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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 3, 2017 13:28:29 GMT
The classic Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" is a rewrite of The Enemy Below, down to minute plot details. According to Harlan Ellison, the "BoT" writer even admitted this to him. There's a 2 part Daniel Boone episode that is stolen lock, stock and barrel from Bend of the River. BotR was Universal, DB was Fox. I can't explain how this was done without lawsuits; perhaps b/c Aaron Rosenberg produced both. Getting kind of far afield here, but it's always fun to watch a Warners Bros show from their TV era (roughly '55-'64) in case they're reworking one of their old movie properties. I was once watching a Cheyenne that suddenly turned into the last act of Bordertown/They Drive By Night. There's a 77 Sunset Strip that remakes Strangers On A Train, and Cheyenne remade Errol Flynn's Rocky Mountain so closely that actor Peter Coe was hired to replay his RM role, even wearing the same costume so shots would match the stock footage from RM. I once saw some series I can't recall ( Bourbon Street Beat?) that redid White Heat. Supposedly there is a Bronco (w/Ty Hardin) that remade Tovarich, but I've never seen that. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 16:51:08 GMT
The War of the Worlds (1953) = Independence Day (1996) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) = Godzilla (1998) Them! (1954) = Eight Legged Freaks (2002) Thanks. Looking back on them, ID does rather more resemble TWOTW than the Spielberg remake, which, to the best of my recollection, was grimly austere, emotionally, letting the effects overwhelm its humanity. Unusual for Spielberg. There was a lot I didn't like about ID, but a lack of rousing involvement wasn't one of them. I often have trouble keeping the "giant creature from the sea ravages a city" films straight. 1998 was the Matthew Broderick one, wasn't it? What I recall most about it was an uncharacteristically agile and athletic Godzilla. So it more resembles TBF2F than the '54 original then? When I try to remember specifics, I'm honestly not sure if I'm recalling that Godzilla or Jurassic Park II. Beyond a certain point, it's difficult to inject much freshness into a prehistoric behemoth stomping around an urban environment. Gorgo (1961) had a couple nice new ideas. I confess I hadn't heard of Eight Legged Freaks. Changed the ants to spiders, did they? |
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Post by President Ackbar™ on Nov 3, 2017 16:53:15 GMT
Somewhat off topic, but, there were plenty of TV shows in the the 70s that ripped off popular films:
American Graffiti (1973) = Happy Days (1974)
STAR WARS (1977) = Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Smokey and the Bandit (1977) = B.J. and the Bear (1978)
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Post by President Ackbar™ on Nov 3, 2017 16:59:30 GMT
The War of the Worlds (1953) = Independence Day (1996) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) = Godzilla (1998) Them! (1954) = Eight Legged Freaks (2002) Thanks. Looking back on them, ID does rather more resemble TWOTW than the Spielberg remake 1998 was an uncharacteristically agile and athletic Godzilla. So it more resembles TBF2F than the '54 original then I confess I hadn't heard of Eight Legged Freaks. Changed the ants to spiders Correct on all points! A small detail that I did not mention, was that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wrote and directed the first two, and produced the third one, indicating a definite pattern on their part. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:11:07 GMT
Miller's Crossing had a lot in common with The Glass Key. Also The Big Clock / No Way Out. Not sure if they are considered to be remakes. 's correct; No Way Out did indeed credit the Kenneth Fearing novel as a source. Something I especially enjoy about The Big Clock is the elegant and stylish art direction, along with an unusual (for the time) lighting scheme that loads it with atmosphere. I remember The Glass Key (which Paramount had also filmed in 1935) better than Miller's Crossing, but reviewing the latter's synopsis does reveal significant similarities at its center. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:18:19 GMT
And, more recently, Man Facing Southeast (1986) = K-PAX (2001) is another of which I was unaware, but the synopsis certainly makes it look like a prime candidate for the topic. I think that must happen a lot: U.S. producers blatantly ripping off a foreign language film on the assumption that domestic audiences never heard of it. I'll even go out on a limb and theorize such things have been the basis for many out-of-court settlements. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:27:19 GMT
In the House of Strangers thread I wrote about how much it resembles The Godfather. Mutiny On The Bounty moseyed out west as Red River. Gunga Din used the guy-quitting-to-get-married bit from The Front Page, and itself was later reworked as Sergeants Three and Soldiers Three. Supposedly Braveheart (which I've never seen) is a ripoff of Spartacus. The classic Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" is a rewrite of The Enemy Below, down to minute plot details. According to Harlan Ellison, the "BoT" writer even admitted this to him. There's a 2 part Daniel Boone episode that is stolen lock, stock and barrel from Bend of the River. BotR was Universal, DB was Fox. I can't explain how this was done without lawsuits; perhaps b/c Aaron Rosenberg produced both. Ah, yes, I also had your House Of Strangers observation in mind when posing the question. Sorry for not mentioning it. The MOTB/ RR comparison intrigues me. Westerns have never much been my thing; perhaps that one deserves another look. The ST-BOT/ TEB instance is one in which I had seen the later one long before the earlier, and discovering TEB was a delight. I put each at the top as examples of their forms. Submarine movies sure got trendy in the mid-late '50s, didn't they? |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:29:32 GMT
There's also The Glass Web (1953) w/Ed G Robinson that bears more than a little resemblance to TBC. It's set in a TV station rather than a high-rise. Thanks for this submission, Richard Kimble. It's one I definitely want to catch up to. Can't go wrong with Eddie G. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:36:24 GMT
Any of the Hitchock man who is being chased across the country for something they didn't do have usually have some things in common: For example: Robert Cummings in Saboteur (1942) and Derrick De Marney in The Girl Was Young (1937), etc. Thanks, kijii. As I indicated in my OP, that's something I consider more of a premise than a plot, but as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. And as for mileage, it's one from which Hitchcock got a lot, employing it to some degree in at least 10 other films. The Girl Was Young is one of the most charming of the bunch, with a gentle sweetness about it that's quite appealing. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:40:09 GMT
When I watched Woody Allen's BLUE JASMINE I got a huge STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE vibe. STREETCAR must have been an influence on Woody but I don't remember him acknowledging it. I've fallen woefully behind on my Woody Allen, and really know nothing about this one. But I glean from further exchanges it's a comparison in which others have found validity. It does bring to mind Allen's 2000 Small Time Crooks, which borrows a great deal from 1942's Larceny, Inc. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:47:11 GMT
Raoul Walsh appreciated his earlier works so much that he reshuffled them a couple of times --- Bogart's HIGH SIERRA goes out west in McCrea's COLORADO TERRITORY. Flynn battles Japs in OBJECTIVE BURMA while Cooper takes on the Seminoles in DISTANT DRUMS. (not counting STRAWBERRY BLONDE / ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON -- pure remake) Thanks, matt. It occurs to me from your examples that I might have been a bit unfair to Howard Hawks in including his Man's Favorite Sport? It somehow seems more legit when a specific director draws from his own oeuvre. Ya think? |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 17:55:57 GMT
Gunga Din – Kelly's Heroes – Three Kings: offbeat soldiers set out on their own to get rich. Westworld – Jurassic Park: something goes awry at a hi-tech playground and people must fend for themselves. Little Big Man – Dances with Wolves: discontented with his people and civilization, a white person finds much to admire in American Indians. Some folks say that Five Easy Pieces draws a good deal from Some Came Running. I've only seen FEP. Thanks, bravomailer . I especially like the Westworld/ Jurassic Park parallel. I've never quite been able to warm to Five Easy Pieces, and don't recall much beyond what I found to be an off-putting bitterness, so I can't really comment on any similarities. I will say that Some Came Running, while mature and really sentimental, displays a fair amount of heart. EDIT: I meant to say above, " not really sentimental." Just wanted to clarify that for london777 and anyone else who's read it, rather than simply correct the error. |
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Post by President Ackbar™ on Nov 3, 2017 17:59:23 GMT
Westworld – Jurassic Park the Westworld/ Jurassic Park parallel. Same author, though. You can't really plagiarise yourself! |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 18:02:03 GMT
The classic Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" is a rewrite of The Enemy Below, down to minute plot details. According to Harlan Ellison, the "BoT" writer even admitted this to him. There's a 2 part Daniel Boone episode that is stolen lock, stock and barrel from Bend of the River. BotR was Universal, DB was Fox. I can't explain how this was done without lawsuits; perhaps b/c Aaron Rosenberg produced both. Getting kind of far afield here, but it's always fun to watch a Warners Bros show from their TV era (roughly '55-'64) in case they're reworking one of their old movie properties. There's a 77 Sunset Strip that remakes Strangers On A Train...I happened to catch a few minutes of that 77SS just a couple days ago, and was astonished at how slavishly they mimicked the "murder reflected in spectacles" shot! Happened to change the channel just at that moment, and for half a sec thought I was seeing SOAT with a bombastic replacement music score! |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 18:03:40 GMT
the Westworld/ Jurassic Park parallel. Same author, though. You can't really plagiarise yourself! I had totally forgotten that! Thanks for the reminder. |
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Post by teleadm on Nov 3, 2017 18:16:11 GMT
The Asphalt Jungle 1950, became a western in The Badlanders 1958, went international in Cairo 1963, and became Blaxploation with Cool Breeze 1972.     Notice that they are all from MGM. ![]()
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Post by President Ackbar™ on Nov 3, 2017 18:20:30 GMT
Same author, though. You can't really plagiarise yourself! I had totally forgotten that! Thanks for the reminder. There are also similarities in JAWS and JP, but, again, same director! |
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Post by bravomailer on Nov 3, 2017 18:24:39 GMT
Same author, though. You can't really plagiarise yourself! I had totally forgotten that! Thanks for the reminder. And Crichton directed Westworld. |
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Post by mattgarth on Nov 3, 2017 18:31:24 GMT
Two that were adjusted to take in the Black experience in the 1970s:
ODD MAN OUT (James Mason) / THE LOST MAN (Sidney Poitier)
THE INFORMER redone as UP TIGHT
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Post by Doghouse6 on Nov 3, 2017 19:00:45 GMT
teleadmConsulting the credits, it looks like they all cited the W.R. Burnett novel. Again, fair play at work, but it's the genre-bending exercises that are often among the most interesting re-works.
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