Category Archives: movie remakes

Jungle Daze: “Trader Horn” (1973)

“TRADER HORN”  (1973)     The painfully optimistic marketing material announces that this remake of the 1931 African adventure “Trader Horn” is in the grand tradition of “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Mogambo”. For once we are presented with an example … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, biography, books, movie remakes, Movies, Rod Taylor, Romance, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Love in a Fog: “The Divorce of Lady X” (1938)

     “The Divorce of Lady X”  (1938)     After a brief immersion in the London fog, the pastel carnival of colors assaulting the viewer’s eyes at the start of Ted Whelan’s “The Divorce of Lady X” is not unlike … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, Laurence Olivier, London, movie remakes, Movies, music, Romance, theater, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Concession Stand Bites: “A Game of Death” (1945)

“A Game of Death” (1945) Starring John Loder, Audrey Long, Edgar Barrier, Russell Wade. Written by Norman Houston, based on the story by Richard Connell. Directed by Robert Wise. First remake of the classic “The Most Dangerous Game” finds big … Continue reading

Posted in books, fay wray, movie remakes, Movies, Reviews, Robert Wise, short stories, writing | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Godzilla” (1998)

       The Americanized version of Toho’s “Gojira” franchise is about nothing if not large, gaudy set-pieces. There are dozens of scenes, each involving catastrophic property damage, noisy weaponry and variable special effects, all topped off with a dollop … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Godzilla, kaiju, movie remakes, Movies, New York City, science fiction, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Solo: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1

Solo:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1     The act of being alone comes in many forms in the cinema, from a voluntary solitude to an imposed seclusion, with the reaction to such isolation ranging … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, British films, Bruce Dern, comedy, History, movie remakes, Movies, science fiction, silent movies, Steve McQueen, women | 4 Comments

Feather Dusting: “Le Journal d’une femme de chambre” (1964)

        “Le Journal d’une femme de chambre”  (1964)     Considering the rich mining afforded by Octave Mirbeau’s 1900 novel “Le Journal d’une femme de chamber”, a work encompassing pointedly satiric critical observations on class, sexuality and … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, books, French cinema, Jeanne Moreau, Luis Bunuel, movie remakes, Movies, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Father’s Daze: “Casanova Brown” (1944)

      “Casanova Brown”  (1944)     “Casanova Brown” is an example of the importance of the use of what might be best described as the pixilated lilt in filming humorous materials. A romantic comedy in which a chronic … Continue reading

Posted in 1940's movies, books, comedy, movie remakes, Movies, parenting, Reviews, Romance, theater, women, writing | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Revisit: Tumble in the Jungle: “Mogambo” (1953)

                     “Mogambo”  (1953) (Originally posted on 5/31/2012)      What is a women’s picture? In recent years this has been a more difficult concept to distinguish, being that the increased crudity of … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, ava gardner, clark gable, John Ford, movie remakes, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, women, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Deconstructing Norman: “Psycho” (1998)

     To look upon Gus Van Sant’s supposed shot-by-shot  (it’s not) remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” as a grand experiment is to excuse meaningless directorial hubris as a substitution for genuine artistic evolution. It is difficult to fathom what … Continue reading

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, books, Film, Film Reviews, horror, movie remakes, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews | Tagged | 3 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “House on Haunted Hill” (1999)

“House on Haunted Hill”  (1999)  William Malone’s “House on Haunted Hill”  is a reworking of the William Castle 1959 spook house thriller which is mainly notable as starring the memorable Vincent Price and by its use of theatrical gimmickry with … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Film Reviews, ghosts, horror, movie remakes, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, vincent price | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

I Been Naughty But in a Nice Way: Cinematic Santa Wish List for 2014

    In the continuous spirit of the late lamented Sears Wish Book- that compendium of childhood greed (ignoring the adult sections which focused more on anti-urchin merchandise such as clothing and dehumidifiers) that provided invaluable practical experience in the lost … Continue reading

Posted in blogs, Christmas, cinema, Film, holidays, humor, movie remakes, Movies, Musicals, politics, Reviews, theater, writing | Leave a comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Istanbul” (1957)

     Joseph Pevney’s “romantic” “adventure” starring a prematurely haggard Errol Flynn takes little time in revealing its immediate dramatic problems when an early cabaret scene featuring the dynamically engaging Nat King Cole is clearly going to be the highlight of … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's movies, acting, Errol Flynn, Film Reviews, movie remakes, movie reviews, Movies, Nat King Cole, Reviews, Romance | Tagged , | 1 Comment