A mental experiment in melodramas

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2008)

Imagine, dear friend, that GONE  would be today as famous as ,let's say, Moon Over Harlem (1939), Dr. Broadway (1942) or The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)that is, no more famous than any of these --or pick any of the less famous pictures of Hawks, Walsh or Curtizoh ,one would be outraged! One would curse the conspiring of the mediocrities ,the deliberate minimizing of the hidden masterpiecesone would hail GONE  as a hidden gem ,and a victim of the fate's caprices. GONE  would be the cultmovie of diehard fans .Its sad fate would be lamented and deplored on forums, _blogs and at conventions .Gable would be a kind of Bruce Lee, Price or Lugosi .
What would be if a movie were not as famous as it is? The pretended generosity of many movie buffs conceals and denotes pettinessthe buffs love the occasions to show their magnanimity, they do not like to acknowledge what is generally held. If the great camp was already successful with the big audiences, it does not interest anymore the film buff. They like a movie only if they are given the chance to discover it and be generous.
Let's be honest! If GONE  were not as famous, it would be discovered with huge appetite and enthusiasmit would be the no. 1 cultmovie. GONE  is a huge ,dynamic, colorful, kaleidoscopic show. The fact of its enormous popularity and popular appeal must be no reason for dismissing it (and holding up, instead, various less famous flicks from the same period, whose only advantage is that they are lee known to the general audiences).
If GONE  would be today as famous as ,say, In the Meantime, Darling, Daisy Kenyon, That Lady in Ermine or Bonjour Tristesse, those who today bash GONE  would be foaming with indignation and rightful angeragainst the unexplainable bad luck of a lush, charming, riveting melodrama extraordinarily acted, etc..
Freelancing critics would have discovered in GONE  a myriad of virtues, merits, qualities, etc..Sirk himself would be dethroned. Its kitsch would be deemed as worth--wile. Its hidden qualities would have been extolled.
I have seen GONE  once, when I was 11 yrs., in one sitting, on TV; unable to taste the romance side, the movie nonetheless made a positive impression upon me.
One more thingin the '80s there was a word that among Leone's projects was a remake of GONE  (others were: a WW2 epic shot in USSR; a Rourke western).
The remakes are ambiguous: did Leone want to remake GONE  because he liked the original movie?because he liked the book?because he liked what could be done with that book?or out of sheer taste for provoking? Did Leone like the original movie, or was it utterly indifferent to him? His intentions were about the first movie, or about the novel?