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The Great Gatsby has been reinvented for the stage and screen again and again, beginning in 1926, the year after the novel appeared. Here is a guide to the major versions, from the lost silent film to the Broadway musical, with notes on how each one approaches Fitzgerald’s story.

Film and Television Adaptations at a Glance

The Great Gatsby (1926): The Lost Silent Film

Paramount’s silent version, produced by Famous Players–Lasky, was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Warner Baxter as Gatsby, Lois Wilson as Daisy and Neil Hamilton as Nick, with William Powell as George Wilson. No complete copy of the film is known to survive. Only a short trailer, about a minute long, is preserved at the Library of Congress. Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, was unimpressed: in a letter to their daughter she called the film “ROTTEN.”

The Great Gatsby (1949): Alan Ladd

Paramount filmed the story again with Alan Ladd, then one of its biggest stars, as Gatsby and Betty Field as Daisy. Elliott Nugent directed from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. The cast included Macdonald Carey as Nick, Ruth Hussey as Jordan, Barry Sullivan as Tom, Shelley Winters as Myrtle and Howard Da Silva as George Wilson. Made under the strict Production Code of the time, it plays up the crime-story side of Gatsby’s life and adds a prologue, set years later at Gatsby’s grave, in which Nick and Jordan, now married, look back on his story.

Playhouse 90 (1958)

CBS adapted the novel for its live anthology series Playhouse 90. Franklin J. Schaffner, who later directed Patton, directed Robert Ryan as Gatsby, Jeanne Crain as Daisy and Rod Taylor as Nick.

The Great Gatsby (1974): Robert Redford

The best-known version for many years, this lavish Paramount production was directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by David Merrick. Robert Redford played Gatsby and Mia Farrow played Daisy, with Sam Waterston as Nick, Bruce Dern as Tom and Karen Black as Myrtle.

The film follows the novel closely and uses much of its dialogue, though many critics found it slow. Its look was hugely influential. It won two Academy Awards: Costume Design, for Theoni V. Aldredge, and Music (Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation), for Nelson Riddle’s adaptation score. Ralph Lauren supplied the menswear, and the film’s cream suits and pastel shirts helped spark a 1920s fashion revival. See more in our guide to Art Deco fashion.

The Great Gatsby (2000): Television Film

This television film, an A&E and Granada co-production, was directed by Robert Markowitz. Toby Stephens played Gatsby, Mira Sorvino played Daisy and Paul Rudd played Nick. It premiered on A&E in the United States on January 14, 2001. It is a smaller-scale, faithful retelling that pays close attention to Nick’s point of view.

The Great Gatsby (2013): Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann’s version starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, Tobey Maguire as Nick, Joel Edgerton as Tom, Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan and Isla Fisher as Myrtle. Released in 3D, it opened the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013. Jay-Z served as an executive producer of the film and its soundtrack, which mixes hip-hop and pop with jazz. The film frames Nick’s narration as something he writes while recovering in a sanatorium.

Critics were divided over its spectacle, but it was a major box-office success and introduced the story to a new generation. Catherine Martin won two Academy Awards, for Costume Design and for Production Design, the latter shared with set decorator Beverley Dunn.

Stage Adaptations

The 1926 Broadway Play

Owen Davis adapted the novel for Broadway only months after it was published. Directed by George Cukor and produced by William A. Brady, the play opened at the Ambassador Theatre in February 1926 with James Rennie as Gatsby and Florence Eldridge as Daisy, and ran for 112 performances.

The Opera (1999)

The Metropolitan Opera commissioned The Great Gatsby from the American composer John Harbison, who also wrote the libretto. It premiered at the Met on December 20, 1999, conducted by James Levine and directed by Mark Lamos.

Gatz

The New York theatre company Elevator Repair Service created Gatz, a marathon production in which the entire text of the novel is performed, word for word, by actors in a shabby office. The performance lasts most of a day, including breaks.

The Broadway Musical (2024)

A musical version transferred from Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey to the Broadway Theatre, opening on April 25, 2024, with Jeremy Jordan as Gatsby and Eva Noblezada as Daisy, directed by Marc Bruni. Its costume designer, Linda Cho, won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical.

Gatsby: An American Myth (2024)

The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, staged a separate musical with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett and a book by Martyna Majok.

Since the Public Domain

Since the novel entered the US public domain on January 1, 2021, writers and artists have been free to adapt the original text without permission. New retellings, graphic novels and stage versions have followed, and more are sure to come. The underlying 1925 novel is free for everyone, but each adaptation is its own copyrighted work.

Book or Movie?

Every adaptation makes choices: what to cut, how to show Nick’s narration and how to make the famous parties come alive. The best way to judge is to read the novel first. It is free here, chapter by chapter. Teachers can find a book-versus-film essay prompt in our lesson plans.