Movies so good, they couldn't make them just once!

Cafe Society
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Well, good is a matter of taste, I guess.
Myself, I’m thinking of two examples, the first being “Aunty Mame”, made once with Rosalind Russell and once with Lucille Ball. A bit wierd, but fun old movies!

Then, the next to come to mind is a John Wayne movie which wasn’t made twice but three times, first as “Rio Bravo” in 1959, with Wayne riding into town to help the drunk sherriff played by Dean Martin, and the cranky old deputy played by Walter Brennan, then as El Dorado, with Wayne riding into town to help the drunk sherriff played by Robert Mitchum, and the cranky old deputy played by Arthur Hunnicut.

The third, Rio Lobo, I haven’t seen, but I have it on fair authority that it’s a fair copy.

Still newer are the three versions of ‘Red Dragon’, one the original black and white called, IIRC, “Manhunter”, the made-for-TV version which capitalized on the popularity of the release of Silence of the Lambs, and the recently remade version with Anthony Hopkins. (sir)

So what are your multiple movies? and which is the best?

b.

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A few that come to mind are ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, ‘The Ring’ (one in Japanese, one in English), ‘The Shining’ (I believe there was a made-for-TV and an in-theater).

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The Seven Samurai, remade in America as The Magnificent Seven. Good stuff.

The Haunting, but only the first version was good.

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Three of the four versions of A Star is Born were all excellent – the first was called What Price Hollywood, and the bad one was the last one made. Beau Geste was done so many times that Marty Feldman made a parody called The Last Remake of Beau Geste but I believe he was wrong.

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Manhunter was in color.

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And don’t forget Battle Beyond the Stars, a third remake of the Seven Samurai, this time set in outer space starring John-Boy from the Waltons. See the IMDB listing here:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080421

I think there are dozens of other movies that are really the Seven Samurai dressed up in new clothes. Bad guys threaten peaceful victims, rag-tag group of good guys is assembled, good guys kick the ass of bad guys, life lessons are learned. Another remake would be A Bug’s Life, and I’m sure there are many others…

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Cleopatra has been made about a bazillion times.

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The Great Gatsby - there has to be at least five versions of this, to various degrees of suckage.

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My Man Godfrey – I saw the 1936 version about a year ago, and really liked it. The whole movie is great, but the final scene just puts it over the top into brilliance. After Godfrey (William Powell) survives the lunacy of the Bullock family and emerges as a self-remade man, daughter Irene (Carole Lombard) drops by unannounced to marry him. And there doesn’t seem to be a thing he can do about it. The last line is the funniest I’ve ever heard in a movie (and that includes Some Like it Hot).

Powell is great as the stuffed-shirt who’s wise and patient in an atmosphere where neither of those attributes will ever be noticed. And Lombard is sweet and adorably absurd.

I haven’t seen the 1957 remake with David Niven and June Allyson, and I don’t feel like I really need to. There was nothing in the original that needed to be improved.

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A Christmas Carol

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The early Woody Allen movie “Bananas” was redone a few years later as “Sleeper”. He got a new supporting cast and changed the setting from Central America to the future, but otherwise it was pretty much the same.

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Insomnia beacame Insomnia
Les Visiteurs became Just Visiting
La Femme Nikita became The Point of no Return
And the grand daddy of them all Evil Dead became Evil Dead II

And there are hundreds of others.

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Dang. Maybe I was watching it on a black&white tv. I certainly remember it as black and white!!

b.

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Auntie Mame(1958) was an adaption of the stage play based on Patrick Dennis’ book.

Mame(1974) was an adaptation of the musical based on Patrick Dennis’ book.

In this case I guess there is no escaping the concept of Mame being a remake. They are very different movies. Very.

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Psycho became Psycho
The Thing from another World became The Thing
The Fly became The Fly
And how could we forget that Casablanca became this piece of poop on a stick

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There was also a Chinese remake.

I’ve got tapes of three versions of The Three Musketeers and I know there’s others. Robin Hood is another story that’s been filmed several times.

Clark Gable starred in Red Dust in 1932 and later starred in the the 1953 remake Mogambo.

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There was no made-for-TV version of “Red Dragon”.

Following the release of “Silence Of The Lambs”, the owners of the TV rights to “Manhunter” merely changed the title to “Red Dragon: The Search For Hannibal Lecter”.

There are some extra scenes in this retitled version, but I don’t think it could be counted as a wholly different film.

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According to legend, someone asked John Wayne about that. He replied, “Next time, I’ll play the drunk.”

The classic version of * The Maltese Falcon*, with Humphrey Bogart, was the third time that that book had been turned into a movie.

The Wizard of Oz was filmed nearly a dozen times before the Judy Garland version.

The Prisoner of Zenda was filmed three times. Each version has fans who consider their favorite to be the only true classic.

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Dangerous Liaisons was remade as Valmont and then was remade again as Cruel Intentions.

Much like a photocopy of a photocopy, with each iteration it got worse.

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Yojimbo became A Fistful of Dollars and then Last Man Standing.