“The Secret Cinema” is a short story film about a woman (“Jane”) secretly being filmed in her life, with episodes being shown to a select audience. It is compared by many to the 1990s “The Truman Show,” but the producers of that movie claim not to have known of the previous work. Who knows?
The original one was produced in 1966, with wider distribution in 1968, and the 1985 version was made as an episode of the NBC anthology series, “Amazing Stories.” Both were made by the same person. I had seen the 1980s version sometime ago, and re-watched it immediately after watching the 1966 version.
MY ASSESSMENT: The original, in black-and-white, definitely has the feel of a low-budget independent work of the time. The ‘80s version was obviously better in terms of production quality. The original storywise was darker in tone, at times almost mystical, and definitely a product of its time. The remake replaced the darkness with campiness, again being a product of its time. The remake’s story flow also seemed more plausible – not actually plausible, just more so than the original (with one huge exception). There’s also is true to the relative time difference, given the increased sophistication of audiences.
True to its more sophisticated audience, the remake deals with certain specific issues raised in the original. Examples include people thinking that Jane is an on the whole thing, as well as the issue of Jane being paid.
Overall, I prefer the remake. The ‘80s rule.
1966:
1985:
