Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #91 :: April 20•26

Universal Pictures

Three decades did not have any new films releasing this week, but there were still a few notable entries that are celebrating anniversaries this week. 1942 gave us one of the lesser Hitchcock classics which introduced to the screen an actor who went on to live to the ripe old age of 106, making his last screen appearance at the age of 100! Actor Alan Ladd headlined two films ten years apart, and John Wayne and James Stewart teamed up for a 1962 Western that went on to become a classic. 1982 saw a modern take on detective Mike Hammer, 1992 gave Brad Pitt an early starring role, and 2012 produced films based on books by Steve Harvey and Nicholas Sparks. Any clue what these films are? Read on to find out and tell us in the comments section if any of your favorites are on the list!

1922

• No new films were released this week in 1922.

1932

• No new films were released this week in 1932.

1942

April 24 – Saboteur

• Cast: Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter, Clem Bevans, Norman Lloyd, Alma Kruger, Vaughan Glaser, Dorothy Peterson, Ian Wolfe
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Production Company: Frank Lloyd Productions, David O. Selznick Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Washington DC on April 22, 1942. The film opened in limited release on April 23 ahead of the general release on April 24. The film was released in Canada on May 1 and in the UK on May 29. Alfred Hitchcock’s original cameo was cut by order of the censors. He and his secretary played deaf pedestrians. When Hitchcock’s character made an apparently indecent proposal to her in sign language, she slapped his face. A more conventional cameo in front of a drugstore was substituted. The ranch house in the film was also used in The Birds, and was a leftover set from a Deanna Durbin movie. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot a young Robert Mitchum as an extra on the stairs in the factory. This was the first movie in which Alfred Hitchcock’s name was billed above the title, and his first with an all-American cast. This was one of only two films made by Hitchcock at Universal. The bulk of his films were made for Paramount, but Universal acquired the rights to over 700 Paramount films for TV distribution in 1958 and have held the rights ever since. Theatrical movie debut of Norman Lloyd, who was recommended to Hitchcock by John Houseman. The scene of Lloyd falling from the Statue of Liberty was achieved by suspending Lloyd (either by wires or on a special chair that moved and rotated) against a black background with the camera moving away from him and the background matted in later.

April 24 – This Gun for Hire

• Cast: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Alan Ladd, Tully Marshall, Marc Lawrence, Olin Howland, Roger Imhof, Pamela Blake, Frank Ferguson, Victor Kilian, Patricia Farr, Harry Shannon, Charles C. Wilson, Mikhail Rasumny, Bernadene Hayes
• Director: Frank Tuttle
• Production Company: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1936 novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene (published in America with the same title as the film). The film was released in Canada on May 26, 1942, and in the UK on May 29. In Graham Greene’s novel, Raven’s psychological motivation for becoming a killer was that his mother disfigured his face. Paramount could not mess up Ladd’s handsome face with grotesque make-up, so it was changed to his aunt disfiguring his wrist with a red hot poker. One of the earliest American films released during World War II that specifically takes place in that time period.

1952

April 25 – Red Mountain

• Cast: Alan Ladd, Lizabeth Scott, John Ireland, Arthur Kennedy, Bert Freed, Jeff Corey, Neville Brand, Francis McDonald, Whit Bissell, Jay Silverheels
• Director: William Dieterle
• Distributor: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film was originally called Quantrill’s Raiders. John Farrow directed some scenes, uncredited, when William Dieterle was unavailable. John Ireland replaced Wendell Corey who was forced to drop out due to illness.

1962

April 21 – Rome Adventure

• Cast: Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson, Rossano Brazzi, Suzanne Pleshette, Constance Ford, Al Hirt, Hampton Fancher, Iphigenie Castiglioni, Chad Everett, Gertrude Flynn, Pamela Austin, Lili Valenty
• Director: Delmer Daves
• Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1932 novel Lovers Must Learn by Irving Fineman, which was also the film’s working title. The film premiered in New York City on March 15, 1962. It was released in the UK on May 17. The Library and Port of Entry sets were originally constructed for the film The Music Man.

April 22 – Hands of a Stranger

• Cast: Paul Lukather, Joan Harvey, James Stapleton, Ted Otis, Michael Rye, Laurence Haddon, Elaine Martone, George Sawaya, Michael Du Pont, Sally Kellerman, David Kramer, Irish McCalla, Barry Gordon
• Director: Newt Arnold
• Production Company: Glenwood-Neve Productions, distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
• Trivia: Unofficially the fourth film adaptation of The Hands of Orlac. Completed in 1960, but not released until 1962. Final film of Joan Harvey and Irish McCalla. Barry Gordon received an ‘Introducing’ credit even though he had appeared in The Girl Can’t Help It in 1958.

Paramount Pictures

April 22 – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

• Cast: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Willis Bouchey, Carleton Young, Woody Strode, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef, Robert F. Simon, O. Z. Whitehead, Paul Birch, Joseph Hoover
• Director: John Ford
• Production Company: John Ford Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Adapted from a 1953 short story written by Dorothy M. Johnson. The film began a limited release in the US on April 13, 1962. The film opened in Canada on April 23, London on May 3 and in the UK on May 25. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2007. O.Z. Whitehead played a teenager in the film, but he was actually 50 years old. Denver Pyle, who played his father, was nine years younger than Whitehead. This film was the first instance of John Wayne calling someone ‘Pilgrim’. Some actors have stated working with John Ford on this film was the best, happiest experience they had making a movie while many others — particularly John Wayne, Woody Strode and James Stewart — thought working with Ford was torture, while Lee Van Cleef said he had no fond memories of working with Wayne (and many attribute Ford’s behavior with Wayne as the reason for their own friction with the actor).

April 25 – Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules

• Cast: Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, Luciano Marin, Andrea Aureli, Birgit Bergen, Nello Pazzafini, Miria Kent, Fulvia Gasser, Rocco Spataro, Ivan Pengov
• Director: Guido Malatesta
• Production Company: Euro International, Caserbib
• Trivia: The film opened in Italy on April 25, 1962. Filmed in Yugoslavia and Italy. In the English-language version, Maciste is called ‘Maxus’, referring to him as a son of Hercules. Every time the name is mentioned, it is dubbed with a higher-registered voice.

April 25 – Burn, Witch, Burn!

• Cast: Peter Wyngarde, Janet Blair, Margaret Johnston, Anthony Nicholls, Colin Gordon, Kathleen Byron, Reginald Beckwith
• Director: Sidney Hayers
• Production Company: Independent Artists, distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated (UK), American International Pictures (United States)
• Trivia: Based upon the 1943 Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife, and the second of three adaptations. The film was released in the UK on May 14, 1962 under the title Night of the Eagle. Peter Wyngarde originally found the script for the film to be ‘rubbish’ and turned it down, but when he saw a new car he desperately wanted, he took on the role of Norman Taylor with a salary to be exactly the price of the car.

1972

• No new films were released this week in 1972.

1982

April 22 – I, the Jury

• Cast: Armand Assante, Barbara Carrera, Laurene Landon, Alan King, Geoffrey Lewis, Paul Sorvino, Judson Scott
• Director: Richard T. Heffron
• Production Company: American Cinema Productions, Larco Productions, Pellepont, Solofilm, distributed by 20th Century Fox (US), Columbia-EMI-Warner (UK)
• Trivia: Based on the 1947 best-selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The film opened in West Germany on April 22, 1982. Its US release did not occur until October 9. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was hired to direct, but was replaced after the film’s budget was out of control after one week of filming. Cohen claims he was fired after expressing his concerns to cast and crew about producers running out of money. Bruce Willis tested for one of the villain roles and Cohen asked him to read for the lead. Cohen was impressed and wanted to cast Willis as Mike Hammer but had already committed to Armand Assante. He thought Willis had something special and told him to keep acting. Willis became a star a few years later with the TV series Moonlighting. This was Assante’s first lead role. 20th Century Fox, which picked up the film for distribution, did not realize the actors in the orgy scene were actual adult film stars until after the movie was released.

April 23 – Comeback

• Cast: Eric Burdon, Julie Carmen, Michael Cavanaugh, John Aprea, Louisiana Red
• Director: Christel Buschmann
• Distributor: CIC
• Trivia: The film was screened at Filmex on March 19, 1982, then opened in West Germany on April 23.

1992

Paramount Pictures

April 22 – Johnny Suede

• Cast: Brad Pitt, Michael Luciano, Calvin Levels, Nick Cave, Wilfredo Giovanni Clark, Alison Moir, Peter McRobbie, Ron Vawter, Dennis Parlato, Tina Louise, Michael Mulheren, Wayne Maugans, Catherine Keener, Tom Jarmusch, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Gardner
• Director: Tom DiCillo
• Distributor: Miramax Films
• Trivia: The film was screened at TIFF on September 9, 1991. It was released in France on April 23, the UK on June 12 and the US on August 14. Directorial debut of Tom DiCillo. DiCillo had to fire the original director of photography a few weeks into filming when he discovered the shot footage was worthless. DiCillo claims he confessed to sabotaging the film due to jealousy. DiCillo insisted on casting the relatively unknown Brad Pitt in the title role over the objections of the producers who wanted Timothy Hutton. Ultimately, DiCillo was unhappy with Pitts performance of Johhny being ‘slow’ instead of childish. Johnny’s costumes came from DiCillo’s personal wardrobe. All of the costumes were stolen from a truck that had been left unlocked.

April 24 – Highway 61

• Cast: Valerie Buhagiar, Don McKellar, Earl Pastko, Peter Breck
• Director: Bruce McDonald
• Distributor: Shadow Shows Incorporated (Canada)
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK on September 16, 1992. An unofficial sequel to Bruce McDonald’s 1989 film Roadkill. Iggy Pop was originally set to play Otto before Art Bergmann got the part. Capitol Records offered McDonald the song ‘Life is a Highway’ to use in the film but he turned it down for being ‘too poppy’.

April 24 – A Midnight Clear

• Cast: Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Frank Whaley, John C. McGinley, David Jensen, Larry Joshua, Curt Lowens, Rachel Griffin, Timothy Shoemaker
• Director: Keith Gordon
• Production Company: Beacon Communications, A&M Films, distributed by InterStar Releasing (United States), Sovereign Pictures (International)
• Trivia: Based on the novel by William Wharton. The film was not released in the UK until March 5, 1993. Film debut of Gary Sinise. Set in France, the film was shot in Park City, Utah during the coldest winter in 83 years. The area is now home to The Colony, an area filled with multi-million dollar homes. Aaron Eckhart had an uncredited, non-speaking part early in the film.

April 24 – Passed Away

• Cast: Bob Hoskins, Blair Brown, Tim Curry, Frances McDormand, William Petersen, Pamela Reed, Peter Riegert, Maureen Stapleton, Nancy Travis, Jack Warden, Sara Rue, Deborah Rush, Patrick Breen, Teri Polo, Dylan Baker, Jim Corr, Dan Futterman
• Director: Charlie Peters
• Production Company: Hollywood Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK on August 7, 1992.

April 24 – White Sands

• Cast: Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Samuel L. Jackson, M. Emmet Walsh, James Rebhorn, Maura Tierney, Beth Grant, Miguel Sandoval, Fred Thompson, Ken Thorley, Royce D. Applegate
• Director: Roger Donaldson
• Production Company: Morgan Creek Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK on September 4, 1992. Warner Brothers briefly considered re-titling the film Quicksand. Mimi Rogers makes a cameo appearance as the wife of Willam Dafoe’s character.

April 24 – Year of the Comet

• Cast: Timothy Daly, Penelope Ann Miller, Louis Jourdan, Ian Richardson, Nick Brimble, Shane Rimmer, Timothy Bentinck
• Director: Peter Yates
• Production Company: Pinewood Studios, Castle Rock Entertainment, New Line Cinema, distributed by Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: The title refers to the year of the Great Comet of 1811, which was one of the best years in history for European wine. The film’s original title was A Very Good Year, and was advertised as such until it was changed prior to the film’s release. Louis Jordan’s final film. John Barry wrote an original score for the film but it was rejected.

2002

April 26 – The Salton Sea

• Cast: Val Kilmer, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzmán, Doug Hutchison, Anthony LaPaglia, Glenn Plummer, Peter Sarsgaard, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West, B.D. Wong, Shalom Harlow, Michael Lee Aday, Danny Trejo, Josh Todd
• Director: D. J. Caruso
• Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film had a limited release in Canada beginning February 12, 2002. Its Hollywood premiere was held on April 23, followed by a limited US release on April 26 and a limited UK release on June 21. Parts of the film were shot on location at the Salton Sea. Vincent D’Onofrio purposely mouth breathed to change the timbre of his voice. He also developed a bad suntan, gained a significant amount of weight, bleached his hair and dressed in ill-fitting skateboard apparel, and he arrived on set in character. Director D.J. Caruso’s first feature film. Rosario Dawson, R. Lee Ermey, Shirley Knight and Azura Skye have cameos in the film.

2012

April 20 – Chimpanzee

• Narrator: Tim Allen
• Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
• Production Company: Disneynature, Great Ape Productions, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Trivia: The film did not open in the UK until May 3, 2013. The film took four years to produce due to the difficulties of filming in Taï National Park during the wet season and capturing usable footage of common chimpanzees, a species that is known to act reclusive to human activity.

April 20 – Elfie Hopkins

• Cast: Jaime Winstone, Aneurin Barnard, Steven Mackintosh, Rupert Evans, Kate Magowan, Julian Lewis Jones, Kimberley Nixon, Gwyneth Keyworth, Will Payne, Ray Winstone, Richard Harrington
• Director: Ryan Andrews
• Production Company: Black & Blue Films, Size 9 Productions, Tweed Films, The Mews, Flexibon Films, distributed by Kaleidoscope Entertainment
• Trivia: Based on The Gammons, a short film directed by Ryan Andrews, in which the character of Elfie plays only a minor role.. The film was released in the UK and Ireland on April 20, 2012. It was released in the US on home video March 5, 2013.

April 20 – Fightville

• Cast: Dustin Poirier, Tim Credeur, Albert Stainback, Gil Guillory
• Director: Michael Tucker, Petra Epperlein
• Production Company: Showtime Networks
• Trivia: The film screened at South by Southwest on March 12, 2011. The idea for Fightville came about during production of Gunner Palace, when the filmmakers found out about MMA by observing soldiers watching and practicing the sport.

April 20 – Jesus Henry Christ

• Cast: Jason Spevack, Toni Collette, Michael Sheen, Samantha Weinstein, Frank Moore, Austin MacDonald, Cameron Kennedy, Mark Caven, Paul Braunstein, Mark MacDonald, Mickey MacDonald, Hannah Bridgen, Jamie Johnston
• Director: Dennis Lee
• Production Company: Reliance Big Entertainment, IM Global, Red Om Films, distributed by Entertainment One
• Trivia: Based on Dennis Lee’s student short film of the same name. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2011. Toni Collette was pregnant with her son, Arlo, while filming.

April 20 – Marley

• Cast: Bob Marley
• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Production Company: Shangri-La Entertainment, Tuff Gong Pictures, Cowboy Films, distributed by Magnolia Pictures (United States), Universal Pictures (United Kingdom)
• Trivia: The film screened at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 2012, and at South by Southwest on March 11. The film was released in the UK and Ireland on April 20, as well as in the US and on Video On Demand. It received a limited release in Canada on May 18. The film was developed in 2008 for a planned 2010 release for Bob Marley’s 65th birthday. Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme were both attached at different points but withdrew. The film was put on hold until Kevin Macdonald was hired to direct. Macdonald was surprised to discover there was not a single piece of footage from the first ten years of Marley’s career. The film was made with the full cooperation of the Marley family. Bunny Wailer was disappointed that the film did not sufficiently cover Marley’s devotion to the Rastafarian faith.

April 20 – The Lucky One

• Cast: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Jay R. Ferguson, Riley Thomas Stewart, Adam LeFevre
• Director: Scott Hicks
• Production Company: Village Roadshow Pictures, Di Novi Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Entertainment
• Trivia: Adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 2008 novel of the same name, and the seventh film adaptation of a Sparks novel. The film was also released in Canada on April 20, 2012. It opened in the UK on May 2. The role of Logan Thibault was written with Ryan Gosling in mind.

Screen Gems

April 20 – Think Like a Man

• Cast: Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence J, Regina Hall, Jerry Ferrara, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Steve Harvey, Gary Owen, Wendy Williams, Chris Brown, Keri Hilson, Jenifer Lewis, La La Anthony, Caleel Harris, Morris Chestnut, Arielle Kebbel, Kelly Rowland, Sherri Shepherd, Tika Sumpter, Tony Rock, Luenell, Jessica Camacho, Zach Firtel, Matt Colton, Hayden Fein, Andrew Ward, J. Anthony Brown
• Director: Tim Story
• Production Company: Rainforest Films, Screen Gems, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
• Trivia: Based on Steve Harvey’s 2009 book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. The film premiered at the Pan African Film Festival on February 10, 2012. It received a limited release in Canada on April 20, and opened in the UK on June 22. When Dominic (Michael Ealy) talks to the guys about the movie For Colored Girls (2010), he says the psycho drops his kids out of the window. Ealy played the character who did just that in the movie.

April 25 – Payback

• Director: Jennifer Baichwal
• Production Company: National Film Board of Canada, distributed by Zeitgeist Films, Mongrel Media (Canada)
• Trivia: Based on Margaret Atwood’s Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. The film was screened at Sundance on January 20, 2012, and opened in limited release in Canada on March 16.

April 26 – Wish You Were Here

• Cast: Felicity Price, Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Antony Starr
• Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith
• Production Company: Level K, Blue-Tongue Films, Aquarius Films, Screen Australia, distributed by Hopscotch Films
• Trivia: The film screened at Sundance on January 19, 2012, and opened in Australia on April 26. It was not released in the US until June 7, 2013 and in Canada on July 26.