The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made

Rating:
Summary: PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY - GREAT REVIEW!
Review: "Many of these jettisoned movies are already Hollywood legend, and Gore's descriptions of the surviving material are full of promise. ...as Gore demonstrates, casting the lead is merely the beginning, and a beginning doesn't get you far in Hollywood. This archive of stillborn pictures attests to the great feats of development and persuasion necessary to get a major film off the ground and to the countless projects that crashed and burned along the way."

Rating:
Summary: Comfort from Failure
Review: Chris Gore's remarkable study of the Greatest Movies never made reveals the chaotic side of the creative personality. How comforting it is for those of us overwhelmed with half finished projects to realize that the most famous artists of our time have also experienced the languor, frustration and pain associated with ideas whose time has not yet come. I found all fifty of the failures to be instructive but the doomed collaboration of Laughton and Von Sternberg on I Claudius was particularly poignant for me as a fable explaining why the seemingly unbeatable combination of balance and brilliance is as vulnerable as any other circumstantial chemistry transmogrifying under the strain of miscommunication.If we are to learn from the mistakes of others than Gore's work is a what not to do handbook of esteemable value.

Rating:
Summary: An extra star for originality...
Review: Chris Gore's The 50 Greatest Movies Ever Made is wildly uneven, frequently enjoyable, occasionally insightful, and at times kinda annoying. It's also a pretty cool idea that was long overdue and if Gore's book doesn't quite take advantage of the full potential of his concept, its still an idea that was long overdue. Content-wise, this book would probably rate three stars (whatever that actually means) but it deserves that one extra star for being the first of its kind. Hopefully, should someone decide to write a follow-up on other great films that were never made, they'll keep a copy of this book so that they may learn from not only the book's flaws but its strengths as well.

Every film fanatic has a few cherished projects that they learned about while they lingered in Hollywood's development limbo. These were the movies that you looked forward to saying, that you found yourself checking up on whenever you got a spare moment, and these are the movies that either vanished all together or died right when they were on the verge of actually being made. These are the movies that we regret we'll never get a chance to see. Chris Gore's book details fifty of these film projects that, for various reasons, never actually made it to postproduction. In Gore's opinion (and if Chris Gore has anything, its opinions), these fifty films would have all been classics of the cinema and, film-by-film, he details not only why the films were never made but why he believes we should mourn their loss.

Obviously, this is a highly subjective enterprise and Gore is often found defending a film's lost greatness on the basis of little more than his gut instinct. As a result, I doubt there's a reader out there who will agree with all of Gore's choices. Personally, its hard for me to share Gore's disappointment that we were never allowed a chance to see a Stephen Sondheim musical directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by William Goldman. (In fact, I found myself rather relieved that the whole thing fell apart.) Try as I might, I can't summon up any enthusiasm for Swirlie, a serious crime film featuring a crime boss whose head is a giant ice cream cone. Even Gore himself seems to be trying a bit too hard to convince himself that the failure of Jerry Lewis' That's Life is something to be regretted. However, for every project that left me scratching my head, Gore came through with chapters on lost film projects that actually did seem to have the potential to be something special. After completing this book, I did find myself wishing that I could run out and rent a copy Harrow Alley (costarring George C. Scott and Mel Gibson). I did wish for a chance to catch the macabre comedy Won't Fade Out on late night TV. Even the campy, stoner thrills of Biker's Heaven, the Easy Rider sequel, sounded like a potentially fun film to watch with a couple of properly medicated friends. Its films like these that are the saving grace of Gore's frustratingly brief overview.

As a critic, Gore has never been one to emulate the psuedo-literary approaches made famous by Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael. And indeed, one wishes that he had gone into a lot more detail on most of the films he writes about in this book. However, while his style leaves some of his less compelling unmade film favorites at a disadvantage, it also works wonders for the occasional film that actually has the spark of something special. After reading his terse, to-the-point descriptions of Harrow Alley, I felt as if I had actually watched that film in all of its potential genius. Whatever its flaws, this is a book to be commended. Now hopefully, Gore or some other critic will work out the kinks in time for a second edition and give us a book that leaves us with no doubt that its unrealized films deserve to be known as the greatest.

Rating:
Summary: An extra star for originality...
Review: Chris Gore's The 50 Greatest Movies Ever Made is wildly uneven, frequently enjoyable, occasionally insightful, and at times kinda annoying. It's also a pretty cool idea that was long overdue and if Gore's book doesn't quite take advantage of the full potential of his concept, its still an idea that was long overdue. Content-wise, this book would probably rate three stars (whatever that actually means) but it deserves that one extra star for being the first of its kind. Hopefully, should someone decide to write a follow-up on other great films that were never made, they'll keep a copy of this book so that they may learn from not only the book's flaws but its strengths as well.

Every film fanatic has a few cherished projects that they learned about while they lingered in Hollywood's development limbo. These were the movies that you looked forward to saying, that you found yourself checking up on whenever you got a spare moment, and these are the movies that either vanished all together or died right when they were on the verge of actually being made. These are the movies that we regret we'll never get a chance to see. Chris Gore's book details fifty of these film projects that, for various reasons, never actually made it to postproduction. In Gore's opinion (and if Chris Gore has anything, its opinions), these fifty films would have all been classics of the cinema and, film-by-film, he details not only why the films were never made but why he believes we should mourn their loss.

Obviously, this is a highly subjective enterprise and Gore is often found defending a film's lost greatness on the basis of little more than his gut instinct. As a result, I doubt there's a reader out there who will agree with all of Gore's choices. Personally, its hard for me to share Gore's disappointment that we were never allowed a chance to see a Stephen Sondheim musical directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by William Goldman. (In fact, I found myself rather relieved that the whole thing fell apart.) Try as I might, I can't summon up any enthusiasm for Swirlie, a serious crime film featuring a crime boss whose head is a giant ice cream cone. Even Gore himself seems to be trying a bit too hard to convince himself that the failure of Jerry Lewis' That's Life is something to be regretted. However, for every project that left me scratching my head, Gore came through with chapters on lost film projects that actually did seem to have the potential to be something special. After completing this book, I did find myself wishing that I could run out and rent a copy Harrow Alley (costarring George C. Scott and Mel Gibson). I did wish for a chance to catch the macabre comedy Won't Fade Out on late night TV. Even the campy, stoner thrills of Biker's Heaven, the Easy Rider sequel, sounded like a potentially fun film to watch with a couple of properly medicated friends. Its films like these that are the saving grace of Gore's frustratingly brief overview.

As a critic, Gore has never been one to emulate the psuedo-literary approaches made famous by Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael. And indeed, one wishes that he had gone into a lot more detail on most of the films he writes about in this book. However, while his style leaves some of his less compelling unmade film favorites at a disadvantage, it also works wonders for the occasional film that actually has the spark of something special. After reading his terse, to-the-point descriptions of Harrow Alley, I felt as if I had actually watched that film in all of its potential genius. Whatever its flaws, this is a book to be commended. Now hopefully, Gore or some other critic will work out the kinks in time for a second edition and give us a book that leaves us with no doubt that its unrealized films deserve to be known as the greatest.

Rating:
Summary: A more accurate title would leave out the word "greatest"
Review: Did you ever see the Marx Brothers comedy A Day at the U.N.? How about the Roger Rabbit sequel where it turns out that Bugs Bunny is Roger's father? If you never saw these movies, don't worry--nobody else has, either. However, they are (or were) legitimate movie projects, well-chronicled in Chris Gore's book, The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made.

The book lovingly details 50 films which never got beyond the planning stages for various reasons. Many of them involved heavy Hollywood hitters, from Steven Spielberg (who helped to get the first ROGER RABBIT off the ground), to DOUBLE INDEMNITY director Billy Wilder (who brainstormed the aborted Marx Brothers film as well as a Laurel & Hardy comedy), to Alfred Hitchcock (who proposed a movie about a blind pianist whose sight is restored).

While the book is a fast-paced, popcornish read, the book's not-so-subtle point is to make film purists gnash their teeth at the thought of these potential film classics never getting made. For me, the book's only surprise was that they left out many of my favorites, including Buster Keaton's proposed take-off of Grand Hotel, Charlie Chaplin's The Freak (about a girl who sprouts wings), and an aborted Western starring The Beatles.

It's easy to cry about potential film masterpieces that never got beyond the planning stage. The trouble is that, like many real lost films that come to light after being re-discovered, they often turn out to be classics only if they remain lost. And considering some of the awful ideas which do make it to the light of a movie theater--as witness the recent bomb AT FIRST SIGHT, starring Val Kilmer as (shades of Hitchcock) a blind artist who regains his sight--maybe these movies have rotted in Development Limbo for some very good reasons.

That said, the book will be an eye-opener to novices who have never heard the term "turn-around," and brain candy for those who have seen awful ideas that *did* get made into movies.

Rating:
Summary: Wildly Uneven
Review: Gore's book is a great idea done badly. The writing itself is breathless and opinionated (okay, for a book like this maybe you have to do a little of that -- operative word being 'little'). The reviews themselves have no consistency to them. One movie is described in detail and the reason for its not being made is a dismissive paragraph telling us that "things just didn't work out." Others give great detail on the reasons for the film not being made and only sketchy ideas about the content. The result is that the reader doesn't get a clear picture of what made so many of these failed projects special (although the narrowmindedness of the Hollywood system is driven home again and again and again).

At the end Gore opines (one of his favorite words) the other movies he wished he could have mentioned. He could have discussed them if he had confined himself to only one Orson Welles project, one National Lampoon/Saturday Night Live alumni project, etc. Assuming that every potential film from a director's body of work is a lost masterpiece only pushes the book into fanboydom (after all, besides "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," Spielberg also made "1941" and "Hook").

A book of this length would have been better served by being about only 25 movies. And should have been written by another writer.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: Great idea for a book, if only someone else wrote it. Gore barely scratches the surface on a lot of the films included. His writing style is a little too plain and simple, with needless editorializing. More facts and info from the featured scripts and the people involved and less of the writer's "know-it-all" opinions would have made an excellent book.

Rating:
Summary: I love this book, a movie geek's dream come true
Review: I was given this book by a friend who knows i am a total movie freak. Usually when I get books like this I groan more than smile. The books tend to be either cheesy or boring. This book is neither. The stories of the unmade movies that I have read have been fascinating. The Marx Brothers storming the U.N. what a great movie! In a way this book is depressing, because I find out about movies that I have been deprived of, Chris Gore's writing is clear and easy for film buffs and newcomers alike. I highly recommend this book!!!

Rating:
Summary: C.G. will quickly make you want to strangle him!
Review: This was certainly a good idea for a book, but it was very badly done. What annoyed me the most was how Chris Gore kept ranting against the studio system, sometimes forgetting to talk about the movie in order to write a couple of pages about how Hollywood studios stink. (Hey, Gore, if there were no major studio movies, there would be almost no movie theaters to show Hollywood *or* independent films!)

Also, as other people have pointed out, he frequently doesn't go into depth about the movie in areas such as (1) why the movie never got made, (2) what ingredients might have made the movie so great, and a few times, to some degree, (3) what the movie is actually about other than a quick description!

His snotty and oh-I-'m-so-right-and-clever attitude will make you want buy copies of his book just so you can throw them at him.

P.S. - Hey Chris, do you still think "The Fantastic Four" movie is fabulous, and better than any major studio with a big budget could make?

Rating:
Summary: Was There An Editor?
Review: While I did enjoy this book somewhat, I was baffled by the overwhelming number of typos and factual errors contained within. This was an amazing distraction from the otherwise enlightening content that Gore's book provides.