Jw In Foreign Countries

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    When shown abroad, JW’s films often changed titles to fit the public’s taste. I think it could be interesting to hear – having many members from different countries – to hear what the titles in other countries are. To start with, here’s how they sold JW in Germany (I’m translating the German titles into English)


    GERMAN TITLES


    The Fighting Seabees would be ALARM IN THE PACIFIC
    They Were Expandable: SPEED-BOATS AT BATAAN
    Fort Apache: TO THE LAST MAN
    Quiet Man: THE WINNER
    She Wore A Yellow Ribbon: The Devil’s Captain
    Three Godfathers: Tracks in the Sand
    Flying Leathernecks: Wildcat Squadron or (in later release) Wings of Steel
    Wings of Eagles: Like the Eagle
    The Horse Soldiers: The Last Command
    North to Alaska: Land of 1000 adventures
    Cahill: Buzzards don’t give pity
    Rooster Cogburn: WITH DYNAMIT AND A PRAYER
    Stagecoach: RINGO or (in earlier release): HELL RIDE TO SANTA FE (stupid, since the coach drives to Lordsburg)
    Tall in the Saddle: WITH RIFLE AND ROPE
    Sands of Iwo Jima: YOU WERE OUR COMRADE or DEATH COMMAND IWO JIMA
    In Harm’s Way: FIRST VICTORY
    The War Wagon: THE MAGNIFICENT
    Hellfighters: THE UNAFRAID
    Hondo: THEY CALL HIM HONDO
    McQ: MCQ – A MAN OF STEEL
    The Train Robbers: DIRTY GOLD
    Allegheny Uprising: BLACK RIVER
    Red River: PANIC AT THE RED RIVER
    True Grit: THE MARSHAL (100 DOLLARS FOR A SHERIFF in France – even though he’s a marshal!)
    The Searchers. THE BLACK HAWK (they changed „Scar“ to Black Hawk and gave him the title as well)


    Bad Luck for the Italians when they renamed RIO GRANDE to RIO BRAVO – and 9 years later couldn’t give the real RIO BRAVO that same title! So Rio Bravo became A GOLD DOLLAR in Italy.
    Interesting to know: The French re-named The Cowboys and The Green Berets JOHN WAYNE ET LE COW-BOYS and JOHN WAYNE ET LES BERETS VERTS, Wayne’s name could even be IN the title.
    The funniest would be Big Jim McLain, renamed MARIHUANA. The Germans skipped the whole Commie plot, the Communists became drug dealers, and all the narrator’s and actor’s lines were changed accordingly.

    They even had changes in titles in the U.S.


    Even though the movies in America were released with a title, they also had chanced titles as well. Here is a list I could find with title changes and dates. These films were his early films, most being his “B” pictures.


    Men Are Like That – Arizona (16 Oct 1931)
    The Three Musketeers (1933) – Desert Command (1946)
    Born to the West – Hell Town (8 Apr 1938)
    New Frontier – Frontier Horizon (7 Sept 1939)
    Three Faces West – The Refugee (14 June 1940)
    A Man Betrayed – Wheel of Fortune (14 Mar 1941)
    Lady Takes a Chance – The Cowboy and the Girl (19 Aug 1943)
    War of the Wildcats – In Old Oklahoma (25 Oct 1943)


    That was cool, Roland, Reap the Wild Wind.


    Cheers, Hondo B)



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Sometimes titles even changed from US to Great Britain, like Circus World to THE MAGNIFICENT SHOWMAN (Hero of the Arena in Germany, BTW). A good example is Allegheny Uprising. That was bad timing, releasing it just the day after Britain declared war to Germany! The film certainly showed the British in a bad light, and Allegheny, after only a short time, was stopped - and released again later, and in a shorter version which had most of these "British" things eliminated, as THE FIRST REBEL.


    (John Ford's DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, released almost at the same time and dealing with the same time period, had a similar problem: the British were the enemy. Darryl F. Zanuck was clever enough to have those things rewritten or cut in the pre-production)

    Just a couple more titles to keep this topic going?
    OK, but then you're on your own! ;)


    Some more examples how JW-films were re-titled in Germany (I'm translating the German title to English)


    The Green Berets: THE GREEN DEVILS (which, as a kid, always made me think that the green devils would be the vietcong! when, in actuality, that's what they called the Green Berets - probably to make it sound more "colorful")


    The Sons of Katie Elder: THE FOUR SONS OF KATIE ELDER (note the difference)


    Donovan's Reef: THE HARBOR BAR OF TAHITI (even though it's not Tahiti, haha)


    Legend of the Lost CITY OF THE LOST


    The Sea Chase THE SEA FOX (probably trying to cash in on the popularity of The Desert Fox, the Rommel-film)


    Island in the Sky THE LAST SIGNAL


    The High and the Mighty THERE'LL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER DAY (could be DIE ANOTHER DAY, no?)


    The Quiet Man (alternate German title:) THE CAT WITH THE RED HAIR


    Operation Pacific OPERATION SEA-EAGLE


    The Fighting Kentuckian IN THE LAST SECOND


    Angel and the Badman THE BLACK RIDER


    Dakota LOVE IN THE WILDERNESS


    Back to Bataan TWO FIGHT BACK (note that Quinn gets equal billing in the German titles, it was released here when Quinn already was a star)


    Flame of Barbary Coast SAN FRANCISCO LILLY (even though the leading lady's name ain't Lilly - haha)


    War of the Wildcats HELL OF OKLAHOMA


    You note how the used to spice up those titles, promising action and love?

    Hi
    I have a reproduction film poster showing John Wayne standing barechested in the middle of a river punching what looks like an apache indian with three companions dressed like Davy Crockett also fighting Apaches. The film is entitled BLACK RIVER and besides starring John Wayne it also mentions George Sanders, Walter Brennan and Claire Trevor. As George Sanders only appeared in one film it must be Allagahney Uprising. The only clue to the nationality is the word REGIE: William Seiter which although us English don't learn any one else's language must be foreign for Director. Hence Allaghaney Uprising in the US, The First Rebel in UK and Black River somewhere in Europe.
    Incidentally in Fords Drums along the Mohawk the film predated the American Revolution so we were the good guys.


    Best Regards for the Festive season
    Arthur

    Walk Tall - Talk Low

    Yep, what you got is the German sheet, Arthur. Allegheny was released as Black River after the war in Germany, I think in the Sixties (using the "River" because Wayne then was accociated with rivers like Red Rivers and Rio Grandes, etc). They used the original US version (with the English being the bad guys).


    Very often, they would take liberties with the dubbing, giving the dialogue other meaning. Especially war films which were made as propaganda during the war and still were used as fodder to feed the German moviehouses after the war (movie houses were under US government) were tuned down in terms of hate toward the Germans. The best example for that is Casablanca, which was released early in the Fifties - and the Gestapo scenes got completely eliminated. Victor Lazlo wasn't a refugee anymore, fleeing the nazis - he was a rocket scientist.


    With Stagecoach, they fumbled the ending. They couldn't let Ringo - a criminal, after all - let get away with it. So the dialogue between Doc and the Marshal ("That saved them from the blessings of civilisation") was changed into something stupid like "Luke Plummer confessed the murder" - and so it was of course ok. to see Ringo off at the end of the picture!


    One more that just comes to mind: In Hatari Sean Mercer is JOHN Mercer - easier to pronounce.

    Arthur,


    I was almost sure, but checked to be sure about this, but Walter Brennen was not in Allegheny Uprising or the german title Black River either. Just thought you might want to know this.


    Cheers, Hondo B)



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    Hondo
    Yes you're right, a case of familiarity breeding contempt. I got so tied up with the George Sanders part that I didn't bother to check the rest of the cast, and it seemed reasonable to accept Walter Brennan as he appeared to be in everything around about that time.
    If you look at the casting Chill Wills played the normal Walter Brennen role and Wilfred Lawson a British dramatic character actor and character was totally miscast as McDougal.


    Regards
    Arthur


    PS
    I bought an old English picturegoer magazine yesterday dated 1953 and there was a small paragraph relating to Warner Brothers making Hondo. The item also said that Hondo meant a noose or a lariat is that Spanish?


    Arthur

    Walk Tall - Talk Low

    They were quite "careless" when they made up the art for those posters. For example, I have an Italian "Stagecoach" - and the artwork is using a photograph from Fort Apache! Sometimes they even managed to misspell the names! Of course, they never figured that some day there would be collectors. That stuff was made for a short-lived time.
    A funny one: They often changed the titles in the film as well, so the German public would be able to read them (they're not doing that anymore). In the main titles of "Naked Spur" they managed to spell the star's name: JAMES STEWARD.
    Oooops!

    Roland,


    Is it true that with the mistakes on these posters prove to be more valuable than the ones that don't have mistakes?


    Arthur,


    Interesting tibit. I'm not sure about that. I'd have to look and see about that interputation of Hondo.


    Cheers, Hondo Duke Lane B)



    Quote

    "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it"

    - John Wayne quote

    If I look at the prizes generally paid for Wayne posters, there's no indication for that. US posters are still the most desirable, although with increasing prices the French posters (which, in my opinion, have the better artwork anyway, but that's a matter of taste) become more expensive. Especially the Italians didn't care much if they used a photograph of Liberty Valance to promote The Searchers (this was possible because US films often were released years after) but I haven't seen that "mistakes" like that would make a poster more valuable (for one of the Italian Alamo posters, they even used a picture of Wayne wearing his Hondo-hat). I have the original "Searchers" from Germany - and the artist used a photo from Hondo to paint it!

    Bringing that up because it seems we haven't too many members from France yet, so here's how the French titled the Wayne films (I'm translating French to English)


    The Searchers is - quite a nice title: THE DESERT'S CAPTIVE
    (indicating that Scar is a symbol for the land itself)


    Hondo is HONDO, MAN OF THE DESERT


    Stagecoach: THE GREAT RIDE
    (did I tell you that Ringo's hat in in the French museum in Paris?)


    The Big Trail is THE TRAIL OF THE GIANTS
    The Shootist is THE LAST OF THE GIANTS


    Fort Apache is THE MASSACRE OF FORT APACHE


    The Cowboys is JOHN WAYNE AND THE COWBOYS


    Yellow Ribbon is THE HEROIC ATTACK


    and one off topic, but I just find it too funny: High Noon in France is THE TRAIN WILL WHISTLE THREE TIMES (which he actually does! :D )

    Hello Itdo
    It's interesting.
    The title of the movie might be sometimes being intentinary changed
    by Japan as well as Germany.
    here 's some Japanese titles . I'm translating the japanese title into
    English .

    They were expendable/ A history of the Corregidor war
    Tall in the Saddle/ The Town of the Gun
    Angel and the Badman/ Vagabond with a Gun
    Wake of the Red witch/ The end of rough waters
    Flying leathernecks/ Pacific Flying Operation
    The High and Mighty/ Crimson Wing
    Island in the sky/ The Man's Cry
    The Barbarian and the Geisha/ Black Ship(the ship with hulls painted black)
    The Longest Day/ The greatest operatinon in history
    The Cowboys/ Eleven Cowboys
    the sons of Katie Elder/ Elder Brothers
    Cahil.US marshal/ Big Cahil

    regards
    H.sanada

    Sometimes kids ask me what a pro is. I just point to the Duke.
    ~Steve McQueen~

    I have a few dvd's I bought in Brussels and the covers are in French. If I buy dvd's here in Antwerp the covers are in english. No need to translate it into dutch although they used to do that up untill the late 60's. We also get subtitles where the french get the dubbed version. Are the films dubbed in Japan and Russia or are they subtitled? It is said that the subtitles are the more expensive and that's why many country's don't use them...I don't know if that is true? I do know that half- if not more- of the population in Flanders and Holland have learned their english by watching and reading films. I can't stand it if I watch a good John Wayne on the French or German tv and he is saying something and that doesn't match his mouth...
    Here are some translations I have not found in other posts...
    North to Alaska/ The Great Sam
    Cast a Giant Shadow/ The giant man
    Circus World/ The very big circus of the world
    Hell Town/ The devil's town
    The undefeated/ The Giants of the west

    I've gone through this thread and compiled all the entries into an alphabetical list, with the following color code -


    Translated from German
    Translated from French
    Translated from Italian
    Translated from Japanese
    Translated from Finnish     (thanks to etsija for that!!)
    Allegheny Uprising - BLACK RIVER/ The Daredevils of the Wild West
    Angel and the Badman - THE BLACK RIDER/Vagabond with a Gun
    Back to Bataan - TWO FIGHT BACK/ Jungle Partisans or Jungle Guerillas
    The Barbarian and the Geisha - Black Ship
    Big Jake - Duel for Million Dollars/ Wild Jake
    Big Jim McLain     - MARIHUANA/ Secret Operation in Hawaii
    The Big Trail - THE TRAIL OF THE GIANTS/ The Big Western Trail
    Blood Alley - Escape from Red China/ On the Chinese Waters or Bloody StraitBorn to the West - The Hero of the Rocky Mountains
    Brannigan -         Steel in the Fists
    Cahill U.S. Marshall - Buzzards Don’t Give Pity/Big Cahill/ Marshall of the West
    Cast a Giant Shadow - The Giant Man/ The Shadow of a Giant
    Circus World - The Very Big Circus of the World/ The Madcaps of the Arena
    The Cowboys - JOHN WAYNE AND THE COWBOYS/Eleven Cowboys
    Dakota - LOVE IN THE WILDERNESS
    Donovan's Reef - THE HARBOR BAR OF TAHITI/ The Adventurers of the Southern Sea
    The Fighting Kentuckian - IN THE LAST SECOND
    The Fighting Seabees - ALARM IN THE PACIFIC/ The Heroes of the Pacific
    Flame of Barbary Coast - SAN FRANCISCO LILLY/ An Adventure in San Francisco
    Flying Leathernecks - Wildcat Squadron or (in later release) Wings of Steel/Pacific Flying Operation/ Flying Wildcats
    Fort Apache - TO THE LAST MAN/THE MASSACRE OF FORT APACHE
    The Greatest Story Ever Told - The Man from Nazareth
    The Green Berets     - THE GREEN DEVILS
    Hell Town - The Devil's Town
    Hellfighters - THE UNAFRAID/ The Men of Fire Fields
    The High and the Mighty - THERE'LL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER DAY/Crimson Wing/ There Is No Return
    Hondo - THEY CALL HIM HONDO/HONDO, MAN OF THE DESERT/ Lonely Wanderer
    The Horse Soldiers - The Last Command/ The Calvary Heroes
    I Married a Woman - What a Woman!
    In Harm’s Way -     FIRST VICTORY/ The First Victory
    In Old California - Gold and Blood
    In Old Oklahoma -     Black Gold of Oklahoma
    Island in the Sky     - THE LAST SIGNAL/    The Man's Cry/ The White Hell
    Jet Pilot - Flying Devils
    Lady for a Night -     One-night Girl
    A Lady Takes a Chance -     A Night with a Cowboy
    Legend of the Lost     - CITY OF THE LOST/ Bloody Desert
    The Long Voyage Home - On Dangerous Waters
    The Longest Day     - The Greatest Operation in History/ The Westwall (The Atlantic Wall) Is Breaking
    McLintock! - The Madcaps of the West
    McQ     - MCQ – A MAN OF STEEL/ Weapon Fox
    Mother Machree - Mother of My Heart
    North to Alaska -     Land of 1000 adventures/    The Great Sam/ The Madcaps of Alaska
    Operation Pacific - OPERATION SEA-EAGLE
    Pittsburgh - The Angel of the Night
    Quiet Man -     THE WINNER/    (alternate German title:) THE CAT WITH THE RED HAIR
    Reap the Wild Wind - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN/ When the Storm Rages
    Red River - PANIC AT THE RED RIVER
    Reunion in France - How It Happened in Paris
    Rio Bravo -     A GOLD DOLLAR
         Rio Grande - RIO BRAVO
    Rooster Cogburn - WITH DYNAMITE AND A PRAYER/ The Spirit of Oregon
    Sagebrush Trail - Murderer on the Run
    Sands of Iwo Jima     - YOU WERE OUR COMRADE or DEATH COMMAND IWO JIMA/ Iwo Jima
    The Sea Chase - THE SEA FOX/ Man's Spirit/ Towards the Unknown
    The Searchers - THE BLACK HAWK/THE DESERT'S CAPTIVE
    She Wore A Yellow Ribbon - The Devil’s Captain/THE HEROIC ATTACK/ Yellow Ribbon
    The Shepherd of the Hills - It Grows Dusk Behind the Mountains
    The Shootist -     THE LAST OF THE GIANTS/ The Last Shootist/ The Revolver Man
    The Sons of Katie Elder - THE FOUR SONS OF KATIE ELDER/Elder Brothers/ The Unbeatable Brothers
    The Spoilers - Gold Robbery
    Stagecoach -     RINGO or (in earlier release) HELL RIDE TO SANTA FE/    THE GREAT RIDE/ Attack in the Desert
    Tall in the Saddle - WITH RIFLE AND ROPE/The Town of the Gun/ Cowboy Cleans the City
    They Were Expendable - SPEED-BOATS AT BATAAN/A History of the Corregidor War/ They Gave Their Everything
    Three Godfathers - Tracks in the Sand/ Escape Across the Desert
    The Train Robbers - DIRTY GOLD
    Trouble Along the Way - The Man Betting the Game/ The Road to Victory
    True Grit -     THE MARSHAL/    100 DOLLARS FOR A SHERIFF/ The Bravery Pursuit/ Hard As Stone
    Tycoon - Gamble in the Andes
    The Undefeated -     The Giants of the West/ The Big Men
    Wake of the Red Witch - The End of Rough Waters/ Red Witch
    War of the Wildcats - HELL OF OKLAHOMA
    The War Wagon - THE MAGNIFICENT/ Gold to El Paso
    Wings of Eagles - Like the Eagle/ My Wild Husband
    Without Reservations - Scandal in the Night Express (train)



    It's interesting to see the different translations.


    Thanks to all our members from around the world for their contributions. As more are added, I will edit them into the above list.


    Chester :newyear:

    Quote from Moonshine_Sally

    I have a few dvd's I bought in Brussels and the covers are in French. If I buy dvd's here in Antwerp the covers are in english. No need to translate it into dutch although they used to do that up untill the late 60's. We also get subtitles where the french get the dubbed version. Are the films dubbed in Japan and Russia or are they subtitled? It is said that the subtitles are the more expensive and that's why many country's don't use them...I don't know if that is true? I do know that half- if not more- of the population in Flanders and Holland have learned their english by watching and reading films. I can't stand it if I watch a good John Wayne on the French or German tv and he is saying something and that doesn't match his mouth...


    Hello Moonshine Sally
    Of course,the DVD of a foreign film released in Japan has Japanese subtitles.
    and there is also the DVD which has Japanese voice dubbing.
    but, i don't like it like Moonshine Sally.

    Here's some Japanese title(continue)
    Trouble along the way/ The Man betting the game
    The Sea Chase/ Man's Spirit
    Blood Aley/ Escape from the red chaina
    The Undefeated/ The Big Men
    Big Jake/ Duel for million dollar
    True Grit/ The Bravery Pursuit
    Rooster Cogburn/ The Spirit of Oregon
    The Shootist/ The Last Shootist

    regards,
    H.sanada

    Sometimes kids ask me what a pro is. I just point to the Duke.
    ~Steve McQueen~