<P>First published in 1957, this seminal work of film theory analyzes the process—"the mysterious alchemy"—by which novels are transformed into films. Beginning with a discussion of the aesthetic limits of both the novel and the film, George Bluestone goes on to offer close readings of six films based on novels of serious literary merit— <I>The Informer</I>, <I>Wuthering Heights</I>, <I>The Grapes of Wrath</I>, <I>Pride and Prejudice</I>, <I>The Ox-Bow Incident</I>, and <I>Madame Bovary</I>—focusing on the additions, deletions, and other changes made by the filmmakers in adapting the source material for the screen. Based on both in-depth research into film archives and libraries and on interviews with the screenwriters, directors, and producers who worked on these films, <I>Novels into Film</I> concludes that because the novel lends itself to states of consciousness and the film to observed reality, the adaptation of one from the other produces a new and wholly autonomous art form.</P>