ABSTRACT
Caine’s four iconic roles from the 1960s and 1970s – Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter, and Sleuth – were remade within a short space of time from 2000 to 2007. This chapter looks at seriality in terms of repeated engagement with the works of a single actor. First, it examines the originals in terms of a unified and coherent cycle. Secondly, it treats the dating of the remakes as an important indicator of technological and cultural changes that created the right environment for updating to take place. It also shows that by embracing these remakes, Caine serves as an active custodian of his early work in a similar way to Hollywood that keeps reinventing its products.
