The Archivist — Welcome to the Archive. As home video formats have evolved over the years, a multitude of films have found themselves in danger of being forgotten forever due to their niche appeal. Thankfully, Warner Bros. established the Archive Collection, a Manufacture-On-Demand DVD operation devoted to thousands of idiosyncratic and ephemeral works of cinema. The Archive has expanded to include a streaming service, revivals of out-of-print DVDs, and Blu-ray discs (which, unlike the DVDs, are factory pressed rather than burned). Join us as we explore this treasure trove of cinematic discovery!
Today’s Hollywood is filled but nothing with remakes and reboots, much to modern audience’s delight and many a film critic’s dismay. Most of that dismay stems from the fact that is very little care taken with these reworkings. Far too many classic films these days are finding themselves being re-done, supposedly for new generations to discover in between the barrage of franchises. On occasion, some of these remakes are made by people who not only know and love the property their giving new life to, but also happen to be proven filmmakers in their own right with enough of a solid reputation to take on such projects. Early buzz has been strong for Kenneth Branagh’s take on Murder on the Orient Express starring himself, Johnny Depp, and Michelle Pfeiffer, which is due out in November. More often than not, however, the results end up like the already-forgotten big-screen incarnation of Chips, with any Tom, Dick, and Harry (or in that particular case, Dax Shepard) at the helm.
But remakes have been a common practice in Hollywood for decades, and when done right, the results can be powerful enough to make them feel like their own entity, standing far from the shadows of their more beloved predecessors. In this week’s edition of The Archivist, we’ll look at a pair of remakes from two incredibly well-known films, 1994’s Love Affair and 1979’s The Champ. Both films feature an impressive collection of talent behind-the-scenes and plenty of star power in front of the camera. Most importantly, though, there’s enough individual feel and flair within both titles to help them stand out as quality cinema in their own right.
Love Affair
In Love Affair, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening play Mike Gambrill and Terry McKay, respectively, in this remake of An Affair to Remember (itself a remake of 1939’s Love Affair). The second remake of one of cinema’s most popular love stories sees Beatty and Bening as a pair of strangers who meet on an international flight and find themselves instantly smitten with each other, despite being committed to other people. The two can’t deny their strong connection and agree to meet in three months’ time on top of the Empire State building to see if they still feel the same.
There’s a large heap of considerable talent responsible for Love Affair, including Moonlighting creator Glenn Gordon Caron as director, Robert Towne as screenwriter (partnering with Beatty), the legendary cinematographer Conrad L. Hall photographing, and Ennio Morricone providing the lush score. Plenty of dependable actors such as Pierce Brosnan, Garry Shandling, Kate Capshaw, and Brenda Vaccaro lend their talents in supporting roles, but none are better than Katharine Hepburn in her penultimate acting performance as Beatty’s aunt, managing to divert attention away from the central couple like only a legend of her stature could. Already married by the time the movie went into production, Love Affair was clearly a vehicle to showcase Beatty and Bening’s real-life romance and give them another chance to work together. Star vehicle or not, watching the two share screen time is a true pleasure as the two’s intense magnetism is the very definition of movie chemistry. Their differences in acting styles couldn’t be more apparent, with Bening the more methodical and Beatty the more spontaneous. Yet the two meet in the middle and get audiences invested in this story of two people who encounter one another by chance and find themselves swept away by love, eschewing the kind of dreamy level of romance that made people start going to the movies in the first place. The film was a flop thanks largely to the reputation of the 1950s version and the resurrection it received thanks to the previous year’s hit Sleepless in Seattle. Still, Love Affair carries with it the incredibly universal power of love in both its characters and story enough to make it feel both fresh and familiar, echoing the movie’s tagline to “return to romance.”
The Champ
Franco Zeffirelli’s late-’70s version of The Champ may be the most powerful from the trio of films that tells one of the ultimate stories of a father’s love for his son. The Champ stars Jon Voight as Billy “The Kid” Flynn, a once successful boxer now working as a horse trainer and raising his young adoring son T.J. (Ricky Schroder in a Golden Globe-winning film debut). Their relationship drastically changes when Billy’s ex-wife and T.J.’s mother Annie (Faye Dunaway) comes back into the picture, changing the dynamic between the two.
Billed as one of the saddest movies ever made, The Champ is less remembered as Zeffirelli’s first American outing as director and more for its use in real-life psychological research (alleged studies suggest the film has a profound effect on depressed individuals). All of that aside, The Champ is one of the best films Zeffirelli, Voight, and Dunaway were ever attached to. The director makes a deeply moving portrait of family and love, while the film’s two stars (fresh off their Oscar wins for Coming Home and Network, respectively) both sink their teeth into characters worthy of their talent. Voight makes it easy to see Billy’s frustrations with himself while being inspired by his son to give him the best life he knows how. Dunaway meanwhile plays Annie as a woman who owns up to her past and will go to any lengths to prove she’s worthy of redemption. But the heart of The Champ remains Schroder, who gives one of the most perceptive child performances of all time. The way the then-8-year-old is able to convey so many different emotional layers is beyond impressive and is largely responsible for the film’s compelling qualities. Other elements such as Dave Grusin’s Oscar-nominated score and the way Zeffirelli incorporates the worlds of horse racing, fashion, and boxing without compromising the core story only add to the film’s many virtues. The Champ wastes no time by touching on many profound life themes such as choice, regret, and forgiveness, and does so in a way which never feels overly sentimental. However, it’s the movie’s comment on what makes a family as well as the sheer power of love which makes it a worthwhile classic in its own right.
Get ’em at Amazon:
Love Affair — [DVD] | [Amazon Video]
The Champ — [DVD] | [Amazon Video]
