BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Oct 17, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Barbara and Marvin Davis' Carousel of Hope Ball outdid itself again Tues. night (October 15) at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. 

Music superstars Sir Elton John, Sting and B.B. King headlined the entertainment program and Jay Leno was once again master of ceremonies, joined by over 100 A-list stars. 

Sir Sidney Poitier was presented the "Brass Ring Award" by Academy Award winning actress Halle Berry, in from Canada just for the night. 

Oprah Winfrey introduced event founder Barbara Davis. 

Over 1,300 high profile guests and countless stars walked through the red-carpet press line. 

Lara Flynn Boyle, Jackie Collins, Elizabeth Hurley, Geena Davis, Kelsey Grammer, Daryl Hannah, Kate Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Matthew McConaughey, Ray Romano, Christian Slater, Mira Sorvino, Sylvester Stallone, Mark Wahlberg, Quincy Jones and Raquel Welch were just some of the luminaries who joined forces to fight diabetes. 

The silent auction, a vision in yards and yards of pink and white carousel canopies, featured over 500 items, a veritable shoppers paradise, and will add millions to the over $60 million raised since the event's birth 25 years ago. 

Some 20,000 pink Ecuadorian roses graced the main ballroom, where lavish gold carousel centerpieces decorated each pink and white table. 

A week before the event, Sotheby's publicly exhibited over $500,000 of donated art -- by three dozen renowned artists, like Julian Schnabel, David Salle and Ed Ruscha -- that went up for auction. 

Sixty ceramic plates designed by celebrities like Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, The Osbournes and John Travolta that were also up for auction. 

So big was this year's event that there were two bulging "goodie bags," instead of the traditional one. 

Enough take-home stuff to warrant luggage carts for each couple to roll out all the luxe loot. 

Chopard owner Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele announced that the new boutique in Beverly Hills is donating 10 percent of the store's sales, between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1, to the Children's Diabetes Foundation. 

President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush were the ball's honorary chairmen. 

Since its founding in 1978 by the Davises, the Carousel of Hope has raised over $60 million on behalf of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes ( www.barbaradaviscenter.org ) in Denver, Colo., where more than 4,000 youngsters from around the world receive specialized care for diabetes. 

The renowned center will double in size over the next three years. 

The Los Angeles chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the American Diabetes Foundation also benefited from the evening's fund raising. 

Along with a spectacular silent auction, the evening's program included a stellar musical performance produced by veteran television impresario George Schlatter. 

Multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster was the musical director and a committee chaired by recording industry legend Quincy Jones headed the musical program. 

A Foster discovery, young singing sensation Josh Groban, sang a stirring rendition of the national anthem. 

Major sponsors for the October 15th event were Toys "R" Us, Chopard USA, LifeScan, Eli Lilly & Company, McDonough Foundation, Saks Fifth Avenue, General Motors/Cadillac, Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton, American Airlines, The Walt Disney Company and Guess? Inc. 

SOURCE Carousel of Hope

CONTACT:          Jerry Digney of SOLTERS & DIGNEY, +1-323-651 9300; or Andy Gelb of PMK/HBH, +1-310-289 6200, both for Carousel of Hope

URL:           http://www.barbaradaviscenter.org

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The first sign that something had gone amiss at Tuesday's Carousel Ball was Oprah Winfrey (news) standing at the head table wildly waving her white napkin like she was stranded on an desert island signaling a passing ship. For a few minutes, it appeared the talk show host was cheering the performance of B.B. King (news) and Kelsey Grammer (news). 

However, Oprah, Barbara Davis, Merv Griffin, Elizabeth Taylor (news) and others at the Beverly Hilton head table were waving to get the band to stop: Jerry Buss had collapsed at his table. The Lakers owner's seat was directly below the dais and they were among the first to raise the alarm. 

Though the collapse was later attributed to a torn neck muscle and Buss was released from Cedars-Sinai a few hours later, the black-tie crowd was stunned by his appearance. As the EMTs took him out on a gurney, his coloring was more than once described as "corpse-like." 

Luckily for Buss, he'd collapsed at a diabetes fund-raiser in a ballroom full of doctors. He was surrounded by some of the top physicians in the country. Though only in Beverly Hills could you hear a woman comment: "I knew it was serious when I saw the plastic surgeons rushing over." 

The medical incident came in the midst of what is certainly one of the top charity dinners in the country. Producer George Schlatter described it "as a cross between the Golden Globes, if they raised money for charity; and the queen's coronation, if they dressed better and had more jewelry." 

Chaired by Marvin and Barbara Davis, the dinner raised over $4.5 million for childhood diabetes treatment, care and research. The evening kicked off with emcee Jay Leno (news - Y! TV) ("We should send over Anna Nicole Smith (news - web sites) to find Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). She'll get his money and he'll be dead in a week"); then remarks from Winfrey, Barbara Davis and the performance from B.B. King with the lyrics: "You only live once and then you're dead and gone. Let the good times roll." (That's when Buss collapsed.) 

After a 20-minute delay, Sting got the dinner back on track with an inspired set that had the crowd up dancing as he ended with "Roxanne." Halle Berry (news) made the Brass Ring award presentation to Sidney Poitier (news), and Elton John (news) brought the evening to a close with a high-energy performance that ended with "The Bitch Is Back" 

Considering the mid-evening drama, John's set ended the dinner on a high note. As the applause died down, Oprah turned to Barbara Davis and said: "Now we have all this energy. What do we do with it?" 

Most of the energy went into lifting the two duffel bag-size gift bags each guest received. Among those rolling the bags that were attached to a luggage roller were billionaires Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad and Haim Saban, along with such celebs as Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones (news), Merv Griffin, Elizabeth Hurley (news), Penny Marshall, Ray Romano (news), Geena Davis (news), Don Rickles (news), Tori Spelling (news) and parents, Kate Hudson (news), Matthew McConaughey (news), Lisa Kudrow (news), Sylvester Stallone (news), Jackie Collins, Martin Sheen (news), Mark Wahlberg (news) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

A wide range of music -- from 1980s New Jersey modern rockers the Feelies and U.K. post-punkers the Soft Boys to the afro-pop of Angelique Kidjo's and the internationally acclaimed electronica of Asian Dub Foundation -- will grace the soundtrack to Jonathan Demme's forthcoming film "The Truth About Charlie." Due Tuesday (Oct. 22) via Play-Tone/Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax, the 18-track set also features tracks by Charles Aznavour, Sparklehorse, and Rachid Taha, among others.

The romantic thriller is set in Paris, which Demme described in a statement as "the acknowledged epicenter of global music and working here gave us the chance to have an especially rich, diverse soundtrack. The artists in the Francophone world, singers and musicians from French Africa, the French Middle East and the French Caribbean, all come to Paris to record their music. It's an intrinsic part of the city's character today."

Along with tracks from France-based artists Khaled ("Ragda"), Anna Karina ("Sous le Soleil Exactement"), and Manu Chao ("Mentira) is a song by the director's nephew and collaborator, the late filmmaker Ted Demme. "Bigga Man" is described as a "wackily autobiographical" reggae track that was spontaneously recorded with producer Dave Stewart while working on the soundtrack for Ted Demme's 1996 film "Beautiful Girls."

Starring Thandie Newton ("Mission: Impossible II"), Mark Wahlberg ("The Perfect Storm"), and Tim Robbins ("High Fidelity"), "The Truth About Charlie" is based on the 1963 Stanley Donen film "Charade." The film is set to open Oct. 25 in U.S. theaters.

Here is the "The Truth About Charlie - Music From the Motion Picture" track list: 

"Jim the Jinn," Da Phazz
"Garab," Rachid Taha 
"La Voix Du Vaurien," Miro
"Les Enfants Perdus," Angelique Kidjo
"Mr. Kennedy," the Soft Boys
"Army of Forgotten Souls," Transglobal Underground 
"Ragda," Khaled
"It's a Wonderful Life," Sparklehorse
"Epoca," the Gotan Project
"Mentira," Manu Chao
"Fortress Europe," Asian Dub Foundation
"De Cara a La Pared," Llasa
"Slow Down," the Feelies
"Sous Le Soliel," Anna Karina
"Hay Natty," Backward Dog
"Bigga Man," Ted Demme
"Truthful Moods," Rachel Portman
"Quand Tu Ma Aimes," Charles Aznavour 

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

Story Filed: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 1:47 PM EST 

Oct 16, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- 

    WHAT:    World Premiere of Universal Pictures' "The Truth About Charlie."

    WHO:     "The Truth About Charlie" cast members Mark Wahlberg,
             Thandie Newton, Joong-Hoon Park, Ted Levine and
             Christine Boisson, and director Jonathan Demme.

             Plus Donnie Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Colin Farrell, Bill
             Paxton, Jason Patric, Wes Bentley, Tom Everett Scott,
             Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Livingston, Kimberly Elise,
             Christine Lahti, Tommy Schlamme, Richard Dean Anderson and many
             others.

    WHERE:   The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
             Samuel Goldwyn Theatre
             8949 Wilshire Boulevard
             Beverly Hills

    WHEN:    Wednesday, October 16, 2002  -- TONIGHT!!!!!!!!
             5:30 PM      Call-Time for Crews
             6:30 PM      Celebrity Arrivals
             7:30 PM      Screening Begins

        "THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE" opens in theaters across the country
                         on Friday, October 25, 2002.

    CONTACTS:  Television, William Hendley, 818-777-1392
               Print, Amanda Scholer, 818-777-0641
               Photographers, Bette Einbinder, 818-777-3226
               On-Line, Hilary Hattenbach, 818-777-1946

Oct 11, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- 

     WHAT:       World Premiere of Universal Pictures' "The Truth About Charlie."

     WHO:        "The Truth About Charlie" cast members Mark Wahlberg, Thandie
                 Newton, Joong-Hoon Park, Ted Levine and Christine Boisson,
                 and director Jonathan Demme.

                 Plus Charlize Theron, Ving Rhames, Bill Paxton, Ron
                 Livingston, Kimberly Elise, Christine Lahti, Tommy Schlamme
                 and many others.

     WHERE:      The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
                 Samuel Goldwyn Theatre
                 8949 Wilshire Boulevard
                 Beverly Hills

     WHEN:       Wednesday, October 16, 2002
                 5:30 PM     Call-Time for Crews
                 6:30 PM     Celebrity Arrivals
                 7:30 PM     Screening Begins

        "THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE" opens in theaters across the country
                         on Friday, October 25, 2002.

     CONTACTS:   Television, William Hendley, +1-818-777-1392
                 Print, Amanda Scholer, +1-818-777-0641
                 Photographers, Bette Einbinder, +1-818-777-3226
                 On-Line, Brett Levisohn, +1-818-777-2896

When he finishes his run in the Off Broadway revival of Burn This in November, Edward Norton will report to the Los Angeles set of F. Gary Gray’s heist movie The Italian Job, which will co-star Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron. Mr. Norton may show up on time, but he won’t be happy about it. According to sources familiar with the situation, Mr. Norton has agreed to do the movie only to avoid being sued by Paramount Pictures, the studio that gave him his start.

Mr. Norton’s appearance in Mr. Gray’s film marks the culmination of a quiet but corrosive five-year contractual dispute between the actor and Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group chairman Sherry Lansing that recalls days when a more powerful studio system held its actors in choke holds.

Rob Friedman, C.O.O. and vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, told The Transom that Mr. Norton is "working happily and professionally" on The Italian Job, but confirmed that the actor took the role because it was "a contractual obligation" to the studio that "[went] out on a limb and [took] a chance" on him early in his career. Mr. Norton declined to comment for this article, but one of his attorneys, litigator Marty Singer, said that although Mr. Norton has decided not to enter into litigation with the studio, he feels that he was betrayed and lied to by Paramount executives.

Other film-industry sources said that the actor is furious at having been forced into the role, and that Ms. Lansing—who also declined to comment on this story—has won a small but crucial industry battle pertaining to the leverage that talent can wield over studios.

Mr. Norton’s relationship with Paramount began in 1995 when the actor made his screen debut in the courtroom drama Primal Fear, which the studio produced. The actor’s contract stipulated that he would be obligated to make two future movies for Paramount following the release of Primal Fear. He would be paid $75,000 for the first and approximately $125,000 for the second. Such stipulations are common in the film industry and ensure that a studio taking a chance on unproven talent will have the opportunity to cash in later should the actor connect with movie audiences.

Mr. Norton connected quicker than most, winning a Golden Globe and scoring an Oscar nomination for his Primal Fear performance. Soon he had been cast in Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt, which was distributed by Columbia Pictures, and was dating his co-star, Courtney Love. He took roles in Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You, for Miramax, and in New Line’s controversial American History X, for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.

Though the clock stopped whenever Mr. Norton took on another project, time continued to tick away on the Paramount deal, with neither Mr. Norton nor the studio able to find a mutually satisfactory project on which to collaborate. When Mr. Norton began to negotiate with Fox to appear in David Fincher’s Fight Club in early 1997, sources familiar with the situation said that the actor believed his Paramount option had expired.

But Paramount disagreed. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the studio contended that Mr. Norton was contractually obligated to appear in a project called Twenty Billion that conflicted with the Fight Club production schedule. Those same sources said Paramount also sent a "preemption letter" to Fox explaining the situation. In response, Fox told Mr. Norton that it was unwilling to take on a legal battle with another studio, and that if he did not resolve his differences with Paramount, he would not be cast in Fight Club.

Sources close to Mr. Norton said that co-starring in Fight Club was so important to him that he decided to make peace with Paramount rather than fight the studio. Mr. Norton and his then-agent Ed Limato agreed to a settlement that would extend the terms of Mr. Norton’s contract with Paramount.

Under the new terms of his agreement, Mr. Norton was obligated to do only one future movie for Paramount, for which he would be paid $1 million. After Fight Club wrapped, Mr. Norton and Paramount had 18 months to find a project they both liked. If they couldn’t come to an agreement, the studio got another 24 months to assign Mr. Norton a project of their choice.

At that point, according to sources familiar with the situation, Mr. Norton had a meeting with Ms. Lansing in which he expressed concern at the possibility that he would ever be forced to take a part. These sources said that Ms. Lansing reassured him that he had nothing to worry about. According to Mr. Singer, "the quote was: ‘I’ll never force you to do a movie you don’t want to do.’"

Mr. Friedman would not confirm that Ms. Lansing ever made a verbal promise to Mr. Norton, but rather said of Mr. Singer, "His job as a litigator is to build a case that he believes is an appropriate case. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s factually correct." Mr. Friedman added: "I don’t believe he [Mr. Singer] was involved in the conversation and I wasn’t involved in the conversation. That is a recollection that I believe he was probably told by his client. That doesn’t mean it’s true."

Either way, Mr. Norton and Ms. Lansing proceeded to spend years haggling over potential projects.

Mr. Singer said that Mr. Norton would have been happy to star in Paramount’s 2000 picture, The Talented Mr. Ripley, but Matt Damon was cast instead. He said Mr. Norton also volunteered his services for any part in Paramount’s upcoming Mission: Impossible 3, which will be directed by Mr. Fincher, but he was not cast. According to the litigator, Mr. Norton also presented Paramount with the option of producing The 25th Hour, a Spike Lee feature with Philip Seymour Hoffman in which Mr. Norton wanted to star as a man about to begin a jail sentence. Paramount declined to take on the project. Mr. Norton shot it this summer for Disney.

A great deal of disagreement arose from Mr. Norton’s decision to star in the 2001 picture The Score, with Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando. The Score was produced by Mandalay Pictures Entertainment, which at that time had a satellite deal with Paramount, which distributed the film. Mr. Friedman confirmed that Mr. Norton suggested it count as his Paramount option and that Paramount turned him down.

"Mandalay was the primary producer [on The Score]," Mr. Friedman said. "We were [just] financial partners. They offered Mr. Norton the part, he accepted, and then tried to roll it over as his commitment to us." Paramount declined to let The Score count as the movie that fulfilled Mr. Norton’s option.

Mr. Friedman refused to confirm any of the movies that the studio offered the actor, but sources close to the situation said that Paramount-suggested films that Mr. Norton rejected included Abandon, directed by Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, and The Core, a sci-fi drama starring Stanley Tucci and Hilary Swank. Mr. Friedman preferred to look at the big picture, noting: "There were seven years of attempts made to allow Mr. Norton to fulfill his obligation to Paramount."

In the spring of 2002 Paramount offered Mr. Norton a part in The Italian Job, which is about a group of criminals who create an enormous traffic jam so that they can get away in their Mini Coopers. Mr. Gray’s previous features include 1996’s Set It Off and 1998’s The Negotiator. Mr. Norton, who had just completed Red Dragon and was about to begin shooting The 25th Hour, told Paramount no.

But in late April, Mr. Norton received a letter informing him that he didn’t have a choice, and that the studio was exercising its option to force him to do a project. Sources close to the situation said that Mr. Norton got on the phone with Ms. Lansing to express his anger at the situation and remind her of her promise. The phone call did not make a difference.

It was then that Mr. Norton called in Mr. Singer, who sent the studio a letter "suggesting that they re-evaluate their position … and that it was not appropriate to force him to do a movie against his will." Paramount had hired its own litigator, Patricia Glaser, who, according to Mr. Singer, promptly "threatened to file a law suit immediately unless he [Mr. Norton] agreed to do [The Italian Job]."

"Mr. Norton was told that he would never have to do a movie against his wishes and Paramount was insisting that he do this movie. And if he didn’t agree they’d sue him," said Mr. Singer. "Rather than get involved in extensive litigation, [Mr. Norton] agreed to do the movie."

"Usually the studios work with the actor or actress and don’t force them to do the movies," said Mr. Singer, who has handled similar cases before, though he declined to name his clients.

How will Mr. Norton’s ire impact The Italian Job? As Mr. Singer pointed out, "If you want the best possible performance and the best possible movie, you wouldn’t want to force an actor of his caliber to perform against his will."

A well-known producer was blunter. "I want to find out what happened to this director’s testicles," said the producer. "If I were a director with brains and balls, I’d say, ‘This guy trashed me, trashed you [Paramount], and trashed the script!’ and refuse to have him in my movie."

Mr. Gray did not return phone calls. 

Mr. Friedman would only say that whatever Mr. Norton’s grievances, "He’s going to be there. He’s been very professional about living up to his commitment and he’s indicated as such in conversations with our management."

Donald De Line, producer of The Italian Job, agreed. He said that Mr. Norton had been to a costume fitting in New York last week, and had been working diligently on the project.

"He has given input on the script and his character and has contributed to making it a better piece," said Mr. De Line. "He’s a brilliant actor and we’re thrilled to have him in the movie." Paramount shifted the shooting schedule to accommodate Mr. Norton’s Burn This commitment.

And so on Nov. 11 Mr. Norton will begin his month-long Italian Job, and possibly contemplate future legal action.

"We have not discussed it," said Mr. Singer. "But a representation [that Paramount would not force him to make a movie he didn’t like] was made to him which has not been followed through on."

Mr. Singer stressed that for Mr. Norton, who now makes around $10 million a movie, taking a $9 million pay cut was not the problem.

"This was never about money," said Mr. Singer, who said that at no point did Mr. Norton agree to do The Italian Job for a bigger fee. "He wasn’t looking to shirk his responsibility. He never said, ‘I’m not going to do it.’ He’s just the kind of actor who will not do movies unless he feels strongly about them."

The Transom did not ask about Mr. Norton’s strong feelings for 2001’s Death to Smoochy.

Mr. Friedman said that the studio’s issue was about an actor’s "contractual obligation" to the place that gave him his break.

"For us not to have that [contractual] obligation fulfilled would set a very dangerous precedent that we can’t live with," said Mr. Friedman. "That’s not only for us, but for the rest of the industry."

In Hollywood, the thinking is that if an idea worked once, it's bound to work again. In Hollywood, the thinking is that if an idea worked once, it's bound to work again--and again. Confused? That was no misprint. We decided to remake the first sentence of this story. Sharp readers might notice that we added a unique twist at the end. We figured that if the original caught your eye, then you'd be an even bigger fan of the new, improved version. We quizzed focus groups, looked into printing costs, took into account Baby Boomers' fondness for nostalgia, and decided that remaking the first sentence was the best use of our resources. 

We learned this, of course, from the movies.

It seems as if every release is a reinterpretation of a foreign film, an update of an old classic, or a direct rip-off. Recently, we've seen "Vanilla Sky." "Insomnia." "Unfaithful." "The Importance of Being Earnest." "The Time Machine." "Planet of the Apes." "Shaft." "Ocean's Eleven." "The Four Feathers."

And, well, "Mr. Deeds."

"That struck me as particularly appalling," laments Michael Medved, USA Today columnist and radio host. "It doesn't make any sense as a 21st century film--and of course, Adam Sandler isn't Gary Cooper. Sorry."

But even Adam Sandler hasn't soured Hollywood on remakes. The update of "Manhunter," "Red Dragon," opens Friday at local theaters. And Thandie Newton and Mark Wahlberg step into the shoes of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in "The Truth About Charlie," a remake of "Charade," due Oct. 25. 

Purists, as always, are outraged.

"The whole culture of remakes is really like the end of civilization," says Milos Stehlik, director of the venerable North Side film resource Facets Multimedia. "It's like everyone is bereft of ideas, and we are condemned to watching the same thing--just a slightly different version--over and over again."

What's going on in movies is reflective of what's going on in almost all entertainment arenas. Rappers sample from earlier hits, and "American Idol's" Kelly Clarkson wins the championship with her "Respect" retread. Broadway still relies on revivals, not to mention the musical version of a John Waters film, "Hairspray." Designers are reissuing some of their own vintage clothes. On television, a reality update of "The Beverly Hillbillies" is in the works, and "The Rerun Show" re-enacts sitcoms word-for-word.

Even this debate about movie remakes feels like deja vu. "It's one of those things that people have complained about for almost 100 years," says Medved.

Short reels were remade into feature-length films. Silent movies were remade into talkies. Black and white became Technicolor. John Huston's "The Maltese Falcon" was the third attempt in 10 years to adapt Dashiell Hammett's novel. Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred Hitchcock each remade their own movies.

Steven Spielberg couldn't keep his hands off "E.T." And there are so many different versions of "The Godfather" and "Star Wars" that you can never be sure which cut you're watching. "When the directors are doing it themselves, there's a sense that it's open season on this stuff," says Robert Thompson, who teaches television and film at Syracuse University, president of the Popular Culture Association.

What's to blame?

Why are remakes so popular with the studios? The short answer: money.

"If it made money before, it will make money again," sums up Chuck Kleinhans, director of graduate studies, in Northwestern's Radio/Television/Film Department.

We are, of course, talking about great gobs of money. "The cost of a typical film is upwards of $40 million," says Medved. "The investors, the executives, want to be reassured that this thing is going to work. And there are only a couple ways of reassuring people. One of them is with a list of very big-time stars. The other way is when you have another movie that you can show them that relates to what you're doing. That's why remakes and sequels are so popular now. It's the same sort of cultural phenomenon as people going into a new town and immediately looking for a Starbucks and a McDonald's. People want a brand name." 

Thompson echoes the thought. "When you've got the equity already built up in a brand name, it's already been promoted, it's already been sold once. It's almost like going into the movie already having had one advertising budget spent on you." 

The problem is not that screenwriters are out of ideas. "Blame the victim!" says Kleinhans. "No. It may be that executives have limited imaginations, however."

Or limited finances. Or says, Ray Greene, documentarian and author of "Hollywood Migraine," simply no guts. "The Borg-like studio development process that has taken hold in the last 25 or so years makes original stories almost impossible to create," he says. "Art by committee tends to make for bland movies. So we consistently see the studios reaching back for quirky and ambitious films like 'The Manchurian Candidate' or 'Open Your Eyes' [the Spanish film that became 'Vanilla Sky']. Because they know they would never allow ideas like that to actually get made in their own studios, unless somebody showed them how it's done.

"Another reason that occurs to me for all these remakes: If you're unimaginative, being able to watch the movie before you make your version of the movie must make you feel very safe."

Greene is somewhat discouraged. "I think screenwriters in Hollywood are humiliated in direct proportion to the originality of their thinking, and that this makes them perhaps too docile. Plus, a screenwriter can live for five years off of what he makes for adapting 'Planet of the Apes' to the screen for a second time. It's like 'Faust,' only with mediocrity instead of hellfire as the ultimate in damnation."

The undeniable fact is, however, that audiences buy tickets to remakes. They respond to the familiar, says Kleinhans. "Of course--do you eat a different cuisine every day in the month? Listen to a different radio station every day?"

And there are some aesthetic reasons to revisit a film. "Maybe there's something technically that can be done now that couldn't be done before," says Dave Tolchinsky, an associate professor at Northwestern's Department of Radio/TV/Film. "Maybe you're allowed to portray a subject more honestly or directly than you could have in the original. Maybe an old story has new relevance."

Or maybe it's the only chance for some people to see a version of a great movie. For the most part, the public steers clear of subtitles and art houses. When Harrison Ford starred in the update of "Sabrina,'' says film expert Chris Ames, provost of Atlanta's Oglethorpe University, "Hollywood is retelling a good story to an audience that is unlikely to rent an old black-and-white film. Powerful works get reinterpreted by film through time, just as classic literary works get retranslated for different eras."

There's not, by definition, any shame in it. "Remember that virtually every Shakespeare play was a retelling of a story that already existed as a play, narrative, historical chronicle or poem," says Ames.

The Good, the Bad, the Unspeakable

Many movie buffs keep an open mind, and won't hesitate to cite examples of their most--and least--favorite remakes. Film historian Leonard Maltin says, "Let's face it, not every generation is aware of films of the past. So if it's a good story and you [remake] it well, theoretically, there's nothing wrong with it. That's theoretically." 

Hands off Frank Capra, says Medved, shuddering at the memory of "Billy Jack Goes to Washington." "Don't remake movies that still work," he says. "The problem with remaking 'Mr. Deeds' is anybody can go out and rent the damn thing, and the movie still works. You want to remake the ones that don't work as well." 

Ames is still puzzling over the updates of "Sabrina" and "Death Takes a Holiday," which was remade with Brad Pitt as "Meet Joe Black": "Long and staid versions of films that were short and sweet and beautifully acted in their original versions," he summarizes.

There is such a thing as a well-made remake, says Tolchinsky. David Cronenberg's version of "The Fly," for instance. The special effects were just one improvement on the 1958 original. "Aesthetically, he could portray gore, whereas the original couldn't," he says. "Metaphorically, Cronenberg rethinks the 'monster transformation' as disease."

Tolchinsky thinks that a remake needs some sort of significant change: A new setting ("Seven Samurai" becomes "The Magnificent Seven"). A new gender ("The Front Page" becomes "His Girl Friday"). A new tone. 

"Like 'Planet of the Apes'--that was ripe for a remake," says Tolchinsky. "A director might think, 'What if you could do it again with the kind of technology we've got now?' It was kind of a stupid, goofy movie in the first place, and so is the new one." 

No one seems to have cared for Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of "Psycho." What was the point of hoping lightning would strike twice, wonders Tolchinsky. "Changing it would mean suggesting that your own son or daughter get plastic surgery."

Is nothing sacred?

Maybe we should be looking at all these movies, not as remakes, but as repertory theater. "We could look at this as our classic drama," says Thomspon. "Shakespeare was changing those plays all during his life, and then they went into repertory, and we've been doing them ever since. Now we realize that movies and television are vulnerable and amenable to the repertory concept as well. You know, that Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn movie was great, but it's getting old. Maybe we'd like to perform 'Charade' again, like we perform Ibsen and Shaw again." 

And maybe we shouldn't approach remakes so literally. Tolchinsky muses, "Why not use the wealth of the great old American films library to inspire new movies, rather than directly remaking them? Artistically, I think that's the soundest idea."

Is there any movie that Hollywood is content to leave alone? Maltin thinks about it. "There is nothing sacred, so it's hard to say. I don't think anyone would try 'Citizen Kane.' "

But there's a practical reason for that, says Medved, that has nothing to do with integrity. "It didn't work at box office the first time," he laughs.

"The entire idea of Hollywood, from the beginning, has been: Nothing is sacred," says Medved. "Movies are, by definition, tacky and vulgar and emotional and exploitative and shameless. And wonderful." 

Sidebar: Expert choices: Some candidates for a remake 

We asked the experts which movies they'd like to see updated.

Chuck Kleinhans, director of graduate studies, in Northwestern's Radio/Television/Film Department. "I'd like to see Spike Lee remake 'Gone With the Wind' from the point of view of the African Americans in the story, demonstrating that 'white folks sure are crazy.' I'd like to see Jim Jarmusch redo "The Man With the Golden Arm'--great film, great director. I'd like to see John Waters or Allison Anders remake any Hitchcock film--it would be interesting to do a parody, or a feminist version. I'd like to see Woody Allen remake 'Schindler's List.' I'd like to see John Woo remake and update any Gene Kelly musical. I'd like to see Todd Solondz remake any Shirley Temple film and bring out the kinky kiddie porn aspects of it and the miscegenation of her relation with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. And 'Casablanca,' updated with Vin Diesel and Mira Sorvino."

Dave Tolchinsky, associate professor at Northwestern's Department of Radio/TV/Film: "On one level, this is absolute blasphemy to say, but Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights.' People should see it, but even my film majors don't want to watch a silent movie. Not many people are going to watch that movie, unless they're denizens of art houses. It's such a great theme, such a great idea, it'd be nice to bring that back, although I can't think of anybody out there quite like Chaplin to pull it off. It would be worth ripping off."

Leonard Maltin, film historian: "I liked a lot of 'All the Pretty Horses,' which was directed by Billy Bob Thornton. It didn't do well, and as I understand it, there was a long version of it that Miramax cut down to two hours. It shows. I'd love to see it remade or reconstituted."

Ray Greene, documentarian and author of Hollywood Migraine: "There aren't any movies I'd like to see remade. I think imperfections in great films are often more revealing than flawless craft. Craft is overrated. Thought is undervalued."

Michael Medved, USA Today columnist and radio host: " 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.' The movie isn't like a gigantic special effects extravaganza, but it's one of the few films to do the alien invasion thing, I think, persuasively. I love the fact that the robot is called Gort, and he looks like Al Gore. I'd also love to see a remake of 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.' "