Do You Know These Books That Became Best Picture Winners?
Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about literature that has gone on to find new life in the form of movies, television shows, theatrical productions and other formats. With the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony on March 10, this month’s challenge focuses on nonfiction books that were adapted into films that went on to win the Oscar for best picture. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for more information and links to the books.
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“The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man” is David W. Maurer’s 1940 study of the characters, language and schemes of the sophisticated grifters and swindlers operating during the first few decades of the 20th century. The book helped inspire a movie adaptation that starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford. That film won the Academy Award for best picture in 1974. What is its title?
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Sylvia Nasar’s 1998 biography of the mathematician John Nash won a National Book Critics Circle Award. It was adapted into a film starring Russell Crowe that won the 2002 Oscar for best picture. What is the name of both the book and the movie?
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The film adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir — about a brutal period in his life when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American South — won the best picture award in 2014. The movie, which starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o and Benedict Cumberbatch, was directed by the British filmmaker Steve McQueen. What is the title?
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The 1972 winner of the best picture award was adapted from Robin Moore’s true-crime book about New York City police detectives pursuing international narcotics smugglers. The film, directed by William Friedkin, starred Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider; it also featured a thrilling car chase under elevated train tracks. What is the title of the 1969 book and its 1971 screen adaptation?
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The autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Puyi — also rendered as Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi — was published in English in the mid-1960s. Years later, his unique story was adapted into an epic historical film about 20th-century China starring John Lone, Wu Tao and Joan Chen. The movie, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, won the best picture award in 1988. What is the title of the film?