Top Five: Play Adapations

... from plays I've seen or read, that is, which limits our choices, but oh well. I've always been more of a musical person, anyway. I've seen some really great movies based on plays and seen/read some really great plays that don't have movie versions/that I haven't seen the movies of. But based on what I know, here are some of my favourite play adaptations, inspired by watching An Ideal Husband the other day. It would probably be different if I spent more of my time at the theatre, as it were.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
I just realized that maybe this doesn't count, since I've only seen the musical version of the original play (Parfumerie, by Miklos Laszlo). But I went to all the trouble of finding the poster and it's such a great movie, so... whatever.

His Girl Friday (1940)
Basing this film on The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Howard Hawks chose to switch the gender of one the main characters, turning a tale of friendship into one of competitive romance. What resulted is a smart and funny "battle of the sexes"-type movie with excellent performances from Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. My high school even did this version when I was in stage crew, lo those many years ago.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
I really dig both the play by Joseph Kesselring and the Capra-directed movie version. It's an excellent slapstick comedy with delightfully sinister undertones, incorporating homicidal tendencies and fear of madness into the familiar "kooky family" subtext. Another top-notch Cary Grant performance (though I'm not sure if he was ever less than that?).

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
This is probably my favourite play. It has one of the best concepts I've ever heard: two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet roam around aimlessly in between their scenes, unsure what to do when their lines are not written for them and without any sense of self or purpose or even memory. It's funny, surreal, philosophical, and tragic. The movie is excellent, with the fantastically-cast Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, and Richard Dreyfuss. Tom Stoppard, the original playwright, directed it, making it a very personal project.

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
My other favourite play, I guess (so hard to choose these things!), and a surprisingly near word-for-word adaptation with a great cast. It's just really fun and silly, as long as you don't think too hard about the cousiny incest. They took advantage of moving from stage to screen by incorporating different settings and certain visual gags that couldn't have been done in a theatre. I think some play adaptations either don't make good use of screen techniques or try to do too much.

Honorable Mentions
12 Angry Men (1957) (this should probably be higher on the list but I haven't seen it in so long that I felt weird having in a top 5; I remember it being totally awesome though)
The Children's Hour (1961)
Deathtrap (1982)
Noises Off... (1992)
Peter Pan (2003)