Remake

A remake is a film that has the same story, and often the same title, as a film that was made earlier. In the course of film history, remakes have generally been considered inferior to the earlier versions, by film critics and cinema-goers alike, but there have been memorable exceptions to that generalization.

Remakes of major films include:

• Ben Hur

• Brief Encounter (Alan Bridges[?]; US, 1974) (original film: Brief Encounter (David Lean; UK, 1945), based on the short play "Still Life" by Noel Coward)

• Diabolique (Jeremiah S. Chechik[?]; US, 1996) (original film: Diabolique/Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges-Clouzot[?], France, 1955) from the novel by Pierre Boileau[?])

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels[?] (Frank Oz; US , 1988) (original film: Bedtime Story[?] (Ralph Levy[?]; US, 1964))

• A Farewell to Arms (Charles Vidor[?]; US, 1957) (original film: A Farewell to Arms (Frank Borzage[?]; US, 1932), based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway)

• A Fistful of Dollars/Per un pugno di dollari[?] (Sergio Leone; Spain, 1964) (original film: Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa; Japan, 1961))

• The Front Page (Billy Wilder; US, 1974) (previous film: His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, US, 1940)) (original film: The Front Page (Lewis Milestone; US, 1931), from the play by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur)

• Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly; US, 1969), turned into a musical film (original film: The Matchmaker (Joseph Anthony[?]; US, 1958), from the play by Thornton Wilder)

• Henry V (Kenneth Branagh; UK, 1989) (original film: The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with his Battell at Agincourt in France (Laurence Olivier; UK, 1944), from the play by William Shakespeare)

• High Society (Charles Walters[?]; US, 1956), turned into a musical film (original film: The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor; US, 1940), from the play by Philip Barry[?])

• His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks; US, 1940) (original film: The Front Page (Lewis Milestone; US, 1931), from the play by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur)

• The Importance of Being Earnest (Oliver Parker[?]; US/UK/France 2002) (previous film: The Importance of Being Earnest (Kurt Baker[?], US, 1992)), (previous film: The Importance of Being Earnest (Anthony Asquith[?]; UK, 1952) from the play by Oscar Wilde)

• The Jackal[?] (Michael Caton-Jones[?]; US, 1997) (original film: The Day of the Jackal (Fred Zinnemann; UK/France, 1973) based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth[?])

• Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

• The Maltese Falcon (John Huston; US, 1941) (original film: The Maltese Falcon (Roy Del Ruth; US, 1931), based on the novel by Dashiel Hammett[?])

• A Man for All Seasons (Charlton Heston; US , 1988) (original film: A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann; UK, 1966), based on the play by Robert Bolt)

• Move Over, Darling[?] (Michael Gordon[?]; US, 1963) (original film: My Favorite Wife[?] (Garson Kanin[?]; US, 1940)

• My Fair Lady, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

• No Way Out[?] (Roger Donaldson[?]; US, 1987) (original film: The Big Clock[?] (John Farrow[?]; US, 1948), a film noir based on the novel by Kenneth Fearing[?])

• The Parent Trap (Nancy Meyers[?]; US, 1998) (original film: The Parent Trap (David Swift[?]; US, 1961)

• A Perfect Murder (Andrew Davis; US, 1998) (original film: Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock; US, 1954), based on the stage thriller by Frederick Knott[?])

• The Preacher's Wife[?] (Penny Marshall[?]; US, 1996) (original film: The Bishop's Wife (Henry Koster[?]; UK, 1947))

• Psycho (Gus Van Sant; US, 1998) (original film: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock; US, 1960), based on the novel by Robert Bloch)

• Quo Vadis?

• Rear Window (Jeff Bleckner[?]; US, 1998) (original film: Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock; US, 1954), based on the short story "It Had to Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich)

• Stagecoach (Gordon Douglas[?]; US, 1966) (original film: Stagecoach (John Ford; US, 1939), based on the short story "Stage to Lordsburg" by Ernest Haycox[?])

• State Fair (José Ferrer; US, 1962) (previous film: State Fair (Walter Lang[?]; US, 1945)), turned into a musical film (original film: State Fair (Henry King[?]; US, 1933))

• The Thirty-Nine Steps (Don Sharp[?]; UK, 1978) (previous film: The Thirty-Nine Steps (Ralph Thomas[?]; UK, 1959)), (original film: The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock; UK, 1935) based on the novel by John Buchan)

• Village of the Damned[?] (John Carpenter; US, 1995) (original film: Village of the Damned[?] (Wolf Rilla[?]; UK, 1960), based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos[?] by John Wyndham)