My Favorite Non-Musical Stage to Screen Adaptations

Looking at Broadway musicals that have been transferred to the screen is kind of a no-brainer so I thought I would look at non-musicals that originated on Broadway and eventually ended up onscreen. Transferring a Broadway play to the screen can be hard because sometimes sticking to the exact script as it's written will make the movie look like a photographed stage play and even though the integrity of the piece is important, it is important to "open up" the piece so it actually looks like a movie. Many theater pieces take place in a single setting and that can be rather boring for a movie, finding a new and unique way to make a theater piece breathe onscreen has been a consistent challenge for Hollywood. Casting the movie version of a play can be a challenge as well, finding someone who is appropriate for the role, but is also a movie name whose name on a marquee will turn into box office receipts. I might also look at movies that are re-thinkings of a stage production. I should mention that I will be looking strictly at plays that originated on Broadway, which means no Shakespeare. OK, here we go...these are my favorite non-musical stage to screen adaptations:

100.

The Matchmaker



This 1958 film is based on a play by Thornton Wilder and is the story of a professional matchmaker who has been hired by a wealthy businessman to arrange a marriage for him with a pretty young hat maker, but she decides that she wants the man for herself. Shirley Booth had one of her best film roles here and Shirley MacLaine made one of her earliest film appearances as the hat maker. If the storyline sounds familiar, it's because the play found its greatest fame when it was turned into a Broadway musical called Hello Dolly!

99.

Plaza Suite



This was the film version of Neil Simon's play that is actually three one-acts centered around three couples who stay in the same suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York. The show premiered on Broadway with George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton playing all three couples in each of the acts. When the film was brought to the screen, Walter Matthau played all three roles but Stapleton only appears in the first segment. His leading ladies in segments two and three are Barbara Harris and Lee Grant. This movie is almost 50 years old but it still makes me laugh, especially the segment with Matthau and Grant.

98.

The Petrified Forest



Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart reprised their roles from the 1935 Broadway production in this film version of the play about a group of people being held hostage at an isolated diner. The role of Gaby Maple, played on Broadway by Peggy Conklin, went to Bette Davis for the film version.

97.

Deathtrap



The original Broadway production was a smash that ran for over 1000 performances, but the 1982 film version barely made a blip on the radar. It's still a deliciously entertaining black comedy about a playwright (Michael Caine) who plans to revive his career by stealing a play written by a rookie playwright (Christopher Reeve).

96.

Life with Father



The original Broadway production written by Howard Lindsey and Russell Crouse ran for over 3200 performances and the movie was made while the show was still running in New York, providing William Powell with one of his best roles, which earned him an Oscar nomination.

95.

Play it Again Sam



Two years after running for 453 performances on Broadway, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, and Jerry Lacy reprised their stage roles in the 1972 film version of Allen's comedy about a romantically-challenged schnook who gets advice on women from the spirit of Humphrey Bogart.

94.

Agnes of God



This emotionally charged 1985 drama was about a chain-smoking psychiatrist (Jane Fonda) who is sent to a convent to investigate when a young novitiate (Meg Tilly) is believed to have become pregnant and murdered her child and finds her investigation impeded every step of the way by the Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft). Bancroft and Tilly both received Oscar nominations for their performances. When the show premiered on Broadway in 1982, the roles played by Fonda, Bancroft, and Tilly were originated by Elizabeth Ashley, Geraldine Page, and Amanda Plummer, respectively.

Did you ever get around to watching Quills? It originated as a stage play.

No, I didn't...maybe I'll take a break from this list and watch it before I get to deep here.

93.

The Corn is Green



Always loved this story of a Welsh schoolteacher named Miss Moffat (Bette Davis) and her special relationship with one particular student (John Dall). Ethel Barrymore starred in the original Broadway production of the play in 1940, running 477 performances. The movie was also remade for television in 1979 with Katharine Hepburn playing Miss Moffat, but I prefer Davis' performance.

92.

Love! Valour! Compassion!



This is the 1997 film version of a play written by Terrence McNally about eight gay men who meet at the country home of one of them for several holiday weekends. John Glover, John Benjamin Hickey, and Justin Kirk were allowed to recreate the roles they originated at the Manhattan Club off Broadway in 1994.

91.

Wit



This intense drama about a brilliant professor dealing with the fact that she has ovarian cancer starred Kathleen Chalfont in the original production. Oscar winner Emma Thompson inherited the role for the TV movie version.

90.

California Suite



Neil Simon hits the list again in this 1978 film version of his play about couples in the same California luxury hotel. Maggie Smith won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as a British actress in town for the Academy Awards.

89.

The Man Who Came to Dinner



The Kaufman and Hart play about a flamboyant radio star named Sheridan Whiteside who turns the lives of a suburban family upside down when he slips on some ice outside their home. The play came to the screen in 1941 with Monty Wooley reprising his stage role, probably the most famous role of Wooley's career. A Broadway revival of the play was also filmed for PBS with Nathan Lane playing Whiteside.

Haven't seen anything yet. Will keep checking in though.

88.

'night Mother



An unknown actress named Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniak starred in the original 1983 Broadway production about an unhappy woman who calmly announces to her mother that she is planning to commit suicide and her mother spends the rest of the play trying to talk her out of it. The play came to the screen in 1986 with Oscar winners Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft inheriting the roles played by Bates and Pitoniak, respectively.

87.

Cactus Flower



The original Broadway production of this Abe Burrows play first hit the Broadway stage in 1965 and ran for over 1200 performances. Barry Nelson played a dentist named Julian Winston who is dating a free spirited kook (Brenda Vaccaro), completely unaware that his devoted nurse (Lauren Bacall) has feelings for him. The play came to the screen in 1969 with Walter Matthau as Julian and Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn as the two women in his life. Hawn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Gideon, you constantly impress me with how well watched you are. You've seen a lot of movies! Sadly I have only seen a few of these.

98. The Petrified Forest.....Loved this one
96. Life with Father.....And loved this on too

93. The Corn is Green, I've seen a lot of Bette Davis films, but not this one.

Little Murders. Gould monologue about his mail being read is epic.

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