10 Free Classics of Literature on Fancast

They are the books you read in high school, or the stories you always hear referenced, quoted or revered in our everyday lives even if you’ve never actually seen them. True mainstays of literature from renowned authors like Shakespeare, Melville, Steinbeck and Orwell have endured for decades and even centuries, and although their film adaptations are not always the most faithful, their basis in great storytelling makes them eminently watchable. Check out Fancast’s 10 free movies based on literary classics.

Of Mice and Men [watch the movie]
John Steinbeck’s classic novel tells the sad tale of the wily George Milton (Gary Sinise) and the simple strongman Lennie Small (John Malkovich), two migrant ranch workers in Depression-era California who dream of owning their own piece of land. Lennie has a predilection for softness, and his only goal in life is to live on George’s farm and tend to the rabbits. That predilection has gotten him into trouble, however, as he rarely knows his own strength, nor does he comprehend social graces. The pair get jobs on a ranch and meet an old man by the name of Candy (Ray Walston), who has lost a hand and wants to join the pair in their pursuit of a homestead. Unfortunately, the boss’ son Curley (Casey Siemaszko), delights in tormenting Lennie, and his frustrated wife (Sherilyn Fenn) has other plans for the large, strapping man. There’s only so much George can do to keep Lennie out of trouble, and this time, it will have tragic consequences.

1984 [watch the movie]
George Orwell’s dour, ominous cautionary tale about the complete loss of individuality under a totalitarian regime that controls every part of every citizen’s life focuses on Winston Smith (John Hurt), a bureaucrat in the post-nuclear nation of Oceania. His job is to work for the Ministry of Truth and rewrite all news of current events to fit the edicts of The Party. The country is at war, it has always been at war, and it will always need support. Everyone obeys the omnipresent leader known as Big Brother, and the Thought Police watch everything everyone does every minute of every day. Yet Winston Smith is keeping a private diary in secret, and soon he’s carrying on an affair with a woman even though both free will and sex are outlawed. Is freedom worth the price he’ll have to pay?

Much Ado About Nothing [watch the movie]
One of William Shakespeare’s best comedies is adapted by Kenneth Branagh, an ardent follower of The Bard, featuring an all-star cast that includes Denzel Washington playing mindgames with Branagh and Emma Thompson and Keanu Reeves plotting to destroy the impending marriage of Kate Beckinsale and Robert Sean Leonard. Can Michael Keaton’s twitchy constable Dogberry save the day?

Man of La Mancha [watch the movie]
Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, is played both as a man and as his character by Peter O’Toole in this musical telling the dual tales of imprisonment by the Spanish Inquisition and the misbegotten adventures of a knight errant who chooses madness over sanity, believing that only in a mad world does virtue triumph over injustice as it should.

Moby Dick [watch the movie]
Herman Melville’s opus is brought to the screen by director John Huston and screenwriter Ray Bradbury in one of the most faithful film adaptations of the literary classic that’s ever been made. Gregory Peck stars as Captain Ahab, a man obsessed with hunting down the great white whale that cost him his leg, despite the ominous warnings from Father Mapple (Orson Welles) that those who challenge the sea may sacrifice their souls.

Huckleberry Finn [watch the movie]
Mark Twain’s famous boy hero is cleaned up for this family musical version of his book. Young Huck (Jeff East)runs away from home and his violent father and meets up with a runaway slave named Jim (Paul Winfield), and the pair make their way down the Mississippi River through many trials and tribulations. Harvey Korman and David Wayne star as the King and the Duke, the shabby actors they meet along the way.

The Hound of the Baskervilles [watch the movie]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous Sherlock Holmes story is adapted to film, starring the late great Peter Cushing as the world’s greatest detective, working to solve the case of a mysteriously metaphysical animal who seems to be terrorizing the family of Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) for centuries.

Twice Told Tales [watch the movie]
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writings are the basis for these three macabre tales starring Vincent Price. “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” tells the tale of a scientist who believes he’s discovered the fountain of youth; “Rappaccini’s Daughter” reveals a dementedly overprotective father poisoning his daughter for her own good; and “The House of the Seven Gables” shows us the happenings in a strangely cursed abode.

Nutcracker: The Motion Picture [watch the movie]
The Christmas fairytale classic from E.T.A. Hoffman is translated to the screen with production design help from Maurice Sendak. It keeps the more ominous elements from the original story about a young girl’s yuletide dream of a sinister Mouse King and his army fighting a battle against her beautiful new Nutcracker and his toy soldiers and the adventure that will ensue.

Puss In Boots [watch the movie]
Christopher Walken stars in this musical as the titular puss of children’s fairytale legend, who devises a plan to bring his owner wealth and love, and with the help of a magic pair of boots that make him able to pass as human, he manages to match the son of a miller with the princess of all the land.