Let’s face it. Most remakes of classic movies are lame. But not always.
Most people don’t realize it but the classic 1941 picture, The Maltese Falcon, is a remake of The Maltese Falcon made in 1931 and starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. The 1931 version is a good picture; the 1941 is a great one.
Another example of a remake that transcended the original is the 1944 movie Between Two Worlds—it’s a remake of the 1930 movie Outward Bound starring Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Here are some other examples of remakes that are better than the originals:
Payback (1996) is a remake of Point Blank (1967)
Beau Geste (1939) (the first version was made in 1926)
Four Brothers (2005) is a remake of The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Holiday (1938) (the first version was made in 1930)
The Parent Trap (1998) (the first version was in 1961)
My wife and I are still debating whether the Mel Brooks version of To Be Or Not to Be is better than the Jack Benny version. She prefers Brooks; I prefer Benny. They’re both good.
Any other ideas of remakes that are better than the originals? To qualify a movie
- Must be better than the movie it’s a remake of and
- Must be a remake (not just have the same name or have related themes). For example, the Errol Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood isn’t a remake of the Douglas Fairbanks Robin Hood—they’re different adaptations of the Robin Hood legends.
Hmmm. I’d thought the 1939 The Four Feathers (Ralph Richardson, John Clements, C. Aubrey Smith, June Duprez) was a remake of a silent version, and it was. But there were two silent versions 1915, 1921, and another talkie (1929). The 1939 version is said to be the best, and it was well worth seeing. But this was a surprise:
There were two later versions made 1977 and 2002. They don’t sound very appealing. I’m wondering if The Four Feathers is the most filmed novel (with seven versions).
I’ve seen the 1952 version of The Prisoner of Zenda with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr. I can’t recall if I’ve seen the 1937 version with Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. I may have.
But if you count the hilarious send-up in The Great Race, I’ve seen two versions of The Prisoner of Zenda. The Jack Lemmon-Tony Curtis-Natalie Wood movie has one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard in a movie. The Great Leslie, Tony Curtis, is imprisoned by the baddies who are trying to overthrow the monarchy. Jack Lemmon’s (Professor Fate, who is masquerading as the king, his twin) assistant, played by Peter Falk, dresses up as a monk and springs Curtis from the prison. Somebody tells Lemmon “Leslie escaped with a small friar”. Lemmon: “Leslie escaped with a chicken??!!!” I think this was the better version of the two I’ve seen.
The 1939 version of The Four Feathers is by far the best of the bunch. I’ve seen the 1921, 1939, 1977, and 2002 versions.
The 1952 version of The Prisoner of Zenda is a shot-for-shot Technicolor remake of the unmatchable 1937 version. Deborah Kerr was made for Technicolor.
Raymond Massey is good as Michael in the 1937 version but Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is fantastic as Rupert of Hentzau.
Rupert’s character in the Hope novel was so popular he inspired a sequel (titled, oddly enough, Rupert of Hentzau). To the best of my knowledge there’s only been one dramatization of that, a silent I’ve never seen.
I saw The Great Race twice in the theater. I thought it was marred only by Natalie Wood, who as far as I can tell has no sense of comedy. She did get to show off her Russian, though.