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Ah, the signs of spring: Bulbs have transformed into tulips, caterpillars into butterflies — and old TV movies into a strange new video species. Unbeknownst to most renters, some of those unfamiliar films on video-store shelves are productions previously shown on broadcast and cable TV, retitled to sound like theatrical releases. Here's the truth about 10 TV movies whose names have been changed to exploit the innocent.
* For TV: Doing Life (1986, NBC)
* For Video: Truth or Die (Vidmark)
* Why The Change? This docudrama starring Tony Danza as a convicted
killer-turned-prison attorney received a spicy new title that video
renters could easily mistake for last year's acclaimed musical
documentary about a blonder, bustier, only slightly less muscular
Italian-American.
* For TV: Arthur the King (1985, CBS)
* For Video: Merlin and the
Sword (Vestron/LIVE)
* Why the Change? The Sword in the Stone cachet
conjured up by the retitling would seem to place this fantasy in
Disney territory. But instead of cartoony medieval fare, we get
flesh-and-blood Malcolm McDowell and Dyan Cannon in a silly retelling
of the Camelot legend.
* For TV: Chernobyl: The Final Warning (1990, TNT)
* For Video: Final Warning(Turner)
* Why the Change? Retaining only the subtitle,
Turner trashed the historical element from this drama about the 1986
Soviet nuclear disaster. Now, no one will mistake it for a
documentary; it sounds just like one of those urban butt-kickers with
Michael Paré.
* For TV: Clinton and Nadine (1988, HBO)
* Fox Video: Blood Money:
The Story of Clinton and Nadine (J2)
* Why the Change? The added
prefix gives this sexy thriller, with Andy Garcia and Ellen Barkin, a
vehicle more suitable for their gun-running exploits. No longer does
the title suggest a heartwarming, Midwestern domestic drama, which
this never was.
* For TV: Where the Hell's That Gold?!!? (1988, CBS)
* For Video: Dynamite and Gold (Academy)
* Why the Change? The bawdy, excessively
punctuated original title of this Western comedy screams, ''Make no
mistake — this is a cable-style movie made for network TV!'' The
decaffeinated new name politely whispers, ''Mid-'70s, good-ol'-boy
trucker flick.''
* For TV: Margaret Bourke-White (1989, TNT)
* For Video: Double
Exposure: The Story of Margaret Bourke-White (Turner)
* Why The Change? The suggestive retitling manages to inject some tease into
this biopic about the late Life magazine photographer. It also
cleverly introduces the photo angle for video renters unfamiliar with
Bourke-White's work or name.
* For TV: A Gathering of Old Men (1987, CBS)
* For Video: Murder on
the Bayou (Vidmark)
* Why the Change? Out went the feeling of
geriatric camaraderie, and in came the image of conspiracy in a dark
and exotic locale. Actually, this acclaimed drama is about neither:
It's a serious fictional account of the killing of a white racist by
a frustrated black man.
* For TV: Sweet Revenge (1984, CBS)
* For Video: Code of Honor (Arena)
* Why the Change? The rechristening of this military drama
avoids confusion with two other videos titled Sweet Revenge, but now
invites confusion with many similarly titled Steven Seagal flicks.
Also, the box art and reshuffled credits play up the presence of
supporting player Alec Baldwin.
* For TV: Solomon Northup's Odyssey (1984, PBS)
* For Video: Half
Slave, Half Free (SVS)
* Why the Change? Solomon who? The more
provocative new title tries — dramatically if illogically — to capture
the conflict of this fact-based American Playhouse historical saga
about a Northern-born black man kidnapped into slavery in 1841.
* For TV: Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1991, syndicated)
* For Video: A Family Matter (Vidmark)
* Why the Change? The "new"
name, actually this Italian-made Mafia drama's original production
title, leaves a tonier impression, but makes all this violent
business sound less like a feature film and more like an Afterschool
Special on teen pregnancy.
