Name changes

[Carmel]

Why do the film people insist on changing film name's why do they not just stick to their original one eg; Melody a.k.a S.W.A.L.K and the haunting of julia a.k.a Full circle why do they do that because sometimes you know it as a name and look for ages and when you find it you find out you have been looking for the old name and its so frustrating when you know you could have found it quicker other wise.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Carmel Why do the film people insist on changing film name's why do they not just stick to their original one eg; Melody a.k.a S.W.A.L.K and the haunting of julia a.k.a Full circle why do they do that because sometimes you know it as a name and look for ages and when you find it you find out you have been looking for the old name and its so frustrating when you know you could have found it quicker other wise.

Because the execs at the distribution companies feel that they should be seen to be doing something?

One of the classics is the way they changed the title of A Matter of Life and Death into Stairway to Heaven when Powell & Pressburger had been very careful to not call it "Heaven" in the film. The excuse given by the American distributors was that they didn't think people would want to go and see a film with the word Death in the title so soon after the war.

But they did also change the title of P&P's Contraband to Blackout which P&P themselves thought could have been a better title.

Or what about the way they changed The Battle of the River Plate into Pursuit of the Graf Spee? Apparently because it was thought that the great American public wouldn't have heard of the River Plate and might mis-read it as the River Platte and therefore think it was a Western!

Steve

[Carmel]

How stupid and confusing.

[Mr Cosmo]

MELODY actually opened as SWALK but there were few admissions and the distributor rapidly changed the title which again wasn't the best they could have done - they could have called it TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL or MELODY FAIR or MORNING OF MY LIFE after one of the songs in the film. They also didn't exploit the "Oliver" connection with Mark Lester and Jack Wild. When I saw the film on its release the cinema was empty.

I am reminded that before FAMILY WAY was released it had previously been called ALL IN GOOD TIME and then WEDLOCKED, and SKY WEST AND CROOKED was originally called BATS WITH BABY FACES but dropped as people thought it was a horror picture.

[essaljay]

I remember reading that the Bond film "licence to kill" was originally titled "licence revoked" but it was felt that the american audience wouldn't know what "revoked" meant.

[wearysloth]

We must be grateful that
Young Man with a Horn
became
Young Man of Music
for the UK though.

and, in fairness, Licence Revoked is a bit dull - sounds as though 007 had a run in with a power crazed traffic warden...

[Sgt Dudfoot]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Or what about the way they changed The Battle of the River Plate into Pursuit of the Graf Spee? Apparently because it was thought that the great American public wouldn't have heard of the River Plate and might mis-read it as the River Platte and therefore think it was a Western! Steve

The Devil Rides Out was changed to The Devil's Bride for the same reason of not wanting it to be mistaken for a western.

[penfold]

Then there was The Madness of George III , changed to The Madness of King George so the US public wouldn't ignore it as they'd missed parts one and two......

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by penfold Then there was The Madness of George III , changed to The Madness of King George so the US public wouldn't ignore it as they'd missed parts one and two......

That's another one that is probably mainly apocryphal, but may have elements of truth to it.

The IMDb says:
The movie is based on a play by Alan Bennett called The Madness of George III. The popular story in the UK is that the movie's title is different from that of the play because it was thought the American audience might mistake it for a sequel. While not wholly true, director Nicholas Hytner has confirmed that it was "not wholly untrue" and it is now widely held that this almost certainly did play a part in the titling of the film. In the UK it would be obvious to anyone that "George III" referred to King George III, but it was felt that elsewhere this might not be so clear and that adding "King" to the title might help. While this explains part of the title change, it glosses over the dropping of the "III", adding renewed weight to the original theory.

Steve

[Mr Cosmo]

I had forgotten about the title change for YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN which had me in stitches when I first saw it. It's like HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM became HALLELUJAH I'M A TRAMP for sensitive 30s UK audiences.
Also there was once a film called FANNY and at the preview audiences laughed because director Joshua Logan had insisted on a credit which said "Joshua Logan's Fanny".

Although it was music and not related I remember being amazed to see that in the 1980s, American group The Tams had issued a dance single called "There Ain't Nothin' Like Shaggin'" - and this was in the days before Austin Powers.

[NappieB]

NORTHWEST FRONTIER (UK original) = FLAME OVER INDIA(US)

POP GEAR (UK original) = GO GO MANIA (US)

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (UK original) = CURSE OF THE DEMON (US)

SAMMY GOING SOUTH (UK original) = A BOY TEN FEET TALL or NEVER GIVE UP (US)

There's simply no excuse for changing any of these titles!!

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Mr Cosmo I had forgotten about the title change for YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN which had me in stitches when I first saw it. It's like HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM became HALLELUJAH I'M A TRAMP for sensitive 30s UK audiences. Also there was once a film called FANNY and at the preview audiences laughed because director Joshua Logan had insisted on a credit which said "Joshua Logan's Fanny". Although it was music and not related I remember being amazed to see that in the 1980s, American group The Tams had issued a dance single called "There Ain't Nothin' Like Shaggin'" - and this was in the days before Austin Powers.

Fanny by Gaslight (1944) isn't at all what you might think from the title. Mind you, neither is Going Gay (1933).

And whenever I hear mention of A Price Above Rubies I always wonder what Ruby's price is

Steve

[batman]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Fanny by Gaslight (1944) isn't at all what you might think from the title. Mind you, neither is Going Gay (1933). And whenever I hear mention of A Price Above Rubies I always wonder what Ruby's price is Steve

Maybe she has been doing a deal with The Gay Divorcee .

Bats.

[Joenoir]

This itself suffered a name change from stage to film, apparently because the censors didn't like the idea of a 'gay' divorce!

[christoph404]

When the Bond film "Dr No" came out, the title translated as "We don't want a doctor" in Japan. Posters were printed and advertising material prepared under this title in Japanese and the film was going to be released under this title. The mistake was realised at the eleventh hour and the posters etc were thankfully withdrawn!.......