Stanley Stewart was saying earlier that some films just cant be remade, eg Brief Encounter, he cites from an earlier post. What other films that just cannot be redone?

bbm - I'd hazard this list would be very long indeed. It might be easier to consider remakes that have worked. Breathless was an interesting remake of A bout de souffle. Interesting, but I still prefer the original any day. The Vanishing was also an interesting remake of Spoorloos (? Pim can correct me on my spelling here) since it was by the same director, but for an American audience. Funny Games has this treatment too, but I've yet to see the US version. Then, there's Van Sant's Psycho, again more interesting than anything else.

 

 Thanks, BBM.    You gave me something to think about when I was cutting the grass and trimming the hedges.

A few quickies:

"Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945), directed by Marcel Carne:  life in the theatre boulevards of Paris, in 1840, was sharply evoked in Jacques Prevert's screenplay with wit and poignancy.   Where, today, could you muster arguably the best cast ever seen on film?   Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur and Maria Casares?     The film used to have a regular summer season, at The Academy, Oxford St, W1, in the late 50s.    Nowadays, I still watch it with enormous pleasure on DVD.

"Casablanca" (1942).       Made in total chaos and bad temper but the ingredients are sheer perfection.

"Random Harvest" (1942), based on the novel by James (Goodbye Mr Chips) Hilton.     High, improbable romance between Ronald Colman & Greer Garson but it met the needs of a grim year, in 1942, and has had many subsequent outings on TV.    Very stylish.

"The Third Man" (1949) directed by Carol Reed with a taut script by Graham Greene.   Again, it would be hard to create the era and the desolation of life in a post-war partitioned Vienna.    Orson Welles appeared for 10 minutes and stepped into the history of the cinema by, allegedly, creating havoc on location and staggering Reed by writing his own exit speech about the value of different dynasties.  Is  this scene available on You Tube fellow technocrats?

"Some Like It Hot" (1959)    Yeah, a black and white print but, please, leave it alone.

Two films by Louis Malle.   "Lift To The Scaffold" (1958) and "Les Amants" in the same year.  Both films starred Jeanne Moreau and, apart from Barbara Stanwyck, I can't think of any actress who could express the elements of desire so well on the screen.

" Double Indemnity" (1944), directed by Billy Wilder.   A powerful combination of Barbara Stanwyck, Fred McMurray and Edward G Robinson who finds the flaw in the perfect murder.   Real noir.  Don't miss it.

Finally - among the instant quickies - a successful remake.    "Plain Soleil" (1960), directed by Rene Clement and based on Patricia Highsmith's intriguing novel; it also had a career-defining performance from Alain Delon.     It got rather a distinguished remake, in 1999, under the title "The Talented Mr Ripley" with Matt Damon.   Both stars very watchable.  VERY  

The Ladykillers and The Italian Job should NOT have been remade - at least, not under the same name as the original film.

Yeah, but then those bounders get scuppered in the final scene. 

Now, I'm with Milly about both the Italian Job and Ladykillers. The former mildy irritates, but it's not such a bad action movie I guess. However, the latter really confuses me. How can the people who made Blood Simple, Fargo, No Country For Old Men make such an ill-conceived film? It's like the Coen brothers are still in the studio system and under contract to churn 'em out. (Hudsucker Proxy is equally rubbish)

oops - my mistake, got all confused with the new thread!