List of films based on crime books

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

Eugène François Vidocq and la Sûreté

Dreyfus Affair

See List of films based on war books — peace.

Joseph Vacher case

1894–1897

India

Suppression of the Thugs

Russia

Frequently filmed: The Winter Queen and sequels

• * TV miniseries

United Kingdom

Twice filmed: Gaslight

Wreckers

Cato Street Conspiracy

February 1820

Burke and Hare case

1827–1828

Twice filmed: "The Body Snatcher"

Great Gold Robbery of 1855

15 May 1855

Whitechapel murders

1888–1891 (Jack the Ripper)

Frequently filmed: The Lodger

United States

For outlaws and lawmen, see List of films based on westerns.

Frequently filmed: "The Tell-Tale Heart"

• 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.

1910s

France

Henri Désiré Landru case

1914–1918

United Kingdom

Doctor Crippen case

after 31 January 1910

1920s

France

Frequently filmed: L'Affaire Crainquebille

Germany

Peter Kürten case

1929

United States

Bobby Franks murder

21 May 1924 (Leopold and Loeb)

Death of Thomas Ince

19 November 1924

Scopes Monkey Trial

1925

Frequently filmed: Inherit the Wind

Al Capone era

1925–1931

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

14 February 1929

Ruth Snyder case

20 March 1927

1930s

Algeria

Frequently filmed: Pépé le Moko

France

Papin Sisters case

2 February 1933

Twice filmed: A Judgement in Stone

Japan

Sada Abe case

18 May 1936

United States

Scottsboro Boys case

23 April 1931

Lindbergh kidnapping

1 March 1932

Frequently filmed: Murder on the Orient Express

William D. Lundy murder

[informative page deleted over copyright violations]
9 December 1932

1940s

Austria

Bahamas

Sir Harry Oakes murder

7 July 1943

Canada

Edwin Alonzo Boyd era

1949–1952 (Boyd Gang)

• * TV movie

France

Doctor Petiot case

before 31 October 1944

Italy

Salvatore Giuliano era

Portella della Ginestra massacre

1 May 1947

Pleasure Island

Frequently filmed: The Adventures of Pinocchio

• ♠ A young innocent is deceived by swindlers and sold into slavery.
• α Animated film

Kenya

Happy Valley murder

1941

Newfoundland

United States

Sleepy Lagoon murder

2 August 1942

Black Dahlia murder

c. 15 January 1947

West Germany

1950s

Canada

France

United Kingdom

Stone of Scone theft

25 December 1950 (Christmas Day robbery of a church)

Ruth Ellis case

1955

United States

Great Brink's Robbery

17 January 1950

Coleman Peterson case

31 July 1952

Ed Gein case

1957

Frequently filmed: Psycho

Suicide of George Reeves

16 June 1959

Clutter Family murders

15 November 1959

1960s

Argentina

San Fernando bank robbery

1965

• ♣ The robbery took place in Argentina; the pursuit ended in Uruguay.

France

• ♠ The film was remade for television in 2005 as Joseph.

Sweden

Frequently filmed: Roseanna and sequels

• Δ The film adaptation changes the setting from Stockholm to San Francisco.

Turkey

Topkapı Museum

United Kingdom

Profumo affair

1963

Uruguay

San Fernando bank robbery getaway

1965

• ♣ The robbery took place in Argentina; the pursuit ended in Uruguay.

United States

Clarence Earl Gideon case

3 June 1961

Ian James Campbell murder

9 March 1963

Boston Strangler case

1962–1964

Assassination of John F. Kennedy

22 November 1963

Bulletin ... film currently in development: Reclaiming History

• ♣ Lane is credited as screenwriter, rather than as author.
• ♦ Bugliosi's preparation for the televised "trial" of deceased defendant Oswald became the book Reclaiming History.
• ♠ The authors are credited as technical advisors on JFK.
• ♥ Prouty's book has an introduction by Oliver Stone.
• * TV special
• ** TV miniseries
• δ Documentary
• † Dramatized documentary

See also Assassinations in fiction.

Kitty Genovese murder

13 March 1964

Sylvia Likens murder

26 October 1965

Richard Speck case

13 July 1966

Tate–LaBianca murders

1969 (Manson Family)

Zodiac case

1970s

Canada

Helen Betty Osborne murder

13 November 1971

• * TV movie

Guyana

Jonestown Massacre

18 November 1978

Italy

Sweden

Norrmalmstorg bank robbery

23–28 August 1973 (Stockholm syndrome)

United Kingdom

Bulletin ... film now in production: Straw Dogs by Rod Lurie

Baker Street bank robbery

11 September 1971

What if ...

• ♠ The earliest editions of the novel did not contain a glossary, or any indication that the slang was based on Russian.

United States

New England

• ♠ The film, shot in Bennington, Vermont, involves a "bank in a remote town in New England".
  "Catamount" is an infrequently used term for a cougar, but here refers to the fictitious town.

Jeffrey MacDonald case

17 February 1970

• ** TV miniseries

Knapp Commission on NYPD corruption

1970–1972

Watergate burglary

17 June 1972

• * TV movie

Gay Brooklyn bank robbery

22 August 1972

Ted Bundy case

1974–1978

• * TV movie

Frank Lucas case

before 1975

Martha Moxley murder

31 October 1975

• * TV movie

Hillside Strangler case

1977–1978

• * TV movie

Bob Crane murder

29 June 1978

What if ...

• * TV movie

1980s

Australia

Azaria Chamberlain disappearance

17 August 1980 (dingo baby abduction)

Canada

• * TV movie

Colin Thatcher case

21 January 1983

Montreal Massacre

6 December 1989

France

Roberto Succo case

1980s

India

Phoolan Devi case

Iran

Soraya M. case

1986

Mexico

Enrique Camarena murder

9 February 1985

• ** TV miniseries

Soviet Union

Andrei Chikatilo case

1978–1990

• * TV movie

What if ...

• ♠ In this version, the murderer, renamed Evilenko, has psychic powers.

United States

Doctor Tarnower murder

10 March 1980 (Scarsdale Diet author death)

• * TV movie

John Lennon murder

8 December 1980

See also Assassinations in fiction.

Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek case

28 May 1981

• * TV movie

Henry Lee Lucas case

before 11 June 1983

Alan Berg murder

18 June 1984

See also Assassinations in fiction.

Exxon Valdez disaster

23 March 1989

West Germany

1990s

Australia

Belgium

Canada

Paul Bernardo case

up to 1992

France

India

Bombay bombings of 1993

12 March 1993

Singapore

Barings Bank collapse

1995

Spain

• ♠ A crossword puzzle writer becomes involved in a bizarre mystery in Seville.

United Kingdom

James Bulger murder

12 February 1993

• ♠ The principal connection to the Bulger case appears to be the youthfulness of the convicted boys.

United States

Suicide of Vince Foster

20 July 1993

Vietnam

2000s

Aruba

Natalee Holloway disappearance

30 May 2005

• * TV movie

Brazil

Italy

Mexico

South Korea

Hwaseong serial murders

United States

• д Decade when story occurs is presumed.
• ** TV miniseries

Valerie Plame exposure

14 July 2003

Bulletin ... upcoming film: Fair Game by Doug Liman

Political crimes

For political prisoners, see List of films based on civics books.

Drug trade

For traffickers, see above.
For addicts, see List of films based on civics books.

Prisons

For punishment and prisons, see List of films based on civics books.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Kamp, David with Lawrence Levi. The Film Snob's Dictionary. Broadway Books, New York, 2006.
• Lavington, Stephen. Virgin Film: Oliver Stone, Virgin Books, London, 2004.

See also

• Assassinations in fiction

Pages with the same format

• List of films based on arts books
• List of films based on civics books
• List of films based on film books
• List of films based on sports books
• List of films based on spy books
• List of films based on war books
• List of films based on westerns

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Articles connexes

1. Lists of films based on books
2. Lists of films
3. List of films based on sports books
4. List of films based on civics books
5. List of films based on film books
6. List of films based on arts books
7. List of novels based on video games
8. List of films based on comic strips
9. List of 2000s films based on actual events
10. List of films based on television programs
11. List of films based on English-language comics
12. List of films based on western fiction
13. True crime
14. List of plays adapted into feature films
15. List of 1990s films based on actual events
16. List of 2020s films based on actual events
17. List of Hindi films of 2000
18. List of Hindi films of 2001
19. Zodiac (film)
20. List of Hindi films of 2003