The Great Gatsby: Movie Version

By Gigi Mack

Study Guide compares the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to the movie The Great Gatsby (1974) This is the first Gatsby movie and still the best. The movie adds and subtracts from the plot of the book, but it's still worth watching. Party scenes of the Roaring 20s are fantastic!

- A Teacher Time-Saver - Perfect For CCSS - Distance Learning or Homeschooling -
 

The Common Core Standards call for comparing the novel text to a different version, especially a film version. Movie Version study guides provide reliable information about the comparison to know if student responses are accurate. Movie Version study guides compare the movie of a book to the book itself. The study guides cover both the plot and characters in the movie and the book.
 

Each study guide contains:

The Movie:  A scene-by-scene comparison with chapters in the book, including errors and omissions in the movie. 

The Book:  Complete chapter-by-chapter summaries of the book.

How Accurate is the Movie?  Each study guide rates the movie's accuracy according to Plot, Characters, Setting, Structure, Symbols, and Theme and reveals what's in the movie that's NOT in the book and what's in the book that's NOT in the movie.
 

Digitally download the movie version study guide today to find out how the movie is not like the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MovieVersion.com LLC
• Release date: Sep 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781937714017

Book preview

THE MOVIE VERSION OF THE GREAT GATSBY IS NOT LIKE THE BOOK by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Recommended movie: The Great Gatsby (1974) starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Karen Black, Scott Wilson, Sam Waterston, Lois Chiles, and Bruce Dern. Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola. Directed by Jack Clayton. A Paramount Picture. This is the first Gatsby movie and still the best. The movie adds and subtracts from the plot of the book, but it’s still worth watching. Party scenes of the Roaring 20s are fantastic!

HOW ACCURATE IS THE MOVIE VERSION OF THE BOOK?

Plot:

Characters:

Setting:

Structure:

Symbols:

Theme:

WHAT’S IN THE BOOK THAT’S NOT IN THE MOVIE?

Michaelis, Nick’s visit to Wolfshiem’s office, Gatsby’s background, the Finn, Jordan and Nick’s romance, the Dan Cody story, the inquest . . .

WHAT’S IN THE MOVIE THAT’S NOT IN THE BOOK?

Nick’s boat, Tom on horseback, Daisy/Gatsby love scenes, Myrtle’s breaking the window, Wilson’s friend, the golf tournament, fencing scene, the ring, the dead seagull . . .

WHAT’S THE SAME?

Gatsby’s parties, the billboard, the yellow car, the green light, the shirts, the pink suit, the hit-and-run accident, the murder, the lunch with Wolfshiem, party at Myrtle’s apartment, the tea party at Nick’s cottage, the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby’s father at the funeral . . .

THE MOVIE: SUMMARY

The following is a scene-by-scene comparison of the movie to the corresponding chapters in the book.

THE MOVIE: CHAPTER 1

OPENING SCENE: Opening scene shows a series of shots of a mansion, yellow car, background sounds of a party, a scrapbook full of photos of Miss Daisy Fay, a framed photo of a mansion, and a photo of Daisy in her wedding dress. (ERROR: Not in the book)

Nick Carraway in a small motor boat is almost swamped by a large sailing yacht as he crosses the bay from West Egg to have lunch at Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s house in East Egg. (ERROR: In the book Nick does not have a boat. He drives an old Dodge) In the background Nick narrates a quote from Chapter 1. (ACCURATE: The quote is: "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever

since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.")

When the boat docks, Nick is met by Tom Buchanan who rides up on a polo pony dressed in full polo gear. He is followed by a chauffeur-driven car. (ERROR: In the book Nick arrives at the Buchanan’s home by car and Tom greets him dressed in polo gear) Nick tells Tom that he is renting a cottage in West Egg for $80 a month. (ACCURATE)

Nick is escorted into a white room where Daisy and her childhood friend Jordan, both dressed in white, are reclining on sofas. Daisy asks Nick if they miss her in Chicago. Nick assures her she is missed. (ACCURATE) When Jordan hears that Nick lives in West Egg she says, You must know Gatsby. Daisy asks, What Gatsby? (ACCURATE)

They go outside for drinks. (ERROR: In the book they go outside for dinner). Daisy complains that her fingers are black and blue and blames the bruises on Tom for being such a brute of a man. (ACCURATE) Tom begins to complain about civilization going to pieces. He asks Nick if he has read The Rise of the Coloured Empires. Nick has not. Tom believes the white race is superior. We’re Nordics, he declares. (ACCURATE)

The butler calls Tom away to take a phone call. (ACCURATE) Daisy tells Nick how much she loves to see him at her table and describes him as an absolute rose. (ACCURATE) Daisy gets up suddenly and goes into the house. Jordan tries to overhear Tom’s telephone conversation. She quietly tells Nick that Tom has a woman he sees in New York. (ACCURATE)

When Daisy returns she notices a bird on the lawn that she imagines has ridden across the Atlantic on an ocean liner. Isn’t that romantic, Tom? she asks. Tom agrees. (ERROR:

Not in the book) Nick senses trouble in the Buchanan marriage. (ACCURATE)

At sunset Nick leaves in his boat. (ERROR: In the book he drives home in the dark) When he gets to the cottage he notices a man he presumes is Gatsby standing with his arms outstretched toward Long Island Sound staring at the green light on the Buchanan’s pier. (ACCURATE)

THE MOVIE: CHAPTER 2

Nick is sitting on his front porch in his robe drinking coffee and watching the caterers set up for one of Gatsby’s lavish parties. (ERROR: In the book this scene is from Chapter 3) Nick puts seed in the bird feeder. (ERROR: No bird feeder or birds in the book) In the evening Nick cooks a steak and eats it on his porch while he watches Gatsby’s party in full swing. (ERROR: Not in the book) The