10. His Girl Friday

Still from His Girl Friday. Cary Grant reads over Rosalind Russell’s shoulder as she reviews a page from her typewriter.

It’s a 1940s movie where a man works to convince a woman not to leave her career and become a suburban housewife. That stands out on its own.

There’s also the element of adapting an existing play, but changing the gender of one of the main characters to create a new sense of tension and different relationships. Layer on top of that the way the story also plays with the popular Screwball Comedy setup of divorce and re-marriage.

It makes for a great lesson in adaptation, and how a work can stand on its own from the source material.