Adaptations of Pulitzer Prize winning novels
Adaptation of each winner, arranged by the year each won the prize.
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- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsEdith RobertsElliott DexterWillard LouisNewland Archer is engaged to May Mingott of a prominent New York family. Shortly after the engagement is announce, Newland finds himself attracted to May's older married cousin Countess Ellen Olenska.
- DirectorPhilip MoellerStarsIrene DunneJohn BolesLionel AtwillAn engaged attorney and a divorcee fall for each other in 1870s Manhattan.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsDaniel Day-LewisMichelle PfeifferWinona RyderA tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsFlorence VidorClaude GillingwaterHarold GoodwinAlice (Florence Vidor) is not satisfied with her family's financial situation and tries to convince others that she comes from a wealthy family. In the end she discovers that she is only fooling herself and decides to go to work to help her father's failing business.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsKatharine HepburnFred MacMurrayFred StoneA working-class girl is thwarted and embarrassed in her attempts to move up socially by her gauche family and unstable father.
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsColleen MooreJoseph De GrasseJohn BowersFollowing the death of Selena's father, she's offered a job as a teacher in a small town, and a new chapter of her life begins.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentDickie MooreAfter Selina's father dies, she's offered a job as a teacher in a small town and a new chapter of her life begins.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJane WymanSterling HaydenNancy OlsonIn the late 1890s, a young widow becomes a successful farmer and can send her son, nicknamed 'So Big', to college. After graduating, he finds a job as an architect, but forgoes his dream in favor of an immediate financial success.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsRonald ColmanHelen HayesRichard BennettA medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsLili DamitaErnest TorrenceRaquel TorresA rope bridge over a gorge in the Peruvian Andes snaps, sending five people plunging to their deaths. A priest sets out to find out more about the life of each of the victims.
- DirectorRowland V. LeeStarsLynn BariAkim TamiroffFrancis LedererA rope bridge over a gorge in the Peruvian Andes snaps, sending five people plunging to their deaths. A priest sets out to find out more about the life of each of the victims.
- DirectorMary McGuckianStarsGabriel ByrneRobert De NiroHarvey KeitelIn 1714 Peru, a friar is tried by the Inquisition for questioning God's intentions when five die in the collapse of an Andean rope bridge.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsRamon NovarroLupe VelezWilliam B. DavidsonLaughing Boy, a young Navajo, falls in love with Slim Girl, a Navajo girl who has been raised by white men and has a different way of thinking from her people.
- DirectorSidney FranklinVictor FlemingGustav MachatýStarsPaul MuniLuise RainerWalter ConnollyAlthough married Chinese farmers Wang and O-Lan initially experience success, their lives are complicated by declining fortunes and lean times, as well as the arrival of the beautiful young Lotus.
- 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.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsRonald ColmanVanessa BrownRichard HaydnGeorge and Catherine Apley of Boston lead a proper life in the proper social circle, as did the Apleys before them. After grown daughter Eleanor falls in love with Howard (from New York!), and son John with Myrtle (from Worcester!), the ordered life of the Apley home on Beacon Street is threatened, as is the hoped-for union of John and his cousin Agnes.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGregory PeckJane WymanClaude Jarman Jr.A boy persuades his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?
- DirectorRod HardyStarsPeter StraussJean SmartWil HorneffA pet deer changes Florida farm family.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn HustonRaoul WalshStarsBette DavisOlivia de HavillandGeorge BrentThe day before her wedding, a pampered young woman absconds with her sister's husband. Her sister begins seeing the woman's former fiancé.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGene TierneyJohn HodiakWilliam BendixDuring WWII, U.S. Army Major Joppolo and his troops are tasked with administering the war damaged Italian town of Adano where the locals decry the loss of the town bell.
- DirectorMel FerberStarsJohn ForsytheBrian AveryDick BalduzziA U.S. army officer, the military governor of an Italian town during World War II, tries to reintroduce democracy, but his efforts are hindered by his commanding general. Placing his career in jeopardy, the governor decides to replace the town's bell, which had been looted by the Fascists.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsBroderick CrawfordJohn IrelandJoanne DruThe rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.
- DirectorSteven ZaillianStarsSean PennJude LawKate WinsletBased on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsRossano BrazziMitzi GaynorJohn KerrOn a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission.
- DirectorRichard PearceStarsGlenn CloseHarry Connick Jr.Rade SerbedzijaDuring World War II, love is found between a career Navy nurse (Glenn Close) and an enigmatic French plantation owner (Rade Serbedzija), while a Princeton-educated marine (Harry Connick, Jr.) fights against his own prejudice after falling for a Tonkinese girl (Natalie Mendoza).
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsKirk DouglasRobert MitchumRichard WidmarkIn 1843, a former U.S. Senator leads a wagon train of settlers to Oregon, but his megalomania leads to growing dissatisfaction with his leadership.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsHumphrey BogartJosé FerrerVan JohnsonWhen a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardises the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command.
- DirectorJohn SturgesFred ZinnemannStarsSpencer TracyFelipe PazosHarry BellaverAn old Cuban fisherman's dry spell is broken when he hooks a gigantic fish that drags him out to sea.
- DirectorJud TaylorStarsAnthony QuinnGary ColePatricia ClarksonBased on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Santiago goes out on his usual fishing trip and makes a huge catch, the biggest of his life. Then a shark attacks and tries to steal his catch. Santiago battles with the shark for days. He returns to the shore beaten, tattered and torn, and his catch consisting now of mostly bones.
- DirectorAlex SegalStarsJean SimmonsRobert PrestonPat HingleMary Follet, a wife and mother in 1915 Tennessee, copes with the loss of her husband and the necessity of raising their children alone.Adaptation of "A Death in the Family"
- DirectorGilbert CatesStarsAnnabeth GishJohn SlatteryAustin WolffA young wife's religious faith is shaken when her husband dies in a car accident.
- StarsDan O'HerlihyKurt RussellMark AllenTwelve-year-old Jamie McPheeters, along with his ne'er-do-well father and a ragtag group of pioneers, travel westward from Paducah, Kentucky to the California gold fields in 1849.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFranchot ToneLew AyresHenry FondaThe polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
- 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.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsSteve McQueenSharon FarrellRuth WhiteIn turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsCraig ShefferBrad PittTom SkerrittTwo sons of a stern minister - one reserved, one rebellious - grow up in rural 1920s Montana while devoted to fly fishing.Selected as the winner by the committee, but not officially awarded.
- DirectorJohn Kent HarrisonStarsSam ElliottJerry O'ConnellRicky JayIn 1919, a cocky sophomore in the forest service has to learn life the hard way.Adaptation of another story within "A River Runs Through It".
- StarsLeVar BurtonRobert ReedJohn AmosA dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.
- StarsJonathan Rhys MeyersMalachi KirbyForest WhitakerAn adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots." Chronicles the history of an African man and his descendants sold into slavery in America.
- DirectorFrank PerrySydney PollackStarsBurt LancasterJanet LandgardJanice RuleA man spends a summer day swimming as many pools as he can all over a quiet suburban town.From "The Stories of John Cheever".
- DirectorLawrence SchillerStarsTommy Lee JonesChristine LahtiRosanna ArquetteThe story of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who lobbied for his own execution.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMatthew ModineNicolas CageJohn HarkinsAfter two friends return home from the Vietnam War one becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.Runner-up in 1980.
- 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.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsJack NicholsonMeryl StreepCarroll BakerAn alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
- DirectorJim O'BrienStarsJoanne WoodwardBrian DennehyEric StoltzTwo couples find love and comfort in London. A reserved, but lonely aging American female college professor meets a self-confident, married, but disillusioned aging American and aging English actress meets a young lively American.
- 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.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerGeena DavisAn emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles.Runner up in 1986.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsOprah WinfreyDanny GloverYada BeenerA slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman.
- DirectorJohn ErmanStarsJames GarnerJoanne WoodwardKathryn ErbeA married couple review their lives and renew their love for one another while driving to a friend's funeral.
- DirectorArne GlimcherStarsArmand AssanteAntonio BanderasPablo CalogeroTwo Cuban brothers bring a new music to the 1950s USA. They are as different as the problems that await them.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanNicole KidmanLoren DeanIn the year 1935, a teen named Billy Bathgate finds first love while becoming the protégé of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz.The runner up in 1990.
- DirectorJocelyn MoorhouseStarsMichelle PfeifferJessica LangeJennifer Jason LeighA family is torn apart after a father gives his valuable farm land to his daughters.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsKevin SpaceyJulianne MooreJudi DenchAn emotionally beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
- DirectorEwan McGregorStarsEwan McGregorJennifer ConnellyDakota FanningAn All-American college star and his beauty queen wife watch their seemingly perfect life fall apart as their daughter joins the turmoil of '60s America.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.
- StarsEd HarrisPhilip Seymour HoffmanHelen HuntA decaying New England town is the backdrop for its unique citizens, led by unassuming restaurant manager Miles Roby.
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsViggo MortensenCharlize TheronKodi Smit-McPheeIn a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.
- StarsFrances McDormandRichard JenkinsAnn DowdA middle-school math teacher Olive and her marriage with Henry which spans 25 years.
- DirectorJohn CrowleyStarsOakes FegleyAnsel ElgortNicole KidmanA boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals 'The Goldfinch', a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime.