As the society demands more people's literacy, English and American literature is even more important. In traditional teaching, English and American literature is often used to teach English and American literature. This method can stimulate students' interest, expand vocabulary, improve reading comprehension and writing level, and through the literature can understand the English and American cultural background and improve their communication skills. However, there are some problems in this teaching method. For example, the teaching duration is limited, the literature classics are too thick, and it is difficult for beginners to read and so on, so that the traditional methods can no longer meet the needs of today's society. The emergence of literary classic adaptation films has brought a new turn for the teaching of English and American literature. The adaptation of literary classics is intuitive, short, and informative, and the visual effects are more easily absorbed by students. In particular, the emergence of the concept of inter-textual film adaptation makes the literary and cultural value of the film better reflected. These are feasible and effective for the use of film in the teaching of English and American literature. This paper first introduces the concept of inter-textual film adaptation, and then introduces the literary and cultural nature of the film adapted from classical literature, and the methods and principles applied to the teaching of English and American literature. The analysis shows that the application of film to the teaching of English and American literature can play a good auxiliary effect. Combining it with the traditional classical novel teaching method can improve the teaching effect of English and American literature and improve the learning effect of students.