Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #30 :: February 17•23

Warner Bros. Pictures

There were filmes released every decade this week except 1921, but not many of them can be considered ‘big’ films that have large devoted followings. Some are regarded as classics, but are still not films that show up on a lot of ‘must see’ lists. Still, some do have cult followings, some have been afforded restoration and preservation so future generations can evaluate them again. Perhaps a not-so-classic film today will become one down the line. Let’s take a look to see if you remember any of this week’s films celebrating premiere anniversaries.

1921

• No films were released this week in 1921.

1931

February 19 – The Threepenny Opera

• German Cast: Rudolf Forster, Carola Neher, Reinhold Schünzel, Fritz Rasp, Valeska Gert, Lotte Lenya, Hermann Thimig, Ernst Busch, Vladimir Sokoloff, Paul Kemp, Gustav Püttjer, Oscar Höcker, Krafft Raschig, Herbert Grünbaum
• French Cast: Florelle, Albert Préjean, Gaston Modot, Margo Lion, Vladimir Sokoloff, Lucy de Matha, Jacques Henley, Hermann Thimig, Antonin Artaud, Roger Gaillard, Marie-Antoinette Buzet
• Director: G. W. Pabst
• Studio: Gemeinschaft mit Tobis, Warner Bros. Pictures, distributed by Nero-Film, Tobis Filmkunst, Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film first opened in Berlin on February 19, 1931, followed by the UK on May 3 and the US on May 17. Loosely based on Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s 1928 musical theatre success. Pabst also directed a French language version, L’Opéra de quat’sous, with variations of plot details. The French title translates to ‘the four penny opera’. An English version was planned but never made. Some of the songs from the play are used but in a different order in the film. Forster, Neher and Lenya reprised their stage roles in the German version. Brecht and Weill were hired to adapt the show to film, but Brecht quit in the middle of production. Weill continued until he was fired. The pair sued the production companies on the basis that nothing from the stage show could be changed, and that Pabst had softened the story. Brecht was accused of breach of contract and his suit was rejected, but Weill won his. The Nazis banned the film in August 1933, with the negative and all prints that could be located destroyed. The film was reconstructed in 1960 by Thomas Brandon and the Museum of Modern Art. The US and UK versions of the film were shorter than the original 110 minute running time.

1941

February 18 – Adam Had Four Sons

• Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Warner Baxter, Susan Hayward, Fay Wray, Helen Westley, June Lockhart, Pietro Sosso, Gilbert Emery, Renie Riano, Richard Denning, Billy Ray, Johnny Downs, Steven Muller, Robert Shaw, Wallace Chadwell, Charles Lind, Bobby Walberg
• Director: Gregory Ratoff
• Studio: Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: The only film in which Bergman and Hayward appear together.

20th Century Fox

February 20 – Tobacco Road

• Cast: Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney, William Tracy, Elizabeth Patterson, Dana Andrews, Ward Bond, Slim Summerville, Grant Mitchell, Zeffie Tilbury
• Director: John Ford
• Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Trivia: Based on the 1932 novel by Erskine Caldwell and the 1933 play adapted by Jack Kirkland. The plot was rewritten for the film by Nunnally Johnson. RKO and Warner Bros. attempted to acquire the rights with Charles Laughton to star. Columbia Pictures was interested in 1940 but was informed the story was on the list of banned titles. Fox gained the rights in August 1940 due to the success of The Grapes of Wrath. Henry Hull was under consideration to reprise his Broadway role, along with Walter Brennan and Henry Fonda. William Tracy was cast as Dude, having to diet and lose teeth. Because of concerns that the film may face problems due to the story’s religious aspects, location shooting in Georgia was scrapped with the film shot in the studio on closed sets. There was no publicity for the film before its release. Despite the concern over censorship, the film was only banned in Australia. Tierney and Andrew have barely five minutes of screen time each. The original Broadway production had a run of 3,261 performances, closing May 31, 1941, with two revivals in the next two years, and again in 1950.

February 21 – Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary

• Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Fay Holden, Ann Rutherford, Sara Haden, Kathryn Grayson, Ian Hunter, Gene Reynolds, George Breakston, Todd Karns, Addison Richards, Margaret Early, Bertha Priestley, Joseph Crehan, Lee Phelps, John Dilson
• Director: George B. Seitz
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: The tenth of 16 ‘Andy Hardy’ films, and the tenth most popular film at the 1941 box office. It was the film debut of Kathryn Grayson.

February 21 – Nice Girl?

• Cast: Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Walter Brennan, Robert Stack, Robert Benchley, Helen Broderick, Ann Gillis, Anne Gwynne, Elisabeth Risdon, Nana Bryant, Georgie Billings, Tommy Kelly, Marcia Mae Jones, Riley Hill
• Director: William A. Seiter
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the play by Phyllis Duganne. In the US version, Durbin sings ‘Thank You America’ for a crowd at the Army base, but in the UK release she sings ‘There’ll Always Be An England’ due to World War II raging in Europe. For the Latin American release, she sings ‘Thank You America’ in Spanish. In the original script Durbin’s character was to marry Stack’s at the end, but then the draft was introduced and the story was adjusted so he was drafted.

February 21 – Western Union

• Cast: Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Barton MacLane, Russell Hicks, Slim Summerville, Chill Wills, Victor Kilian, Minor Watson, George Chandler, Chief John Big Tree, Chief Thundercloud, Dick Rich, Addison Richards, Irving Bacon
• Director: Fritz Lang
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: Based on the novel by Zane Grey, but with differences in the plots. The film depicts conflicts between the Native Americans and the men installing telegraph wires, but historically there was no such conflict. The film was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.

February 22 – The Strawberry Blonde

• Cast: James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth, Alan Hale, Jack Carson, George Tobias, Una O’Connor, George Reeves, Lucile Fairbanks, Edward McNamara, Helen Lynd, Herbert Heywood
• Director: Raoul Walsh
• Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. The film’s on screen title contains ‘The’ but posters and publicity material simply list the title as Strawberry Blonde. The film was a remake of 1933’s One Sunday Afternoon (Gary Cooper’s only flop during his career). Walsh remade the film again in 1948 as Sunday Afternoon. Cagney came to the project as a way to escape the tough guy roles he’d been pigeonholed as. Cagney, though, was reluctant to take the part and John Garfield was considered. Warner Bros. offered Cagney 10% of the gross and he began to take interest. The Virginia Brush role was created for contract player Ann Sheridan, but she was having a dispute with the studio and refused the role. The part went to Rita Hayworth, and it marked the first time audiences saw her with red hair and heard her real singing voice for a few seconds. Nan Wynn provided the majority of her singing. The Screen Guild Theater broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of the film on October 5, 1941 with Cagney, de Havilland, and Carson reprising their roles. Lux Radio Theater broadcast a 60-minute version on March 23, 1942 with Hayworth reprising her role.

1951

February 22 – Cry Danger

• Cast: Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad, Regis Toomey, Jean Porter, Jay Adler, Joan Banks, Hy Averback
• Director: Robert Parrish
• Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
• Trivia: The film premiered in New York City and Birmingham, Alabama on February 21, 1951. This was Parrish’s directorial debut. A restored version of the film by the UCLA Film & Television Archive was released in 2011. Jean Porter claimed Dick Powell did all the directing and gave Parrish credit. The song ‘Cry Danger’ is credited in the opening titles, but no such song appears in the film.

February 22 – Pool of London

• Cast: Bonar Colleano, Earl Cameron, Susan Shaw, Renée Asherson, Moira Lister, Max Adrian, Joan Dowling, James Robertson Justice, Michael Golden, John Longden, Alfie Bass, Christopher Hewett, Leslie Phillips, Ian Bannen, George Benson, Beckett Bould, Sam Kydd, Victor Maddern, Laurence Naismith, Campbell Singer
• Director: Basil Dearden
• Studio: Ealing Studios, distributed by GFD (UK)
• Trivia: The film opened in the UK on February 22, 1951, then Canada on June 8. It reached the US on November 27. It was the first British film to depict a mixed-race romance.

February 23 – You’re in the Navy Now

• Cast: Gary Cooper, Jane Greer, Millard Mitchell, Eddie Albert, John McIntire, Ray Collins, Jack Webb, Richard Erdman, Charles Bronson, Harry Von Zell, Ed Begley, Harvey Lembeck, Lee Marvin, Jack Warden
• Director: Henry Hathaway
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film was first released with the title U.S.S. Teakettle, but was changed when it failed to draw an audience. Film debuts of Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin and Harvey Lembeck, and the second screen appearance of Jack Warden. The screenplay was based on the article “The Flying Teakettle” by John W. Hazard, printed in the January 21, 1950 issue of The New Yorker. William Lundigan was hired as the lead but when the budget was increased for location shooting in Newport News, Virginia, at the Norfolk Naval Yard in Hampton Roads, VA, and aboard the PC-1168, Gary Cooper was hired to increase audience appeal. Joanne Dru was considered for the female lead but declined to sign a long-term contract with Fox so the role went to Jane Greer.

1961

February 17 – The Long and the Short and the Tall

• Cast: Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, Ronald Fraser, David McCallum, John Meillon, John Rees, Kenji Takaki
• Director: Leslie Norman
• Studio: Michael Balcon Productions, ABPC, distributed by Warner-Pathé (UK), Continental Distributing (US)
• Trivia: Based on the 1959 play by Willis Hall. The film premiered in London on February 16, 1961 before its general release on February 17. It did not open in the US until March 14, 1962 under the title Jungle Fighters. Richard Todd hated working with Laurence Harvey, assuming they’d cast Peter O’Toole from the play but the studio wanted a ‘name’ actor. Richard Harris claimed Todd stood on mounds of dirt to appear as tall as his co-stars. Harris didn’t get along with Todd or Harvey, and the director was also disappointed he was not allowed to cast O’Toole. The film was shot completely in studio.

1971

February 19 – Cold Turkey

• Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Pippa Scott, Tom Poston, Edward Everett Horton, Bob Elliott, Ray Goulding, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes, Graham Jarvis, Jean Stapleton, Barbara Cason, Judith Lowry, Sudie Bond, Helen Page Camp, Paul Benedict, Simon Scott, Raymond Kark, Peggy Rea, Woodrow Parfrey, George Mann, Charles Pinney, M. Emmet Walsh, Gloria LeRoy, Eric Boles, Jack Grimes, Walter Sande, Harvey Jason
• Director: Norman Lear
• Studio: Tandem Productions, distributed by United Artists
• Trivia: The film had its premiere on January 30, 1971 at the Galaxy Theater in Des Moines, Iowa, and opened in 30 theaters in Iowa on February 3 before its nationwide release. Based on the unpublished novel I’m Giving Them Up for Good by Margaret and Neil Rau. The film was made in 1969 but shelved for two years by the distributor over concerns of its box office potential. A musical theatre version of the film was workshopped at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington, in February 2005. This was Edward Everett Horton’s final role. He died before the film was released. Norman Lear makes a cameo appearance in the film. Maureen McCormick is the voice of the talking doll. The film was shot on location in Greenfield, Iowa. This was Randy Newman’s first film score. This was the only film to be directed by Norman Lear.

February 23 – The Pursuit of Happiness

• Cast: Michael Sarrazin, Barbara Hershey, Robert Klein, Sada Thompson, Ralph Waite, Arthur Hill, E.G. Marshall, Maya Kenin, Rue McClanahan, Peter White, Joseph Attles, Beulah Garrick, Ruth White, Charles Durning, Barnard Hughes, David Doyle, Gilbert Lewis, Albert Henderson, William Devane
• Director: Robert Mulligan
• Studio: Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: This was Ruth White’s final film.

1981

February 19 – Dance Craze

• Cast: The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, The Selecter, The Specials, Bad Manners, Madness
• Director: Joe Massot
• Studio: Nu Image Films
• Trivia: The film opened in the UK on February 19, 1981, but did not play in the US until April 23, 1982. Director Joe Massot intended to make a film only about the band Madness but changed plans to include the whole 2 Tone movement. A soundtrack album featuring 15 songs from the film was released in 1981, but later re-issues omitted the Madness tracks.

1991

February 22 – He Said, She Said

• Cast: Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Perkins, Nathan Lane, Anthony LaPaglia, Sharon Stone, Stanley Anderson, Charlayne Woodard, Danton Stone, Phil Leeds, Rita Karin, Paul Butler, Erika Alexander, Ashley Gardner, Michael Harris
• Director: Ken Kwapis, Marisa Silver
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film was based on the directors’ differing memories of how they met. They got engaged during production of the film. This was one of five films released on 1991 featuring Sharon Stone before her big break in 1992 with Basic Instinct. Kevin Spacey and Jason Alexander were considered for the role played by Nathan Lane. The original script set the film in Minneapolis-St. Paul but was changed to Baltimore. The ‘She Said’ segments of the film are the last, to date, directed by Silver.

February 22 – Scenes from a Mall

• Cast: Bette Midler, Woody Allen, Bill Irwin, Daren Firestone, Rebecca Nickels, Paul Mazursky, Marc Shaiman, Joan Delaney, Fabio Lanzoni, Dealin LaValley
• Director: Paul Mazursky
• Studio: Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
• Trivia: Most of the mall scenes were filmed at the Kaufman Astoria Studios sound stages in Queens, New York. Scenes with elevators and escalators were filmed at the Stamford Town Center in Stamford, CT. Exteriors were filmed at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles where most of the film is set. Allen had never been in a mall before filming the movie. This was the first film Allen had appeared in that he did not write or direct since 1975’s The Front. It was the final film of co-producer, art director and production designer Pato Guzman, with the closing credits dedication ‘For Pats’. The film includes model Fabio’s first screen credit. Director Mazursky has a cameo as Dr. Hans Clava.

2001

February 23 – 3000 Miles to Graceland

• Cast: Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, Christian Slater, Kevin Pollak, David Arquette, Jon Lovitz, Howie Long, Thomas Haden Church, Bokeem Woodbine, Ice-T, David A. Kaye, Louis Lombardi, Paul Anka, Daisy McCrackin
• Director: Demian Lichtenstein
• Studio: Morgan Creek Productions, Franchise Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film had its world premiere on February 20, 2001. Warner Bros. released a series of animated prequels, The Road to Graceland, voiced by Costner. The film received five Razzie nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Costner), Worst Supporting Actress (Cox), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Couple (Russell and Costner or Cox). Costner and Russell disagreed on the tone of the film, so the studio let both stars do their own edits with Russell’s leaning more towards comedy, and Costner’s more action-oriented. Russell appeared in Elvis Presley’s It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963), starred as Elvis in the TV movie directed by John Carpenter, and provided the voice of Elvis in Forrest Gump. While filming in Vancouver, Russell visited the set of TV series Stargate SG-1 and met the cast. Russell had starred in the original Stargate movie.

20th Century Fox

February 23 – Monkeybone

• Cast: Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Rose McGowan, Giancarlo Esposito, Chris Kattan, Dave Foley, Megan Mullally, Lisa Zane, Lou Romano, Shawnee Free Jones, Ilia Volok, Claudette Mink, Bob Odenkirk, Doug Jones, Brain Steele, Leif Tilden
• Director: Henry Selick
• Studio: 1492 Pictures, distributed by 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: Based on Kaja Blackley’s graphic novel Dark Town. Thomas Haden Church and Robert Wuhl appear uncredited. John Turturro provides the voice of Monekybone. Ben Stiller had been hired to provide the voice but had to withdraw because of complications with Mystery Men. The film was originally pitched with a much darker tone closer to the comic with Nicolas Cage and Christopher Walken considered for the roles played by Fraser and Goldberg. Cartoon Network created its late night Adult Swim block after parents complained of the network’s support for the film. This is Henry Selick’s only film to be rated PG-13. Stephen King was to make a cameo but was unavailable the day it was to be shot. A look-alike actor was found, Jon Bruno, and is referred to as ‘Steve King’ with the on screen credit ‘Man in Dungeon’ for legal reasons.

2011

February 16 – Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

• Cast: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas, Tony Curran, Portia Doubleday, Michelle Ang, Emily Rios, Faizon Love, Ken Jeong, Ana Ortiz, Max Casella, Brandon Gill
• Director: John Whitesell
• Studio: Regency Enterprises, New Regency, Friendly Films, Runteldat Entertainment, The Collective, Dune Entertainment, distributed by 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film opened on February 16, 2011 in the UK and Ireland, then on February 18 in the US. The third and final installment of the ‘Big Momma’s’ franchise. Martin Lawrence is the only returning star from the original cast after Jascha Washington declined to reprise the role of Trent Pierce. Brandon T. Jackson was cast in the role, playing a 17-year-old at age 26. Jackson has since regretted appearing in the film and dressing in drag. The unrated and extended home video verson runs six minutes longer than the theatrical version. The film received three Razzie nominations: Worst Actress (Lawrence), Worst Supporting Actress (Jackson), Worst Supporting Actor (Jeong).

February 18 – I Am Number Four

• Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer, Timothy Olyphant, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand, Jake Abel, Jeff Hochendoner, Greg Townley, Reuben Langdon, Judith Hoag, Brian Howe, Charles Carroll, Ken Beck, Tucker Albrizzi, Emily Wickersham, Patrick Sebes, Andy Owen, L. Derek Leonidoff, Garrett M. Brown, Megan Follows, Sabrina de Matteo, Cooper Thornton, Jack Bill Laing, Beau Mirchoff, Cody Johns
• Director: D. J. Caruso
• Studio: DreamWorks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Bay Films, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Westwood, CA on February 9, 2011. It opened in the UK on February 23. Based on the 2010 novel by Pittacus Lore, part of the Loren Legacies YA science fiction series. It was hoped the film would appeal to fans of the Twilight films, with at least six more installments planned. Caruso had less than a year to prepare, shoot and edit the film due to a worldwide release date already set for the Presidents Day weekend. Sharlto Copley was cast as Number Four’s guardian but had to drop out due to obligations to The A-Team. He was replaced with Timothy Olyphant. The film was shot on location in the Pittsburgh area, with additional filming in the Florida Keys. Pettyfer and Agron started dating during production and broke up the day after the film’s release. Karen Allen shot scenes for the film but they were deleted.

February 18 – Unknown

• Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch, Stipe Erceg, Olivier Schneider, Rainer Bock, Mido Hamada, Karl Markovics, Eva Löbau, Clint Dyer
• Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
• Studio: Dark Castle Entertainment, Babelsberg Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures (International), Kinowelt Filmverleih (Germany), Optimum Releasing (United Kingdom), StudioCanal (France)
• Trivia: The film had its world premiere on February 16 before going in to general release. Based on the 2003 French novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert published in English as Out of My Head. The film’s working title was Unknown White Male. The film’s poster depicted Neeson holding a gun, but he never holds a gun in the movie.