Saturday, June 07, 2008

A Very Long Intermission


MAJOR UPDATE


So with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull coming out 19 years after the last one (The Last Crusade, 1989) the question turns to what are the longest periods between original and sequel or sequel and sequel. I created a lot of confusion with this (I have a talent for that kind of thing) so let me define more clearly. As I say in the comment section "Putting "International Velvet" and "The Black Bird" at number one, in my opinion, was wrong. When thinking of a sequel, a true sequel, we think of an actor reprising their role. I think "Texasville", "A Man and A Woman: 20 years Later", "Psycho II" and "The Color of Money" fit this bill and "International Velvet" and "The Black Bird" do not."

"Belle Toujours" also has an actor from the original reprising a role but not the lead, not Catherine Deneuve. Those other four have the main characters reprising their roles. Effie may be around in "The Black Bird" but Bogart is not."



5. Last Picture Show 1971 - Texasville 1990 (19 years)

4. A Man and A Woman 1966 - A Man and A Woman: 20 Years Later 1986 (20 years)

3. Psycho 1960 - Psycho II 1983 (23 years)

2. The Hustler 1961 - The Color of Money 1986 (25 years)

1. Alphaville 1965 - Germany Year Ninety Nine Zero 1991 (26 years) Submitted by Ed Howard.


Category Two: Longest time between continuing stories without the same leads.


3. (tie) National Velvet 1944 - International Velvet 1978 (34 years)

3. (tie) The Maltese Falcon 1941 - The Black Bird 1975 - with George Segal as Sam Spade's son and Lee Patrick reprising her role as Effie. No, I'm not kidding. (34 years)

2. Belle Toujours 2006 - Belle Du Jour 1967 (39 years) - submitted by JS.

1. Return to Oz 1985 - The Wizard of Oz 1939 (46 years) - submitted by par3182.

I'd include The Road to Tara too, but I'd rather submit theatrical releases only, not made for tv stuff. Thanks to everyone for the submissions. If anyone can think of any more that outdo these I'll update again. Let me know.

13 comments:

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

What about the span between 1967's "Belle de Jour" and 2006's "Belle Toujours"?

Greg said...

I guess if I'm going to count the Black Bird I should count that too. It's just that, as someone said on an IMDB board, Bunuel fans call it a "false sequel" possessing none of the wit and insight of the first, and while I can accept different directors and writers to sequels, only Bunuel can do a Bunuel sequel.

But I'm splitting hairs. If I can count International Velvet and The Black Bird I guess I should count that too.

Not only count it, but make it number one: 39 years.

par3182 said...

how about return to oz coming 46 years after the wizard of oz?

spartickes said...

Not worth the record, but it is worth note, Bergman's last "Saraband" (2003) coming 30 years after "Scenes From a Marriage".

J.D. said...

I did not know a sequel to The Maltese Falcon existed.

*jumps out window*

Anonymous said...

Agree with "Return to Oz."

Greg said...

Okay, I think I should have defined this better. Putting "International Velvet" and "The Black Bird" at number one, in my opinion, was wrong. When thinking of a sequel, a true sequel, we think of an actor reprising their role. I think "Texasville", "A Man and A Woman: 20 years Later", "Psycho II" and "The Color of Money" fit this bill and "International Velvet" and "The Black Bird" do not.

Totally MY FAULT. No one else can claim ownership of that bad because it is belongs to me. Bad = mine.

"Belle Toujours" also has an actor from the original reprising a role but not the lead, not Catherine Deneuve. Those other four have the main characters reprising their roles. Effie may be around in "The Black Bird" but Bogart is not.

So I think the true winner here is "The Color of Money."

"Return to Oz" certainly isn't an MGM musical with Judy Garland so there should be a new category. Look for the update.

Oh and by the way, I think "Return to Oz" is totally underrated. I think it's a great fantasy film.

Ed Howard said...

I found one that beats the Color of Money record by a year, at least. Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville was made in 1965, and 26 years later, in 1991, he released Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, with Eddie Constantine reprising his lead role as Lemmy Caution. Of course, if you include the other non-Godard Lemmy Caution movies, the record is even longer -- the first one with Constantine in the role seems to have been made in 1953, making for a 38 year span between that and Godard's final installment in the series.

Another interesting Godard-related example is the gap between his Le Petit Soldat (released 1963) and Claire Denis' Beau Travail (1999), a 36 year gap. Michel Subor plays the same character, Bruno Forestier, in both films, with Denis' film essentially catching up with the character long after the events of Godard's film.

Greg said...

I'll go with the "Alphaville" connection since it's time between last and next efforts. For instance, with Indiana Jones I was not going with "Raiders" to "Skull" (27 years) but "Last Crusade" to "Skull" (19 years).

Thanks!

jahs34 said...

Chinatown and The two jakes.

Greg said...

I had that one up originally but at only 16 years (1974 and 1990) it didn't make the cut.

Janice said...

//Oh and by the way, I think "Return to Oz" is totally underrated. I think it's a great fantasy film.//

I heart the RTO love, jonathan. For years I thought I was the only person who saw it! (Side note: the storyline is taken mostly from Frank Baum's book "The Ozma of Oz" but the filmmakers have made it much more frightening than the book ever was, and they reset it in the milieu of Baum's original Oz, 1890's Kansas in the midst of economic depression. The addition of the psychiatrist and his machines was original to the film, as far as I can tell. Oh, and Fariuza Balk had an amazing face even as a girl.)

Greg said...

On Dennis Cozzalio's blog where he has a quiz every quarter one of his questions on the last one was "Who do you think should be a star that isn't?" My answer was Fariuza Balk. I personally think she's a terrific actress with an amazingly unique look.