"It wasn't as good as the book;" this is the response to many a film adaptation, and even the starting point of many film reviews. This book offers a systematic theoretical account of the process by which the great (and not so great) works of literature are transformed into the good, bad (sometimes ugly), but always distinctive medium of cinema. Drawing on recent literary and film theory, McFarlane provides careful analysis of the theory and practice of metamorphosis. The Scarlet Letter, Random Harvest, Great Expectations, Daisy Miller, and Cape Fear provide case studies for a range of fictional and cinematic practices.