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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on May 24, 2017 20:13:33 GMT
Admittedly such films are usually stretching the definition of "classic", but anyway....
Twist Around the Clock (1961) and Don't Knock the Twist (1962) were both produced to cash-in on the twist dance craze.
Roller Boogie (1979) tried to cash in on the disco roller skating fad.
One film intended to cash in on a fad was Loving You (1957) with Elvis Presley. No doubt the film makers thought he'd be forgotten by 1960. Yet he turned out to not be a fad at all....and the film itself is pretty decent.
What are some other classic films designed to cash in on a fad?
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 24, 2017 21:22:02 GMT
Along those same lines were:
Can't Stop the Music - Exploiting the popularity of Village People, at its height as the film went into production in summer of '79; past its shelf life by the time of its spring 1980 release (making the fact of its being a rather terrible film anyway pretty much moot). It happens to have been the one and only feature film directed by Nancy Walker.
Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, both released 1984.
Would The Maltese Bippy count? Shot during the 1969 hiatus between seasons 2 & 3 of Laugh-In, it's an old Abbott & Costello or Martin & Lewis-style comedy murder mystery, but works in Laugh-In-style bits and catch phrases. Perhaps only marginally better remembered than Dan Rowan and Dick Martin's only other feature film, 1958's comedy western, Once Upon A Horse nearly a decade before their breakout television success.
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Post by mikef6 on May 24, 2017 22:16:20 GMT
Admittedly such films are usually stretching the definition of "classic", but anyway....
Twist Around the Clock (1961) and Don't Knock the Twist (1962) were both produced to cash-in on the twist dance craze. Roller Boogie (1979) tried to cash in on the disco roller skating fad. One film intended to cash in on a fad was Loving You (1957) with Elvis Presley. No doubt the film makers thought he'd be forgotten by 1960. Yet he turned out to not be a fad at all....and the film itself is pretty decent. What are some other classic films designed to cash in on a fad? Rock ‘n Roll in general was at first considered a fad which would soon fade so producer Sam Katzman - he of the famed “Katzman Quickies” – rushed some rock movies into production. One of them, “Rock Around The Clock” (1956) is not all that bad a picture. DJ Alan Freed, playing himself, happens upon Bill Haley and The Comets playing a local high school dance gig. The film ends with a long TV production of up-and-coming R&R acts. The really classy one that I love is The Platters performing “The Great Pretender.” (BTW, Alan Freed’s career went down the toilet just three years later due to his involvement in the “Payola” scandal.) A big ‘50s social concern was “juvenile delinquency.” This subject was exploited by Hollywood in both “A” and “Z” pictures. Two from 1955 “Rebel Without A Cause,” and “Blackboard Jungle” might be called genuine classics. Others such as “Hot Rod Rumble” (1957), “Cry Baby Killer” (1958) – Jack Nicholson’s screen debut – and “Dragstrip Riot” (1958), needless to say, are virtually unwatchable. Speaking of screen debuts, Audie Murphy got his first staring role (after a couple of bit parts) in “Bad Boy” (1949) in which he plays a j.d. who is sent to a real-life Texas ranch which housed delinquent boys as an alternative to the reformatory. The Platters. This still gives me chills. (That's Alan Freed at the very beginning of the video.) |
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Post by marianne48 on May 24, 2017 23:40:51 GMT
Wouldn't A Hard Day's Night fall into this category? At the time, many people thought the Beatles would just be a passing fad; even the Beatles themselves assumed that their stardom would be fleeting, and they were already considering other career paths for when the whole music thing fizzled out
(a short film clip made in the early '60s asked them about their future plans, with Ringo mentioning his hopes that he could make enough money with the band that he could eventually open a hair salon in his hometown). The film seemed designed primarily to capture "Beatlemania" as if it needed to be documented as an artifact of its era; they likely wouldn't have foreseen that the Beatles would only become bigger in the coming years and remain relevant for decades.
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Post by bravomailer on May 24, 2017 23:42:25 GMT
Saturday Night Fever. It came across to me as a criticism of the superficiality and self-absorption in disco culture.
Breakin' cashed in on break dancing.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 25, 2017 4:22:41 GMT
Has anyone here mentioned Elvis's Easy Come, Easy Go, an atrocious movie that, in part, cashes in on yoga (not really a "fad," maybe, but close enough)? I only know about it because someone referenced it as including Elsa Lanchester's most frightening scene (where she sings probably the world's worst song with Elvis), far scarier than anything in The Bride of Frankenstein! I'd include a link to the scene (so that ye all may share in the misery of having seen it  ), but at the moment I'm on an airplane, and it's difficult. |
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 25, 2017 5:20:56 GMT
Jaws 2 (1978) , Jaws 3-D (1983) , Jaws: The Revenge (1987) the sequels all cashed in on the natural horror thriller craze that was created from the original , tie-in merchandise and theme park rides a flow on, marketing releases for the holiday crowds, the era of mass film commercialization was here.
I think many sequel films are probably the same, cashing in on a fad (an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something) having initially created a following, Star Wars and Mad Max come to mind, although I have seen none of either, there are many others examples.
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Post by telegonus on May 25, 2017 7:20:18 GMT
The successful 1973 Dillinger remake, and a damn good film in its own right, obviously cashing in one the period crime film fad that had nearly faded into oblivion begun by Bonnie & Clyde six years earlier.
David And Bathsheba and The Robe, 1951 and '53 respectively, two Fox films made to cash in on the fad,--or is trend a better word?--for films set in ancient or Biblical times begun by Samson And Delilah (1949).
William Castle's 1961 Homicidal, clearly the director's attempt to cash in on the enormous success of the previous year's Psycho, which is so ironic, as Psycho's director, Alfred Hitchcock, made his film to cash in on the William Castle horror cycle!
Robert Montgomery's The Lady In The Lake (1946-47,--I've read differing dates on this one), the star-director cashing in on not only the private eye genre revived by 1941's The Maltese Falcon, which was well underway, but the phenomenon, begun by Dick Powell when he played Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet a couple of years earlier, of an urbane, well established now early in middle age star attempting to change his image from smooth dude to tough guy. In both cases by playing the same character!
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Post by vegalyra on May 25, 2017 17:38:02 GMT
I wouldn't consider it "classic" but Joysticks (1983) was attempting to cash in on the arcade video game scene. I watched it last night for the first time since it appeared in edited form on USA Up All Night years ago. What a stinker. I loved the arcades when I was a kid, but we didn't have anyone named "King Vidiot" running around with his groupies anywhere I went. Guess I went to the wrong arcades. I guess Jon Gries would take just about any gig at that time. Of course, being an early '80s film, T&A abounds.
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Post by teleadm on May 25, 2017 17:52:51 GMT
Following new dance fads in older films came Bolero 1934 and Rumba 1935, both starring George Raft and Carole Lombard.
Another fad was once a song made it onto the Lucky Strike Hit Parade listing in the 1940s, the odds were high that Universal or Republic would buy the title and try to find a screenplay to fit it. One of those was Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga 1941. Another was Pistol Packin' Mama 1943.
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Post by mattgarth on May 25, 2017 17:56:19 GMT
The 1941 film POT 'O GOLD with James Stewart and Paulette Goddard was inspired by the popular radio giveaway program.
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Post by claudius on May 25, 2017 19:45:35 GMT
Could one include Hollywood's horror cycle in the early 1930s? All the studios wanted to cash in the success of the Universal monster films, be they Paramount (DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS), Warner (DOCTOR X, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, THE WALKING DEAD), Columbia (THE BLACK ROOM), and MGM (MASK OF FU MANCHU, MAD LOVE, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, THE DEVIL DOLL).
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Post by bravomailer on May 25, 2017 19:49:50 GMT
There must have been movies in the 20s and 30s that drew upon the Charleston, jazz, and flappers. This one drew upon the a 60s fad:  |
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Post by wanton87 on May 26, 2017 0:01:55 GMT
I think it’s probably safe to say that the various 60’s beach movies would fall into this category. I’m not old enough to remember the 60’s very well, but surfing must have been a popular sport for those living in the coastal states, and in particular, more temperate climates. I’d also venture to guess that the surfs shops of the time did quite well. |
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 26, 2017 2:03:13 GMT
The publics interest in Ancient Egypt became a fad in the twenties and thirties sparked by the discovery and opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. The lavish artefacts and colourful adornments inspired arts and fashion, the rumours that followed about a "Curse of the Pharaohs" fuelled mysticism about the ancient culture.
The Mummy (1932) Universal Studios saw an opportunity to cash in on the historical interest on the publics fascination. Directly inspired by the opening of the Pharaoh's tomb they came up with the idea for an Egyptian themed horror film. The movie became a box office success.  |
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on May 26, 2017 2:53:21 GMT
Wouldn't A Hard Day's Night fall into this category? At the time, many people thought the Beatles would just be a passing fad; even the Beatles themselves assumed that their stardom would be fleeting, and they were already considering other career paths for when the whole music thing fizzled out (a short film clip made in the early '60s asked them about their future plans, with Ringo mentioning his hopes that he could make enough money with the band that he could eventually open a hair salon in his hometown). The film seemed designed primarily to capture "Beatlemania" as if it needed to be documented as an artifact of its era; they likely wouldn't have foreseen that the Beatles would only become bigger in the coming years and remain relevant for decades. Yes, I think it counts, same with the early Elvis Presley films. Although the Beatles and Presley have been popular for decades now, the people who made those films probably assumed they'd be fads. Another example of this would be the various 1980s/1990s TV series designed to cash-in on the popularity of video game character Mario. The people who made those shows probably assumed Mario games would be a fad, but they remain popular. |
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Post by teleadm on May 26, 2017 13:24:32 GMT
Has anyone here mentioned Elvis's Easy Come, Easy Go, an atrocious movie that, in part, cashes in on yoga (not really a "fad," maybe, but close enough)? I only know about it because someone referenced it as including Elsa Lanchester's most frightening scene (where she sings probably the world's worst song with Elvis), far scarier than anything in The Bride of Frankenstein! I'd include a link to the scene (so that ye all may share in the misery of having seen it ), but at the moment I'm on an airplane, and it's difficult. I think I might be the guilty part, though the link that I used is gone, it was a thread I started about pairings one never thought could happen, or something like that. There are still a few versions on Youtube but with inferiour sound (if that matters in theis case) just type: elvis elsa yoga, and see what pops up. |
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Post by fangirl1975 on May 26, 2017 20:40:38 GMT
The B movie Galaxy Of Terror was made to cash in on the popularity of Alien.
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Post by koskiewicz on May 27, 2017 2:00:10 GMT
"Rumble Fish" - stark black and white with nuances of color cashing in on the lone wolf type like "The Wild One"
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Post by marshamae on May 27, 2017 2:46:53 GMT
It really seems to me that any of the musical films that feature a music break with popular recording artists might fit this bill. Sun Valley Serenade and Second chorus had the orchestra built into Tge story but other films, particularly in the late 50's and early 60's , simply planted a concert in the middle of the film where recording artists from James Brown, Stevie Wonder to Leslie Gore performed
Then there's Frank Sinatra. We are used to adulation for singers now, but Sinatra's breakout solo career ,starting with his appearance at the Paramount with Benny Goodman , was a first. Everyone in show business was trying to find a way to get him on their platform, certain that he would fill the house. They didn't know what to do with him in films, and didn't expect much . They just stuck him in front of a camera , had him sing a song and let nature take its course. When he left MGM, Louis Mayer reportedly said, that bum never made a good movie. While not entirely true ,MGM had no idea what to do with him. They just wanted to capitalize on his fame , which they did not understand. You might say the same thing of Robin Williams early films . He was a big crazy hit in TV, so there must be a way to use that on film. It wasn't til GOOD MORNING VIÊT NAM that they had a script that made use of his gifts and still told a story. Up until then they were just cashing in on a Hot new guy.
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), but at the moment I'm on an airplane, and it's difficult.
