One of this summers early hits was Cold Comfort Farm, a sharply on target parody of English
romantic novels extoling the virtues of country life (mostly written by writers living in the city).
This is actually the second filming of Stella Gibbons' novel. An earlier (1971) version directed by
Peter Hammond, also produced by the BBC, aired on Masterpiece Theatre. This earlier version,
boasts a superior teleplay adapted by David Turner and a superior cast including Alastair Sim (A
Christmas Carol) as Amos Starkadder the befuddled patriarch, and preacher to the "Quiverers",
to whom he promises damnation, eternal torment, and not the slightest fear of salvation. Aubrey
Morris (A Clockwork Orange) is Mr. Mybug a country academic writing a thesis which will
prove that Bramwell Bronte actually wrote all the novels attributed to his sisters. Mybug's
blatant sexism is somewhat mollified by the Morris' childlike eccentricity, unlike Stephen Fry
(Peter's Friends) who's Mybug is more mean spirited, thick headed and menacing. Both Sarah
Badel and Kate Beckinsale are excellent as Flora Poste although Sarah is given better lines.
There is a lot of verbal fencing, as Flora expertly deflects Seth's sexual inuendo as well as
Neanderthal menace of Rubin, played by Brian Blessed (I, Claudius), England's loudest actor.
One of the classic, sci-fi films of the fifties is Invaders from Mars directed by William Cameron
Menzies (Things to Come). This film was so successful in creating a childs worst nightmare--in
which his parents and friends are taken over by aliens--that most responsible television stations
in the sixties would refuse to show it, and those that did were innundated with calls from parents
of children having their own bad dreams. Menzies expertly uses low camera angles and
oversized, highly stylized sets to create a child's eye view of the world. Tobe Hooper (Texas
Chain Saw Massacre) used Golem/Globus money and John Dykstra special effects to make a
big budget version in 1986, but the results were more humerous than scary. Karen Black is
possibly the most frightning thing in the movie--and she's one of the good guys--totally miscast
as the school nurse who believes the young boy (played by her son). In the original Helena
Carter is the ultimate fifties sci-fi heroine; smart, beautiful, and able to stand up to any bug eyed
monster. Jimmy Hunt is also more like a real kid, wide eyed and looking really scared when the
script calls for it. (he also appears in the remake as a policeman). Hunter Carson is the sort of kid
you find in Spielberg's films--too smart for his own good, and too aware of where the camera is.
Despite the larger budget Hooper's Martians look even sillier than in the original, and that takes
some doing.
One interesting remake is the Spanish language version of Dracula filmed with an entirely diffrerent cast and crew, but using the same story and sets, as the Bela Lagosi version (they filmed at night after Lagosi and company finished for the day). While Carlos Villarias lacks the creepy charisma of Lagosi, the supporting cast including Lupita Tovar, and Pablo Alvarez Rubio are excellent, and George Robinson's cinematography is more atmospheric and less stage bound than the English version, and with less concern for government oversight (this came to a head in the early thirties) there was more opportunity to explore the sensual aspects of the story. This version is also 28 minutes longer allowing for more story development.
It is often tempting for directors to remake their own early low budget films. Cecil de Mille remade The Ten Commandments. George Romero remade Night of the Living Dead. And Alfred Hitchcock remade his early British quickie The Man Who Knew Too Much. The original was fast paced and full of dry British wit, with strong characters (especially the mother who grabs a rifle from a police sharpshooter in order to take out the hoodlum holding her daughter at knifepoint). The remake displays all the problems of having too much money to spend making a film. Stretching the story for an extra 45 minutes makes it slow moving and dull. Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day are about as exciting as French toast (and everything grinds to a screeching halt while Doris Day sings a medley of her hit: "Que Sara, Sara"). The teenage daughter is replaced by a whiny young boy, the sort of brat that if they had just let the kidnappers hold on to him for a while they would have gladly paid the parents to take him back. Bernard Herrmann, however has an interesting cameo conducting the orchestra at the Albert Hall.
Maybe I'm just a lover of old films but I still think Claudette Colbert is a much sexier Cleopatra than Elizabeth Taylor, and despite some spectacular gore John Carpenter's The Thing lacks the sophisticated dialogue of the original (it also lacks any female characters). The Complete Beatles is just a thinly disguised parody of The Rutles Movie: All You Need Is Cash produced four years earlier. I'm even been told that someone has remade Clueless as a Victorian costume piece, but don't get me started.