Saturday, October 10: Mississippi Mud
THE SECOND TIME AROUND
by John M. Floyd
Just wondering: How often do you read a short story or novel or see a film and like it so much you hope that writer will revive those characters and do an encore? Rarely, right? But when it does happen it’s a good feeling, and it’s an even better one when you hear that a followup has indeed been released. If you’re like me, you’ll probably go right out and read or buy it, or head for the theater where it’s showing.
Rocky XVII: Adrian Who?
The sad truth is, good sequels are few and far between. Most quality fiction seems to fall in the standalone variety: novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Green Mile, Shane, The Prince of Tides; movies like “Witness,” “Casablanca,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Forrest Gump”; short stories like “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” “The Green Heart,” “Hills like White Elephants,” “The Gift of the Magi.” There’s a reason for that: The best fiction usually has a story arc or character arc in which conditions or lives are changed in such a profound way that there’s little reason to continue the tale.
For every rule, however, there are exceptions. Some sequels — The Bookman’s Wake, The Bourne Supremacy, “The Godfather, Part II,” From Time to Time, Turning Angel, “Toy Story 2,” “Superman II,” etc. — were (I thought) as good or almost as good as the originals. Others, including “Aliens,” The Silence of the Lambs, and “From Russia with Love,” were even better than their predecessors.
Unfortunately, most followup books and films (Streets of Laredo, “Return to Snowy River,” The Loo Sanction, The Matarese Countdown, “Jaws 2,”) were just not as good as the originals, and some (Scarlett, “Oceans Twelve,” “Battle for the Planet of the Apes,” “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde,” etc.) were far worse.
Dumb and Dumberer
Another thing that’s interesting to me is the innovative titles writers choose for some of their sequels. Most are clever, some are silly. Consider the following:
- One for the Money / Two for the Dough
- “The Whole Nine Yards” / “The Whole Ten Yards”
- A is for Alibi / B is for Burglar
- “Beethoven” / “Beethoven’s Second”
- Rich Man, Poor Man / Beggarman, Thief
- “101 Dalmatians” / “102 Dalmatians”
- “A Fistful of Dollars” / “For a Few Dollars More”
- “Hot Shots” / “Hot Shots, Part Deaux”
- 1st to Die / 2nd Chance
- “Analyze This” / “Analyze That”
- “28 Days Later” / “28 Weeks Later”
- “The Net” / “The Net 2.0”
- The Relic / Reliquary
- Berlin Game / Mexico Set / London Match
- “The Naked Gun” / “The Naked Gun 2 1/2”
- “Look Who’s Talking” / “Look Who’s Talking Too”
- “Night of the Living Dead” / “Dawn of the Dead”
- 2001: A Space Odyssey / 2010
- “The Thin Man” / “After the Thin Man”
Colonoscopy Time
How can you tell, beforehand, if a sequel is worthwhile? Here’s a hint: Titles containing a colon are usually a sign of a terrible story. Exceptions include “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan,” and the two “Lord of the Rings” sequels. Normally, I treat a colon in a fiction title like kryptonite, and give it a wide berth.
I also tend to be suspicious of sequels to really wonderful novels, stories, and movies. What can be added? I think it’s just as well that Shane never came back, the mockingbirds survived, the Magi had only so many gifts, and Sam never played it again. The second time’s not always the charm.
Speaking of Cinema . . .
Here are the final (Thank God, he replied) ten answers to my recent movie-quotes quiz:
41. The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea.
OH GOD (George Burns, replying to a lawyer’s question in court)42. I’m always frank and earnest with women. In New York I’m Frank, in Chicago I’m Ernest.
THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT (Samuel L. Jackson)43. I asked for a car, I got a computer. How’s that for being born under a bad sign?
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (Matthew Broderick to audience)44. I’d like to report a truck driver who’s been endangering my life.
DUEL (A frazzled Dennis Weaver, into the phone)45. Kane will be a dead man in half an hour and nobody’s gonna do anything about it. And when he dies, this town dies too.
HIGH NOON (Katy Jurado to Lloyd Bridges, in her hotel room)46. You know anything about a guy who goes around playing a harmonica?
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (Jason Robards)47. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.
THE TERMINATOR (Michael Biehn to Linda Hamilton, referring to Ahhhnold)48. I once asked this literary agent, what kind of writing paid the best. He said, “Ransom notes.”
GET SHORTY (Gene Hackman)49. What is your nationality? / I’m a drunkard.
CASABLANCA (German officer / Humphrey Bogart, at a table in Rick’s)50. Is this coincidence, or are you back on the case? If so, goody goody.
HANNIBAL (Anthony Hopkins to Jodie Foster, on the phone)
I’m a fan of all the Die Hard movies.
I imagine if Duel had been made today, and for the cinema, there would be an instant sequel. Maybe “Dual Duel” — two trucks hunt down a hapless driver on his journey across country. And given the recent burst of Richard Matheson remakes, I also wouldn’t be surprised if a script right now lies in waiting on an exec’s desk somewhere for a Duel re-do… I dread to think. Duel is still my favourite Spielberg film.
It’s been a long time, but it strikes me the first Dune sequel was satisfying and tied up a few loose ends. After that, Frank Herbert didn’t know when to stop.
The most recent Batman movie with Keith Ledger was excellent.
If I remember right, I think the Smothers Brothers put out an album ‘Part II’… and there was no Part I.
Leonard, Part 6… and it certainly seemed like the sixth installment of a movie franchise gone tired and bland. The joke was, there was no Leonard parts 1 through 5. Oh, we rolled in the aisles over that one. 😉
Not fiar to call any of the Lord of the Rings movies sequels… they are a trilogy. Really one novel that was too big to publish in one part.
Another sequel better than the Original: The Road Warrion was better than Mad Max.
Rob, you’re right on both counts. LOTR, even without THE HOBBIT, was one continuous story, and THE ROAD WARRIOR was far better than MM.
I recently heard something I’d never known before: Sergio Leone’s epic ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA was the third installment of a trilogy as well. The first two were ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and the second was DUCK, YOU SUCKER. He had apparently wanted to present these as phases in the growth of America and Mexico. I think DUCK, YOU SUCKER, which was later titled A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE, was originally titled ONCE UPON A TIME: THE REVOLUTION. (I liked all of Leone’s films, partly because of Ennio Morricone’s scores.)
One more thing. I can recall a couple of movies that sounded as if they would have sequels but none ever came to pass — REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS and Mel Brooks’ HISTORY OF THE WORLD: PART I.
I also liked just about all of Mel Brooks’ movies, and all of those by the Coen Brothers. The insane asylums are probably full of folks who share that opinion.
As I’m sure you know, Len Deighton continued the Bernard Samson story after the Game, Set and Match trilogy with Hook, Line and Sinker and then a third trilogy: Faith, Hope and Charity. To fully appreciate them a reader should begin with the stand alone Winter.” It might be called a hugh backstory.
As much as I enjoyed all those and Deighton’s other books, I feel his very best was “Bomber.”
As for dreaming up titles, Leone should win some sort of prize for “Duck, You Sucker.” I was unaware of that one.
Dick, I did read (SPY) HOOK, LINE, and SINKER, but I somehow wasn’t even aware of the Faith, Hope, and Charity trilogy. And I’ll make it a point to locate and read BOMBER.
One of best things about this blog, to me, is finding out from friends the names of good books and stories I haven’t yet read.
The poster James picked reminded me of the Abbot & Costello movie with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Werewolf. I’d like to see that again some day.
Many people who enjoyed the Thin Man movies (like me)think the Charles’ appear in a bunch of books by Hammet. But nope, there’s just the one. And didn’t Inspector Cleauseau appear in a film before The Pink Panther? Played by someone other than Peter Sellers?
Jeff, I don’t think Inspector Clouseau appeared in a film before THE PINK PANTHER, but there was an odd entry in the series with the title INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU and Alan Arkin in the role. It was sometime in the 1960s, probably between A SHOT IN THE DARK and RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, at which time Sellers and Blake Edwards couldn’t get together for some reason.
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, mentioned in John’s stimulating piece, actually was part of a four-book sequence but as a movie was a standalone. It is a great crime film, but the only other book from Ellroy’s sequence to be filmed (I believe) was THE BLACK DAHLIA, which proved a dud on the big screen.
Re THE THIN MAN: I think the first sequel AFTER THE THIN MAN was the equal or nearly of the first one, and the third film in the series, ANOTHER THIN MAN, was much the best strictly viewed as a fair-play detective story.
Jon, I’ll have to look up those movies (I actually haven’t seen them all!)
Thanks!
Jon, what did you think of the film version of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL as compared to the novel? I like Ellroy’s books, but I thought the movie was way better than the novel in this case. And I think you’re correct about THE BLACK DAHLIA being the only other Ellroy to be adapted to the screen.
And I had forgotten, Jeff, that the Charleses only appeared in THE THIN MAN. (Thank God for trivia experts!)
Quick question: Weren’t HEAVEN’S PRISONERS and IN THE ELECTRIC MIST the only two James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux) novels to be filmed?
I love the film L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, but never read the novel, which is odd, because I did read the other three in the sequence.
I think the internet will eventually take over entertainment.
Anyway, thanks for this well, I don’t know what to call it…. website.
I don’t watch much tv or movies but I depend on mentions like those done here to pick something to watch when I do want to sit still long enough!
Cheers.