television version of A Man for All Seasons, for example, is, of course,
eclipsed by the Fred Zinnemann, Oscar-winning feature film, but the Hes-
ton version is included here because it is far closer to Robert Bolt's original
text.

We have excluded teleplays -- there are simply too many of them -- except
for the case of Paddy Chayefsky, who was an important playwright and
screenwriter. We also had difficulty resolving the question of musicals.
Some musicals, such as Madonna Evita and Fosse Cabaret, we decided
to include because of their popular success and their political relevance. So,
in general, though represented, the genre has not been fully covered, due
to space limitations. We had similar problems with remakes, updates, and
spin-offs. We decided to include Meet Joe Black, the updated remake of
Death Takes a Holiday, because it presents the issue of death and a life
well lived in a more contemporary perspective; the 1999 version of The
Out-of-Towners was included because of its star power and the way it
suggests that Simon's story has not exactly become dated. On the other
hand, we decided to omit teen remakes, such as Cruel Intentions and Ten
Things I Hate about You, because they were designed to appeal to a teenage
audience rather than to adults and because the films do not deal seriously
with their sources.

Although this book is not comprehensive, we have attempted to cover a
number of adaptations of plays that are most likely to be used in classrooms
by teachers and students as those plays are studied. Whenever possible, we
have listed the ratings for the films included, but not all foreign films are
rated, and readers should understand that the Motion Picture Association
of America ( MPAA) rating system was revised several times since it was
originally designed to protect younger viewers. The entries are intended as
starting points for further discussion; other potentially helpful sources are
listed for all entries. Most of the titles included here should be available
from video rental operations such as the nationwide Blockbuster chain.
Major commercial sources for classroom rentals or individual purchases
are Facets Multimedia, 1517 West Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
60614, telephone 1-800-331-6197; Home Vision Cinema, 4411 North
Ravenswood Avenue, 3rd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60640-5802, telephone
1-800-826-3456; Viewfinders, Inc. Uncommon Video, P.O. Box 1665, Ev-
anston, Illinois 60204-1665, telephone 1-800-342-3342; Swank Motion
Pictures, Inc., 201 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-
2579, telephone 1-800-876-5577. Such companies should be especially
helpful in locating "obscure" or foreign titles outside the American main-
stream.

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