This weekend it was announced that writer/director David Ondaatje is remaking Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 silent film The Lodger. This got me curious: How many Hitchcock remakes have their been and how many are in the works?

The Lodger (1927): This film was inspired by Jack the Ripper, based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes. A serial killer known as "The Avenger" is on the loose in London in the late 1800's. "A mysterious man arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting's daughter is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger."

Interestingly enough, The Lodger has already been remade three times already. In 1932, British director Maurice Elvey took on the first sound remake which featured returning star Ivor Novello. In 1944, John Brahm also made his version of the story. In 1953, Hugo Fregonese remade the movie as Man in the Attic with Jack Palance in the lead role.

Rear Window (1954): Probably one of Hitchcock's most interesting plot gimmicks involves Photojournalist "Jeff" Jeffries, who is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg. The entire story takes place with him confined to the back of his apartment. Jeff believes that a murder has been committed by his neighbor Thorwald and sends his girlfriend Lisa and his nurse Stella to investigate.

In 1955, a collective of Cantonese filmmakers remade the film as Hou chuang to commemorate the death of comedian Yi Qiushui. In 1998, Emmy Award winning director Jeff Bleckner remade the film for ABC with Christopher Reeve in his first major acting role since he was paralyzed. This one seems interesting and has already found it's way onto my netflix que.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934): A man and his wife receive a clue to an imminent assassination attempt, only to learn that their daughter has been kidnapped to keep them quiet.

Alfred Hitchcock remade the movie himself in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day.

Shadow of A Doubt (1943): This was Hitchcock's favorite film. The story followed a young woman thinks her uncle may be a serial killer.

Shadow suffered two decently bad remakes: Harry Keller's 1958 film Step Down to Terror and Karen Arthur's 1991 television movie Shadow of a Doubt starring Mark Harmon.

Dial M For Murder (1954): Based on Frederick Knott's play, an ex-tennis pro attempts to murder his wife, but when things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.

Dial M was remade seven times, six of which were made for tv movies. The most notable is Boris Sagal's 1981 version which starred Angie Dickinson and Christopher Plummer. In 1985, the movie got the Bollywood treatment as Aitbaar. Most recently director Andrew Davis (The Guardian, The Fugitive) helmed a decent 1998 remake starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and a pre-Lord of the Rings Viggo Mortensen.

Psycho (1960): Based on the novel by Robert Bloch, a young woman steals $40,000 from her employer and takes off to start her new life. Caught in a storm, she if forced to stay at The Bates Motel which is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.

In 1998, Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting) made a shot for shot remake with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen (in his second 1998 appearance in a Hitchcock remake) and William H. Macy. Most people chalked up the cinematic experiment as a failure, but I think it has some play. But with such a great cast, why did they hire Anne Heche to play Janet Leigh's part? One of the worst miscasting in film history.

Lifeboat (1944): Another one of Hitchcock's genius plot devices had a group of survivors of a torpedoed ship stuck on a boat with the men who sunk it.

This great film was made into a television movie in 1993. Lifepod moved the story into the future where the group of survivors were now stuck on a spaceship. Surprisingly, the whole ordeal is not as bad as it sounds, but bad none the less. The film was the sole directing effort of character actor Ron Silver, whom most might know as Bruno Gianelli on The West Wing.

Rebecca (1940): Based on Daphne Du Maurier's novel, a naive young woman marries a rich widower to find their gigantic mansion haunted by the memory of her husband's first wife.

Rebecca saw four made for television remakes, most notable is the 1997 version which starred Faye Dunaway. In 1962, Honk Kong directors Choi Cheong and Ying Cheung made an unauthorized remake of the film titled Huihun ye, english translation: The Haunted Night. In 1964, Biren Nag made a Bollywood rip-off titled Kohra.

Rope (1948): Based on a play by Patrick Hamilton, James Stewart and John Dall starred in the story of two young men who commit a murder just to see what it's like, which all takes place in a series of long continuous camera shots.

The movie saw two television adaptations, one shot in Belgium in 1968, the other in 1939. Alot of people like Richard Fleischer's 1959 Compulsion which starred Orson Wells.

The 39 Steps (1935): An adaptation of John Buchan's novel about a man in London who tries to help a counterespionage agent, and finds himself in one jam after another.

In 1954, British director Ralph Thomas made a pointless remake with no big stars. In 1978, Don Sharp remade the film as The Thirty Nine Steps.

The Lady Vanishes (1938): Based on Ethel Lina White's novel, a young British couple realize that a passenger seems to have been kidnapped from their train while traveling in Europe.

Anthony Page's 1979 remake starring Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, and Angela Lansbury is very forgettable.

Strangers on a Train (1951): Based on the novel of Patricia Highsmith, two strangers meet on a train and decide to exchange murders. This is probably one of Hitchcock's better films.

The movie suffered a couple bad remakes including Robert Sparr's 1969 Once You Kiss a Stranger starring Carol Lynley, the 1988 adult film Strange Curves, and the 1996 made for tv movie starring Jacqueline Bisset.

But probably the best known Hitchcock remake that you weren't aware was a reamke goes to: Danny DeVito's 1987 masterpiece Throw Momma from the Train. The movie starred DeVito, Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner and Anne Ramsey (who most know as Mama Fratelli from The Goonies).

Jamaica Inn (1939): Based on Daphne Du Maurier's novel, the story follows a young woman in the 1800's, who discovers that she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.

Lawrence Gordon Clark helmed a subpar 1985 television movie starring Jane Seymour.

Notorious (1946): A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. The movie starred Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman and is considered one of Hitchcock's better films.

Television director Colin Bucksey (The 4400) made a horrendous 1992 made for television adaptation starring John Shea (who some may remember as Lex Luthor from Lois and Clark)

Conclusion

Out of almost 30 remakes, only a few were deemed good (Compulsion, Throw Momma from the Train, Dial M For Murder (1998)), and the only one considered better than the original (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)) was a rehash by the master himself. There has been adult movies, laughable rip-offs and some bad made for tv movies. The point is, it's difficult to out-do the master. And those who try are usually untalented and dumb (Gus Van Sant does not fall into the category, he just has a problem with cinematic experiments).

So why has no one tried to remake 1963's The Birds, 1959's North by Northwest, or 1958's Vertigo? I'm assuming that it has to do with the copyright dates, combined with the fact that two out of the three films mentioned were original works (ie not a novel or play adaptation). I'd love to see a good Vertigo remake, but I'm not sure I'd trust a studio to make one.

Upcoming Hitchcock Remakes:

Due out August 17th 2007, Taking Lives director D.J. Caruso tries to turn Rear Window into a contemporary teen thriller. Disturbia stars Shia LaBeouf and Carrie-Anne Moss and is about a teen living under house arrest who becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer. I've always liked the Shakespear teen adaptations, so this one has promise.

The 39 Steps: Academy Award winner Robert Towne's (Chinatown) announced 2006 remake is now "soft of on the back-burner."

Strangers on a Train: Warner Bros has announced that Noam Murro will direct an adaptation by David Seltzer (The Omen, My Giant).

Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes shingle was once in negotiations to produce a remake of The Birds based on Daphne Du Maurier's short story which inspired the film. I'm guessing that the rights to remake Hitchcock's original film are under lock and key for now. We have no idea what the current status of this project.

Back in the mid 1990s there was talk of a To Catch a Thief (1955) remake with Gwyneth Paltrow and George Clooney being developed at Paramount, but that project never got off the ground. In 2004, Paramount announced that Todd Komarnicki was working on a screenplau, but nothing has been heard since.

And of course, writer/director David Ondaatje's remake of The Lodger. Production is scheduled to begin early next year in Los Angeles.