Highest-Rated Movies about 'Based On Short Story'

Memento (2000), Rear Window (1954), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), All About Eve (1950), A Face in the Crowd (1957), Rashômon (1950), Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Based On Short Story movies.

#1. Memento (2000)

Storyline: Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.

Plot Keywords: memory, hidden truth, amnesiac, diabetic, neo noir, nonlinear timeline, insulin ...

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#2. Rear Window (1954)

Storyline: Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbors. He begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his high society fashion-consultant girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his visiting nurse Stella to investigate.

Plot Keywords: dog, amateur detective, broken leg, apartment, voyeur, wheelchair, neighbor ...

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#3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Storyline: "2001" is a story of evolution. Sometime in the distant past, someone or something nudged evolution by placing a monolith on Earth (presumably elsewhere throughout the universe as well). Evolution then enabled humankind to reach the moon's surface, where yet another monolith is found, one that signals the monolith placers that humankind has evolved that far. Now a race begins between computers (HAL) and human (Bowman) to reach the monolith placers. The winner will achieve the next step in evolution, whatever that may be.

Plot Keywords: number in title, computer, year 2001, spacecraft, famous line, chess, science runs amok ...

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#4. All About Eve (1950)

Storyline: Eve (Anne Baxter) is waiting backstage to meet her idol, aging Broadway star Margo Channing (Bette Davis). It seems innocent enough as Eve explains that she has seen Margo in EVERY performance of her current play. Only playwright/critic DeWitt (George Sanders) sees through Eve's evil plan, which is to take her parts and her fiancé, Bill Simpson (Gary Merrill). When the fiancé shows no interest, she tries for playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), but DeWitt stops her. After she accepts her award, she decides to skip the after-party and goes to her room, where a young woman named Phoebe has sneaked into her room and fallen asleep. This is where the "Circle of Life" now comes to fruition as Eve will get played like she played Margo.

Plot Keywords: man slaps woman, character name in title, title spoken by character, famous line, based on short story, meta film, theater ...

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#5. A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Storyline: "A Face in the Crowd" charts the rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.

Plot Keywords: television, politician, satire, celebrity, based on short story, political satire, crowd ...

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#6. Rashômon (1950)

Storyline: A priest, a woodcutter and another man are taking refuge from a rainstorm in the shell of a former gatehouse called Rashômon. The priest and the woodcutter are recounting the story of a murdered samurai whose body the woodcutter discovered three days earlier in a forest grove. Both were summoned to testify at the murder trial, the priest who ran into the samurai and his wife traveling through the forest just before the murder occurred. Three other people who testified at the trial are supposedly the only direct witnesses: a notorious bandit named Tajômaru, who allegedly murdered the samurai and raped his wife; the white veil cloaked wife of the samurai; and the samurai himself who testifies through the use of a medium. The three tell a similarly structured story - that Tajômaru kidnapped and bound the samurai so that he could rape the wife - but which ultimately contradict each other, the motivations and the actual killing being what differ. The woodcutter reveals at Rashômon that he ...

Plot Keywords: heavy rain, multiple perspectives, katana sword, dagger, abandoned baby, dishonesty, sword fight ...

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#7. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

Storyline: In Bedridge, Professor Parker Wilson finds an abandoned dog at the train station and takes it home with the intention of returning the animal to its owner. He finds that the dog is an Akita and names it Hachiko. However, nobody claims the dog so his family decides to keep Hachi.

Plot Keywords: dog, japanese, loyalty, waiting, human animal relationship, japan, foreign language adaptation ...

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#8. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Storyline: DurinWW II, allied POWS in a Japanese internment camp are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge, but under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson they're persuaded the bridge should be built to help morale, spirit. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of Japanese Commandant Colonel Saito, But, soon they realise it's a monument to Nicholson, himself, as well as a form of collaboration with the enemy.

Plot Keywords: railroad, british army, discipline, coercion, briton abroad, pow, hot weather ...

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#9. The Thing (1982)

Storyline: A US research station, Antarctica, early-winter 1982. The base is suddenly buzzed by a helicopter from the nearby Norwegian research station. They are trying to kill a dog that has escaped from their base. After the destruction of the Norwegian chopper the members of the US team fly to the Norwegian base, only to discover them all dead or missing. They do find the remains of a strange creature the Norwegians burned. The Americans take it to their base and deduce that it is an alien life form. After a while it is apparent that the alien can take over and assimilate into other life forms, including humans, and can spread like a virus. This means that anyone at the base could be inhabited by The Thing, and tensions escalate.

Plot Keywords: antarctica, body horror, paranoia, isolation, alien life form, alien creature, shapeshifting ...

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#10. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Storyline: Wanting to learn from the best, aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) wants Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to train her. At the outset, he flatly refuses saying he has no interest in training a girl. Frankie leads a lonely existence, alienated from his only daughter and having few friends. Maggie's rough around the edges, but shows a lot of grit in the ring and he eventually relents. Maggie not only proves to be the boxer he always dreamed of having under his wing, but a friend who fills the great void he's had in his life. Maggie's career skyrockets, but an accident in the ring leads her to ask Frankie for one last favor.

Plot Keywords: boxing, determination, death, euthanasia, strong female character, catholic, death of protagonist ...

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#11. Stagecoach (1939)

Storyline: A simple stagecoach trip is complicated by the fact that Geronimo is on the warpath in the area. The passengers on the coach include a drunken doctor, two women, a bank manager who has taken off with his client's money, and the famous Ringo Kid, among others.

Plot Keywords: arizona territory, prostitution, expectant mother, outlaw, gambler, whiskey, stagecoach ...

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#12. Arrival (2016)

Storyline: Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touchdown in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

Plot Keywords: alien contact, nonlinear timeline, female scientist, mother daughter relationship, based on short story, spacecraft, extraterrestrial ...

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#13. Kanal (1957)

Storyline: A symbolic depiction of hell on Earth, set in the last days of the Warsaw uprising in 1944. Lieutenant Zadra is commanding a company of 43 men in a desperate battle amidst the ruins. Facing German offense and cut off from their comrades, Zadra is commanded to retreat his men through the sewer system ('kanal'). Zadra and his men are reluctant to do so, as it would indicate that they have lost the battle, but decide to obey the orders. However, as the men (and women) retreat, it becomes clear that their desperate attempt to flee from the hell of battle will result only in more death and suffering...—Heka A.

Plot Keywords: warsaw poland, year 1944, world war two, hopelessness, nazi occupation, resistance fighter, piano ...

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#14. The Quiet Man (1952)

Storyline: Sean Thornton has returned from America to reclaim his homestead and escape his past. Sean's eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher, a beautiful but poor maiden, and younger sister of ill-tempered "Red" Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will's pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the main plot, with Sean's past as the dark undercurrent.

Plot Keywords: misogyny, ireland, rural setting, brother sister relationship, conspiracy, accidental death, ex boxer ...

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#15. The Killers (1946)

Storyline: Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins.

Plot Keywords: hitman, cell mate, childhood friend, diner, jewel thief, maid, morgue ...

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