> I was reading a column in the entertainment section of a Nashville paper the other day, and the writer was complaining that someone was about to do a remake of "Posidon Adventure." The gist of it was that remakes of classics are never as good as the original.

The remake actually already came out in theaters last summer. It was called simply "Poseidon," and if you'll forgive the cheesy pun, it sunk.

In general, you're right, but there *are* some noteworthy exceptions. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," the comedy with Steve Martin and Michael Caine, is superior by far than the movie it remade, the largely forgotten 1964 film "Bedtime Story," with David Niven and Marlon Brando. It's more common with novel adaptations. My favorite "Treasure Island" was made in 1990, despite the definitive version in 1934 and a popular Disney version in 1950.

Although it's true that we seem to get more remakes and sequels these days than ever before, this is definitely not a new phenomenon. It's just that bad remakes get quickly forgotten in time.

There was, for example, a bad remake of "M" in 1951, "High Noon" in 1977, "The Broadway Melody" in 1940, "Topper" in 1979, "It's a Wonderful Life" in 1977, and "Mutiny On the Bounty" in 1962.

In the 30s and 40s, remakes were arguably even more common than today, just with the B-pictures of the day instead of the A-pictures. There were a lot of whodunnit series back then -- The Falcon, The Saint, Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, Mr. Wong, and so on -- and it was not uncommon for the mystery plot in one such series to be adapted as an episode in another.

Today, our A-pictures are actually B-pictures with high budgets, so it almost makes sense that the remakes of our present age have moved into the spotlight.