Many of the great tales told on film were originally books. The To Kill a Mockingbird movie, for instance, came from the book by Harper Lee, a real-life contemporary and good friend of Truman Capote. (Capote actually made an appearance in the book and movie in the form of Dill, the odd-looking little boy who visited Macomb County every summer.) It’s hard to say whether the film or movie of To Kill a Mockingbird was better. For my money, I’d pick the movie. Gregory Peck elevated the part of Atticus Finch to legendary status, probably because he was reputed to be so much like Atticus in his real life. Also, there wasn’t a bad performance by anyone else in the very large cast, which contributed to making the movie so watchable.

Another book that was made into a way-above-average movie is Now Voyager with Bette Davis. The book was written by Olive Higgins Prouty, and was originally published in 1941 as a Dell Romance as one of four books about Boston’s wealthy Vale family. Bette Davis elevated Now, Voyager above the level of pulp romance, however, as did her co-stars, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper and Bonita Granville. Anyone who has ever felt left out in life can instantly relate to what Bette Davis’ character Charlotte Vale goes through, because her portrayal was so grippingly real. I never read the book, but the many reviews available online say that it was well-written and engrossing. So that one could be a toss-up as far as which was better, the book or the movie.

These are just two of the many classic movies that can always be counted on to entertain and uphold a certain standard. In fact, smart filmmakers would do well to remember To Kill a Mockingbird and Now, Voyager during the script phase of their movie productions. They could definitely learn a thing or two about how to give a movie long-lasting appeal by studying them.