Hanks is promoting The Ladykillers in Cannes

The star told reporters at Cannes that he wanted to avoid comparisons with the original's star, Sir Alec Guinness.

"The last thing I wanted was to see the film and inadvertently imitate Sir Alec," he said at a press conference.

Hanks also offered his support to US soldiers in Iraq. "God bless every one of them," he said.

Hanks, who starred in Steven Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan, said the world was living in "extremely tough times".

Hollywood players

He was positive about the work of US troops, saying: "We have to just welcome them home and say thank you for coming back to us, thank you for your sacrifice and God bless you."

Other Hollywood players in Cannes, including Michael Moore and Sean Penn, have both hit headlines for expressing their concern at the war in Iraq, with Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 taking an anti-Bush stance.

Hanks is in the French Riviera to promote the remake of The Ladykillers, which is competing for the festival's coveted Palme D'Or. It is the latest effort from cult filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen.

Set in Mississippi, it stars Hanks as the leader of a gang of thieves, who take up residence in an old lady's house while hatching plans to rob a casino.

British comedies

Hanks said that the remake "paid credit" to the original film, which was made in 1955 and also starred Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers and Katie Johnson.

"Rather than despoiling a work of art we are elevating it to the level of Hamlet," he said.

"Americans try to do Richard II and Hamlet all the time - sometimes it's good and sometimes it's bad."

However, he admitted that not all British comedies would benefit from similar treatment.

"There are some films I don't think travel particularly well - a remake of the Carry On movies wouldn't work, for example, because the verbiage wouldn't translate to American sensibilities."

"But this is a Coen Brothers movie and the source is able to translate."

The film was released in the US in April and to date has taken $38m (�21m) at the box office. It opens in the UK in June.