Gone With the Wind 2: Gone Further Quiz

Answer: Wonderful Life II: Zuzu Grows Up

In "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) we find Clarence Odbody as the second class angel helping George Bailey realize what a gift life is, and even more, what a gift his life is to others. George's link to realizing he is back in present time in Bedford Falls is when he looks for Zuzu's petals in his pocket from when he "fixed" her flower.

An event such as this certainly would change one's life. The hypothetical sequel asks, what of the children? Zuzu was the girl who delivered the "angel's wings" line at the end of the first movie; would she continue on in the Bailey ways of helping your neighbor, or would she rebel like many youngest children do and become like Zooey? The latter makes for a much more interesting sequel.

Answer: Shawshank II: Beyond Zihuatanejo

In "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) Andy Dufresne lost his wife when her murder occurred coincidentally during the point he was grieving her having an affair. The real murderer was in prison for other crimes, but was never even suspected for the murder of Andy's wife and her lover. Andy learned of who committed the heinous acts while in prison, but upon Andy's escape, he was unable to do anything about it; he had fled across the border to Mexico as a beneficiary of the embezzlement the crooked warden had performed throughout his tenure at the prison.

Andy had the free life he desired in Zihuatanejo...and he was able to share it with his buddy Red Redding. But what would happen if his wife's murderer was wrongly set free? Would the need for closure be great enough for Andy to come back to the United States to settle a score? And what would that revenge be?

Answer: Sound of Music II: Rolf's Revenge

In "The Sound of Music" (1965), we find Rolf, the telegram delivery boy, and Liesl, Captain Georg Von Trapp's eldest child, in the earliest stages of love. Soon after Georg and Maria get married, the Austrian Anschluss occurs. The Von Trapps manage to escape, but only due to Georg's cunning disarmament of Rolf who had the family at gunpoint.

In the hypothetical sequel, Rolf, a member of the Nazi Party now, surely would have to explain how he was disarmed; that would lead to his ostracization (or worse). Not knowing where the Von Trapps fled to, it would have to take some covert investigation to locate them. But what do you do when your first love is the daughter of the man who was the source of your humiliation?

Answer: E.T. II: Back From Home

In "E.T." (1982), the nameless alien gets mistakenly left behind on a brief stop on Earth. Meeting up with Elliott, a ten-year-old boy, they learn about each other; after all, we as humans are just as alien to them as they would be to us. When the government learns of E.T.'s existence, they quarantine Elliott and the alien, as the alien appears to die. But he revives and the family successfully get the alien back to his returning spaceship.

In a hypothetical sequel, E.T. would need a reason to come back. Does he miss his friend? His friend is older now. Perhaps this species of alien ages like tortoises and live considerably longer. Knowing that E.T. makes a communication device from a Speak & Spell in the first movie tells us they are way more advanced in technology than humans. Would our advances in thirty years impress them if they came back? Many avenues a sequel could pursue. But Steven Spielberg, the original director, said the right plot never got in front of him.

Answer: Apocalypse Still

In Apocalypse Now" (1979), Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Director Francis Ford Coppola brought us to the rigors of being deep inside the Vietnam War. Benjamin Willard's mission is to find Col. Kurtz and relieve him of his command of a rogue squadron he formed deep in the Vietnam jungle.

Coming up with a hypothetical sequel, we would see a second trip up the Nung River again would be difficult to take in; it was hard enough the first time. Having it led by Lt. Col. Kilgore this time through would allow for more memorable lines, as he was the character who uttered the famous "napalm in the morning" line. Kilgore as our lead character would make it even more manic than before.

Answer: Citizen Kane II: The Offspring

In "Citizen Kane" (1941), newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane was the main character who upon passing away, utters the word "Rosebud" clutching a snow globe. The globe shatters on the floor. We learn Rosebud is his sled, and it is the last memory of happy adolescence he had before being forced into leaving his childhood behind. No one learns about the meaning of Rosebud, and Rosebud the sled would be lost to the incinerator.

In a hypothetical sequel, our young entrepreneur could only learn about his holding the snow globe on his death bed, as nobody figured out what the meaning of Rosebud was. Would she get absorbed in the concept of bringing his well honored name back to make a career for herself? Bud Rose (flip the names- now you see it!) could be the personification, or perhaps the spirit of what made Charles Kane fully happy. Has he come back to help our new tycoon get grounded again.

Answer: Some Like It Hotter

In "Some Like It Hot" (1959), Jerry and Joe, a couple of 1920s jazz musicians, witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Spats Colombo looks to whack the two, so they hide their identities posing as women. Meeting singer Sugar Kane, they end up in Miami where one of the guys has to thwart off the advances of millionaire Osgood. They almost get tracked down by Colombo in Miami. But Johnny Paradise, mob enemy of Colombo, shoots down Spats before he can silence Joe and Jerry forever. The two flee for Venezuela in Osgood's yacht where Joe and Sugar fall in love.

In a potential sequel, your only villain left is Johnny Paradise. With Venezuela as a backdrop, you would have lovely weather and scenery. But the original Venezuela destination could be figured out. Sending them across the ocean allows for better disguises. And a sequel would allow Joe and Sugar to finally get married.

Answer: Mr. Smith Goes Back to Washington

In "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), Jefferson Smith replaces a recently deceased U.S. Senator due to a freak coin flip. With a litany of corruption around him when he reaches Washington DC, he is convinced by underhanded congressmen to propose a bill to gain funds for a boy scout park, when fellow constituents already have the land proposed for something else. The other congressmen would gain the cash and allow Smith to take the heat. In an attempt to free his good name, Smith filibusters for 24 straight hours until the head of the ruse confesses.

If a sequel was developed, Smith would surely be a beloved figure standing up to corrupt politics. He either would be a senator until he died or would exit the first opportunity he had. With politics nowadays becoming a bipartisan nightmare, a figure such as Jefferson Smith would go over well with audiences.

Answer: One Flew Back to the Cuckoo's Nest

In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), Randall McMurphy gets admitted to an Oregon mental hospital under the supervision of Nurse Ratched. McMurphy instigates feelings of rebellion in several of the other patients, and they act out. When all is said and done, one inmate committed suicide, McMurphy gets a lobotomy and Chief Bromden decides to fulfill McMurphy's wishes and escape, but sadly by himself.

In our hypothetical sequel, a few years into the future would explain what life was like for Bromden on the outside. There are a few mental patients he could gather from inside the hospital, but most that we grew to know from the first movie belong in the hospital permanently, unlike Bromden.

Answer: Back to Kwai: Dam That River

In "Bridge On the River Kwai" (1957) British WWII POWs are ordered to build a bridge over the Kwai River. With original construction looking shoddy and not structurally sound, Col. Nicholson goes against orders and gets his troops to build in a new location and build to code. With the bridge in place and a train ready to cross it, British troops hellbent on thwarting Nicholson's rogue plans manage to destroy the bridge and send the train into the river.

Looking at a possible sequel, many of the leads involved in building the bridge and its subsequent destruction in the first movie were killed. So most of the lead characters would have to be new. It's likely a new attempt to cross the river would conceivably be something indestructible. The only method for potential destruction of a dam would be if enough detonable material was entered into the mix during its erection. And the resulting explosion would make the bridge collapse in the first movie pale in comparison, always important in a sequel to top the wow factor.