The process of translating works of literature to the silver screen is a rich field of study for both students and scholars of literature and cinema. The fourteen essays collected here provide an up-to-date survey of the important films based on, or inspired by, nineteenth-century American fiction, from James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans to Owen Wister's The Virginian. Many of the major works of the American canon are included, including The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick and Sister Carrie. The starting point of each essay is the literary text itself, moving on to describe specific aspects of the adaptation process, including details of production and reception. Written in a lively and accessible style, the book includes production stills and full filmographies. Together with its companion volume on twentieth-century fiction, the volume offers a comprehensive account of the rich tradition of American literature on screen.

Introduction R. Barton Palmer; 1. A very American fable: the making of a Mohicans adaptation Martin Barker and Roger Sabin; 2. Romancing the letter: screening a Hawthorne classic Michael Dunne; 3. The movies in the rue Morgue: adapting Edgar Allan Poe for the screen Paul Woolf; 4. Re-adapting Uncle Tom's Cabin Stephen Railton; 5. Screening authorship: Little Women on screen 1933-4 Deborah Cartmell and Judy Simons; 6. Screening Melville's Moby-Dick David Lavery; 7. Screening male sentimental power in Ben-Hur Marcia Pentz-Harris, Linda Seger and R. Barton Palmer; 8. John Huston's The Red Badge of Courage Jakob Lothe; 9. Translating Daisy Miller Douglas McFarland; 10. Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady Harriet Margolis and Janet Hughes; 11. The Europeans - and the Americans Brian McFarlane; 12. Sister Carrie becomes Carrie Stephen Brennan; 13. Hollywood and The Sea Wolf Tony Williams; 14. Screening Owen Wister's The Virginian R. Barton Palmer; Filmographies; Index.