Pointless

In theatre, actors grow old and eventually die. Every new generation of actors can find its own greatest Hamlet. But with the advent of the cinema, it became possible to preserve the best ever portrayal of a given character. Stephen Fry is the one true Jeeves, and Hugh Laurie the only Wooster (though it’d be fascinating to see them swap roles as I’ve heard was originally intended). Leonard Rossiter is Reggie Perrin (Sorry Martin, you’re talented, but even you couldn’t pull it off.) And Jeremy Brett is the definitive, nonpareil, Sherlock Holmes.  Robert Downey Jr as Holmes is pointless.

Edited to add: And remaking Troy Kennedy Martin is usually a mistake. The Italian Job wasn’t his greatest work: it succeeded by dint of bizarre casting (Noël Coward and Benny Hill?) and music. Only a fool would remake that. Edge of Darkness, on the other hand, arguably was his greatest work, perfectly cast and directed (though some of the Clapton mood music was loud enough to jar). Only the most hubristic fool would attempt to remake that.

Remaking the classics

I was reading Christy Moore’s comments on Fairytale of New York:

The most written about song in my repertoire,Shane and Jem Finer fairly nailed it with this classic.Why cover it at all the pricks often ask.It is a wonderful song to sing,magical to dream through,faces from my past inhabit the characters of the story.Some fail to understand that we sing songs, primarily, for personal reasons, not to do a “better” version or gain fortune and acclaim.The definitive version is Shane and Kirsty and The Pogues.How many songs have had films made about them? Then there is the ” The Haggart” version

Of course he has a valid point. Music, especially folk music, is a tradition of performance, rather than of writing or recording. Every rendition of a song is different, and transient. In this respect, music is like theatre. Where would theatre be if actors took the view that Richard Burbage‘s Hamlet or Lear was definitive, and therefore nobody else should attempt the role?

Film, on the other hand, is not theatre. The finest performances ever given are preserved for eternity. Of course there are great scripts, including Shakespeare’s, and the fact that Olivier has given a noted Hamlet shouldn’t preclude Branagh from having a go, though he should expect comparisons to be made. There are also films on the same theme but with different scripts. If Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando wanted to do Mutiny on the Bounty, they should still expect to be compared with Laughton and Gable. Trivia question: what 1978 movie saw Howard and Brando together again?

Some films should not be remade. Casablanca is the obvious example. With the best will in the world, The Italian Job was not Troy Kennedy Martin’s finest hour, and the success of the original was down to some quirky incidental music and some bizarre casting (Noël Coward? Benny Hill?) . I have no intention of watching a remake. And the Coen brothers should have had more sense than to take on The Ladykillers.

Where a film has a weak script, and is made memorable by the direction and performances, it takes a brave, perhaps arrogant, director or actor to attempt a remake. Witness for the Prosecution perhaps deserves special mention here. There was an earlier TV version, but the definitive version is Billy Wilder’s 1957 version. Much as I respect Billy Wilder, he didn’t have a great deal to go on with this story. To his credit, by clever direction, and a superb performance (No plot spoilers here!), he makes the most of the twist in the tail. Nevertheless, for most of this film, it is carried by Charles Laughton. A remake, even for TV, is pointless.

If theatre, unlike film, is a tradition of ephemeral performances, folk music is much more so, in that the “script” is traditionally not written down, but is passed on by ear. Performers collect songs, adapt them to suit themselves, add new verses, mix’n’match words and music, and the songs evolve.

I accept that Christy Moore sings songs for personal reasons. but he should accept that the paying audience have a right to prefer some performances over others. I wouldn’t say that he shouldn’t sing particular songs, but I do believe, for example, that any man will have trouble singing The Blacksmith as convincingly as a woman, and Fairytale of New York is best performed as a duet.

And what the Hell is “The Haggart” version?