The 10 Best Truman Capote Movie Adaptations Of All Time, Ranked

American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and cultural icon Truman Capote wrote dozens of novels, short novels, plays, and movies on his way to becoming one of the most important voices in New Journalism, and filmmakers have been adapting his work from the start. While some younger generations may only know Truman Capote because of Philip Seymour Hoffman's award-winning performance in Capote, the vast number of movies about Capote are not eligible for a list of movies adapted from his works.

At the same time, movies made from his screenplays, marvelous as they may be, are also not to be included on a list of adaptations. Taking a Capote story or short story and turning it into something memorable that stands apart from the author's original is a higher degree of difficulty than having Capote be a part of the moviemaking itself. While Capote occasionally has a hand in these adaptations, it's often up to the filmmaker to tell the story. The best Truman Capote movies don't lose the author's heart but don't simply mimic him either.

10 A Christmas Memory (1997)

A Slight But Sweet Adaptation Of Capote's Short Story

A Christmas Memory

Drama

TV Movie

Release Date: December 21, 1966
Runtime: 51 minutes
Director: Frank Perry
Writers: Eleanor Perry

Cast

Donnie Melvin
Buddy
Geraldine Page
Woman
Lavinia Cassels
Aunt
Christine Marler
HaHa

Sook (Patty Duke) smiling down at Buddy (Eric Lloyd) in A Christmas Memory.

The second adaptation of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory, the 1997 Hallmark version, stars Eric Lloyd as Buddy and Patty Duke as Miss Sook. Just like in the 1956 short story, the film is a semi-autobiographical story that follows a seven-year-old boy only referred to as "Buddy". Buddy recalls memories he has of Christmas celebrated at his elderly friend's (and cousin's) home. The film details the feelings and moods that come with the holiday.

A Christmas Memory is often regarded as inferior to the 1969 adaptation which was in the third of the Trilogy movie, but there is still a lot to love about Hallmark's A Christmas Memory. The acting from the ensemble cast is great across the board, and thanks to Capote's moving story and themes, it's hard for any adaptation of his work to fall completely short.

9 The Glass House (1972)

A Harrowing And Frustrating Look At The Corrupt Prison System

The Glass House is a made-for-television film based on a Truman Capote and Wyatt Cooper story of the same name. The film stars Alan Alda as Jonathon Paige, Vic Morrow as Hugo Slocum, and Clu Gulager as Brian Courtland. It follows Paige, a professor who killed a man during an argument and is sentenced to prison. There, he learns that the entire joint is run by prison gangs all vying for domination and control and the prison guards are just as corrupt.

It's a harrowing and often difficult-to-watch story, filled with violence, assault, and rage-inducing political dealings that paint the U.S. prison system in a poor light. Alda is fantastic as Paige, a man trying to stay alive but also hoping to find some redemption. The movie earned an Emmy Award and was also nominated for a Golden Globe.

8 Other Voices, Other Rooms (1995)

A Retelling Of One Of Capote's Most Personal Works

Other Voices, Other Rooms is based on Truman Capote's first published novel from 1948, a semi-autobiographical Southern Gothic story. The film sticks closely to the novel, following Joel Sansom (David Speck), a 13-year-old from New Orleans who is sent to live with his estranged father on a farm. There, Joel begins to contend with his budding homosexuality and meets an eccentric group of friends and ne'er-do-wells who help him along his journey.

A deeply personal story, Other Voices, Other Rooms, is not nearly as well regarded as the book it was adapted from, but there are strong performances in the movie. The film only changes a few names but otherwise is a close approximation of Capote's work, though it lacks some of the crucial personal touches that make the book so memorable all these years later.

7 Children On Their Birthdays (2002)

A Thoughtful And Sweet Period Piece

Children on Their Birthdays is a 2002 independent comedy starring Sheryl Lee, Jesse Plemons, and Tom Arnold, based on Truman Capote's short story of the same name that was published sometime in the 1940s. The film and the short story are set in the summer of 1947 in Medda, Alabama, where thirteen-year-old Lily Jane Bobbit (Tania Raymonde) moves with her mute mother (Phyllis Frelich).

There, the local boys instantly become smitten with Lily Jane, and old friendships are tested as the young teens learn more about themselves. A sweet and charming period piece, Children on Their Birthdays features the same humor and melancholy found in Capote's short story, making for an accurate adaptation in both plot and tone. It's also a notable early appearance of Jesse Plemmons, years before he would rocket into stardom.

6 The Grass Harp (1995)

A Young Boy And His Aunt Watch The World From A Treehouse

The Grass Harp is a 1995 dramedy film based on the 1951 novella of the same name by Truman Capote. The film is set in a small town in Alabama in the 1940s and follows a young boy named Collin Fenwick (Edward Furlong) who has recently been orphaned and is sent to live with his aunts, the sweet and loving Dolly (Piper Laurie); and the bossy, ambitious Verena (Sissy Spacek). When Dolly and Collin have enough of Verena's attitude, they go to the woods and take up residence in a treehouse.

An expertly acted movie with all the understanding that a semi-autobiographical novel could have, The Grass Harp is a moving portrait of rebirth and renewal that never feels too fanciful.

There, the goofy and eccentric townsfolk come one by one to see what the pair are doing and come to find that maybe watching the world from a tree isn't such a bad idea after all. An expertly acted movie with all the understanding that a semi-autobiographical novel could have, The Grass Harp is a moving portrait of rebirth and renewal that never feels too fanciful.

5 One Christmas (1994)

Katharine Hepburn's Final Film Role Is A Moving Last Act

Dad (Henry Winkler) and Buddy (T.J. Lowther) smiling together in One Christmas.

One Christmas is based on Truman Capote's 1983 short story "One Christmas", which is a semi-autobiographical story about an eight-year-old Buddy, played by T.J. Lowther in the movie, who is sent from his idyllic home on a farm in Alabama to his family in New Orleans in the 1930s for Christmas. Katharine Hepburn stars as Cornelia Beaumont and Henry Winkler as Buddy's Dad, who slowly warms to his son over the course of the film.

Like the short story, Capote's knack for capturing the human heart at war with itself is evident in the storytelling.

Hepburn was nominated for a SAG for her performance and the TV movie is a powerful and festive look at reconciliation, love, and family in the Christmas season. Winkler is fantastic as the con artist father who is at first frustrated with his son's presence only to welcome him into his life as they spend more time together. Like the short story, Capote's knack for capturing the human heart at war with itself is evident in the storytelling.

4 The Thanksgiving Visitor (1967)

A Tight And Thoughtful Exploration Of Morality

The Faulk family having a meal together in The Thanksgiving Visitor.

The Thanksgiving Visitor is a short story originally published in 1967 and serves as a sequel to Capote's semi-autobiographical A Christmas Memory. A TV movie was made from the short story just a year later in 1968 and is loosely inspired by Truman Capote's time growing up in Alabama. In the story, a nine-year-old named Buddy (Michael Kearney) is teased by a bully. To stop the fighting, Buddy's much older cousin, Miss Sook (Geraldine Page), invites everyone over for Thanksgiving to hash out their problems.

It's a simple movie that, on its surface, doesn't seem to have much going on. Below the surface, however, The Thanksgiving Visitor is a deep and thoughtful look at morality. Buddy is ostensibly the hero and victim, and yet his actions call into question when someone's retribution goes further than necessary. Geraldine Page earned an Emmy for her performance.

3 Trilogy (1969)

Three Sweet And Sad Truman Capote Stories

Trilogy

Drama

Release Date: June 8, 1969
Runtime: 110 minutes
Director: Frank Perry
Writers: Eleanor Perry, Truman Capote

Cast

See All

Martin Balsam
Ivor Belli
Mildred Natwick
Miss Miller
Geraldine Page
Woman
Maureen Stapleton
Mary O'Meaghan

A three-film anthology adapting three short stories by Truman Capote.

Trilogy is an anthology drama written by Truman Capote that includes three films: Miriam, about an aging governess who is unable to find work; Among the Paths of Eden, about a man and woman who strike up a conversation in a cemetery; and A Christmas Memory, about a young boy named Buddy who recalls his poor but loving Christmases at his aunts' house. While the first two films were written by Capote for the anthology, A Christmas Memory is an adaptation of his 1956 short story.

Truman Capote serves as the Narrator for the A Christmas Memory segment.

Each film in Trilogy is quiet and memorable in its own way. While each is touched, and sometimes broadly stroked with sadness, there's hope and happiness in each one that mingles with the disquiet for a strangely comforting viewing experience. Capote has a unique insight into the human heart and Trilogy may be the best example of how many windows he has into it.

2 In Cold Blood (1967)

A Gripping Adaptation Of A Terrifying True Story

In Cold Blood is arguably Truman Capote's most famous book, thanks in part to high school English teachers' appreciation of it as a core example of non-fiction novel writing. There have been three adaptations of the book, though two deal with Capote's research into the crime. The 1967 movie is the only one to be a fictionalized retelling of the story. In Cold Blood stars Robert Blake as Perry Smith and Scott Wilson as Dick Hickock, and hews closely to the novel.

The movie earned four Academy Award nominations and, far from being a cash grab of the book that came out a year before, is an intense, sensitive, fearsome documentary-like retelling of a grim true-crime story.

There are a few fictional elements in the film, including the addition of "Jensen the Reporter", played by Paul Stewart, who acts as a narrator for the film and occasionally interrupts the flow of the film. The movie earned four Academy Award nominations and, far from being a cash grab of the book that came out a year before, is an intense, sensitive, fearsome documentary-like retelling of a grim true-crime story.

1 Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961)

Audrey Hepburn Dazzles As Holly Golightly

Based on the 1958 novella of the same name by Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's stars Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a young, eccentric socialite who meets a struggling writer, Paul Varjak (George Peppard), after he moves into her apartment building. From its Oscar-winning song "Moonriver" to the unforgettable costuming to the incredible chemistry between Hepburn and Peppard, Breakfast at Tiffany's is filled with film history moments.

While there are some regrettable moments of racism in Breakfast at Tiffany's, it is more than worthy of being included in the Library of Congress with its five Academy Award nominations and two wins. Truman Capote was not a fan of the movie adaptation and was frustrated with the changes made to Holly's character, who is more cautionary and lost, whereas Hepburn's version is much more excited and enamored by the big city she finds herself in.

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