I think film land, at least Hollywood, is relying too much on remakes or, if the film is a hit, you will see a 2nd, 3rd or in the case of Fast and Furious, #350 in the series. There are some original films out there but, usually, they are made on a small budget. I just watched the latest version of a film based on a book by Erich Maria Remarque who fought in World War 1. So there are 3 versions based on his book, there may be others, but these films have the same title as the book. Here are the 3…
1. ALL QUIET IN THE WESTERN FRONT-1930
This is the first and, to me, the best version of this classic war novel that stars Lew Ayres as the young Paul who, along with his friends, get riled up by their school teacher into patriotic furor and join the German army in 1914. They must go through training with the trainer being their old postmaster who feels he is the next 5 star general and lords it over the kids. Soon enough, these young boys are in the trenches, terrified at the horrors facing them. Over time, one by one is killed until Paul is left alone in the trenches. This is an early sound film and was actually made as a silent until the higher ups realized that it must be a sound film. Sound is used to great effect from the machine gun blitzing the enemy like ducks in a game. The cinematography, by Arthur Edison, is stellar making the black and white come alive. Lewis Milestone is the director who understood what the book was about and knew how to end the film in a great way using his own hand at the very end. By the way, Lew Ayres was so affected by this film that he stated he was a conscientious objector during WW2 and faced taunts and threats. What many did not know is that he joined in the hospital medic field and was truly heroic coming to the aid of soldiers.
2. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT-1979
I’d love to see this version again which was a TV film that spanned over 3 nights. I had already seen the 1930 version so I was ready to be unimpressed by a tv movie but, I was wrong! This is an excellent adaptation that stars Richard Thomas ( John Boy from The Waltons) as Paul and Ernest Borgnine as the I,Der soldier that takes Paul under his wing. You also have the great Donald Pleasance as the tough commander faced with whipping these kids into shape. Donald Pleasance was in the war and was a prisoner of war for the last couple of years of WW2. It is well acted and the first movie filmed in the former Czechoslovakia, a Communist held country at that time. I hope, one day, you can see this version which, to me, is not quite as good as the original but it’s so worthy.
3. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT-2022
I just watched this newest take of this classic book and film versions that stars Felix Kammerer as Paul who, along with his friends, join in the last 2 months of the war so they can be war heroes. They learn very quickly that there are no heroes only mud, blood, tanks and death. The bloody scenes are quite realistic and I will not get the image of one soldier, flattened by a tank, out of my mind any time soon. The grittiness and horrors are very realistic and almost too much but I was left wishing for more. Whoever decided to change the time and have it start near the end of the war made me feel like I was gyped. They cut out the scenes when they were being trained and when they visited some French girls. Here it was just one soldier who left and came back with a scarf. Again, I felt like I was cheated and I never felt the real warmth for the characters like I felt in the first film nor the 2nd. The editing, especially at the beginning, left me a bit confused and the friends died so quickly that I just didn’t ….care. This did win many awards and, if I didn’t know the book nor the other 2 films, it might have done more for me but I just didn’t fall in love with the characters like the first one. In the first film, when the first dies and you see another wearing his boots, you feel bad for that boy and icky that his friend took his boots but you understood why. In this film, they omitted the hospital scene but dealt with the footwear in a different way…which I have already forgotten.
Which films have you seen all the versions and which do you like the best? You have Superman, Spiderman, Dune but you have Love Affair as well. Maybe you prefer the first Dune film and, if you do, you might need some shock treatments:)
When I was covering a middle school history class (special ed) in February, they were watching the first film. They watched the whole thing and then had a writing assignment to go along with it. (They were studying WWI.)
If you go on imdb.com, you can look up any film and see where it's streaming. The second version appears to be available on plex.tv and tubi.com. Both platforms are free. So, if you want to see that version again, you can.
A movie I've seen all the versions? A Star Is Born comes to mind. What is it now, four? Five? And yes, I've seen all the Love Affair/An Affair to Remember. I'm sure my list of these is pretty long.
I haven’t seen the newest version of the story because I just don’t see a reason for it. The first does such a magnificent job of capturing the book’s essence I’m doubtful that the second TV version was even necessary. However, that version was able to expand and include more of the actual book’s events because of the extended run time and do it well. So that made some sense even if it couldn’t quite match the excellence of the 1930 film.
Were you aware that ZaSu Pitts was originally cast as Lew Ayres’s mother and filmed all her scenes, but when the film was previewed the audience’s connection to her as a comedienne was so strong that they laughed every time she appeared. It was so distracting that Milestone had to recast the role with Beryl Mercer and reshoot all the scenes. From what I’ve read ZaSu’s performance was deeply moving, she had bounced back and forth in silents between the two genres without issue but her distinctly peculiar way of speaking along with her fluttery gestures typed her in sound. At least it didn’t destroy her career as it did with Greta Nissen, Vilma Banky and many others whose speaking voices didn’t match their image.
My trio is the three versions of “The Maltese Falcon.”
The original version which retains the title was made in 1931 starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly, the marvelous Una Merkel as Sam’s secretary Effie and Thelma Todd as the faithless Iva. In that Pre-Code period, the movie was able to retain some of the randier aspects of the book which today seem tame but were enough for the Production Code office to ban it from being re-released for decades because of its “lewdness”! It’s a decent film with a good cast (though Cortez & Daniels are no Bogart & Astor), were it not for the perfect casting of the 1941 version, its reputation might be stronger.
However, the first remake of the material will never have an improved reputation because even its star referred to it as junk. That star was Bette Davis, and the retitled film is “Satan Met a Lady.” The plot has major changes, none to the good, with even the object of desire changed from a Falcon to a Ram’s Horn full of jewels. The picture itself is a confused mess with its only redeeming feature, a terrific cast (alongside Bette there’s Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher and Marie Wilson) but even they can’t do much with the script. It was almost the last straw for Bette, but she played it under duress and promised wonderful roles to follow. However, the wonderful role they offered next was a lady lumberjack (!) in “God’s Country and the Woman” and Bette walked out on her contract. A lawsuit (that she lost) followed but it garnered Warners’s respect and when she returned, she quickly became Queen of the lot.
Of course, the third version is the Bogart/Mary Astor classic of 1941 which thankfully has never been remade. One of the few times when everyone realized you cannot improve on something that is perfect as it is.
I saw all King Kong versions. The original was the best, the Jack Black one was good, but the 1976 (?) one was ghastly on so many levels. I very much liked the latest "All Quiet On the Western Front," more so than the original. While the John Boy version wasn't as bad the 1976 King Kong, it pales compared to the others.
I'm back on the internet now. At least, kinda. I've never seen any of those versions of "All Quiet". Well, maybe I did see that older version--in fact I'm pretty sure I did a couple years ago. It was pretty good, but I still haven't brought myself to see the newer versions.
Two stories I think of are The Great Gatsby and Pride & Prejudice. I've seen all versions I think as well as reading the books. Love those novels as well as the filmed interpretations.
I have read the book but not seen any of the films. I think it will stay that way. Too harrowing!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have seen the last version.
ReplyDeleteWorth your time.
DeleteI didn't realize there had been 3 versions of this film made.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was covering a middle school history class (special ed) in February, they were watching the first film. They watched the whole thing and then had a writing assignment to go along with it. (They were studying WWI.)
ReplyDeleteIf you go on imdb.com, you can look up any film and see where it's streaming. The second version appears to be available on plex.tv and tubi.com. Both platforms are free. So, if you want to see that version again, you can.
A movie I've seen all the versions? A Star Is Born comes to mind. What is it now, four? Five? And yes, I've seen all the Love Affair/An Affair to Remember. I'm sure my list of these is pretty long.
Hi Birgit!
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen the newest version of the story because I just don’t see a reason for it. The first does such a magnificent job of capturing the book’s essence I’m doubtful that the second TV version was even necessary. However, that version was able to expand and include more of the actual book’s events because of the extended run time and do it well. So that made some sense even if it couldn’t quite match the excellence of the 1930 film.
Were you aware that ZaSu Pitts was originally cast as Lew Ayres’s mother and filmed all her scenes, but when the film was previewed the audience’s connection to her as a comedienne was so strong that they laughed every time she appeared. It was so distracting that Milestone had to recast the role with Beryl Mercer and reshoot all the scenes. From what I’ve read ZaSu’s performance was deeply moving, she had bounced back and forth in silents between the two genres without issue but her distinctly peculiar way of speaking along with her fluttery gestures typed her in sound. At least it didn’t destroy her career as it did with Greta Nissen, Vilma Banky and many others whose speaking voices didn’t match their image.
My trio is the three versions of “The Maltese Falcon.”
The original version which retains the title was made in 1931 starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly, the marvelous Una Merkel as Sam’s secretary Effie and Thelma Todd as the faithless Iva. In that Pre-Code period, the movie was able to retain some of the randier aspects of the book which today seem tame but were enough for the Production Code office to ban it from being re-released for decades because of its “lewdness”! It’s a decent film with a good cast (though Cortez & Daniels are no Bogart & Astor), were it not for the perfect casting of the 1941 version, its reputation might be stronger.
However, the first remake of the material will never have an improved reputation because even its star referred to it as junk. That star was Bette Davis, and the retitled film is “Satan Met a Lady.” The plot has major changes, none to the good, with even the object of desire changed from a Falcon to a Ram’s Horn full of jewels. The picture itself is a confused mess with its only redeeming feature, a terrific cast (alongside Bette there’s Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher and Marie Wilson) but even they can’t do much with the script. It was almost the last straw for Bette, but she played it under duress and promised wonderful roles to follow. However, the wonderful role they offered next was a lady lumberjack (!) in “God’s Country and the Woman” and Bette walked out on her contract. A lawsuit (that she lost) followed but it garnered Warners’s respect and when she returned, she quickly became Queen of the lot.
Of course, the third version is the Bogart/Mary Astor classic of 1941 which thankfully has never been remade. One of the few times when everyone realized you cannot improve on something that is perfect as it is.
I saw all King Kong versions. The original was the best, the Jack Black one was good, but the 1976 (?) one was ghastly on so many levels. I very much liked the latest "All Quiet On the Western Front," more so than the original. While the John Boy version wasn't as bad the 1976 King Kong, it pales compared to the others.
ReplyDeleteHave a Labour Free Day:)
ReplyDeleteI'm back on the internet now. At least, kinda.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any of those versions of "All Quiet". Well, maybe I did see that older version--in fact I'm pretty sure I did a couple years ago. It was pretty good, but I still haven't brought myself to see the newer versions.
Two stories I think of are The Great Gatsby and Pride & Prejudice. I've seen all versions I think as well as reading the books. Love those novels as well as the filmed interpretations.
Lee