3:10 to Yuma (1957, USA)
There was a remake of this a couple of years ago. What a sad thing that is, to make a remake of a perfect movie. You don’t have the luck of the original, all those little touches that just happened to turn out right. You don’t have a boyishly evil Glenn Ford. All you have is a few scraps of plot, and a famous title. What a sad, sad thing. Watched it all.
Raznye Sudby / Different Fortunes (1957, USSR)
Forget France and Italy. Russia in the 50s is the place for young people to be in love. Even the steel plants look romantic. Watched it all. The world of the Soviet Dream is amazing, and, in this case, oddly capitalistic: Newlyweds make ends meet by taking extra jobs, and forego creative dreams by becoming workers and bureaucrats, because whatever else you can say about communism, none of the characters in these movies believe that it is magic, that it creates wealth out of thin air. (That belief is reserved for modern welfare state dependents.)
3:10 to Yuma is a top-notch western, but the 2007 remake with Russell Crowe isn’t bad.
In addition to obvious remakes, movies plots are often recycled. If you think about it, Predator is really just one of many remakes of The Most Dangerous Game, albeit with an important twist.
I’ll have to watch Different Fortunes. My view of Soviet romance is pretty much defined by Ninotchka…
Well, I respect remakes more when they don’t try to ride on the name, but just reuse the plot.
Soviet movies seem to have started becoming really good around 1956, at least if you like movies that have the ambition of Hollywood, but are more sentimental. Don’t start with this one, though. My favorites up to 1957 are The Cranes are Flying, The Forty-First, and Spring on Zarechnaya Street.
Btw, glad to have a reader!
You’ve found an interesting niche for your blog. And thanks for the suggestions!
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