| Comedy | MPAA:G/PG |
A fact of Hollywood life -- if something works, do it again -- and again and again. For this particular review we're looking at bookends in a series of movies with similar casting, or themes. These 2 are original and remake, most of the intermediate films were sequels, and as remakes go, it's pretty faithful.
At a summer camp for rich girls, we find amongst the arrivals our 2 heroines, Susan Evers/Hallie Parker and Sharon McKendrick/Annie James. Both girls, complete strangers to each other discover 2 very important facts -- 1. they bear a striking resemblance to each other, and 2. They dislike each other quite intensely. The volleys of practical jokes escalate until the flustered Camp directors banish the 2 miscreants to the isolation cabin. There, after a rainy afternoon spent actually talking instead of hurling insults, they discover the awful truth -- they are twins separated at birth, Susan/Annie to live in a posh, upscale urban setting with thier mother Margaret/Elizabeth, and Susan/Hallie to live in laid back, rural splendor with their father Mitch/Nicholas. Susan/Hallie comes up with a brilliant idea -- switch places! She would go live the posh urban life with Mom, and Sharon/Annie could go live in rural splendor with Dad. The plan also offers a plus in that Mom and Dad will have to meet again when they switch the girls back. So the rest of camp is spent learning how to be the other sister, as well as altering Sharon/Annie's appearance to match Susan/Hallie's. Camp ends, and each girl goes off to the other's family, Susan/Hallie to the rich, upper-crust lifestyle of Boston/London, and Sharon/Annie to laid-back Northern California. Problem is, while S/H are living it up with dear old Mum, S/A are presented with a complication to the plan to re-unite mom and dad -- a new girlfriend, Vickie/Meredith. S/A tries to play it cool, but it just doesn't work out -- she calls S/H for help -- twice. S/H gets found out by dear old grandfather, who makes her confess to Margaret/Elizabeth. One touching reunion scene later, M/E is frantically preparing for a reunion she had hoped would never happen. Eventually M/E, S/H, S/A, Mitch/Nick and Vicki/Meredith all end up in the same location. The girls try to plan the perfect evening for their parents, but it just doesn't work out right. M/E makes plans to return to Boston/London, but the girls refuse to admit which is which. They propose a family camping trip, after which, they will disclose their identities. In a nasty turn for the girls, instead of a family campout with mom, they get V/M instead. Not to worry though, because our veteran pranksters soon have V/M so riled up that she takes off for safer harbors, leaving M/N to get back with M/E, so they can all live happily ever after.
How was that for a film wrap up?
So, they're the same movies right? WRONG-O mary lou. The '61 film was aimed at kids, and was a star vehicle for Haley Mills. The children's angle is obvious from the start -- the cartoony beginning with the silly looking cherubs, the proliferation of Annette Funnicello songs throughout the film, and of course, the major amount of plot time being devoted to the youngster of the hour, Haley Mills. The '98 film has no silly intro, in fact it is a very nice bit about an unidentifiable couple meeting, dancing (to Nat King Cole), and finally getting married on a romantic cruise. The songs (except for the old show tunes), are fairly recent pop tunes, and having Shonen Knife sing the old Carpenters Hit "Top of the World" is an interesting blend of old and new. The new film includes a sub-plot involving Hallie's nanny and Annie's butler meeting, falling in love and (during the closing credits) planning marriage themselves. What's even more telling is, in the '61 film, most of Sharon's family is unlikeable. Margaret hasn't seen her daughter in 2 months, but plans a social meeting on the day her daughter arrives home. Grandmother and the household staff, from the driver to the maid, are all completely nasty. The only person in her family who seems to care about her is her grandfather. Susan's group is mostly ok, except the staff characters are very one dimensional, and her dad seems awfully wimpy for a guy who owns and runs a cattle ranch. The only thing from the first film that would have been nice to see in the second was the part of the Minister who was to perform the wedding for Mitch and Vickie -- his part, and the scene he was in was the funniest section of the entire '61 film. In truth, the older film is funnier than the new one, but that isn't always a good thing. The newer film is better balanced dramatically, the special effects were better, and the locations were genuine. In the old film, I don't think any of the principals acutally went to Boston. The scenes where Susan and Margaret are in the park are obviously rear projection shots -- the one scene where you see them genuinely walking in the park, you never actually see the actors faces -- because they weren't there (for an example of this technique -- used as an obvious joke -- see Wayne's World II).
I suppose it's too much to ask, but has anyone ever considered doing this film by using an actual pair of twins? The Olsen twins are probably too old now (what a shame, though they finally lost that goofy look they had when they were younger), but I'm sure someone else will be along soon. on the whole, the '98 film is much better than the other, though fans of the '61 film might not think so (my wife prefers the earlier one, but only because the new one has been on so much lately). The Disney channel had the right idea the other night, it ran them both -- one right after the other. Do it yourself, they're both good films, and you'll enjoy comparing them as much as I did.