`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. Novel to Film is the first sytematic 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 upon recent relevant literary and film theory, the book 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 which represent a range of fiction and cinematic practice.