[MoMo]

Yea, Jim,

" Ice Cold in Alex " would be an easy one to do: 5 main actors, a few extras at the start and at the end and few building in the locations to be built.

It starts in Tobruk, so no problems there. Just pile up a few mud bricks at a suitable seaside location and knock 'em about a bit.

You'd need a " Katie " ambulance ( I can't remember the make even though I've modelled a few ) and a few Sd.Kfz.251s ( even though the original film-makers used American M3A1 as substitute half-tracks ) and some small arms and authentic uniforms.

In the original film the women were quite 1950s; bidable, submissive and needed most things done for them, even though they were supposed to be army nurses. ( Hey, maybe we should keep 'em that way! ).

The 21st Century version would have to have strong, independent women stereotypes instead of weak, wilting mid-20th Century stereotypes with fits of the vapours, so I guess that the new film would run up against its first departure from the original script at this point. The characterisation would have to change!

The male characters would remain more or less the same with no revisionist inclusion of deference towards the females, except to treat them as intelligent and not dumb!

The plot of the original is excellent and I would not deviate from it by much. Same for the dialogue which is taught and sparing.

As in " Lawrence of Arabia " ( see earlier posting on this thread ) the real star of the movie ( apart from Katie ) is the desert. In colour this would become a stronger feature of the remake because all the subtle nuances of shadow and light would add depth to the mise en scene and we could share more of the heat ( even though thinking of the old movie makes me crave a bottle of Carlsberg ).

Also, today's film technology would be able to create more of a sense of isolation in the desert shots.

The Long Range Desert Patrol pop up in the film at a point near the start of the last third so I guess that a couple of suitably-equipped Chevrolets would have to be found.

The last shots in Cairo would be easy. Just any N. African town with the correct light for the exteriors and a bar with a cool, granite-pillared 1920s interior for the final shots. And, of course, some iced bottles of Carlsburg and schooner glasses with a coat of frosting moisture.

Wow, makes me thirsty thinking of it!

Remake it for a new generation. It has good things going for it. The reform of an alcoholic, a love story, enemies who unite to save themselves :

" All, against the desert, the greater enemy! "

If you've never seen it you can catch the old film sometime on T.V. and experience the craving for an ice-cool bottle of beer like you've never craved a beer before!

MoMo

[mustangdriver]

You are 100% correct. I don't like that word personally. I have a few black friends that are neighbors and they are one of the nicest couples I have ever met. Their two daughters are equally wonderful. I feel bad when someone uses that language and I think of how they would feel if they heard it. I also have met a few of the Tuskegee Airmen, and they are true heroes as well. Idiots like him are just my point. I don't mean for anyone to think I am for that type of behavior, I am just for keeping as true to real events as possible, and learning from history. Other than that, Ihope they make it so that we might get to see some great Lanc footage.

[jim]

Hey MO quit it buddy! Its getting late and you are making me want a beer real desperate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must watch all those old films again when I can get the time. My mum used to take me to the movies every week when I was a kid.She used to have a huge real fur coat and sometimes I got smuggled in underneath it. Well times were hard then and dad was away in the navy. Oh and I can still remember the bag of chips we shared on the way home.That was in the days when at home we had a 10 inch Television with one channel! Mum worked at a TV store and came home with a huge magnifying screen to put in front of the tele to make the picture bigger. AAH those were the days and when you tell the kids today they dont believe you. (Monty python). I must say I am surprised that so many chaps on the Forum have seen these oldies. When I speak of them to friends and workmates they have never heard of them.

[bsmith13]

I'd like to see "Reach for the Sky" remade. I am reading the book right now, and though I loved it when I was young, I am having a problem with Bader right now. That the man had courage and character is undeniable. That he was a leader of men is indisputable. That he understood WWII aircraft tactics is debatable.

(ducks)! Honestly, I am not trolling for flames, I just think that his personal enthusiasm could overwhelm other people's common sense sometimes.

Back to the Dambusters, I wonder if the producer/director/writer team could put a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie, making the audience aware of the reason for including the name of the dog, and that it in no way reflects the attitude of the production company or the movie studio.

[MoMo]

Dear Bsmith13,

i'll have to watch " Reach for the Sky" over the weekend and do a proper review and remake assessment on it.

I loved it when I was a kid and counted Bader/Kenneth More among the true heroes of post-war Britain. I'll do RFTS after I post a review of " The Dambusters" which I just watched again while I was off-line.

I counted the number of times which 'that dog's' name came up and I gave up at 15! One other problem is that the name is used as one of the code words which were used to signal the destruction of one of the dams..........therefore, problem number 2!

Yes, Jim, I remember those magic picture palaces of days gone by.

My pals and I would trek a mile to the local flea-pits which would offer us two movies, the newsreel, a cartoon at a tanner a head on saturday afternoons when the weather was bad and we couldn't play football!

The atmosphere was fetid with damp clothes drying and cigarette smoke hanging in the air and mixing with the projector's beam to create magic skiens of blue folding light suspended above us.

After whooping our way out chased by a posse of alien kids playing the good guys we would hit the chip shop for threepence, fourpence or sixpence worth of chips, depending on how rich we were that day.

On special occasions I got to visit the real picture palaces in the 'Toon' ( down-town ). These were real Art Deco extravagances which were modelled on Moorish and Spanish architecture or were real Art Moderne style Odeons or Alhambras or Regals.

When you entered this world you were transported to another place and time, a million miles away from the grimey streets of Glasgow where the rain always poured and the Tram Cars whizzed by taking the denizens to huge engineering works and enormous shipyards which clattered day and night to rebuild the merchant marine which had been sunk in the war.

Pictures were changed twice weekly and everyone went two or three times a week.

Happy days.

MoMo

[Hornchurch]

Originally Posted by mustangdriver

I hope they actually make the movie,

as it would be great to see what they can do with filming the Lancs.

.

What ? on the ground ?

Unless the Canadian VR*A 'Mynarski' Lanc comes over here, you won't see the world's only TWO remaining airworthy Lancasters airborne at the same time.

You've got TWO chances of seeing PA 474 going Stateside (Bob Hope & No Hope !).

The only other example, close to regaining airworthiness, East Kirkby's 'Just Jane' NX 611, won't be allowed by the C.A.A. (nor would the Panton Bros have the necessary fund's, PLUS the runway at 'Kirkby is torn up - so it's taxying at best.......

[jim]

Ah you cant beat neuralgia or is that nostalgia? You conjure up happy memories old boy. (Flash Gordon eh! The series I mean not a prisonable offence).By the way, my inlaw Fred met his wife near Glasgi, Greenoch to be exact. He was on the dockside and Kath a Wvs worker was serving tea from a shack nearby. 1941 I think. Kenneth More is an icon. His portrayal of Bader was brilliant.I am not sure about Baders true character there are two sides to his story. It seems people either loved him or thought him a fool. His involvement in the big wing idea was undoubtably flawed but its easy to be wise after the event.I think the last word must go to his men and they adored him.

Originally Posted by MoMo

Dear Bsmith13,

i'll have to watch " Reach for the Sky" over the weekend and do a proper review and remake assessment on it.

I loved it when I was a kid and counted Bader/Kenneth More among the true heroes of post-war Britain. I'll do RFTS after I post a review of " The Dambusters" which I just watched again while I was off-line.

I counted the number of times which 'that dog's' name came up and I gave up at 15! One other problem is that the name is used as one of the code words which were used to signal the destruction of one of the dams..........therefore, problem number 2!

Yes, Jim, I remember those magic picture palaces of days gone by.

My pals and I would trek a mile to the local flea-pits which would offer us two movies, the newsreel, a cartoon at a tanner a head on saturday afternoons when the weather was bad and we couldn't play football!

The atmosphere was fetid with damp clothes drying and cigarette smoke hanging in the air and mixing with the projector's beam to create magic skiens of blue folding light suspended above us.

After whooping our way out chased by a posse of alien kids playing the good guys we would hit the chip shop for threepence, fourpence or sixpence worth of chips, depending on how rich we were that day.

On special occasions I got to visit the real picture palaces in the 'Toon' ( down-town ). These were real Art Deco extravagances which were modelled on Moorish and Spanish architecture or were real Art Moderne style Odeons or Alhambras or Regals.

When you entered this world you were transported to another place and time, a million miles away from the grimey streets of Glasgow where the rain always poured and the Tram Cars whizzed by taking the denizens to huge engineering works and enormous shipyards which clattered day and night to rebuild the merchant marine which had been sunk in the war.

Pictures were changed twice weekly and everyone went two or three times a week.

Happy days.

MoMo

[bsmith13]

Since we lost the last couple of days of posts, I thought I'd repost this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ9WLRdL-nk

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by bsmith13

Since we lost the last couple of days of posts, I thought I'd repost this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ9WLRdL-nk

That is so cool to fly that low with a fighter...But a Lanc...spooky..
JP

[MoMo]

What the ---- happened to this thread?

I logged on and thought that I'd gone back in time. What's worse, I'm not quite sure what has been lost from the thread.

I'm going back to check it out.

MoMo