double Indemnity from 1936 became the popular 1944 movie adapted by Raymond Chandler and directed by Billy Wilder. Film Noir had taken hold. It was Raymond Chandler who created Philip Marlowe and The Big Sleep became the big movie of 1946 with Bogart and Bacall. Further novels included Farewell My Lovely, Lady in the Lake and The Long Goodbye.
Back to the UK and Graham Greene. His Brighton Rock has had numerous adaptations including the 1948 movie starring Richard Attenborough. Greene also wrote the screenplay for the American version Young Scarface which attracted move controversy. Then his novella for The Third Man was used for the 1949 hit move. Patricia Highsmith "struck gold with her very first novel". Her Strangers on a Train became the 1951 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Five years later her five novels were adapted for 1999's The Talented Mr Ripley. It was also the source for a French movie called Plain Soleil (or Purple Noon) with Alain Delon in 1960.
In 1969 Mario Puzo published his book The Godfather that became the huge 1972 movie and subsequent sequels. We also hear about his earlier books including The Fortunate Pilgrim published in 1965. It was this book that contained a Godfather type figure that became the source for his future novels. We then hear from James Elroy who talks about his inspiration for his LA quartet that started with 1987's The Black Dahlia (filmed in 2006) and then LA Confidential in 1990 that became the 1997 hit movie. John Grisham's first novel was not a success, but he found fame with The Firm that became a best seller and the 1993 thriller starring Tom Cruise. Subsequent legal stories included The Pelican Brief and The Client were popular films in 1993 and 1994. Finally, and bringing us up to date, we hear about the Millennium series of books by Stieg Larson. His 2005 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo became the first in the series of films that started with the Swedish version in 2009 and the American remake in 2011. These were followed by the author's next two of his planned ten instalments.
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