# Were there any sequel movies before Star Wars?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 2, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628 "2015-04-02T16:04:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/41 "2015-04-02T22:50:12Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#):
>
> Let us not forget \*[Bonzo Goes to College\*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Goes_to_College), the stirring and epic sequel to _Bedtime for Bonzo_.
Speaking of Ronald Reagan – were we speaking of Ronald Reagan? – note that he headlined the _Brass Bancroft_ movies in the '30s and '40s (He smashes a smuggling ring! He goes undercover in a prison to bust counterfeiters! He’s up against saboteurs in a dirigible!), and also did the _Brother Rat_ movies with Eddie Albert.
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### Author:  [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/42 "2015-04-02T22:50:14Z")
John Milton’s _Paradise Regained_, published in 1671, might be the first example of a sequel named by original title + variation.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/43 "2015-04-02T23:08:51Z")
[QUOTE=Smapti]
James Bond.
[/QUOTE]
Likewise, _Our Man Flint_ and _In Like Flint_.
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Similarly, they made \*Dracula \*and _Dracula’s Daughter_.
Let us not forget _Blacula_ and _Scream Blacula Scream_.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/44 "2015-04-02T23:33:55Z")
> [@Penfeather](#):
>
> John Milton’s _Paradise Regained_, published in 1671, might be the first example of a sequel named by original title + variation.
Shakespeare wrote a _[Love’s Labour’s Won](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love%27s_Labour%27s_Won)_, although it is lost and we don’t know if it was a true sequel to _Love’s Labour’s Lost_ or a canonical play under a different name.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/45 "2015-04-02T23:46:37Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > John Milton’s Paradise Regained, published in 1671, might be the first example of a sequel named by original title + variation.
>
> Shakespeare wrote a _[Love’s Labour’s Won](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love%27s_Labour%27s_Won)_, although it is lost and we don’t know if it was a true sequel to _Love’s Labour’s Lost_ or a canonical play under a different name.
Can we count The Old Testament and The New Testament?
No?
Fine, I’ll get my Biblical fix from _The Abominable Dr. Phibes_ and _Dr. Phibes Rises Again._
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/46 "2015-04-02T23:52:21Z")
Cyrano de Bergerac’s works include
- The States and Empires of the Moon
- The States and Empires of the Sun
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/47 "2015-04-02T23:58:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> Cyrano de Bergerac’s works include
>
> - The States and Empires of the Moon
> - The States and Empires of the Sun
Which, coming back around, reminds me that _The Three Musketeers_ in '73 was of course followed by _The Four Musketeers_ in '74.
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### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/48 "2015-04-03T00:16:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> Which, coming back around, reminds me that _The Three Musketeers_ in '73 was of course followed by _The Four Musketeers_ in '74.
And then _[The Return of the Musketeers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Musketeers)_ in '89.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/49 "2015-04-03T00:20:02Z")
Incidentally, while the OP asks for a sequel from before STAR WARS, that’s not really the _point,_ is it? Shouldn’t a pre-EMPIRE STRIKES BACK sequel like ROCKY II count?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/50 "2015-04-03T00:24:10Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#):
>
> Cool. When are they doing the sequel to _Titanic_? That movie was pretty good and made a boatload [heh] of money.
[Titanic II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_II_%28film%29)
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### Author:  [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/51 "2015-04-03T00:58:25Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> Shakespeare wrote a _[Love’s Labour’s Won](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love%27s_Labour%27s_Won)_, although it is lost and we don’t know if it was a true sequel to _Love’s Labour’s Lost_ or a canonical play under a different name.
:smack:
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### Author:  [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/52 "2015-04-03T01:36:14Z")
> [@Penfeather](#):
>
> John Milton’s _Paradise Regained_, published in 1671, might be the first example of a sequel named by original title + variation.
Followed by William Blake with innocence and experience. Bizarro Series?
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/53 "2015-04-03T01:55:22Z")
The French Connection 2 came out two years before Star Wars.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/54 "2015-04-03T01:58:10Z")
> [@pkbites](#):
>
> The French Connection 2 came out two years before Star Wars.
Speaking of which, Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/55 "2015-04-03T02:26:07Z")
They were up to the third of those stupid Herbie the Love Bug movies by 1977.
Francis the Talking Mule had a bazillion sequels way before 1977.
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) then Son of Flubber (1963).
The Blob (1958) then Beware! The Blob (1972)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/56 "2015-04-03T03:28:14Z")
I would say that \*The Empire Strikes Back \*is the key film in that it was the first sequel that both:
[list=A]
[li]Was treated with as much respect (by fans & the industry) before, during & after its production as its predecessor was.[/li]and
[li]Was of equal quality and success as its predecessor.[/li][/list]
I wouldn’t count _Godfather II_ because they’re really just one long movie in two parts (like they do now). _Jaws 2_ was the quintessential terrible, incompetently made cheesy sequel to one of the best movies ever. _Planet of the Apes_ could get credit as kinda the first modern franchise, but not really. The sequels were all viewed as inferior, and the budgets (and quality) of them steadily decreased as well (IOW they were similar to old-school _‘Son of Godzilla’_ stuff).
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/57 "2015-04-03T03:44:03Z")
[The Blondie movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_%281938_film%29) and the Andy Hardy movies (in the late 1930’s and early 40’s) are examples of sequels. The Ma and Pa Kettle movies in the late 40’s and early 50’s are another example.
It depend on what you mean by a sequel. A sequel can be another movie using the same characters. Or if you want to be more precise. A sequel could require continuing an original story line. There’s aren’t all that many movies that actually continue a story in a sequel.
> [@](#):
>
> This was the first of 28 films based on the comic strip; Columbia Pictures produced them from 1938 to 1943, and popular demand brought them back in 1945. When the Blondie film series came to an end with Beware of Blondie in 1950,
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### Author:  [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/58 "2015-04-03T03:47:30Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#):
>
> And then _[The Return of the Musketeers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Musketeers)_ in '89.
Not to mention _The Fifth Musketeer_ and _Twenty Years After_.
(Did they do a _Thirty Years After_?)
–G?
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/59 "2015-04-03T05:18:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> [The Blondie movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie_%281938_film%29) and the Andy Hardy movies (in the late 1930’s and early 40’s) are examples of sequels.
This gets at the fundamental change in attitude towards sequels in the modern age (starting, IMO with the _Star Wars_ films). When Charlton Heston was offered the lead in _Beneath the Planet of the Apes_ he specifically said, “I don’t want to do a _sequel!_ That’s Andy Hardy stuff!” IOW he considered it an insult (he eventually only agreed to a small role in its beginning & end and donated his salary to charity). Individual films were then thought of as separate, isolated pieces of art. Sequels were indicative of serials: lightweight, tacky, derivative, comedic dreck churned out to please the masses and the studio bean-counters.
The closest thing to a big-picture franchise in the old studio days were the James Bond films, but their relationship and continuity to each other was deliberately made thin & ambiguous so that they would \*\*NOT \*\*be thought of as sequels but independent films (because sequels got no respect!).
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-there-any-sequel-movies-before-star-wars/716628/60 "2015-04-03T05:21:00Z")
The second Friday the 13th movie started off with the lone survivor of the first one getting killed, so I guess that’s a sequel. The rest that followed, well, it was a franchise, I guess. Then there was the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.
And on a lighter note, those Frankie and Annette beach movies.
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