This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week, the theme is good remakes. Now, Hollywood has lots and lots and lots of remakes, and it's not difficult to think of a whole bunch offhand. The problem is, the theme is good remakes, and many of the remakes aren't nearly as good as the original. On the other hand, there are some classics that are remakes and better remembered than the original, and I decided to pick three such movies this week:
His Girl Friday (1940), a remake of The Front Page (1931). Howard Hawks flipped genders from the original story about an editor (here played by Cary Grant) who tries to get his star reporter (here played by Rosalind Russell) to stay on the job by getting her to report on the story of a man who is going to be wrongly executed (John Qualen). She's planning to marry Ralph Bellamy, so you know she doesn't have a chance. Billy Wilder would make another version of this in the 1970s.
The Maltese Falcon (1941), a remake of The Maltese Falcon (1931) and Satan Met a Lady (1936). Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) is engaged by a mysterious lady (Mary Astor) to help her find the stuff that dreams are made of, while a cast of weirdos (Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet chief among them) are trying to find that statue themselves. Ricardo Cortez played Spade in the original, while Bette Davis was the lady in the second version. For anybody who complains too much about Hollywood remakes, I like to joke that Ricardo Cortez was the original Sam Spade -- not that he's better than Bogart; it's just that the point needs to be made.
Gaslight (1944), a remake of Gaslight (1940). Charles Boyer marries Ingrid Bergman so that he can get into her fashionable Victorian-era London house. He then plans to drive her crazy so that he can rummage through the attic to find some jewels that her late aunt supposedly had. Angela Lansbury made a spectacular debut as the saucy maid in on the plot, Joseph Cotton is a Scotland Yard detective, and Dame May Whitty provides her usual solid support. The original is a British movie and despite being relatively rarely shown, is quite good in its own right.
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4 comments:
Gaslight
Love all three of these.
While the original Front Page is good His Girl Friday is just on another plane thanks to its three main players with Roz Russell a particular standout. I was kicking myself this morning when Maltese Falcon came to me too late. Talk about a near perfect re-imagining of a mediocre movie. The Bette Davis version is a mess, perhaps not as big a disaster as Bette felt it was but a definite miss. I thought the original Gaslight was very stodgy and stagy, perhaps I wouldn't have had I not seen the Ingrid Bergman version first but it was far superior. Angela Lansbury was great right from the beginning.
I thought this would be tougher than it was since usually when you think about remakes it's that they are disappointing but finding three good ones was pretty easy.
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)-Freshly released from prison Danny Ocean (George Clooney) has a plan to pull off an elaborate heist of several Las Vegas casinos. He looks up his old pal Rusty (Brad Pitt) and together they gather a group of con men with various skill sets to pull it off. Excitement and merriment follow. The original Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin Rat Pack version has the germ of a very good idea and a very lackadaisical execution, the sequel improves on that idea in every aspect….well I wouldn’t say Julia Roberts is the equal of Angie Dickinson but otherwise it’s golden.
3:10 to Yuma (2007)-In the Old West impoverished farmer Dan Evans (Christian Bale) hires on with Pinkerton men to transport outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) through the hardscrabble trip to Contention to be put on the 3:10 train to Yuma and prison. Through the many hardships on the trail the two men form a grudging respect for each other which is sorely tested when Wade’s gang is waiting at the end of the journey. Hard, tough minded Western is based very closely on the excellent 50’s version of the same name that stars Van Heflin & Glenn Ford in Bale & Crowe’s roles. Both very entertaining films the ’07 version benefits from the flashy supporting turn of Ben Foster as unhinged henchman Charlie Prince.
Enchanted April (1992)-In 1920’s London upper middle class housewife Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) is neglected by her business minded husband and yearns to escape the constant rain and gloom of the city. Sensing her church acquaintance Rose Arbuthnot (Miranda Richardson) is in the same fix she proposes they rent an Italian villa for the month of April. Realizing they can’t quite afford it themselves they advertise for other ladies who might be interested. They receive only two replies, Caroline Dester (Polly Walker), a beautiful socialite seeking refuge from an endless string of facile admirers and Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright) a crusty, closed off lady who lives in her memories. After a hellious journey and a bumpy start the four women come under the spell of the beauty of the Italian villa (the cinematography is amazing) and surrounding grounds leading to a life changing experience. Based on a bestselling novel and originally filmed in a staid 30’s version (though with a good cast including Frank Morgan and Ann Harding) this adds a half an hour to the running time and vivid color to flesh out the story.
The only one of these I've seen is His Girl Friday, which I enjoyed enough. I didn't realize it was a remake.
Who doesn’t love Ricardo Cortez? I only have seenthe Bogart Maltese Falcon which is great. I love His Girl Friday and I have seen the 70’s version as well but yet to see the original with Adolph Menjou. Again, I have not see the English film but I love the Gaslight version with Boyer and Bergman whom I was really hoping would have stabbed the bastard.
I've only seen The Maltese Falcon. Excellent pick. I really, really need to see Gaslight.
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