by Stephen Vagg
Leaving aside the notion of why you’d want to remake such an iconic movie – yes, yes, pre-existing IP and all that, but I mean, no Jimmy Stewart? No Kim Novak? No Bernard Herrmann score? – the film is going to be up against it because of the track record remaking the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
Now, it’s not so weird that Hitchcock films are remade – he directed over fifty features, plus episodes of television, plus propaganda shorts, and some were big hits, so it’s only natural that struggling producers might drool over that IP like a hungry dog. But the thing is, Hitchcock had such a unique style – the design, the music, the mummy’s boys, the tropes, the camera angles, the blondes, the Catholicism, the kinky sex, the symbolism, etc, etc – that remakes tend to suffer in comparison, to put it mildly.
Still, when going through the list of remakes, I was also struck by (a) how many of them there are, and (b) how inoffensive most were. I compiled a quick primer on the main remakes below. It’s not meant to be exhaustive – there’s too many Hitchcock scholars out there ready to take me down… not – but I thought it might be useful.
I should add that the focus is on film with a bit of TV – I’ve pretty much ignored radio, but I should add that in the 1930s to 1950s, it was super common for most big films to be adapted for the dial and there are some terrific radio versions of Hitchcock films (or, more accurately, versions of stories that were turned into Hitchcock films) out there. In fact, they’re generally to be preferred to the film and TV remakes because radio isn’t a visual medium, so you’re not distracted by how it looks, and you often get to hear different A-list stars in the roles (eg Errol Flynn in Mr and Mrs Smith, Cary Grant in I Confess.)
Anyway, here’s a brief list of some Hitchcock films that have been remade:
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- The Lodger (1927), Hitchcock’s breakthrough silent, was based on a novel that was later filmed twice in Hollywood: in 1944 by John Brahms starring Laird Cregar, and in 1953 as Man in the Attic with Jack Palance. These are solid studio pictures, not up to Hitchcock but entertaining. There’s also British sound versions from 1932 and 2009 (with Alfred Molina). There was a decent reason to remake Hitchcock’s silent films because people could talk.
- The Farmer’s Wife (1928). Early Hitchcock, based on a play that was filmed again in 1941 by Leslie Arliss. Have never seen that. Don’t particularly want to. Am sure if it was remade again, you’d have nil outrage.
- Easy Virtue (1928). The idea of filming Noel Coward’s play as a silent seems a little odd, but this is an entertaining film from Hitchcock. And so too is Aussie Stephan Elliott’s 2008 version.
- The Manxman (1929). This was a remake itself! I didn’t know that until researching this – it was based on a novel that had been filmed in 1916. Hitch, you copycat!
- Blackmail (1929). The first British sound film was made at a time when not all cinemas were equipped for sound, so they also filmed a silent version, also directed by Hitchcock. So, he remade his own film at the same time! I’m surprised no one ever did a proper remake of Blackmail, it’s a cracking story.
- Juno and the Paycock (1930). No one much likes this version of a Sean O’Casey play, including Hitchcock himself, but the play was filmed a bunch of other times for TV, which makes them technically remakes.
- Murder! (1930). When sound came in, for a time filmmakers would shoot simultaneous versions of movies in different languages using the same sets (Dracula being the most famous example) before that got too hard and they just dubbed the movies for foreign markets instead. Hitchcock also directed the German version of his own Murder called Mary. I am surprised, like Blackmail, no one remade Murder.
- The Skin Game (1931). Another remake by Hitchcock! The original play had been filmed in 1921.
- Number Seventeen (1932). An early Hitchcock that isn’t really popular, it was based on a play already filmed in Germany in 1928 and would be filmed in Sweden in 1948.
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). A key film in Hitchcock’s career, as prior to this, he made all sorts of movies, but afterwards he became more of a specialist. Hitchcock was dissatisfied with the film and remade it quite entertainingly himself in 1956 with Doris Day, etc.
- The 39 Steps (1935). There were two feature film remakes of this classic, based on John Buchan’s novel. The Rank Organisation did one in 1959 with Kenneth More as Richard Hannay, which actually isn’t bad, it just suffers in comparison… because it’s too close to the original and director Ralph Thomas is no Hitchcock. When the film becomes more Kenneth More-ish, it works better and Thomas should have gone the whole hog and really changed it. There was a more successful remake in 1978 by Australian director Don Sharp with Robert Powell as Hannay, because it departs even further from the Hitchcock version (although there’s a North by Northwest homage). It’s not as good as the 1935 film, but it’s fun and has a reason to exist. The novel was filmed again for British TV in 2008 – that version is okay. The best remake is the stage version, which is heaps of fun, even though it’s shocking that Charles Bennett isn’t credited. Hitchcock wanted to film other John Buchan novels – Greenmantle, Three Hostages – but never did which was a pity, as he was ideal for the material.
- The Secret Agent (1936). Not really remade but this was based on a bunch of stories about a Somerset Maugham spy called Ashenden who turns up in some TV plays.
- Sabotage (1936). One of Hitchcock’s grimmer films – he blows up a kid with a bomb on a bus – this was based on a Joseph Conrad novel which was filmed in 1996 as The Secret Agent. No one much remembers it, despite being directed by Christopher Hampton with an excellent cast. The novel’s also been filmed a bunch of times for TV.
- The Lady Vanishes (1938). My own personal favourite Hitchcock film (with an immaculate script), this was pointlessly remade by Rank and Hammer in 1979. Well, it needn’t have been pointless – why not update it to the present day? The remake isn’t bad, and I guess it’s nice to see it in colour, it’s just… whatever. I did like Charters and Caldicott popping up in films like Night Train to Munich (1940) and Crooks Tour (1941). The original novel was also filmed for British TV in 2013 with a script from Australia’s own Fiona Seres.
- Jamaica Inn (1939). Daphne du Maurier’s source material was filmed a few times for TV, including in 1983 with Jane Seymour and 2014. Hitchcock’s film, while flawed, is still much better.
- Rebecca (1940). Daphne du Maurier’s classic riff on Jane Eyre has been done a bunch of times for TV and most recently in 2020 for Netflix, which sort of seemed to come and go despite heavy names attached (Lily James, the cannibal dude, etc). No one has come close to Hitchcock’s version – though check out Orson Welles’ radio take.)
- Suspicion (1941). Remade for TV in 1988 with Anthony Andrews, but I prefer a homage/rip off that came out the same year, Masquerade, with Rob Lowe as Cary Grant and Meg Tilly as Joan Fontaine.
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943). A personal favourite of Hitchcock, who loved the idea of a homicidal maniac in a small town. This was remade competently by Universal in 1958 with Charlie Drake as Joseph Cotten and Australia’s own Rod Taylor as the romantic male lead. Remade again for TV in 1991 with Mark Harmon.
- Lifeboat (1944). Redone in space as Lifepod (1993) directed by and starring Ron Silver, co-written by Jay Roach. I had no idea this film existed.
- Notorious (1946). They remade this for TV in 1992. Can you believe that? John Shea as Cary Grant, Jenny Robertson as Ingrid Bergman, Jean-Pierre Cassel as Claude Rains. Why bother? Mind you, the clunky riff in Mission Impossible II isn’t that great either. But here’s the kicker – Notorious is a remake itself! It was based on a story filmed in 1927 as the film Convoy. Busted!
- Rope (1948). Patrick Hamilton’s stage play has been filmed a bunch of times, including twice for Australian TV, though the Hitchcock version is the only feature one – which surprised me, I’m sure someone would’ve done it by now. Maybe they fear over-exposure as Rope’s real life inspiration, Leopold and Loeb, has also led to a heap of films. The script used by Hitchcock (mostly by Arthur Laurents) improves on the play, incidentally.
- Under Capricorn (1949). Lousy Hitchcock set in Australia, based on a novel by Helen Simpson that was turned into an Aussie mini-series in 1983.
- Strangers on a Train (1951). Patricia Highsmith’s source novel was filmed again in Once You Kiss a Stranger (1969) and Once You Meet a Stranger (1996), and has been ripped-off countless times. The best version of it was Throw Momma from the Train (1987), which does a full homage, complete with footnotes and flip clips and everything. This is the way to remake Hitchcock, don’t remake him, homage him.
- Dial M for Murder (1954). Frederick Knott’s stage play is a masterpiece, so you can’t blame other filmmakers having a crack. (And in fairness it started as a TV play before it was even a stage play which makes the Hitchcock version technically a remake). Dial M was done for TV a bunch of times, including a 1958 go with Maurice Evans, a 1967 version with Laurence Harvey (a natural Hitchcock anti-hero, who I don’t think ever worked with him, although he was going to be in No Bail for the Judge) and a 1981 one with Angie Dickinson. There was a less memorable film version, A Perfect Murder, in 1998 with Michael Douglas.
- Rear Window (1954). Remade in 1998 for TV with a post-accident Christopher Reeve. That gives it novelty. Cornell Woolrich’s original story has been ripped off a bunch of times, eg Disturbia.
- Vertigo (1958). It’s already been remade! There’s a Canadian French version La Présence des ombres (1996)! Give that your anger, film buffs! Of course, the film has been ripped off shamelessly, and effectively, mostly by Brian de Palma in works like Obsession (1976) and Body Double (1984).
- Psycho (1960). Sigh. Yep, Gus Van Sant did that in 1998. Anyway, Psycho II (1983) from Aussie Richard Franklin is awesome and led to the whole Psycho In a way, it’s weird that’s the only Hitchcock film to inspire a franchise, but then, it is a family story which can’t be beaten.
- The Birds (1963). They threatened to remake this with Naomi Watts. Didn’t. Although there is The Birds II: Land’s End (1994)
And that’s it. I think. So, the track record isn’t as terrible as I originally thought. Just underwhelming.
Sidebar: I would’ve loved to have seen Hitchcock’s famed unrealised projects – Greenmantle, No Bail for the Judge, Kaleidoscope, Mary Rose – be turned into movies by him… but I don’t think I’d really like to see anyone else do them. Great directors are great because they are unique. Does anyone remember the filmed version of Orson Welles’ The Big Brass Ring? I’m a little apprehensive about Steven Spielberg’s/Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon.
Anyway, best of luck remaking Vertigo. I think the best they can hope for is “not as bad as I thought”.
