List of films based on spy books

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A list of spy films that are based on books. If a book has been turned into both a film and a TV series (or TV film), then the TV series is included.

French Revolution[edit]

Early USA[edit]

More to add

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Spy 1914 Otis Turner United States The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground James Fenimore Cooper 1821 Novel - - -

World War I[edit]

More to add

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Great Impersonation 1921 George Melford United States The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 Novel - - -
2 The 39 Steps 1935 Alfred Hitchcock UK The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 Novel - - -
3 The Great Impersonation 1935 Alan Crosland United States The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 Novel - - -
4 Secret Agent 1936 Alfred Hitchcock UK Ashenden: Or the British Agent W. Somerset Maugham 1928 Novel Ashenden 1991 UK
5 The Great Impersonation 1942 John Rawlins United States The Great Impersonation E. Phillips Oppenheim 1920 Novel - - -
6 The 39 Steps 1959 Ralph Thomas UK The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 Novel - - -
7 The 39 Steps 1978 Don Sharp UK The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 Novel - - -

World War II[edit]

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Lady Vanishes & 1938 Alfred Hitchcock UK The Wheel Spins Ethel Lina White 1936 Novel - - -
2 They Met in the Dark 1943 Carl Lamac UK The Vanished Corpse Anthony Gilbert Novel - - -
3 Above Suspicion 1943 Richard Thorpe United States Above Suspicion Helen Clark MacInnes 1939 Novel - - -
4 Decision Before Dawn 1951 Anatole Litvak United States Call It Treason George Howe 1949 Novel - - -
5 Carve Her Name with Pride 1958 Lewis Gilbert UK Carve Her Name with Pride R.J. Minney Novel - - -
6 The Counterfeit Traitor 1962 George Seaton United States The Counterfeit Traitor Alexander Klein Novel - - -
7 Eye of the Needle 1981 Richard Marquand UK Eye of the Needle Ken Follett 1978 Novel - - -
8 Fortunes of War * 1987 James Cellan Jones UK Fortunes of War Olivia Manning 1960 & 1962 Novels - - -
9 Shining Through 1992 David Seltzer United States Shining Through Susan Isaacs 1978 Novel - - -
10 Fall from Grace * 1994 Waris Hussein UK Fall from Grace Larry Collins 1985 Novel - - -
11 Enigma 2001 Michael Apted United States, UK, Germany, & Netherlands Enigma Robert Harris 1995 Novel - - -
12 Charlotte Gray 2001 Gillian Armstrong UK Charlotte Gray Sebastian Faulks Novel - - -
  • * BBC mini-series
  • & pre-WWII

Cold War[edit]

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Big Clock 1948 John Farrow UK The Big Clock Kenneth Fearing 1946 Novel - - -
2 Our Man in Havana 1959 Carol Reed UK Our Man in Havana Graham Greene 1958 Novel - - -
3 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 1965 Martin Ritt UK The Spy Who Came in from the Cold John le Carré 1963 Novel - - -
4 The IPCRESS File 1965 Sidney J. Furie UK The IPCRESS File Len Deighton 1962 Novel - - -
5 The Quiller Memorandum 1966 Sidney J. Furie UK The Berlin Memorandum Trevor Dudley Smith 1965 Novel - - -
6 The Deadly Affair 1966 Sidney Lumet UK Call for the Dead John le Carré 1961 Novel - - -
7 The Odessa File 1974 Ronald Neame UK The Odessa File Frederick Forsyth 1972 Novel - - -
8 The Black Windmill 1974 Don Siegel UK Seven Days to a Killing Clive Egleton 1973 Novel - - -
9 Three Days of the Condor 1975 Sydney Pollack United States Six Days of the Condor James Grady Novel - - -
10 Hopscotch 1980 Ronald Neame United States Hopscotch Brian Garfield 1975 Novel - - -
11 Firefox 1982 Clint Eastwood United States Firefox Craig Thomas 1978 Novel - - -
12 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy * 1979 Frances Alcock & John Irvin UK Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 Novel - - -
13 Smiley's People * 1982 Simon Langton UK Smiley's People John le Carré 1979 Novel - - -
14 The Osterman Weekend 1983 Sam Peckinpah United States The Osterman Weekend Robert Ludlum 1972 Novel - - -
15 The Little Drummer Girl 1984 George Roy Hill United States The Little Drummer Girl John le Carré 1983 Novel - - -
16 The Fourth Protocol 1987 John Mackenzie United States The Fourth Protocol Frederick Forsyth 1984 Novel - - -
17 No Way Out 1987 Roger Donaldson United States The Big Clock Kenneth Fearing 1946 Novel - - -
18 The Russia House 1990 Fred Schepisi United States The Russia House John le Carré 1989 Novel - - -
19 Patriot Games 1992 Phillip Noyce United States Patriot Games Tom Clancy 1987 Novel - - -
20 Clear and Present Danger 1994 Phillip Noyce United States Clear and Present Danger Tom Clancy 1989 Novel - - -
21 The Tailor of Panama 2001 John Boorman United States The Tailor of Panama John le Carré 1996 Novel - - -
22 The Sum of All Fears 2002 Phil Alden Robinson United States The Sum of All Fears Tom Clancy 1991 Novel - - -
23 The Bourne Identity 2002 Doug Liman United States The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 Novel The Bourne Identity 1988 United States
24 The Bourne Supremacy 2004 Paul Greengrass United States The Bourne Supremacy Robert Ludlum 1987 Novel - - -
25 The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 Paul Greengrass United States The Bourne Ultimatum Robert Ludlum 1990 Novel - - -

* BBC mini-series

In March 2015, shooting wrapped on the film adaptation, Damascus Cover of Howard Kaplan's novel The Damascus Cover set in 1989 at the fall of the Berlin Wall, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, John Hurt, Jurgen Prochnow and Olivia Thirlby.

Post-Cold War[edit]

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Icon 2005 Charles Martin Smith United States Icon Frederick Forsyth 1996 Novel - - -
2 The Constant Gardener 2005 Fernando Meirelles UK The Constant Gardener John le Carré 2001 Novel - - -

See also[edit]