{"id":18186,"date":"2018-07-26T12:39:38","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T16:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18186"},"modified":"2018-07-26T12:55:56","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T16:55:56","slug":"two-shades-of-satire-lets-make-love-1961-on-the-avenue-1937","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18186","title":{"rendered":"Two Shades of Satire: Let’s Make Love (1961) + On the Avenue (1937)"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the many reasons I enjoy reviewing classic Hollywood films is tracking down and comparing a remake with an original, since Hollywood\u2019s never had a problem in revisiting hit films or reworking good ideas. A great example is the noir classic House of Strangers<\/a> <\/strong>(1949) with Edward G, Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte remade as the dark western Broken Lance<\/a><\/strong> (1954), with Spencer Tracey, Jean Peters, and Robert Wagner in the tweaked roles.<\/p>\n

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Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye, and the Ritz Bros. in On the Avenue (1937).<\/p><\/div>\n

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Musicals have never been immune to revisitations, such as the B&W classic On the Avenue<\/a><\/strong> (1937), remade in CinemaScope and stereo as Let\u2019s Make Love<\/a><\/strong> (1960). The former featured Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye in a sort of love triangle in which an heiress and her over-sensitive father seek to shut down a satirical musical, whereas the latter has Yves Montand playing a billionaire masquerading as an aspiring bit actor to woo the co-star of a satirical play.<\/p>\n

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Marilyn Monroe & Yves Montand in Let’s Make Love (1960).<\/p><\/div>\n

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LML proved to be Marilyn Monroe\u2019s next-to-last film, and amid all the gossip on romances and personality issues, it\u2019s aged quite well, perhaps because it\u2019s so beautifully shot, and like OTA, features superb character actors.<\/p>\n

Whereas OTA has yet to enjoy a second restoration to upgrade the film for Blu-ray, LML proved easier for Fox, hence a nice HD master used for Twilight Time\u2019s Blu-ray. I still think a Monroe mega-set is called for \u2013 gathering everything<\/em> she did, on Blu \u2013 but LML was perhaps left out of Fox\u2019s smallish set because it represents an older Monroe in a film that isn\u2019t as iconic as her classic 50s work for the studio.<\/p>\n

The surprise is LML holds up very well, as does OTA, and both are proof good ideas retain their value, but the films endure because care went into key elements. Monroe is LML’s main attraction, but the original remains a musical-screwball comedy classic with a stunning cast. I never liked the Ritz Bros.<\/a> because the few shorts I caught made them appear as third-rate Marx Bros. wannabes, but OTA reveals their manic genius as an insane troupe with incredible physical dexterity; their schtick has some similarities to Danny Kaye, but the lunacy is threefold, and on crack.<\/p>\n

Coming next <\/em>is Bruno Mattei\u2019s Strike Commando<\/strong> (1987) and Robowar<\/strong> (1988); a comparison between the 1942 and 1955 versions of My Sister Eileen<\/strong> (the latter on Blu from Twilight Time); and VCI\u2019s Hal Roach Forgotten Comedies, featuring The Housekeeper\u2019s Daughter<\/strong> (1939), Turnabout<\/strong> (1940), and Road Show<\/strong> (1941) \u2013 the last two co-starring My Gal Sal<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Carole Landis.<\/p>\n

Cheers,<\/p>\n

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Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews of On the Avenue (1937) from Fox + the CinemaScope remake Let’s Make Love (1961) on Blu via Twilight Time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[5753,5755,2562,2563,5751,5757,5766,5758,5747,5750,4282,5761,811],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/LML_featured.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-4Jk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18186"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18204,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18186\/revisions\/18204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}