This adaptation of ‘The Letter,’ a play by Somerset Maugham, is directed by William Wyler and stars Bette Davis as its lead character. It is a film noir crime melodrama about the wife of a rich plantation manager in Malaysia who shoots and kills a man she claims attacked her. However, a letter she had previously written to the alleged attacker bears some shocking revelations that come back to haunt her.

Any list of movies based on plays should include Shakespearean plays. So here is one of the darkest adaptations of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Macbeth, brought to the big screen by Roman Polanski. This version of the great tragedy is bleak and dusky, perhaps echoing the sorrow of the great director, whose wife had been murdered in a gruesome way by minions of Charles Manson.

“‘In the Company of Men’ is a black comedy written and directed by Neil LaBute, based on a play he himself wrote. Two male colleagues devise a diabolical plan to feign love and romance with a hearing-impaired woman and then dump her. This is their way of seeking revenge on ‘womankind’ for causing each of them hurt. This powerful and hard-hitting movie has a lot more to its plot beneath the surface.”

“Killer Joe” is a disturbing Southern Gothic crime film starring Matthew McConaughey and is based on a play written by Tracy Letts. A dysfunctional family hires a corrupt cop who moonlights as a hitman to murder a woman and acquire her insurance money. All hell breaks loose when the family realizes that they cannot pay the hitman after he has completed his assignment.

The movie you’re describing is “Rope,” directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the play written by Patrick Hamilton. In the film, two young arrogant men kill a peer just to test their ability to get away with murder. The plot is based on a real-life incident, and Hitchcock’s adaptation is notable for its innovative use of long takes to create the impression of a single continuous shot.