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Post by dvdjunkie on Dec 21, 2013 14:44:30 GMT -6
I thought I would post this here since the "remake" of this 1947 classic movie is being released Christmas Day. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" stars Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo and Boris Karloff will be shown Thursday, December 26 at 8 pm on Turner Classic Movies.
This is one of my very favorite films of all-time, so I might be just a little biased on what I think of the "new" film. First of all, we didn't have to have foul language, sexual innuendo, and off-color jokes to sell our movie. The 1947 version is a charming, funny, and very inspirational movie. Danny Kaye also listed this as one of his favorite movies.
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Post by Midge on Dec 21, 2013 18:34:40 GMT -6
For some reason, the 1947 Secret Life of Walter Mitty is rarely screened on TV, and I have no idea why. It was a very entertaining film. I believe I've seen it maybe once or twice at most. I hope the remake will live up to your expectations. I agree, too, that movies should be able to attract an audience without having to inject sex and profanity (or special effects, for that matter) into every story. My mother-in-law, a devout Baptist who was very straight-laced, loved Westerns and family fare like The Sound of Music. "It was a nice, clean story," she'd say. That was her highest form of praise.
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Post by dvdjunkie on Dec 22, 2013 9:19:27 GMT -6
I will not give any of my hard-earned money to a 'remake'. I am just going to sit back on Thursday and enjoy the original classic with Danny Kaye and know that this is the way the story is to be told.
There are critics out there who say "As long as they adapted the film from the same book it is NOT a remake". I say to them 'bull-pucky', if the movie has already been made, then the next one is a remake.
Some people say that there is no such thing as a remake, only films that have been re-imagined. I don't believe that, and stand on my statements - I will not spend money on a useless remake. In the past 15 years there have been almost 100 remakes, and out of those I can count less than 10 that were faithful to the original story much less the original movie. The worst of the lot was the tepid remake of "The Day The earth Stood Still" starring Keanu Reeves and Kathy Bates. Horrible movie that relied on Computer Graphic special effects and I wish I had a dollar for every time they dropped the 'f-bomb'. That is not how you remake a classic.
I just read that Paramount has pulled their support for a scheduled remake of "Shane", which sounds like a real good thing. Wish more studios would do this, so our screenwriters could have jobs.
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Post by Midge on Dec 23, 2013 19:13:42 GMT -6
Like you, I'm generally against remaking a Hollywood classic. Once in a while a remake is better (Maltese Falcon is a case in point), but almost always the remake makes you only appreciate the original more. I hope to catch Walter Mitty when it's on TCM this Thursday. Danny Kaye gets on some people's nerves with his zany comic style, but he was amazingly talented and always fun to watch. I never miss a rerun of White Christmas, if only to see Kaye and Bing Crosby in drag lip-syncing to "Sisters." According to IMDb, Kaye's antics cracked up Crosby so much they couldn't get a decent take because he kept flubbing the lines he was supposed to be mouthing. If you watch closely toward the end you can see Crosby's lips don't quite match the sound track (he says "Lord help the sister who comes between me and my mister"). Danny Kaye notices the flub and shoots him a sly "Naughty, naughty" look. By the end of the song, Crosby's lip movements aren't even close to the soundtrack, and he looks like he's about to completely lose it. What you see on film is the best take they could get.
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Post by Larry's 66 Diner on Dec 25, 2013 6:18:22 GMT -6
I am very much against remakes, myself. God help them if they ever attempt to remake Casablanca or The Wizard of Oz! Is Hollywood fresh out of ideas that they have to remake all the classics? Do they have such boring lives? Perhaps it's time to begin searching for a new order ....
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