Hollywood Remakes of Iconic British Films

Agnieszka Rasmus is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Studies in Drama, Theatre and Film, University of Łódź, Poland. She is the author of Filming Shakespeare, from Metatheatre to Metacinema (2008) and numerous articles on film remakes and adaptations.

Agnieszka Rasmus makes an excellent contribution to the study of the Hollywood remake with the first book-length study devoted to a select cycle of Hollywood remakes of British cinema classics. Significantly, it identifies that such films can provide, inadvertently or not, a commentary on wider socio-cultural changes and developments as they illuminate anxieties at the heart of their original. Different cultures, socio-historical periods, audience expectations, genre conventions, directorial styles, aesthetic orientations, identity politics, and industry practices are interrogated appropriately, and it is well worth a read as a result.

• Preface Remaking Iconic British Films of the 1960s and 1970s From British Working-class Gangsters to Hollywood Heroes: The Italian Job and Get Carter Gender, Stars and Class Wars: Alfie and Sleuth From Devilish Masters to Evil Dames: Bedazzled and The Wicker ManRemaking, Cultural Exchange and Personal Legacy: The Limey