The Dumb Question Thread

[moira finnie]

I know no one here is dumb, but I do have a dumb question, and if others find that they also would like some imponderables explored on any subject, please feel free to hijack this thread and take it wherever you'd like--the keys are in the ignition. My dumb question is movie related, but you go ahead and ask about anything you want, okay?

My dumb question, and one that anyone who wants is welcome to answer is:

What movie or story has been made and remade into a movie more often than any other tale?

Thanks. Serious replies as well as smart aleck answers most welcome.

[CoffeeDan]

According to Patrick Robertson's Film Facts (published in 2001), Charles Perrault's Cinderella holds the record with 103 different film versions "including cartoon. modern, ballet, operatic, pornographic, and parody versions." The earliest known version is the British CINDERELLA AND THE FAIRY GODMOTHER (1898); the most recent being a British TV production, CINDERELLA: THE MOVIE (2000).

[klondike]

Well, assuming the proviso that repeat reference to the original title character in subsequent film titles makes it arguably the same story, I'd make my guess: Frankenstein.

[movieman1957]

I would have thought, if you take all its incarnations, "A Christmas Carol." Admittedly that doesn't fit films per se.

Thanks. We needed a question thread.

[Bogie]

Hmm and here I was gonna answer "the story of Christ"

Shows how much I know!

[charliechaplinfan]

This looks like a good thread. A good place to put pondering questions.

I'd have said Cinderella.

[CharlieT]

I always thought that it was Romeo and Juliet, although it was disguised in character and scenario. But for straight up from the original story, I'll have to agree with A Christmas Carol. (Obviously.)

[moira finnie]

Hey, thanks to everyone for your previous answers and suggestions. Here's dumb question number 2 from me:

I think many of us believe that Joseph McBride (Searching for John Ford: A Life) & our pal Scott Eyman (Print the Legend: A Life of John Ford) have written the two essential John Ford biographies. Yet, I was wondering, after reading John Wayne, American by Randy Roberts & James Olson, (which tries to be evenhanded in examining his life and films) and Garry Wills' John Wayne's America, (which approaches Wayne with wary affection) if others have a preference for one or another of the myriad John Wayne biographies out there? Here's a brief list. Hope that you'll weigh in on any that you've read, might recommend as valuable or one to avoid. Thanks in advance for your suggestions:

Duke: Life and Times: The Life and Times of John Wayne by Donald Shepherd, Robert Slatzer, and Dave Grayson

Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne by Ronald L. Davis

John Wayne: Actor, Artist, Hero by Richard D. McGhee

John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth by Michael Munn

John Wayne by Carolyn McGivern

Shooting Star by Maurice Zolotow

Close Family memoirs, which I wouldn't bother reading if looking for a degree of objectivity, but maybe some are better than others?:

Duke: We're Glad We Knew You: John Wayne's Friends and Colleagues Remember His Remarkable Life by Herb Fagen

John Wayne: My Life With the Duke by Pilar Wayne and Alex Thorleifson

John Wayne: My Father by Aissa Wayne

Duke : A Love Story by Pat Stacy and Beverly Linet
(I read this one once when I was stuck at a cabin in the woods on a rainy day. That was enough for me).

[melwalton]

Some war stories like D DAY or GETTYSBURG
Good topic, Moira. Not dumb at all ..... mel