08 What is the earliest numbered sequel? (rec.arts.movies.past-films)
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This article is from the rec.arts.movies.past-films FAQ, by Evelyn C. Leeper evelynleeper@geocities.com with numerous contributions by others.
08 What is the earliest numbered sequel? (rec.arts.movies.past-films)
THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974) certainly started the modern wave of numbered
sequels, followed by (just up to 1980):
1975 THE FRENCH CONNECTION II 1976 THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! PART 2 (Jerry Boyajian thinks they really missed the boat on this one by not calling this THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, TOO! and wants it stated for the record he thought of this *before* LOOK WHO'S TALKING TOO came out.) 1977 EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC 1978 DAMIEN: THE OMEN II 1978 JAWS II 1979 ROCKY II 1980 SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, PART II 1980 HIGH NOON, PART II: THE RETURN OF WILL KANE [TV movie]
But it was no means the earliest numbered sequel. The second runner up for
that prize is:
1957 QUATERMASS II [US title: ENEMY FROM SPACE, though released on
laserdisc in the US under the original title]
which is a film version of the British television serial of the same name,
and a sequel to the serial and feature film THE QUATERMASS [E]XPERIMENT
[US title: THE CREEPING UNKNOWN].
At one time we thought the winner was:
1946 IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PART II
(Eisenstein started, but did not complete, a PART III the next year.)
However, we later found out that Akira Kurosawa made SANSHIRO SUGATA, PART
TWO in 1945 (the original was filmed in 1943) and Jerry Boyajian has
confirmed that it is, in the original Japanese title, indeed a "numbered"
sequel as well.
R. L. Lahey [rlahey@mail.atcon.com] writes "The first sequel with the
number 2 of which I am aware is Leni Riefenstahl's OLYMPIA: THE FILM OF
THE XI. OLYMPIC GAMES. PART II (1938) Although the OLYMPIA films are
usually referred to together and both were from 1938, they were issued
separately, several months apart. The first film was titled OLYMPIA:
THE FILM OF THE XI OLYMPIC GAMES, BERLIN, 1936. The second film is
clearly called Part II. The first had no number."
This is (to me) questionable as to whether the second film can be
called a sequel in the usual sense in which that term is used. While
issued separately, the films were made together, and the action of the
second if not particularly subsequent to the first. So everyone can
make their own determination as to whether to count this.
(Recently in alt.cult-movies, in a discussion of Fritz Lang, someone had
suggested that an even earlier numbered sequel was DR. MABUSE, DER SPIELER
PART 2 (a.k.a. DR. MABUSE, KING OF CRIME), made in 1922. I suppose a case
can be made for it, except that the two parts were originally made and
exhibited together under a single title. Only in more recent times have
the two parts been shown as individual works.)
[Thanks to Jerry Boyajian for this answer.]
And the latest entry in this contest is from Mark Brader, saying that
Gosta Ekman starred as King Karl XII in
Karl XII (1925)
Karl XII, del II (1925)
both directed by John W. Brunius. And, yes, "del" is Swedish for "part".
This is the answer accepted by the IMDB.
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