On Tue, 26 Oct 2004, Louise Bell wrote:

>
>
> Another piece of rather worrying news...
>
>
> Rappers LL COOL J and QUEEN LATIFAH are joining forces to remake a
> classic ALEC GUINNESS comedy.
>
> The two stars have been cast in the modern adaptation of 1950 British
> comedy LAST HOLIDAY.
>
> LL Cool J, real name JAMES TODD SMITH, will play an ex-convict who
> has a secret crush on Latifah's character.
>
> The original film, which was written by JB PRIESTLEY, starred
> Guinness as a clerk who discovers he only has months to live and
> decides to take one last holiday, during which he's mistaken for an
> eccentric aristocrat.
>
> The new version will be directed by WAYNE WANG and Latifah, real name
> DANA OWENS, will play the dying clerk holidaying in Europe.
>
>
> Is nothing sacred?
>

Nothing is, evidently! And this one is not merely a threat : according to
imdb, the project is actually in preproduction.

Two remarks however...

1) LAST HOLIDAY is not, by any means, one of Sir Alec`s best. While
certainly worth seeing (but mostly for his performance), the film, yet to
be released on DVD, has serious weaknesses, compared to most of the other
Ealing comedies.

2) There is a point with those so-called adaptations where they veer away
from the original so much that they are no longer offensive. A "remake" in
which the whole historical and social context is changed (a context which
accounts for much of the original`s charm), where the main character is
transformed from a thin white male into a not so thin black female, etc.
etc.is no longer a remake, but - at best - merely a film more or less
loosely based on the same "idea" as the original.

Finally, like THE LADYKILLERS II, that film will probably be a dud!

And who knows? Something good may come out of it, like the reissue of the
original in DVD format (and, if so, let them remake others!...
especially the more obscure ones, like BARNACLE BILL, which I would really
like to have in that format)

Pierre