The Great American Read
Films based on books on the PBS Great American Read list
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- DirectorNick CassavetesStarsGena RowlandsJames GarnerRachel McAdamsAn elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsKathryn BeaumontEd WynnRichard HaydnAlice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way.
- DirectorCharles NicholsIwao TakamotoStarsDebbie ReynoldsHenry GibsonPaul LyndeWilbur is a farm pig who's terrified that he'll end up on the dinner table. His friend Charlotte, a charming spider, comes to his rescue. She weaves words into her web, convincing the farmer that Wilbur is too special a pig to kill.
- DirectorAndrew AdamsonStarsTilda SwintonGeorgie HenleyWilliam MoseleyWhile playing, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe that lands them in a mystical place called Narnia. Here they realize that it was fated and they must now unite with Aslan to defeat an evil queen.
- DirectorAndrew AdamsonStarsBen BarnesSkandar KeynesGeorgie HenleyThe Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are enlisted to once again help ward off an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land's throne, Prince Caspian.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsBen BarnesSkandar KeynesGeorgie HenleyLucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDanny GloverWhoopi GoldbergOprah WinfreyA tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsJim CaviezelGuy PearceChristopher AdamsonA young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.
- DirectorJeffrey BloomStarsLouise FletcherVictoria TennantKristy SwansonChildren are hidden away under an attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBen AffleckRosamund PikeNeil Patrick HarrisWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorTate TaylorStarsViola DavisEmma StoneOctavia SpencerAn aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsTamlyn TomitaRosalind ChaoKieu ChinhThe life histories of four East Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.
- DirectorVic SarinStarsKirk CameronBrad JohnsonJanaya StephensThe Biblical prophecy of Armegeddon begins when the Rapture instantly takes all believers in Christ from the Earth. A reporter left behind learns that the Anti-Christ will soon take power.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsSusan SarandonWinona RyderKirsten DunstThe March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsRachel WeiszMark WahlbergSaoirse RonanCenters on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
- StarsWilliam HurtEthan HawkeCharlie CoxThe sole survivor of a lost whaling ship relates the tale of his captain's self-destructive obsession to hunt the white whale, Moby Dick.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsZiyi ZhangKen WatanabeMichelle YeohThe heartwarming tale of Nitta Sayuri, a young Japanese woman who transcended from her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsC. Thomas HowellMatt DillonRalph MacchioIn a small Oklahoma town in 1964, the rivalry between two gangs, the poor Greasers and the rich Socs, heats up when one gang member accidentally kills a member of the other.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodIan McKellenOrlando BloomA meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodViggo MortensenIan McKellenGandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodIan McKellenViggo MortensenWhile Frodo and Sam edge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum, the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron's new ally, Saruman, and his hordes of Isengard.
- StarsMegan FollowsColleen DewhurstRichard FarnsworthAn orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsDorothy McGuireJoan BlondellJames DunnEncouraged by her idealistic if luckless father, a bright and imaginative young woman comes of age in a Brooklyn tenement during the early 1900s.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsTommy KellyJackie MoranAnn GillisTom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.
- DirectorMichael RadfordStarsJohn HurtRichard BurtonSuzanna HamiltonIn a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
- StarsMaeve DermodyCharles DanceToby StephensTen strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious host, and start to get killed one by one. Could one of them be the killer?
- DirectorGary WinickStarsDakota FanningJulia RobertsOprah WinfreyWilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorDave FleischerWillard BowskyOrestes CalpiniStarsJessica DragonetteLanny RossPinto ColvigA doctor washes ashore on an island inhabited by little people.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsOrson WellesJoan FontaineMargaret O'BrienAfter a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house, to care for his young daughter.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsGreer GarsonLaurence OlivierMary BolandThe arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorStuart HazeldineStarsSam WorthingtonOctavia SpencerTim McGrawA grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called "The Shack."
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMerle OberonLaurence OlivierDavid NivenA servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
- DirectorLarry PeerceStarsJohn HeylParker StevensonWilliam RoerickTwo roomates at a prep school in New England during World War II come to grips with the war, jealousy and betrayal. Based on a novel by John Knowles.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEdward ArnoldPeter LorreMarian MarshMan is haunted by a murder he's committed.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsAudrey HepburnHenry FondaMel FerrerNapoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerAva GardnerErrol FlynnA group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920s France and Spain.
- DirectorKen AndersonStarsPeter ThomasMaurice O'CallaghanLiam NeesonJourney with Pilgrim as John Bunyan's famous allegory leaps from its pages to a movie.
- DirectorMark Steven JohnsonStarsIan Michael SmithJoseph MazzelloAshley JuddA young boy with stunted growth is convinced that God has a great purpose for him.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsLuke GanalonJoseph A. GarciaMiriam ColonA drama set in New Mexico during WWII, centered on the relationship between a young man and an elderly medicine woman who helps him contend with the battle between good and evil that rages in his village.
- DirectorBrian PercivalStarsSophie NélisseGeoffrey RushEmily WatsonWhile subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsMorgan FreemanMichael WincottMonica PotterWhen a senator's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school, detective Alex Cross investigates the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.
- DirectorGary FlederStarsMorgan FreemanAshley JuddCary ElwesPolice hunting for a serial kidnapper are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsRobert RedfordMia FarrowBruce DernA Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his nouveau riche neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
- DirectorMark OsborneStarsJeff BridgesMackenzie FoyRachel McAdamsA little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to prepare her for it. Her neighbor, the Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of the Little Prince.
- StarsMegan FollowsColleen DewhurstMarilyn LightstoneAnne Shirley accepts a teaching position at a girls boarding school in a town dominated by a rich and belligerant family determined to make her life miserable.
- StarsMegan FollowsJonathan CrombieSchuyler GrantThe continuing adventures of Anne Shirley in New York and in France during World War I.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsBrenton ThwaitesJeff BridgesMeryl StreepIn a seemingly perfect community without war, pain, suffering, differences or choices, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man, the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsToby IrvineRalph FiennesJason FlemyngA series of events change the orphaned Pip's life forever as he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman.
- DirectorFernando de FuentesMiguel M. DelgadoStarsMaría FélixJulián SolerMaría Elena MarquésA young lawyer and owner of a great property in the interior of Venezuela tries to recover its control in the name of the law, fighting against his neighbour, a powerful, seductive and misterious lady named Doña Bárbara, learning in the process that the only chance to win is by playing on Doña's rules.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsTim RothJohn MalkovichIsaach De BankoléA trading company manager travels up an African river to find a missing outpost head and discovers the depth of evil in humanity's soul.
- DirectorDarnell MartinStarsHalle BerryRuben Santiago-HudsonMel WinklerA drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMatt DamonJessica ChastainKristen WiigAn astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsDaniel RadcliffeRupert GrintEmma WatsonAn orphaned boy enrolls in a school of wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world.
- CreatorRonald D. MooreStarsCaitríona BalfeSam HeughanSophie SkeltonClaire Beauchamp Randall, a nurse in World War II, mysteriously goes back in time to Scotland in 1743. There, she meets a dashing Highland warrior and gets drawn into an epic rebellion.
- DirectorPaul JohanssonStarsTaylor SchillingGrant BowlerMatthew MarsdenRailroad executive Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden form an alliance to fight the increasingly authoritarian government of the United States.
- DirectorJohn PutchStarsSamantha MathisJason BegheEsai MoralesRailroad owner Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden search desperately for the inventor of a revolutionary motor as the U.S. government continues to spread its control over the national economy.
- DirectorChris SandersStarsHarrison FordOmar SyCara GeeA sled dog struggles for survival in the wilds of the Yukon.
- StarsRobert DuvallTommy Lee JonesDanny GloverTwo former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.
- StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksAudrey TautouJean RenoA murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
- StarsGary SiniseMolly RingwaldJamey SheridanAfter a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a malevolent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsNatasha RichardsonFaye DunawayAidan QuinnUnder a dystopian religious tyranny, most women cannot conceive children. Those young women who can live in a form of sexual slavery to provide children for influential families.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanVirginia MadsenFrancesca AnnisA Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.
- DirectorMichael ChapmanStarsDaryl HannahPamela ReedJames RemarA young Cro-Magnon woman is raised by Neanderthals.
- DirectorGarth JenningsStarsMartin FreemanYasiin BeySam RockwellMere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
- DirectorGary RossStarsJennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonLiam HemsworthKatniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- CreatorLuke DaviesDavid MichôdStarsChristopher AbbottKyle ChandlerDaniel David StewartLimited series adaptation of the classic Joseph Heller novel. Follows Captain John Yossarian and airmen in World War II.
- CreatorDavid BenioffD.B. WeissStarsEmilia ClarkePeter DinklageKit HaringtonNine noble families fight for control over the lands of Westeros, while an ancient enemy returns after being dormant for millennia.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
- CreatorJosh FriedmanDavid S. GoyerStarsJared HarrisLou LlobellLeah HarveyA complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.
- DirectorShûji Terayama
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsOprah WinfreyDanny GloverYada BeenerA slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsGeorge SandersHurd HatfieldDonna ReedA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
- DirectorHans Jürgen PohlandStarsIyabo AboabaBoniface AfokoSteve AllisThis is the story of Okonkwo, an Ibo man who lives in the village of Umoufia, in Nigeria. It shows the traditions and culture of the Ibo people, while also telling Okonkwo's story.
- DirectorConrad RooksStarsShashi KapoorSimi GarewalRomesh SharmaThe story of a young Indian who embarks upon a journey to find the meaning of existence. Based on the novel by Hermann Hesse.
- 20122h 40m8.6 (380)TV MovieDirectorMarianne ElliottScott GrahamSteven HoggettStarsLuke TreadawayNiamh CusackPaul RitterChristopher has an extraordinary brain - exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When his neighbour's dog is murdered, he ventures on a frightening journey that upturns his world.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOja KodarPatty McCormackPaola MoriDon Quixote is an unfinished film project produced, written and directed by Orson Welles. Principal photography took place between 1957 and 1969. Test footage was filmed as early as 1955, second-unit photography was done as late as 1972, and Welles was working on the film intermittently until his death in 1985.
- CreatorJosh SchwartzStarsCharlie PlummerKristine FrosethDenny LoveTeenager Miles enrolls in boarding school to try to gain a deeper perspective on life; after an unexpected tragedy, Miles and his friends try to make sense of what they have been through.
- DirectorSam Taylor-JohnsonStarsDakota JohnsonJamie DornanJennifer EhleLiterature student Anastasia Steele's life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey.