Don't get me wrong, the original will always be best, and I'm normally not in favor of remakes, but this is a story that deserves retelling. Only with the best cast and writer though, obviously. It's just that if Hollywood it's intent on rehashing old stories, at least make them good stories. And there's a whole generation who completely missed this.
shareI don't think lines like "to all my crushes; seems I'm always off schedule 20 or 30 years" and similar hints at hitting on a supposed 12-year-old would go down well with modern audiences. "You know, Su-Su, when I look at you with just my bum eye, you look almost grown up." Yay. That totally won't creep the living bejesus out of people.
I guess some things just have their time. And even with watching this film in the context of its time, I was still at times screaming at the screen like: "Fu*@! FU*@! You did NOT just say that! You did NOT just do that! You simply did NOT just go there!"
If people have the "living bejesus" creeped out of them and are experiencing screaming fits in front of their screens then they've only got themselves, and their inability to take a lighthearted comedy as such, to blame. But Wilder's film is indeed a rather careful balancing act and any modern remake is likely to come out obnoxious or vulgar. Plus, of course, the audiences and the cultural context aren't the same anymore so it's probably impossible to make an "innocent" and "compassionate" film (as The Major And The Minor is being described) with such content this day and age.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan
I notice a certain discrepancy between your claim that everything that wants to be light-hearted and humorous is to be taken as such while my light-hearted comment about my reactions to a few lines that surely were intended to be provocative even back then got you all sulking and defensive.
shareSulking and defensive, eh? Well, either way, the comment about your reactions, the way it's expressed, did not strike me as light-hearted... Misunderstanding, apparently.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan
Yes, evidently. I fully enjoyed the movie. I was also cringing when it indulged a bit too much in its inappropriateness. And, yes, at one point or another, I was also talking to the screen out loud.
shareAnd there's a whole generation who completely missed this.
They did remake it in 1955 YOURE NEVER TOO YOUNG with Martin and Lewis --- Jerry played the young person pretending to be a child for a cheaper train fare and falls in love with Diana Lynn (who was in the original) who already loves Dino Paul Crocetti (Dean Martin) ---
It was an excellent remake with reversed sex roles and DOES NOT NEED TO BE REMADE AGAIN ---
Many of the original actors show up in the Martin and Lewis remake led by Beautiful Diana Lynn ---