"He's handy with his whip. . .and his lips!"

September 16, 2009 9:06 AM

Movies inspired by films of the 30's-50's?

After reading this recent fpp I stumbled across a comment by Piratebowling:

So, when the [fake] Ghostbusters trailer started floating around the internet a month or so ago, I got really excited, because it reminded me of how much movies from the 80's were drawing on material from the 30's through 50's. Ghostbusters took Abbott and Costello themes and ran with them in a more modern direction. Indiana Jones was an homage to older action serials (as wonderfully shown with the trailer here.)
. . .
Anyway, since I noticed this, I want to see more. These trailers are scratching that itch a bit, but any recommendations for 80's films drawing on inspiration from older films?

I'm actually curious about this as well, thus the askme post. What are some films (not just from the 80's) that draw heavily from the films of the 30's-50's? And not as in "it has a Casablanca reference."

In addition to the examples mentioned in the thread, Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters, I can off the top of my head think of the Coens' "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "The Hudsucker Proxy", which drew from noir films and screwball comedies, respectively. "Scarface" of course was inspired by gangster films of the 30's, while Steve Martin's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" is an excellent parody/mashup of old noir films. "Star Wars" is probably the most famous, drawing heavy inspiration (in addition to its scene transitions) from Flash Gordon serials.

posted by Ndwright to Media & Arts (27 answers total)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
posted by Think_Long at 9:09 AM on September 16, 2009

"The Rocketeer" (an adaptation of a comic book) and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (both are pre-war '30s), and "Iron Giant" ('50s space-race era). All fun retro sci-fi films. All box office failures.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 9:12 AM on September 16, 2009

Down With Love
Alien Trespass
The Good German
Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
Much of Francis Ford Coppola's work, esp. The Outsiders, Rumblefish, Tetro, although there's a distinct 60s vibe there as well
Far From Heaven
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:16 AM on September 16, 2009

If you ask about what stories from the 30's (or thereabouts) were used, you get...

Superman, Batman...

Conan, The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spirit

Tarzan, Frankenstein (movie), Sherlock Holmes (movie), Wizard of Oz (movie)
posted by jfrancis at 9:18 AM on September 16, 2009

I'm re-reading - you are going all the way to the 50's?

James Bond and its trillions of derivatives
posted by jfrancis at 9:20 AM on September 16, 2009

Brick
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:25 AM on September 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Phantom with Billy Zane

I don't know if we're only sticking to action/adventure/crime, but Only You reminds me of the old mixed-up-identities romantic comedies.
posted by thebazilist at 9:30 AM on September 16, 2009

Romancing the Stone
The Good German
Young Frankenstein
The Purple Rose of Cairo

The serials of Dennis Potter, particularly Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective.
posted by Iridic at 9:34 AM on September 16, 2009

Mulholland Drive.

And maybe because you mentioned Steve Martin, I also thought of The Spanish Prisoner.
posted by selton at 9:35 AM on September 16, 2009

Everyone Says I Love You was Woody Allen's tribute to '30s musicals.
posted by dagnyscott at 9:36 AM on September 16, 2009

Best answer: Much of Francis Ford Coppola's work

Bram Stoker's Dracula deserves an extra citation. An ungodly mess of a story, but Roman Coppola's special effects were heroic.

Coppola père insisted that the film use no technology that wouldn't have been available in 1931, and his son obliged: as this lengthy IMDB trivia note attests, every effect was accomplished with models, projections, double exposures, and magic tricks:

The scene when Harker is shaving and Dracula approaches him from behind without a reflection in the mirror was shot by a classic technique as old as cinema itself. The actor with his back to the camera is actually [a] Keanu Reeves double, not Reeves himself, and the 'mirror' is simply a hole in the wall, with the real Keanu Reeves standing on the other side in a portion of the set - hence when the hand touches the shoulder of the double there is no reflection to be seen, because there is literally no mirror.

And the execution of the effect is perfect. The scene's only flaw is the fact that it contains Keanu Reeves.
posted by Iridic at 10:00 AM on September 16, 2009 [7 favorites]

Far From Heaven
posted by dog food sugar at 10:07 AM on September 16, 2009

oops stitcherbeast already posted that.
posted by dog food sugar at 10:08 AM on September 16, 2009

Steve Martin's "Pennies from Heaven"
posted by lpsguy at 10:16 AM on September 16, 2009

Leatherheads
Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Charles Busch does fun, ridiculous takes on old movie styles. Psycho Beach Party aped the '50s beach films, and Die Mommie Die! aped films like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Guy Maddin is also inspired by older movies, esp. silent films.
posted by faunafrailty at 10:20 AM on September 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cry-Baby
Top Secret
L.A. Confidential
Pleasantville
Inglourious Basterds
The Rocketeer
posted by Iridic at 10:38 AM on September 16, 2009

>Guy Maddin is also inspired by older movies, esp. silent films.

Try Maddin's The Saddest Music In The World for a good example of this. It looks like a movie that was filmed in the 1930s. Heck, it's deliberately filmed to look like the print itself is from the 1930s--grainy, kind of worn out.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:27 AM on September 16, 2009 [2 favorites]

Flash Gordon and Xanadu. Both were made in 1980; one was based on a serial that originated in the 30s, Xanadu was a throwback to the musicals of the 40s and had Gene Kelly doing things like tap dancing, singing musical duets with Olivia Newton-John and wanting to own a classic nightclub like he had when he was young with a big band playing a residency there. There's even a trio of women who are clearly riffing on the Andrews Sisters in one sequence.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 11:32 AM on September 16, 2009

Millers Crossing is set in and inspired by Dashiell Hammett books from the gangster era.

What's Up, Doc? (1972) is an homage to the screwball comedies.

Neo-noirs like Chinatown and Body Heat.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:53 PM on September 16, 2009

Best answer: No one said The Untouchables?

The Untouchables, then.
posted by klangklangston at 2:48 PM on September 16, 2009

The Tales from the Crypt tv show was based on the comics (although those are a bit newer than I think you mean) but had a lot of inspiration from The Twilight Zone, which itself was heavily influenced by radio serials from even earlier.
posted by Large Marge at 3:26 PM on September 16, 2009

Fatherland (may not be quite old enough)
The Majestic
posted by Sutekh at 4:18 PM on September 16, 2009

Scarface isn't just inspired by older films; it's a remake.
posted by reductiondesign at 4:29 PM on September 16, 2009

The Call of Cthulhu. 1920s, but still.

posted by Bookhouse at 8:05 PM on September 16, 2009

If you are asking for movies heavily inspired by the 30's to 50's in their plots and characters, but not necessarily period pieces as such, here are some Bollywood recommendations:

Johnny Gaddar Terrific Hitchcock-meets-Tarantino (...in India) noir.

Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chhati Hoon I just recommended this in another thread, but it is equally apt here. Spunky would-be star Chutki could have been played by Judy Garland.

Guru Auteur Mani Ratnam's rags-to-riches story, based on real-life industrialist Dirubhai Ambani. A period piece as well.
posted by Methylviolet at 8:29 PM on September 16, 2009

The Hudsucker Proxy
posted by DMelanogaster at 7:37 PM on September 18, 2009

oh. never mind.
posted by DMelanogaster at 7:38 PM on September 18, 2009