The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway arrives on Long Island after leaving the Midwest and finds himself drawn to the enigmatic neighbor who throws the season's most dazzling parties, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby projects an air of mystery and wealth, yet his true past remains clouded. As Nick steps into Gatsby's circle, he encounters a world of flirtation, rumor, and carefully staged glamour, where every smile hides a motive. The story follows the fragile boundary between fantasy and reality, the pull of old money against new ambitions, and the way a single fixation can pull an entire social orbit toward danger. The tale centers on desire, social longing, and the costs of chasing an elusive dream. It is narrated through Nick's steady, often skeptical perspective, which gives the glittering world a human, fallible core.

Directed by Jack Clayton, this 1974 adaptation brings Fitzgerald's novel to the screen with Francis Ford Coppola involved in shaping the script, delivering a faithful period atmosphere built on lavish production design and restrained performances by a starry cast.

The film earned about 26.5 million worldwide against a budget of 6.5 million, a solid return for a prestige drama of its era that highlighted the glamorous side of the Jazz Age while courting more thoughtful audiences.

Critics were divided on its pace and mood, but the film won praise for Redford's Gatsby and Farrow's Daisy, and for Clayton's restrained, moody approach to a story of excess. The work probes wealth, desire, and the hollow lure of status, with a wistful, elegiac tone.

By presenting Gatsby as both dream and warning, the film helped anchor a cinematic template for later adaptations of the novel. Its production choices, especially wardrobe and set design, became touchstones for period pieces, influencing how the Jazz Age is depicted on screen and shaping audience expectations for literary adaptations.