Well, I checked the Jerry Lewis news feed on IMDB for the first time in like, a month, and
guess what.
Yes.
He has optioned out six of his films from the early 1960s as
remakes. Can you believe it??!
Jerry won't say what the last three are, but he has mentioned remakes in the works for the Bellboy, the Family Jewels, and Cinderfella.
Cinderfella!
I love that movie. I absolutely adore it. Not only is Jerry totally cute and utterly sweet but it has Ed Wynn and
Anna Maria Alberghetti (whom I happen to UTTERLY idolize and look up to and whom I was once told I look like.... :D no fooling!).
How can they remake Cinderfella?
My feelings on this piece of news are soooo mixed....on the one hand, I am extremely glad that a whole new generation will come in contact with Jerry's genius. Entertainment today is at an all-time low and Jerry is one of the few remaining
Redwoods (as I like to call Old Hollywood's alumni). But
how can you remake a Jerry Lewis film?
There is no one, I repeat, absolutely
no one, who can take his place and even be remotely successful (with the tiny, microscopic exception of
possibly Sean Hayes). Jerry mentioned that he would like these roles to be venues for
outstanding comedic talent or some such nonsense....which probably means he'll be teaming up with Robin Williams, Jim Carrey or another modern comedian I can't stand...just like he did with Eddie Murphy in that awful remake of
the Nutty Professor. And Sean Hayes is already out of the running because, as Jerry so gracefully puts it, "He's in bed with Universal. And I'm not thrilled to death about them." Which makes me sad because Sean Hayes was the one good thing about that simply dreadful biography film,
Martin & Lewis. Why not get Billy Crystal, for gosh sakes?
(I know he's old, I know, I know...)
Anyway....the only good thing about a Cinderfella remake is that they would have to recast the role of Princess Charming (aka Anna Maria Alberghetti)...which means I could have a shot at it! lol. (Not really. But the possibilites do give one reason to hope. :)
Another thing I was glad to hear is that Jerry is going to be
very much more involved with these films than he was with the Nutty Professor Remake of Death. Which means we should get less toilet humor and more Jerry-esque hijinks. Joy rapture, hallelujah, and amen three times over. : D
And now, to rant on the Stupidity of Modern Hollywood and Their Bullheaded Insistence on Remaking Every Good Film... (seriously, that title just about says it all, doesn't it?) I don't know about you, but I am getting extremely tired of Hollywood thinking they have to remake Every Good Film...
if it ain't broke, don't fix it, folks! The problem is,
Hollywood is broke...broke for good ideas, broke for fresh films...they simply don't have any more juice left. So they feel the need to capitalize on past successes with the excuse of putting a "fresh" or "modern" take on them (to which I say "faugh!". What's wrong with the old-fashioned take?!). So help me, if they ever get around to that
Thin Man remake I will never visit a modern theater again.
So anyway....I'm still sort of split on this thing. I can't wait to see what Jerry is going to come up with, but at the same time I can't help wishing that he would take all the time, energy and money he is using on these remakes and pour it into developing DVDs of all those films of his we don't have instead...the Giesha Boy, etc....we don't even have a full Colgate Comedy Hour set!
By the way, if you want to read the interview I got this info from, it is here.
