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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 35 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 They Became Movies
| "The Fifth Missile", a 1986 made-for-TV thriller starring Robert Conrad and Sam Waterson, was based on a novel by which writing team? | Books That Became Movies
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Thomas Scortia and Frank Robinson. "The Fifth Missile" was based on Scortia and Robinson's 1980 novel, "The Gold Crew". In that book, toxic fumes from a fresh paint job cause the crew of a nuclear-missile submarine to believe they've been instructed to attack the Soviet Union.
| Which Michael Crichton novel was the basis for a 1994 sexual thriller starring Demi Moore and Michael Douglas? | Books That Became Movies
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"Disclosure". Crichton, better known for novels like "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park", went down a different path with "Disclosure". The story focuses on an unusual case of sexual harassment in a Seattle workplace.
Paul Gallico. Though he made his mark as a sportswriter for the New York Daily News, Paul Gallico's burning desire was to write fiction. His 1969 novel about a capsized luxury liner became a movie in 1971, and is one of Hollywood's best-known disaster epics. He also helped to create the 1978 made-for-TV cosmic disaster drama, "A Fire In The Sky".
Alan Alda. Plimpton's book of the same name gives a first-hand account of the life of an NFL quarterback. Plimpton was writing for "Sports Illustrated" at the time, and had been turned down by several teams before the Detroit Lions agreed to let him play.
New Orleans. Based on the novel by Arthur Hailey, the 1967 Warner Bros. movie "Hotel" starred Rod Taylor, Karl Malden and Melvyn Douglas and focused on the daily business of a French Quarter hotel. "Hotel" would resurface in 1983 on ABC as a weekly series, set in San Francisco. James Brolin and Connie Selleca starred, and Aaron Spelling produced the series.
Kevin Costner. Based on the novel by David Brin, "The Postman" focuses on a man who brings hope to a ravaged countryside by restoring basic mail service. Unfortunately for Costner, this was one of a string of commercial flops after his Oscar-winning triumph with "Dances With Wolves".
Stephen Coonts. The first of the long-running series of novels about Vietnam-era carrier pilot Jake Grafton, "Flight of the Intruder" was adapted by Paramount as a motion picture in 1990. Danny Glover, Brad Johnson and Willem Dafoe starred.
| Which of John Grisham's novels was the basis of both a feature film and a short-lived TV series? | Books That Became Movies
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"The Client". Joel Schumacher directed the 1994 feature film, starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. In 1995, CBS picked up "The Client" as a regular series. JoBeth Williams and John Heard starred.
| The 1973 made-for-TV drama "The President's Plane is Missing" was based on a novel by which author? | Books That Became Movies
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Robert Serling. Air Force One disappears from the radar screens during a cross-country flight, and an ineffective vice-president (Buddy Ebsen) is forced to hold the government and the country together until the aircraft is found. Robert Serling, a noted aviation writer in his own right, is the brother of the late Rod Serling, creator of "The Twilight Zone".
"Lost Moon". Co-authored by Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell and journalist Jeffrey Kluger, "Lost Moon" told the harrowing story of what was supposed to be a routine lunar landing. In the movie, Lovell makes a cameo appearance as the captain of Apollo 13's recovery ship, the USS Iwo Jima.
Vincent Bugliosi. Bugliosi prosecuted the notorious Charles Manson case. His book on the subject was the basis of a popular 1976 TV mini-series.
Shelley Long. I'm told that this movie - like most of the movies in this category - was a bomb.
Lois Lane. Margot Kidder's best role. Good movie.
Val Kilmer. The TV show with Roger Moore was fine. As for the movie ...
The Joker. Jack Nicholson in the role (with Michael Keaton as Batman).
| Don Adams reprised his role as Maxwell Smart in a movie that was based on the TV series. In the movie, the "threat" was from a bomb that had been developed. What did the bomb destroy? | TV Series That Became Movies
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Clothing. They called it "The Nude Bomb". The critics agreed with the last word.
Anjelica Huston. With the late Raul Julia.
| Klinton Spillsbury (no kidding) starred in a movie version of "The Lone Ranger". What was the name of Tonto's horse (in the TV series)? | TV Series That Became Movies
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Scout. Cochise was the horse that belonged to Little Joe in "Bonanza". Trigger belonged to Roy Rogers. As for "Kemo Sabe", there wasn't an episode of the TV series that didn't have Tonto address the Ranger with this term.
| The movie version of "The Twilight Zone" is best remembered for the tragic accident that claimed the life of actor Vic Morrow. How did he die? | TV Series That Became Movies
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Ralph Fiennes. Patrick Macnee was fine in the TV version. Diana Rigg was memorable.
Arthur Herzog. First published in 1974, "The Swarm" tells the story of a deadly swarm of African killer bees that wreak havoc on the United States. Much of the movie version, released in the US in 1978 by Warner Bros., is set in Houston.
| Matt Damon and Danny DeVito find themselves in an uphill battle in what movie, based on a John Grisham novel of the same name? | More Books That Became Movies
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"The Rainmaker". A hotshot young lawyer (Damon) and his world-weary mentor (DeVito) take on a corrupt insurance company that refuses to pay for a life-saving operation. This motion picture, under the Paramount banner, bowed in the US in 1997.
Mitch Albom. Oprah Winfrey produced this 1999 made-for-TV movie, which starred Hank Azaria as the Detroit sportswriter who spends time with one of his college professors (the late Jack Lemmon) as he battles Lou Gehrig's Disease.
| In Paramount's motion-picture adaptation of Tom Clancy's novel "The Sum of All Fears", which major American city is severely damaged by a terrorist's nuclear bomb? | More Books That Became Movies
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Baltimore. In the novel, Clancy's terrorists detonate a nuclear device in Denver, where the Super Bowl was being held (in a domed stadium, no less). Ben Affleck, playing a young Jack Ryan in the movie version, tries desperately to get his boss (Morgan Freeman) and the President out of harm's way during a championship game in Baltimore.
Warner Bros.. The screen adpatation of Tyler's novel dealt with a child's death, marital separation, and renewal of hope in the form of a quirky yet down to earth relationship. William Hurt, Geena Davis and Kathleen Turner starred, and Lawrence Kasdan directed. (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database for information on "The Accidental Tourist")
| Which actor played Julien Mistral, the World War II-era artist responsible for the title character of the Judith Krantz novel-turned-mini-series "Mistral's Daughter"? | More Books That Became Movies
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Stacy Keach. Though better known as playing the hard-nosed New York private eye on the TV series "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer", the versatile Stacy Keach has also played the revered American writer Ernest Hemingway on the small screen. Stefanie Powers (of "Hart to Hart" fame), Lee Remick and Timothy Dalton starred with him in the 1984 mini-series adaptation of Krantz's novel.
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