First movie remake of an original motion picture
What is the first movie remake of another original movie (wholly written for the screen, not based on a book or play)?
This question is very close, but not a duplicate as The Squaw Man was originally a play. No adaptations count for this question. I'm looking for the first truly remade "original" movie.
Example:
Intermezzo (1936) seems to have an original screenplay co-written by director Gustaf Molander which was remade in 1939 as a David O. Selznick production. This is the one to beat, I guess. (I was thinking The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1934, 1956, until I remembered this one.)
I'm not looking for shorts, like Our Gang or the like, but a feature. I don't want to get too bogged-down by run-times, just use your best judgement here as to what constitutes feature-length. (Even back in 1936, Intermezzo was 93 minutes long. Don't pick something too short, okay?)
Best Answer
The movie Forbidden Fruit from 1921 is the earliest remake of an original movie that I could find. The film is 87 minutes in length.
Forbidden Fruit is a 1921 American drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is a remake of the 1915 film The Golden Chance, which was also directed by DeMille.
The movie was an original story, written by Cecil B. DeMille and Jeanie Macpherson.
Pictures about "First movie remake of an original motion picture"
What was the first movie to have a remake?
1. Une partie de cartes (1896), Remake of Partie d'\xe9cart\xe9 (1896) The Lumi\xe8re brothers, Auguste and Louis, were among the first filmmakers in history.When was the first film remake?
Perhaps the earliest remake is The Squaw Man: The Squaw Man (1914), followed by The Squaw Man (1918), asserting the first full-length feature remake was in 1918. These films--and even the subsequent The Squaw Man (1931)--were filmed by Cecil B. DeMille.What was the first scripted movie?
What is widely considered the earliest example of the modern script was written for George Melies' 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon. The silent film, groundbreaking for its originality and special effects was also important for its transformative use of story.What is the most remake movie in history?
10 Most Remade Movies Of All TimeThe First Movies
More answers regarding first movie remake of an original motion picture
Answer 2
Intermezzo, a Swedish film from 1936, seems to have an original screenplay co-written by director Gustaf Molander and Gösta Ekman. The movie was then remade three years later in 1939 as an American movie produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Gregory Ratoff with the same title.
I'm hoping someone will find an earlier example, as I did not research this too thoroughly, mostly looking up movies from memory. I post this as an answer just in case, especially considering I already cited it in the question and wouldn't feel too awesome giving the points away to someone else for merely copying my work.
This might also be the earliest example of a rapid turnaround for a foreign film being remade for American audiences. I was depressed when Open Your Eyes was remade/Americanized so quickly as Vanilla Sky (a four year gap), I didn't realize this happened as early as the 1930s.
Answer 3
While certainly not the first remake, one of the most famous remakes of early silent cinema was of The Great Train Robbery (1903). The original film was a smash hit for nickelodeon audiences, and drew many people to movie theaters for the first time. Edison produced the original film.
Siegmund Lubin owned a rival studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was notorious for copying other studio's films. He would either copy them directly and sell the film as his own, or he would remake them with different actors. In 1904, he remade Edison's film, which is now know as Lubin's Great Train Robbery. IMDB link
In 1905, the Edison studio produced a remake or parody called The Little Train Robbers. It was the same story, but enacted by children. This film and the original GTR were directed by Edwin S. Porter. IMDB link
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