From sequels earlier we move to remakes, only remakes done by the very same director who made the original. Why direct the same film again? I have no idea. Some questions I just don't ask.
Oscar Micheaux: Birthright - 1924 and 1939
Cecil B. DeMille: The Squaw Man - 1914, 1918 AND 1931
Alfred Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much - 1934 and 1956
Leo McCarey: Love Affair - 1939 and 1957 (retitled An Affair to Remember
Woody Allen: September - 1987 and 1987. He made the movie first with Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Durning and Sam Shepard, then made it again with Elaine Stritch, Denholm Elliott and Sam Waterston in their roles. Why? Maybe he was bored.
Michael Haneke: Funny Games - 1997 and 2007
Martin Scorsese: Goodfellas 1990 Casino 1995. Oh, wait a minute...
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13 comments:
How about
William Wyler: These Three - 1936 and 1961
(Admittedly retitled as The Children's Hour and with the lesbian element from the play back in)
Cecil B DeMille also made two versions of "The Ten Commandments" but then I realized that the only thing the films share in common is the title.
I've seen both versions of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (the first one featured Peter Lorre, btw) and they make for an interesting comparison. It actually made sense that he remade it - it was still an interesting story concept, but 20-some years later he was a mature filmmaker in full command of his gifts - and with a larger budget at his disposal, bigger stars, more exotic locales and better filmmaking techniques. All of that doesn't necessarily add up to a better film, but in this case I think it does. I'll need to revist the earlier version, though.
George Sluizer made Spoorlos (The Vanishing) a fantastic horror flick in 1988, and then came to America to remake it terribly with Kiefer Sutherland in 1993 (also as The Vanishing)
Where are my manners - thank you for all the guest blogging lately, Jonathan, the interesting, thought provoking subjects and SOMETHING besides Disney.
Ben - that works for me. I hadn't thought of that one.
Janice - I remember like the Lorre version better but it's been a while since I've seen either, probably five years at least. I'll have to revisit them soon.
Robert - I couldn't agree more. Maybe that's why I forgot about that because I couldn't stand the remake. But now I do want to see Spoorlos again.
Janice - Thank you, that's very kind of you to say. I seem to be the last guest blogger left standing.
Didn't Ozu do two versions of Floating Weeds, too?
And Capra's Pocketful of Miracles from 1961 is pretty much a remake of Lady for a Day which is from the 30s, isn't it?
The American version of the The Grudge is directed by the same guy who helmed the Japanese original. That's all I've got.
Kon Ichikawa remade two of his films - The Burmese Harp and The Inagumis.
I was gonna say The Grudge as well. They're both as bad as each other.
LOL on the Scorsese thing.
although i would add that he remade it thrice.
goodfellas (1990) casino -the first half (1995) and casino -the second half (1995) since casino is essentially the same film twice, looping as it does to repeat itself ... ugh i hate that movie. love scorsese but that movie just annoys the hell out of me.
Thanks everyone for the additions. And thanks Nathanial for pointing out that Scorsese did a double remake.
DeMille also remade the Golden Chance (the Film of the Month Club June selection- plug plug) as Forbidden Fruit.
Often it's to take advantage of a technical development (silent-talkie, b&w - color, etc.) But also we should remember that in the days before home video and television rebroadcasts, most movies were not really "forever". They'd play their run, then usually disappear. Remakes make more sense in such an environment.
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