Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #237 :: February 6•12

Focus Features

It might be the dead of winter in much of the US during the second week of February, but movie theaters are beginning to see a little thaw after the freeze of January’s many lackluster releases. This week across the decades gave us a film starring Charlie Chaplin’s brother, a 1945 thriller that was ultimately the last for its star, a1955 movie that had a very unique critics screening, a 1975 film that has developed a cult following and became a cultural touchstone, a 1985 murder mystery that put Harrison Ford in Amish country, a 1995 comedy that is a signature role for its star, a 2005 Will Smith comedy that courted casting controversy, and a 2015 film in which its Oscar-winning actor became a Razzie winner as well. Scroll down to see the movies that premiered this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries!

1925

February 7 – Folly of Youth (USA, Sable Productions)
February 7 – The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (AUS, Pyramid Pictures)
February 8 – A Roaring Adventure (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 8 – Charley’s Aunt (USA, Christie Film Company)
February 8 – Flying Hoofs (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 8 – The Lady (USA, Norma Talmadge Film Corporation)
February 9 – Cheaper to Marry (USA, Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation)
February 9 – Her Market Value (USA, Paul Powell Productions)
February 9 – The Top of the World (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
February 11 – Dangerous Pleasure (USA, Independent Pictures)

Lost films: The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, A Roaring Adventure, Cheaper to Marry, The Top of the World

Status unknown: Folly of Youth, Dangerous Pleasure

Charley’s Aunt featured one of a handful of leading roles for Syd Chaplin, older brother of the more famous Charlie. Copies of the film are held by the BFI National Archive, George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, and Academy Film Archive.

A complete print of Flying Hoofs is reportedly held by a private collector.

The Lady survives in the U.S. Library of Congress with Reel 2 missing. The remaining elements of the film have severe beginning stages of nitrate decomposition making much of the film hard to follow.

A print of Her Market Value is held at UCLA Film and Television Archive.

1935

February 8 – Rumba (USA, Paramount Pictures)
February 8 – The Winning Ticket (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
February 9 – Devil Dogs of the Air (USA, Cosmopolitan Productions)
February 11 – Rendezvous at Midnight (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 12 – The Mystery Man (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)

Rumba was a follow-up to the previous year’s Bolero, though less successful. Star George Raft fought with co-star Carole Lombard, and refused to work with her on a later film. Raft felt director Ted Tetzlaff favored Lombard over him.

Devil Dogs of the Air was the second of nine features that James Cagney and Pat O’Brien made together.

1945

Twentieth Century Fox

February 6 – The Kid Sister (USA, Sigmund Neufeld Productions)
February 7 – Hangover Square (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
February 8 – Marked for Murder (USA, Alexander-Stern Productions)
February 8 – Sing Me a Song of Texas (USA, Columbia Pictures)
February 9 – Her Lucky Night (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 12 – Twilight Hour (UK, British National Films)

The Kid Sister is alternately known in the US as All in the Family. Twilight Hour has no known US theatrical release date.

Hangover Square is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Patrick Hamilton, with major alterations to the plot by screenwriter Barré Lyndon. The film was released two months after star Laird Cregar suffered a fatal heart attack. Cregar had encouraged Fox to acquire the rights to the story, and he, with his The Lodger co-star and director respectively, George Sanders and John Brahm, signed on to the project. Cregar, however, then refused the lead role after the character’s personality was changed, fearing he’d always be typecast as a villain, but after Glenn Langan was announced as his replacement he realized he could use the romatinc scenes in the film to his advantage to change the public perception of his image. Cregar began a crash diet to give his character more physical appeal, and the film had to be shot chronologically to be consistent with his weight loss, which frustrated Brahm. Sanders also brought issues to the production, punching the film’s producer, and refusing to say his final line, ‘He’s better off this way’, to justify the death of Cregar’s character. The line was eventually changed to ‘It’s better this way.’ Stephen Sondheim had stated that Bernard Herrmann’s score for the film was a major influence on his music for Sweeney Todd.

Marked for Murder is the 18th of 22 ‘Texas Rangers’ films. Sing Me a Song of Texas was Noah Beery Sr’s final film role. Her Lucky Night was the last film at Universal for The Andrews Sisters.

1955

February 7 – The Man Who Loved Redheads (UK, London Film Productions)
February 8 – Cinerama Holiday (USA, Cinerama Productions Corp.)
February 9 – Underwater! (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
February 10 – Before I Wake (UK, Gibraltar Films Ltd.)
February 10 – Pirates of Tripoli (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
February 10 – The Long Gray Line (USA, Rota Productions)
February 11 – The Lyons in Paris (UK, Hammer Films)

The Man Who Loved Redheads was released in the US on July 25, 1955. Before I Wake was released in the US in June 1956 as Shadow of Fear (and is also known as Decoy Be Damned). The Long Gray Line first opened in Japan on January 4, 1955. The Lyons in Paris has no known US theatrical release date.

The Man Who Loved Redheads was the last film for director Harold French. It is based on Terence Rattigan’s play Who Is Sylvia?, which is reputedly a thinly veiled account of the author’s philandering father.

Travelogue film Cinerama Holiday features a point-of-view landing on an aircraft carrier in the US version, and a point-of-view bobsled ride in the European version. The film had been unseen for decades until a Blu-ray restoration from the original camera negatives was released in 2013.

Underwater! premiered on a submerged movie screen at Silver Springs, Florida, with members of the press 20 feet underwater wearing aqualungs. The song ‘Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White’ was featured in the film and became a major hit.

Betsy Palmer makes her screen debut in The Long Gray Line. It was one of the last films to feature rising star Robert Francis, who died at 25 in an air crash.

The Lyons in Paris is also known as The Lyons Abroad and Mr. and Mrs. in Paree, and was a sequel to 1954’s Life with the Lyons.

1965

February 7 – Only the Brave Know Hell (Philippines, Hemisphere Pictures)
February 10 – Strange Bedfellows (USA, Fernwood Productions)
February 10 – Sylvia (USA, Martin Poll Productions)

Only the Brave Know Hell (the English dubbed title released in the Philippines) was released in the US in December 1965 as The Ravagers. The Pilipino-language version was entitled Hanggang May Kalaban, which translates to Until There Are Enemies.

1975

Palomar Pictures International

February 6 – The Strongest Man in the World (USA, Walt Disney Productions)
February 12 – The Stepford Wives (USA, Palomar Pictures International)

The Strongest Man in the World was the third and final film in Disney’s ‘Dexter Riley’ series. It was the first of two films featuring Joe Flynn released posthumously.

The Stepford Wives was based on the novel by Ira Levin. Brian De Palma was set to direct, but screenwriter William Goldman did not approve so the job went to English director Bryan Forbes. Diane Keaton was courted for the lead role of Joanna, but turned it down allegedly because her therapist didn’t like the script. Jean Seberg declined the role, and Tuesday Weld accepted, then withdrew before production began. Katharine Ross eventually got the role. Joanna Cassidy was cast as Joanna’s best friend Bobbie, but was fired a few weeks into production and replaced with Paula Prentiss. Mary Stuart Masterson, Dee Wallace and Franklin Cover appear in small roles, while Tina Louise was cast as a doomed housewife. The director cast his own wife, Nanatte Newman, in the role of Carol Van Sant which led to tension with Goldman, who felt her 40-year-old appearance did not match the younger character he’d scripted. No exterior sets were built as the film was shot on location in Connecticut. Jordan Peele cited the film as one of his inspirations for Get Out. The film also influenced the development of the Bree Van de Kamp character on Desperate Housewives, often referred to as a ‘Stepford Wife’.

1985

February 6 – Jenny Kissed Me (USA, Nilsen Premiere)
February 7 – The Gold Diggers (Netherlands, BFI Production Board)
February 8 – Heaven Help Us (USA, HBO Pictures)
February 8 – Mischief (Twentieth Century Fox)
February 8 – Mrs. Soffel (USA, Edgar J. Scherick Associates)
February 8 – Tuff Turf (Brazil, New World Pictures)
February 8 – Witness (USA, Edward S. Feldman Productions)

The Gold Diggers, Sally Potter’s directorial debut, has no known US theatrical release date. Tuff Turf first opened in the US on January 11, 1985.

Heaven Help Us is also known as Catholic Boys. It features the film debut of Patrick Dempsey.

Tuff Turf production was nearly shut down following the financial failure of Streets of Fire, which head of production Robert Rehme had greenlit at Universal. Producer Donald Borchers appealed to the studio and filming proceeded. Rehme also wanted to change the title of the film to Rules Don’t Apply. Madonna was suggested for the female lead, but she wanted to make Desperately Seeking Susan, so the role was offered to Kim Richards, who agreed to film a nude scene but her management requested it be removed from the final cut. The role of James Spader’s best friend was offered to Crispin Glover, but he was unavailable and the part went to Robert Downey Jr.

The original script for Witness was titled Called Home, which is the Amish term for death. The original draft relied too much on Amish traditions instead of the thriller aspects of the story and was rewritten in less than six weeks. The film was set up at Fox, but the studio rejected it with the note that Fox did not make ‘rural movies’. The script was then sent to Harrison Ford’s agent, and four days later Ford was willing to commit to the film and Fox was approached again, but even with Ford attached the studio was still not interested in a ‘rural movie’. Numerous studios rejected the script until Paramount finally expressed interest. Peter Weir was approached to direct, but he was committed to The Mosquito Coast. John Badham declined the position, calling it ‘just another cop movie’, and several others also turned it down. David Cronenberg was also offered the job, but turned it down as he could ‘never be a fan of the Amish’. Financing for The Mosquito Coast fell through, freeing up Weir, making Witness his first American film. The film had to be rushed into production as a Directors Guild strike was looming. The film marked the acting debut of ballet star Alexander Gudunov. The film also marked the first major film role for Viggo Mortensen, whom Weir cast because he felt Mortensen’s face was right for the part of an Amish man. Kelly McGillis researched her role by living with an Amish widow and her seven children, learning how to milk cows and practicing their Pennsylvania German dialect. The paintings of Johannes Vermeer inspired the lighting and composition of the film. Local Amish in Pennsylvania agreed to work on the film as carpenters and electricians, but declined to appear in the film, so many of the extras were actually Mennonites. Filming was completed three days before the scheduled DGA strike, which was ultimately avoided. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations, winning Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. It also received seven BAFTA nominations, winning Best Music, and six Golden Globe nominations.

1995

February 10 – Billy Madison (USA, Robert Simonds Productions)
February 10 – The Quick and the Dead (USA, IndieProd Company Productions)

Billy Madison was Norm Macdonald’s feature film debut. Star Adam Sandler convinced Universal to hire Stephen Kessler to direct, but after three days of filming the studio was unhappy with the footage and replaced Kessler with Tamra Davis, who was the studio’s first choice. Sandler also wanted Bob Odenkirk for the role of Eric Gordon, but the studio rejected him saying Odenkirk was not a serious actor. Philip Seymour Hoffman was approached and auditioned but later turned down the offer, resulting in the casting of Bradley Whitford. For his scene as the frantic and overstrung bus driver, Chris Farley drank six shots of espresso before filming.

The Quick and the Dead was inspired by the ‘Dollar Trilogy’ of ‘spaghetti Westerns’ that starred Clint Eastwood, with the protagonist changed to a female and Sharon Stone cast in the lead role. Stone was also an executive producer and had approval of the director. Stone was impressed with Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness and made it clear that if he wasn’t hired, she would walk away from the project. Sony fired writer Simon Moore because of a dislike of his semi-serious tone, hiring John Sayles to do rewrites with the instruction to make the script more of an American Old West film. Moore was rehired three weeks before filming was to begin to trim down Sayles’ 2.5 hour screenplay. Moore simply removed Sayles’ work without the studio noticing and Sony felt the script was then good enough to shoot. Moore described Sayles’ rewrites as a pointless exercise. Russell Crowe had auditioned for a different role in the film, but Stone asked him to try for the male lead, impressed with his work on Romper Stomper, though the studio was unsure as he was not known to American audiences at the time. To cast Gene Hackman in the film, production had to move from Durango, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona. Matt Damon and Sam Rockwell were considered for the role of The Kid. Damon turned it down, and the part went to Leonardo DiCaprio. Sony was also unsure of the inexperienced DiCaprio, but Stone paid his salary out of her own pocket. Stone had a love scene between her and Crowe removed from the American release prints, feeling it did not fit with the picture’s established reality. The scene was included in the overseas release, theatrically and on home video. The film performed poorly at the box office and with critics, but has been re-evaluated over the years, with praise for the performances and some critics calling it an underrated entry in Raimi’s filmography.

2005

February 11 – Hitch (USA, Overbrook Entertainment)
February 11 – Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (USA, Disneytoon Studios)

The working title for Hitch was The Last First Kiss. Eva Mendes was offered the female lead because the studio was worried about the public’s reaction if the role was played by a white actress, creating an interracial taboo opposite Will Smith. The studio was also fearful of casting a Black actress opposite Smith, concerned the two Black leads would alienate the white audience. The studio believed Latina and Black leads would avoid any racial issues.

The working title for Pooh’s Heffalump Movie was simply The Heffalump Movie. It is the fourth theatrical film in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh franchise, and the seventh adaptation of a Pooh story. It was originally intended as a direct-to-video feature. It was followed seven months later by the direct-to-video sequel, Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie. It was the last film to feature voice actor John Fiedler as Piglet.

2015

Village Roadshow Pictures

February 6 – Enter the Dangerous Mind (USA, Cima Productions)
February 6 – Jupiter Ascending (USA, Village Roadshow Pictures)
February 6 – Lovesick (USA, Night and Day Pictures)
February 6 – Seventh Son (USA/Canada, Beijing Skywheel Entertainment Co.)
February 6 – The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (USA, Nickelodeon Movies)
February 6 – The Voices (USA, Mandalay Vision)
February 11 – Fifty Shades of Grey (Belgium, Focus Features)
February 12 – 5 to 7 (Ukraine, Demarest Films)

Seventh Son was first released in France on December 17, 2014. The Voices first opened in the Netherlands on December 6, 2014. Fifty Shades of Grey was released in the US and Canada on February 13, 2015. 5 to 7 received a limited US release on April 3, 2015.

Enter the Dangerous Mind is also known as Snap. Taxi Driver and The Shining were cited as influences.

Lana Wachowski cited The Odyssey and The Wizard of Oz as inspirations for Jupiter Ascending. Many of the film’s effects rely heavily on practical stunts instead of CGI. Channing Tatum noted the actors and stuntpeople did most of the stunts instead of relying on digital doubles. The film received six Razzie Awards nominations including Worst Picture, Director, Actor (Tatum) and Actress (Mila Kunis), with the previous year’s Best Actor Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne winning Worst Supporting Actor.

Lovesick is the feature directorial debut of Luke Matheny. Seventh Son is loosely based on the 2004 novel The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is dedicated to Ernest Borgnine, the voice of Mermaid Man, who died in 2012. It is also the last film to feature Tim Conway (voice of Barnacle Boy). Slash has a cameo as a busker, but the scene was cut from the final film. The footage was included as a special feature on the home video release.

The Voices was originally set to begin production in 2010 with Ben Stiller starring, but budget issues forced the production to shut down. Production was brought up again in 2012 with Ryan Reynolds suggested to provide the voices in lead character Jerry’s head. When producers heard Reynolds. it clicked that the voices would be Jerry’s, and he was cast in the on-screen role as well.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson cites 9½ Weeks, Last Tango in Paris, and Blue is the Warmest Colour as inspirations for Fifty Shades of Grey. Original song ‘Love Me Like You Do’, performed by Ellie Goulding, was nominated for a Golden GLobe, while ‘Earned It’, by The Weeknd, was Oscar nominated. The film also earned six Razzie nominations, winning five including Worst Picture (tied with Fantastic Four). Robert Pattinson was author E.L. James’ first choice for the role of Christian Grey. Ian Somerhalder and Chace Crawford were also considered. Somerhalder said if he had been offered the role, he would have been unable to accept due to conflicts with his schedule on The Vampire Diaries. Charlie Hunnam was officially announced on September 2, 2013. Emilia Clarke was offered the role of Anastasia but turned it down due to the nudity. Hunnam’s casting was criticized by fans of the books as he did not physically fit the character’s description. Hunnam eventually withdrew due to conflicts with his schedule on Sons of Anarchy. Alexander Skarsgård, Jamie Dornan, Christian Cooke, Theo James, François Arnaud, Scott Eastwood, Luke Bracey, and Billy Magnussen were at the top of the list to replace Hunnam, with Dornan finally snagging the role. Dakota Johnson had remained with the film since she was announced initially with Hunnam.