# List of films based on crime books

This is a list of films that are based on books about crime. Films are listed according to the decade in which the depicted crime occurred, rather than by the film's date of release.
This page includes "crimes" where the "criminal" was later exonerated. This page includes suicides or other deaths which have been deemed to be suspicious by some and have therefore become the subject of conspiracy theories.

## 12th century
### England
#### Frequently filmed: A Morbid Taste for Bones and sequels

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | One Corpse Too Many * | 1994 | ? | UK | One Corpse Too Many | "Ellis Peters" | 1979 | Novel |
* * TV movie

### Japan

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Rashomon 羅生門 | 1950 | Akira Kurosawa | Japan | "In a Grove" | Ryūnosuke Akutagawa | 1922 | Story |

## 14th century
### Italy

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Name of the Rose | 1986 | Jean-Jacques Annaud | Germany, France, Italy | The Name of the Rose Il nome della rosa | Umberto Eco | 1980 | Novel |

## 16th century
### England
#### Anne Boleyn adultery and treason

1536

#### Thomas More case

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | A Man for All Seasons | 1966 | Fred Zinnemann | UK | A Man for All Seasons | Robert Bolt | 1960 | Play |

### Scotland
#### Sawney Bean legend
## 17th century
### United States
#### Frequently filmed: The Scarlet Letter

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | The Scarlet Letter | 1926 | Victor Sjöström | USA | The Scarlet Letter | Nathaniel Hawthorne | 1850 | Novel |

#### Salem witch trials

1692–1693

##### Frequently filmed: The Crucible

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Les Sorcières de Salem ♠ | 1957 | Raymond Rouleau | France & East Germany | The Crucible | Arthur Miller | 1953 | Play |
| 2 | The Crucible | 1996 | Nicholas Hytner | USA | The Crucible | Arthur Miller | 1953 | Play |
* ♠ The Witches of Salem has an adapted screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre.

## 18th century
### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Das Parfum – Die Geschichte eines Mörders | 2006 | Tom Tykwer | Germany, Spain, France | Perfume Das Parfum | Patrick Süskind | 1985 | Novel |

#### Frequently filmed: Le Bossu

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Le Bossu aka On Guard | 1997 | Philippe de Broca | France, Italy, Germany | Le Bossu | Paul Féval | 1858 | Novel |

#### Affair of the Diamond Necklace

1785

### Great Britain
#### Frequently filmed: Doctor Syn and sequels

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Doctor Syn | 1937 | Roy William Neill | UK | Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh | Russell Thorndike | 1915 | Novel |
| 2 | Captain Clegg | 1962 | Peter Graham Scott | UK | Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh | Russell Thorndike | 1915 | Novel |
| 3 | The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh | 1963 | James Neilson | USA | Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh | Russell Thorndike | 1915 | Novel |

#### Frequently filmed: Moll Flanders

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

### Württemberg
#### Joseph Süß Oppenheimer case

1737

##### Bulletin ... upcoming film: Jew Suss: Rise and Fall by Oskar Roehler

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Jew Suss | 1934 | Michael Balcon | UK | Jud Süß | Lion Feuchtwanger | 1925 | Novel |
| 2 | Jud Süß | 1940 | Veit Harlan | Nazi Germany | Jud Süß | Lion Feuchtwanger | 1925 | Novel |
| 2 | | | | | Jud Süß | Wilhelm Hauff | 1827 | Novella |

## 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

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Vendetta | 1950 | Howard Hughes (producer) | USA | Colomba | Prosper Mérimée | 1840 | Novella |

#### Dreyfus Affair

See List of films based on war books — peace.

#### Joseph Vacher case

1894–1897
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type | TV | Date | Country |
| 1 | The Judge and the Assassin Le juge et l'assassin | 1976 | Bertrand Tavernier | France | Jean-Baptiste Troppmann | Bertrand Tavernier & René Tavernier | 1976 | Non-fiction | - | - | - |

### India
#### Suppression of the Thugs

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Deceivers | 1988 | Nicholas Meyer | India & UK | The Deceivers | John Masters | 1952 | Novel |

### Russia

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Siberian Lady Macbeth Сибирская леди Макбет | 1961 | Andrzej Wajda | Poland | Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Леди Макбет Мценского уезда | Nikolai Leskov | 1865 | Novel |
| 2 | Katerina Izmailova Катерина Измайлова | 1966 | Mikhail Shapiro | USSR | Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Леди Макбет Мценского уезда | Alexander Preis & Dmitri Shostakovich | 1932 | Libretto |
| 2 | | | | | Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Леди Макбет Мценского уезда | Nikolai Leskov | 1865 | Novel |

#### Frequently filmed: The Winter Queen and sequels

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Azazel * Азазель | 2002 | Aleksandr Adabashyan | Russia | The Winter Queen Азазель | "Boris Akunin" | 1998 | Novel |
* * TV miniseries

### United Kingdom

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Seven Percent Solution | 1976 | Herbert Ross | UK & USA | The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. | Nicholas Meyer | 1974 | Novel |

#### Twice filmed: Gaslight

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

#### Wreckers

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Jamaica Inn | 1939 | Alfred Hitchcock | UK | Jamaica Inn | Daphne du Maurier | 1936 | Novel |

#### Cato Street Conspiracy

February 1820

#### Burke and Hare case

1827–1828

##### Twice filmed: "The Body Snatcher"

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

#### Great Gold Robbery of 1855

15 May 1855
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The First Great Train Robbery aka The Great Train Robbery | 1979 | Michael Crichton | UK | The Great Train Robbery | Michael Crichton | 1975 | Novel |

#### Whitechapel murders

1888–1891 (Jack the Ripper)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Pandora's Box Die Büchse der Pandora | 1929 | Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Germany | Pandora's Box | Frank Wedekind | 1904 | Play |
| 1 | | | | | Earth Spirit | Frank Wedekind | 1895 | Play |
| n | From Hell | 2001 | Hughes brothers | USA | From Hell | Alan Moore | 1991–1996 | Graphic novel |
| n | Murder by Decree | 1979 | Bob Clark | Canada & UK | Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution | Stephan Knight | 1979 | Non-fiction |

##### Frequently filmed: The Lodger

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

### United States

For outlaws and lawmen, see List of films based on westerns.
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

#### Frequently filmed: "The Tell-Tale Heart"

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Tell-Tale Heart | 1843 | Charles Klein | USA | "The Tell-Tale Heart" | Edgar Allan Poe | 1928 | Silent Film |
| 2 | | | Ted Parmelee | USA | "The Tell-Tale Heart" | Edgar Allan Poe | 1953 | Animated Short |
| 3 | | | Ernest Morris | UK | The Tell-Tale Heart | Edgar Allan Poe | 1960 | British Horror Film |
* 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.
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

## 1910s
### France
#### Henri Désiré Landru case

1914–1918

### United Kingdom
#### Doctor Crippen case

after 31 January 1910
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales El esqueleto de la señora Morales | 1960 | Rogelio A. González | Mexico | "The Islington Mystery" | Arthur Machen | 1927 | Story |

## 1920s
### France
#### Frequently filmed: L'Affaire Crainquebille

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Crainquebille Crainquebille | 1922 | Jacques Feyder | France | Crainquebille | Anatole France | 1903 | Play |
| 1 | | | | | L'Affaire Crainquebille | Anatole France | 1901 | Story |

### Germany

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Pandora's Box Die Büchse der Pandora | 1929 | Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Germany | Pandora's Box | Frank Wedekind | 1904 | Play |
| 1 | | | | | Earth Spirit | Frank Wedekind | 1895 | Play |

#### Peter Kürten case

1929

### United States
#### Bobby Franks murder

21 May 1924 (Leopold and Loeb)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Rope | 1948 | Alfred Hitchcock | USA | Rope | Patrick Hamilton | 1929 | Play |
| 2 | Compulsion | 1959 | Richard Fleischer | USA | Compulsion | Meyer Levin | 1957 | Novel |

#### Death of Thomas Ince

19 November 1924
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Cat's Meow | 2001 | Peter Bogdanovich | UK & Germany | The Cat's Meow | Steven Peros | 19?? | Play |

#### Scopes Monkey Trial

1925

##### Frequently filmed: Inherit the Wind

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Inherit the Wind | 1960 | Stanley Kramer | USA | Inherit the Wind | Jerome Lawrence & Robert Edwin Lee | 1955 | Play |

#### Al Capone era

1925–1931
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | Scarface | 1932 | Howard Hawks | USA | Scarface | Armitage Trail | 1930$^¤$ | Novel |
| n | Road to Perdition | 2002 | Sam Mendes | USA | Road to Perdition | Max Allan Collins | 1998 | Graphic novel |
| n | Legends of the Fall | 1994 | Edward Zwick | USA | Legends of the Fall | Jim Harrison | 1979 | Novella |

##### St. Valentine's Day Massacre

14 February 1929

#### Ruth Snyder case

20 March 1927
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Double Indemnity | 1944 | Billy Wilder | USA | Double Indemnity | James M. Cain | 1936/ 1943 | Novel |

## 1930s
### Algeria
#### Frequently filmed: Pépé le Moko

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Pépé le Moko | 1937 | Julien Duvivier | France | Pépé le Moko | "Ashelbé" | 193? | Novel |

### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Judas Was a Woman La Bête humaine | 1938 | Jean Renoir | France | La Bête Humaine | Émile Zola | 1890 | Novel |

#### Papin Sisters case

2 February 1933
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Les Abysses Les Abysses | 1963 | Nikos Papatakis | France | The Maids Les Bonnes | Jean Genet | 1947 | Play |
| 2 | The Maids | 1974 | Christopher Miles | UK | The Maids Les Bonnes | Jean Genet | 1947 | Play |
| 3 | Sister My Sister | 1994 | Nancy Meckler | UK | My Sister in This House | Wendy Kesselman | 1981 | Play |
| 4 | Murderous Maids Les Blessures assassines | 2000 | Jean-Pierre Denis | France | L'affaire Papin, Le diable dans la peau | Paulette Houdyer | 1988 | Non-fiction |

##### Twice filmed: A Judgement in Stone

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | A Judgement in Stone | 1986 | Ousama Rawi | Canada & UK | A Judgement in Stone | Ruth Rendell | 1977 | Novel |
| 2 | La Cérémonie La Cérémonie | 1995 | Claude Chabrol | France & Germany | A Judgement in Stone | Ruth Rendell | 1977 | Novel |

### Japan
#### Sada Abe case

18 May 1936

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Petrified Forest | 1936 | Archie Mayo | USA | The Petrified Forest | Robert E. Sherwood | 1935 | Play |
| n | Paper Moon | 1973 | Peter Bogdanovich | USA | Addie Pray | Joe David Brown | 1971 | Novel |
| n | Brother Orchid | 1940 | Lloyd Bacon | USA | "Brother Orchid" (?) | Richard Connell | 1938 | Story |

#### Scottsboro Boys case

23 April 1931

#### Lindbergh kidnapping

1 March 1932

##### Frequently filmed: Murder on the Orient Express

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Murder on the Orient Express | 1974 | Sidney Lumet | UK | Murder on the Orient Express | Agatha Christie | 1934 | Novel |

#### William D. Lundy murder

[informative page deleted over copyright violations] 9 December 1932

## 1940s
### Austria

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Third Man | 1949 | Carol Reed | UK | The Third Man | Graham Greene | 1950 | Novella |

### Bahamas
#### Sir Harry Oakes murder

7 July 1943

### Canada
#### Edwin Alonzo Boyd era

1949–1952 (Boyd Gang)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The life and Times of Edwin Alonzo Boyd | 1982 | Les Rose | Canada | The Boyd Gang | Nate Hendley | 1976 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

### France
#### Doctor Petiot case

before 31 October 1944

### Italy
#### Salvatore Giuliano era
##### Portella della Ginestra massacre

1 May 1947
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Sicilian | 1987 | Michael Cimino | USA | The Sicilian | Mario Puzo | 1984 | Novel |

#### Pleasure Island
##### Frequently filmed: The Adventures of Pinocchio

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Pinocchio ♠ α | 1940 | Walt Disney (producer) | USA | The Adventures of Pinocchio | Carlo Collodi | 1883 | Children's book |
* ♠ A young innocent is deceived by swindlers and sold into slavery.
* α Animated film

### Kenya
#### Happy Valley murder

1941
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | White Mischief | 1987 | Michael Radford | UK | White Mischief: The Murder of Lord Erroll | James Fox | 197? | Non-fiction |

### Newfoundland

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Young Triffie | 2007 | Mary Walsh | Canada | Young Triffie's Been Made Away With | Ray Guy | 1985 | Play |

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Dishonored Lady | 1947 | Robert Stevenson | USA | Dishonored Lady | Edward Sheldon & Margaret Ayer Barnes | 1930 | Play |
| n | Intruder in the Dust | 1949 | Clarence Brown | USA | Intruder in the Dust | William Faulkner | 1948 | Novel |
| n | Undercurrent | 1946 | Vincente Minnelli | USA | You Were There | Thelma Strabel | 194? | Novel |

#### Sleepy Lagoon murder

2 August 1942
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Zoot Suit | 1981 | Luis Valdez | USA | Zoot Suit | Luis Valdez | 1979 | Play |

#### Black Dahlia murder

c. 15 January 1947

### West Germany

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Good German | 2006 | Steven Soderbergh | USA | The Good German | Joseph Kanon | 2001 | Novel |

## 1950s
### Canada

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | I Confess | 1953 | Alfred Hitchcock | USA | Nos deux consciences | "Paul Anthelme" | 1902 | Play |

### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Irma la Douce | 1963 | Billy Wilder | USA | Irma la douce | Alexandre Breffort | 1956 | Musical |

### United Kingdom
#### Stone of Scone theft

25 December 1950 (Christmas Day robbery of a church)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Stone of Destiny | 2008 | Charles Martin Smith | UK & Canada | No Stone Unturned: The Story of the Stone of Destiny aka Taking of the Stone of Destiny | Ian R. Hamilton | 1952 | Memoir |

#### Ruth Ellis case

1955
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Pierrepoint | 1995 | Adrian Shergold | UK | Executioner: Pierrepoint | Albert Pierrepoint | 1974 | Memoir |

### United States
#### Great Brink's Robbery

17 January 1950

#### Coleman Peterson case

31 July 1952
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Anatomy of a Murder | 1959 | Otto Preminger | USA | Anatomy of a Murder | "Robert Traver" | 1958 | Novel |

#### Ed Gein case

1957
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Silence of the Lambs | 1991 | Jonathan Demme | USA | The Silence of the Lambs | Thomas Harris | 1988 | Novel |

##### Frequently filmed: Psycho

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Psycho | 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock | USA | Psycho | Robert Bloch | 1959 | Novel |

#### Suicide of George Reeves

16 June 1959

#### Clutter Family murders

15 November 1959
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | In Cold Blood | 1967 | Richard Brooks | USA | In Cold Blood | Truman Capote | 1966 | Nonfiction |
| 2 | In Cold Blood | 1996 | Jonathan Kaplan | USA | In Cold Blood | Truman Capote | 1966 | Nonfiction |
| 3 | Capote | 2005 | Bennett Miller | USA | Capote | Gerald Clarke | 199? | Biography |
| 4 | Infamous | 2006 | Douglas McGrath | USA | Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career | George Plimpton | 1997 | Biography |

## 1960s
### Argentina
#### San Fernando bank robbery

1965
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Burnt Money ♣ Plata quemada | 2000 | Marcelo Piñeyro | Argentina, France, Spain, Uruguay | Money to Burn Plata quemada | Ricardo Piglia | 1997 | Novel |
* ♣ The robbery took place in Argentina; the pursuit ended in Uruguay.

### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | La Horse ♠ La Horse | 1970 | Pierre Granier-Deferre | France | La Horse | Michel Lambesc | 196? | Novel |
* ♠ The film was remade for television in 2005 as Joseph.

### Sweden
#### Frequently filmed: Roseanna and sequels

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | Stockholm Marathon Stockholm Marathon | 1994 | Peter Keglevic | Sweden & Germany | The Terrorists | Sjöwall and Wahlöö | 1975 | Novel |
| n | The Laughing Policeman Δ | 1973 | Stuart Rosenberg | USA | The Laughing Policeman | Sjöwall and Wahlöö | 1968 | Novel |
* Δ The film adaptation changes the setting from Stockholm to San Francisco.

### Turkey
#### Topkapı Museum

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Topkapi | 1964 | Jules Dassin | USA | The Light of Day | Eric Ambler | 1962 | Novel |

### United Kingdom

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | Loot | 1970 | Silvio Narizzano | UK | Loot | Joe Orton | 1965 | Play |

#### Profumo affair

1963
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Scandal | 1989 | Michael Caton-Jones | UK | Scandal (uncredited) | Christine Keeler (uncredited) | 1989 | Memoir |

### Uruguay
#### San Fernando bank robbery getaway

1965
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Burnt Money ♣ Plata quemada | 2000 | Marcelo Piñeyro | Argentina, France, Spain, Uruguay | Money to Burn Plata quemada | Ricardo Piglia | 1997 | Novel |
* ♣ The robbery took place in Argentina; the pursuit ended in Uruguay.

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Fitzwilly | 1967 | Delbert Mann | USA | A Garden of Cucumbers | Poyntz Tyler | 1960 | Novel |

#### Clarence Earl Gideon case

3 June 1961

#### Ian James Campbell murder

9 March 1963
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Onion Field | 1979 | Harold Becker | USA | The Onion Field | Joseph Wambaugh | 1973 | Non-fiction |

#### Boston Strangler case

1962–1964

#### Assassination of John F. Kennedy

22 November 1963

##### Bulletin ... film currently in development: Reclaiming History

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Four Days in November δ † | 1964 | Mel Stuart | USA | Warren Report | Earl Warren for Warren Commission | 1964 | Report |
| 2 | Lee Oswald — Assassin * | 1966 | Rudolph Cartier | UK | Dallas, 22. November | Felix Lützkendorf | 1965 | Play |
| 3 | Rush to Judgment δ | 1967 | Emile de Antonio | USA | Rush to Judgment | Mark Lane | 1966 | Non-fiction |
| 4 | Executive Action | 1973 | David Miller | USA | Rush to Judgment (uncredited) | Mark Lane ♣ | 1966 | Non-fiction |
| 5 | On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald δ * | 1986 | LWT (producer) | UK | Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy ♦ | Vincent Bugliosi | 2007 | Non-fiction |
| 6 | JFK | 1991 | Oliver Stone | USA | On the Trail of the Assassins | Jim Garrison ♠ | 1990 | Non-fiction |
| 6 | | | | | Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy | Jim Marrs ♠ | 1989 | Non-fiction |
| 6 | | | | | JFK: The CIA, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy ♥ (uncredited) | L. Fletcher Prouty ♠ (uncredited) | 1992 | Non-fiction |
| 6 | | | | | JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power (uncredited) | John M. Newman ♠ (uncredited) | 1992 | Non-fiction |
| 7 | Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy ** | 2013 | In Development | USA | Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy | Vincent Bugliosi | 2007 | Non-fiction |
* ♣ 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
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Girl Next Door | 2007 | Gregory Wilson | USA | The Girl Next Door | Jack Ketchum | 2005 | Novel |

#### Richard Speck case

13 July 1966

#### Tate–LaBianca murders

1969 (Manson Family)

#### Zodiac case

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Zodiac | 2007 | David Fincher | USA | Zodiac | Robert Graysmith | 1986 | Non-fiction |

## 1970s
### Canada
#### Helen Betty Osborne murder

13 November 1971
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Conspiracy of Silence * | 1991 | Francis Mankiewicz | Canada | Conspiracy of Silence | Lisa Priest | 1989$^¤$ | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

### Guyana
#### Jonestown Massacre

18 November 1978

### Italy

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Don't Look Now | 1973 | Nicolas Roeg | UK & Italy | "Don't Look Now" from Not After Midnight | Daphne du Maurier | 1971 | Story |

### Sweden
#### Norrmalmstorg bank robbery

23–28 August 1973 (Stockholm syndrome)

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

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Straw Dogs | 1971 | Sam Peckinpah | USA | The Siege of Trencher's Farm | Gordon Williams | 197? | Novel |
| n | The Wicker Man | 1973 | Robin Hardy | UK | The Ritual | David Pinner | 1967 | Novel |

#### Baker Street bank robbery

11 September 1971

#### What if ...

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | A Clockwork Orange | 1971 | Stanley Kubrick | UK | A Clockwork Orange ♠ | Anthony Burgess | 1962 | Novel |
* ♠ The earliest editions of the novel did not contain a glossary, or any indication that the slang was based on Russian.

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |

#### New England

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Catamount Killing [fr] ♠ Lohngelder für Pittsville Morderstwo w Catamount | 1974 | Krzysztof Zanussi | USA & West Germany | I'd Rather Stay Poor | James Hadley Chase | 1962 | Novel |
* ♠ 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
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Fatal Vision ** | 1984 | David Greene | USA | Fatal Vision | Joe McGinniss | 1983 | Non-fiction |
* ** TV miniseries

#### Knapp Commission on NYPD corruption

1970–1972
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Serpico | 1973 | Sidney Lumet | USA | Serpico: The Cop Who Defied the System | Peter Maas | 1973? | Non-fiction |

#### Watergate burglary

17 June 1972
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | All the President's Men | 1976 | Alan J. Pakula | USA | All the President's Men | Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward | 1974 | Memoir |
| 2 | Blind Ambition * | 1979 | George Schaefer | USA | Blind Ambition: The White House Years | John Dean with Taylor Branch | 1976 | Memoir |
| 3 | Nixon | 1995 | Oliver Stone | USA | The Final Days | Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein | 1976 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | Richard Nixon: The Shaping of His Character (uncredited) | Fawn Brodie (uncredited) | 1981 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | Nixon: the Education of a Politician 1913-62 (uncredited) | Stephen Ambrose (uncredited) | 1991 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | Nixon: the Triumph of a Politician 1962-72 (uncredited) | Stephen Ambrose (uncredited) | 1991 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-90 (uncredited) | Stephen Ambrose (uncredited) | 1991 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | Nixon: A Life (uncredited) | Jonathan Aitken (uncredited) | 1996 | Non-fiction |
| 3 | | | | | "The Second Coming" (uncredited) | W.B. Yeats (uncredited) | 1920 | Poem |
* * TV movie

#### Gay Brooklyn bank robbery

22 August 1972
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Dog Day Afternoon | 1975 | Sidney Lumet | USA | "The Boys in the Bank" | P.F. Kluge | 1972 | Article |

#### Ted Bundy case

1974–1978
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Deliberate Stranger * | 1986 | Marvin J. Chomsky | USA | Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger | Richard W. Larsen | 1980 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

#### Frank Lucas case

before 1975
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | American Gangster | 2007 | Ridley Scott | USA | "The Return of Superfly" | Mark Jacobson | 197? | Article |

#### Martha Moxley murder

31 October 1975
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Murder in Greenwich * | 2002 | Tom McLoughlin | USA | Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? | Mark Fuhrman | 1998 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

#### Hillside Strangler case

1977–1978
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Case of the Hillside Stranglers * | 1989 | Steve Gethers | USA | Two of a Kind: The Story of the Hillside Stranglers | Darcy O'Brien | 1985 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

#### Bob Crane murder

29 June 1978
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Auto Focus | 2002 | Paul Schrader | USA | The Murder of Bob Crane: Who Killed the Star of Hogan's Heroes? | Robert Graysmith | 199? | Biography |

#### What if ...

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Night Stalker * | 1972 | John Llewellyn Moxey | USA | The Kolchak Papers aka The Night Stalker | Jeff Rice | 197? | Novel |
* * TV movie

## 1980s
### Australia
#### Azaria Chamberlain disappearance

17 August 1980 (dingo baby abduction)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Evil Angels (aka A Cry in the Dark) | 1988 | Fred Schepisi | Australia and USA | Evil Angels | John Bryson | 1985 | Non-fiction |

### Canada

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Suicide Murders * | 1985 | Graham Parker | Canada | The Suicide Murders | Howard Engel | 1980 | Novel |
* * TV movie

#### Colin Thatcher case

21 January 1983

#### Montreal Massacre

6 December 1989

### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Le Choc Le Choc | 1982 | Robin Davis | France | The Prone Gunman La Position du tireur couché | Jean-Patrick Manchette | 1982 ? | Novel |

#### Roberto Succo case

1980s
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Roberto Succo Roberto Succo | 2001 | Cédric Kahn | France | Je te tue : histoire vraie de Roberto Succo, assassin sans raison | Pascale Froment | 1991 | Non-fiction |

### India
#### Phoolan Devi case

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Bandit Queen | 1994 | Shekhar Kapur | India | India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi | Mala Sen | 1993? | Non-fiction |

### Iran
#### Soraya M. case

1986
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Stoning of Soraya M. سنگسار ثریا م. | 2008 | Cyrus Nowrasteh | USA | The Stoning of Soraya M. La Femme lapidée | Freidoune Sahebjam | 1990 | Novel |

### Mexico
#### Enrique Camarena murder

9 February 1985
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Drug Wars: The Camarena Story ** | 1990 | Brian Gibson | USA | Desperados | Elaine Shannon | 1988 | Non-fiction |
* ** TV miniseries

### Soviet Union

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Gorky Park | 1983 | Michael Apted | USA | Gorky Park | Martin Cruz Smith | 1981 | Novel |

#### Andrei Chikatilo case

1978–1990
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Citizen X * | 1995 | Chris Gerolmo | USA | The Killer Department | Robert Cullen | 1993 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

##### What if ...

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Evilenko ♠ | 2004 | David Grieco | Italy | The Communist Who Ate Children | David Grieco | 199? | Novel |
* ♠ In this version, the murderer, renamed Evilenko, has psychic powers.

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | Scarface | 1983 | Brian De Palma | USA | Scarface (uncredited) | Armitage Trail (uncredited) | 1930 | Novel |
| n | The Local Stigmatic | 1990/ 2007 | Al Pacino (uncredited) & David Wheeler | USA | The Local Stigmatic | Heathcote Williams | 196? | Play |
| n | Die Hard | 1988 | John McTiernan | USA | Nothing Lasts Forever | Roderick Thorp | 1979 | Novel |

#### Doctor Tarnower murder

10 March 1980 (Scarsdale Diet author death)
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Mrs. Harris * | 2005 | Phyllis Nagy | USA | Very Much a Lady: The Untold Story of Jean Harris and Dr. Herman Tarnower | Shana Alexander | 1983 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

#### John Lennon murder

8 December 1980
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Chapter 27 | 2005 | J. P. Schaefer | USA | Let Me Take You Down | Jack Jones | 200? | Non-fiction |
| 1 | | | | | Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon (uncredited) | Robert Rosen (uncredited) | 2000 | Non-fiction |
See also Assassinations in fiction.

#### Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek case

28 May 1981
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story * aka Woman on Trial: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story | 1993 | Sandor Stern | Canada & USA | Woman on Trial | Lawrencia Bembenek | 1992 | Memoir |
* * TV movie

#### Henry Lee Lucas case

before 11 June 1983
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | 1986 | John McNaughton | USA | Lucas Report (uncredited) | Jim Mattox, Texas Attorney General (office of) (uncredited) | 1986 | Report |

#### Alan Berg murder

18 June 1984
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Talk Radio | 1988 | Oliver Stone | USA | Talk Radio | Eric Bogosian | 1987 | Play |
| 1 | | | | | Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg | Stephen Singular | 198? | Non-fiction |
See also Assassinations in fiction.

#### Exxon Valdez disaster

23 March 1989

### West Germany

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Buffalo Soldiers | 2001 | Gregor Jordan | USA | Buffalo Soldiers | Robert O'Connor | 1993 | Novel |

## 1990s
### Belgium

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Memory of a Killer De zaak Alzheimer | 2003 | Erik Van Looy | Belgium | De zaak Alzheimer | Jef Geeraerts | 1985 | Novel |

### Canada
#### Paul Bernardo case

up to 1992

### France

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | The Crimson Rivers Les Rivières pourpres | 2000 | Mathieu Kassovitz | France | Blood Red Rivers | Jean-Christophe Grangé | 1998 | Novel |
| n | Fuck Me aka Rape Me Baise-moi | 2000 | Virginie Despentes & Coralie Trinh Thi | France | Baise-moi | Virginie Despentes | 1993 | Novel |

### India
#### Bombay bombings of 1993

12 March 1993
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Black Friday | 2004 | Anurag Kashyap | India | Black Friday – The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts | S. Hussain Zaidi | 199? | Non-fiction |

### Singapore
#### Barings Bank collapse

1995
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Rogue Trader | 1999 | James Dearden | UK | Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World | Nick Leeson | 199? | Memoir |

### Spain

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Nadie conoce a nadie ♠ | 1999 | Mateo Gil | Spain | El que apaga la luz | Juan Bonilla | 1994 | Novel (?) |
* ♠ A crossword puzzle writer becomes involved in a bizarre mystery in Seville.

### United Kingdom
#### James Bulger murder

12 February 1993
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type | Basis |
| 1 | Boy A ♠ | 2007 | John Crowley | UK | Boy A | Jonathan Trigell | 2004 | Novel | – |
* ♠ The principal connection to the Bulger case appears to be the youthfulness of the convicted boys.

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| n | Night Falls on Manhattan | 1997 | Sidney Lumet | USA | Tainted Evidence | Robert Daley | 1997 ? | Novel |

#### Suicide of Vince Foster

20 July 1993
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Primary Colors | 1998 | Mike Nichols | USA | Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics | "Anonymous" (Joe Klein) | 1996 | Novel |

### Vietnam
## 2000s
### Aruba
#### Natalee Holloway disappearance

30 May 2005
| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Natalee Holloway* | 2009 | Mikael Salomon | USA | Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith | Beth Holloway | 2007 | Non-fiction |
* * TV movie

### Brazil

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | City of God Cidade de Deus | 2002 | Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund | Brazil | City of God Cidade de Deus | Paulo Lins | 1997 | Novel |

### Italy

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Gomorrah Gomorra | 2008 | Matteo Garrone | Italy | Gomorrah Gomorra – Viaggio nell'impero economico e nel sogno di dominio della camorra | Roberto Saviano | 2006 | Non-fiction |

### Mexico

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Trade | 2007 | Marco Kreuzpaintner | Germany | "The Girls Next Door" | Peter Landesman | 2004 | Article |

### South Korea
#### Hwaseong serial murders

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Memories of Murder | 2003 | Bong Joon-ho | South Korea | Memories of Murder | Shim Sung-bo | 1996 | Play |

### United States

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Sin City д | 2005 | Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez | USA | The Hard Goodbye | Frank Miller | 1991–1992 | Graphic novel |
| n | Reversible Errors ** | 2004 | Mike Robe | USA | Reversible Errors | Scott Turow | 2002 | Novel |
* д Decade when story occurs is presumed.
* ** TV miniseries

#### Valerie Plame exposure

14 July 2003

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

| # | Film | Date | Director | Country | Source work | Author | Date | Type |
| 1 | Fair Game | 2010 | Doug Liman | USA | Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House | Valerie Plame Wilson | 2007 | Memoir |

## 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.