At 02:36 PM 6/23/2004 -0400, Harold A. Climer wrote:
>At 12:44 PM 6/22/2004 -0400, Kim Edward Renz wrote:
>>Dr. Prevost is correct. For example, remember that The Patriot (starring
>>Mel Gibson and Steven Segal) came out twice in the same year. Look up Fade
>>to Black (Timothy Busfield and Dennis Christopher) and find two different
>>movies, and we have seen at least 3 Bad Company (with Jeff Bridges, Ellen
>>Barkin and Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins) films. I am sure there are many
>>more like examples of title use with diverse subject matter.
>>
>>Kim Edward Renz, Director
>>Patten Performances, UTC Fine Arts Center
>>Department 1351, 615 McCallie Avenue
>>Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403-2598
>>[log in to unmask]  www.utc.edu/finearts
>>Office: 423-425-4379  Fax: 423-425-5249
>
>We also have the other case of the re-make of the same movie, of course
>with the same name.
>IMHO the remakes are never as good as the first attempt.  "Miracle on 34th
>Street" and " Born Yesterday"come to mind.
>Judy Holliday and Brodrick Crawford have it all over John Goodman et al.
>
>Harold A. Climer
>Dept. Of Physics, Geology, and Astronomy
>Room 318 Grote Hall
>University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
>615 McCallie Ave
>423-425-4546


ON THE OTHER HAND, did you prefer "The Shop Around the Corner" to "You've
Got Mail"?  or "Wagon Wheels West" to "Cheyenne Roundup"?  Hitchcock's
first version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much"?  "The Philadelphia Story" to
"High Society"?  "The Front Page" to "His Girl Friday"?

Those are some where both films have things to commend them.  Sometimes the
original was so awful nobody remembers it and the remake is the standard,
so the comparison doesn't even occur.  One example that comes to mind is
"Enchanted April."  Having seen both the 1935 and 1992 versions, I can tell
you there are good reasons nobody remembers the original, which was made
much closer to the time of the story it was based on.  And then there are
movies like "Spartacus" or "Ben Hur" that are nothing but spectacles
anyway, so the later version will almost always be preferred by virtue of
the pyrotechnics.

I think you're correct as a rule, but there are some notable exceptions.

Fritz.