This is a list of films that are based on books about crime. Films are listed according to the decade in which the depicted crime occurred, rather than by the film's date of release.
This page includes "crimes" where the "criminal" was later exonerated. This page includes suicides or other deaths which have been deemed to be suspicious by some and have therefore become the subject of conspiracy theories.
12th century
England
Frequently filmed: A Morbid Taste for Bones and sequels # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 One Corpse Too Many * 1994 ? UK One Corpse Too Many "Ellis Peters" 1979 Novel * TV movie
Japan # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Rashomon羅生門 1950 Akira Kurosawa Japan "In a Grove" Ryūnosuke Akutagawa 1922 Story
14th century
Italy # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Name of the Rose 1986 Jean-Jacques Annaud Germany, France, Italy The Name of the RoseIl nome della rosa Umberto Eco 1980 Novel
16th century
England
Anne Boleyn adultery and treason 1536
Thomas More case # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 A Man for All Seasons 1966 Fred Zinnemann UK A Man for All Seasons Robert Bolt 1960 Play
Scotland
Sawney Bean legend
17th century
United States
Frequently filmed: The Scarlet Letter # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type n The Scarlet Letter 1926 Victor Sjöström USA The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 Novel
Salem witch trials 1692–1693
Frequently filmed: The Crucible # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Les Sorcières de Salem ♠ 1957 Raymond Rouleau France &East Germany The Crucible Recipient of the Tony Award in 1953.Nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival in 2002. Arthur Miller 1953 Play 2 The Crucible 1996 Nicholas Hytner USA The Crucible Arthur Miller 1953 Play ♠ The Witches of Salem has an adapted screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre.Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, but declined to accept.
18th century
France # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Perfume: The Story of a MurdererDas Parfum – Die Geschichte eines Mörders 2006 Tom Tykwer Germany, Spain, France Perfume Recipient of the World Fantasy Award in 1987.Das Parfum Patrick Süskind 1985 Novel
Frequently filmed: Le Bossu # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Le Bossu aka On Guard 1997 Philippe de Broca France, Italy, Germany Le Bossu Paul Féval 1858 Novel
Affair of the Diamond Necklace 1785
Great Britain
Frequently filmed: Doctor Syn and sequels # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Doctor Syn 1937 Roy William Neill UK Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh Russell Thorndike 1915 Novel 2 Captain Clegg 1962 Peter Graham Scott UK Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh Russell Thorndike 1915 Novel 3 The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh 1963 James Neilson USA Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh Russell Thorndike 1915 Novel
Frequently filmed: Moll Flanders # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
Württemberg
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer case 1737
Bulletin ... upcoming film: Jew Suss: Rise and Fall by Oskar Roehler # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Jew Suss 1934 Michael Balcon UK Jud Süß Lion Feuchtwanger 1925 Novel 2 Jud Süß 1940 Veit Harlan Nazi Germany Jud Süß Lion Feuchtwanger 1925 Novel 2 Jud Süß Wilhelm Hauff 1827 Novella
19th century
Australia For bushrangers, see List of films based on westerns.
Brazil For cangaceiros, see List of films based on westerns.
Canada
For Mounties, see List of films based on westerns.
France
Corsica # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Vendetta 1950 Howard Hughes (producer) USA Colomba Prosper Mérimée 1840 Novella
Eugène François Vidocq and la Sûreté
Dreyfus Affair See List of films based on war books — peace.
Joseph Vacher case 1894–1897 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type TV Date Country 1 The Judge and the AssassinLe juge et l'assassin 1976 Bertrand Tavernier FranceJean-Baptiste Troppmann Bertrand Tavernier &René Tavernier 1976 Non-fiction ---
India
Suppression of the Thugs # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Deceivers 1988 Nicholas Meyer India & UK The Deceivers John Masters 1952 Novel
Russia # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Siberian Lady MacbethСибирская леди Макбет 1961 Andrzej Wajda Poland Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk DistrictЛеди Макбет Мценского уезда Nikolai Leskov 1865 Novel 2 Katerina IzmailovaКатерина Измайлова 1966 Mikhail Shapiro USSR Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk DistrictЛеди Макбет Мценского уезда Alexander Preis &Dmitri Shostakovich 1932 Libretto 2 Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk DistrictЛеди Макбет Мценского уезда Nikolai Leskov 1865 Novel
Frequently filmed: The Winter Queen and sequels # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Azazel *Азазель 2002 Aleksandr Adabashyan Russia The Winter QueenАзазель "Boris Akunin" 1998 Novel * TV miniseries
United Kingdom # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Seven Percent Solution 1976 Herbert Ross UK & USA The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprintfrom the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. Nicholas Meyer 1974 Novel
Twice filmed: Gaslight # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
Wreckers # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Jamaica Inn 1939 Alfred Hitchcock UK Jamaica Inn Daphne du Maurier 1936 Novel
Cato Street Conspiracy February 1820
Burke and Hare case 1827–1828
Twice filmed: "The Body Snatcher" # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
Great Gold Robbery of 1855 15 May 1855 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The First Great Train Robberyaka The Great Train Robbery 1979 Michael Crichton UK The Great Train Robbery Michael Crichton 1975 Novel
Whitechapel murders 1888–1891 (Jack the Ripper) # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Pandora's BoxDie Büchse der Pandora 1929 Georg Wilhelm Pabst Germany Pandora's Box Frank Wedekind 1904 Play 1 Earth Spirit Frank Wedekind 1895 Play n From Hell 2001 Hughes brothers USA From Hell Alan Moore 1991–1996 Graphic novel n Murder by Decree 1979 Bob Clark Canada & UK Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution Stephan Knight 1979 Non-fiction
Frequently filmed: The Lodger # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
United States For outlaws and lawmen, see List of films based on westerns. # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
Frequently filmed: "The Tell-Tale Heart" # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Tell-Tale Heart Inducted into the US National Film Registry in 2001. 1843 Charles Klein USA "The Tell-Tale Heart" Edgar Allan Poe 1928 Silent Film2Ted Parmelee USA"The Tell-Tale Heart"Edgar Allan Poe1953Animated Short3Ernest MorrisUKThe Tell-Tale HeartEdgar Allan Poe1960British Horror Film α Animated film
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 14 April 1865 See List of films based on war books — 1775–1898 See also Assassinations in fiction.
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson 24 February 1868
Lizzie Borden case 4 August 1892
1900s
United States
Chester Gillette case 11 July 1906
Twice filmed: An American Tragedy The novel was the subject of an unproduced 1930 screenplay by Sergei Eisenstein. # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type
1910s
France
Henri Désiré Landru case 1914–1918
United Kingdom
Doctor Crippen case after 31 January 1910 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Skeleton of Mrs. MoralesEl esqueleto de la señora Morales 1960 Rogelio A. González Mexico "The Islington Mystery" Arthur Machen 1927 Story
1920s
France
Frequently filmed: L'Affaire Crainquebille # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 CrainquebilleCrainquebille 1922 Jacques Feyder France Crainquebille Anatole FranceFrance was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921. 1903 Play 1 L'Affaire Crainquebille Anatole France 1901 Story
Germany # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Pandora's BoxDie Büchse der Pandora 1929 Georg Wilhelm Pabst Germany Pandora's Box Frank Wedekind 1904 Play 1 Earth Spirit Frank Wedekind 1895 Play
Peter Kürten case 1929
United States
Bobby Franks murder 21 May 1924 (Leopold and Loeb) # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Rope 1948 Alfred Hitchcock USARope Patrick Hamilton 1929 Play 2 Compulsion 1959 Richard Fleischer USACompulsion Meyer Levin 1957 Novel
Death of Thomas Ince 19 November 1924 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Cat's Meow 2001 Peter Bogdanovich UK & Germany The Cat's Meow Steven Peros 19?? Play
Scopes Monkey Trial 1925
Frequently filmed: Inherit the Wind # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Inherit the Wind 1960 Stanley Kramer USA Inherit the Wind Jerome Lawrence & Robert Edwin Lee 1955 Play
Al Capone era 1925–1931 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type n Scarface Inducted into the US National Film Registry in 1994. 1932 Howard Hawks USA Scarface Armitage Trail 1930 Publication details for this title have been confirmed by the catalogue of the US Library of Congress.Source: Library of Congress Online Catalog.¤ Novel n Road to Perdition 2002 Sam Mendes USA Road to Perdition Max Allan Collins 1998 Graphic novel n Legends of the Fall 1994 Edward Zwick USA Legends of the Fall Jim Harrison 1979 Novella
St. Valentine's Day Massacre 14 February 1929
Ruth Snyder case 20 March 1927 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder USA Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1936/1943 Novel
1930s
Algeria
Frequently filmed: Pépé le Moko # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Pépé le Moko 1937 Julien Duvivier France Pépé le Moko "Ashelbé" 193? Novel
France # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Judas Was a WomanLa Bête humaine 1938 Jean Renoir France La Bête Humaine Émile Zola 1890 Novel
Papin Sisters case 2 February 1933 # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Les AbyssesLes Abysses 1963 Nikos Papatakis France The MaidsLes Bonnes Jean Genet 1947 Play 2 The Maids 1974 Christopher Miles UK The MaidsLes Bonnes Jean Genet 1947 Play 3 Sister My Sister 1994 Nancy Meckler UK My Sister in This House Recipient of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 1981. Wendy Kesselman 1981 Play 4 Murderous MaidsLes Blessures assassines 2000 Jean-Pierre Denis France L'affaire Papin, Le diable dans la peau Paulette Houdyer 1988 Non-fiction
Twice filmed: A Judgement in Stone # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 A Judgement in Stone 1986 Ousama Rawi Canada & UK A Judgement in Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 Novel 2 La CérémonieLa Cérémonie 1995 Claude Chabrol France & Germany A Judgement in Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 Novel
Japan
Sada Abe case 18 May 1936
United States # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Petrified Forest 1936 Archie Mayo USA The Petrified Forest Robert E. Sherwood 1935 Play n Paper Moon 1973 Peter Bogdanovich USA Addie Pray Joe David Brown 1971 Novel n Brother Orchid 1940 Lloyd Bacon USA "Brother Orchid" (?) Richard Connell 1938 Story
Scottsboro Boys case 23 April 1931
Lindbergh kidnapping 1 March 1932
Frequently filmed: Murder on the Orient Express # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 Murder on the Orient Express 1974 Sidney Lumet UK Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 Novel
William D. Lundy murder [informative page deleted over copyright violations] Sources to employ if attempting to rewrite deleted article:
Center on Wrongful Convictions 9 December 1932
1940s
Austria # Film Date Director Country Sourcework Author Date Type 1 The Third Man 1949 Carol Reed UK The Third Man Graham Greene 1950 Novella
Bahamas