Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #293 :: March 5•11

Several notable films were released this week across the last century, with many of them also receiving attention from various awards groups. One 1926 film was groundbreaking for its use of color, a 1936 film was the first and most successful for its studio until 1939, a 1956 film brought an eerily prophetic novel to the screen, 1966 gave horror fans a Hammer double feature, 1976 saw some of the first work from a man who would become a very noted cinematographer, 1986 had two films with awards attention, and a middling hit that became the iconic beginning of a movie and TV franchise, 1996 had two very different hits set in North Dakota and South Beach, Florida, 2006 had two remakes, and 2016 produced a spiritual sequel to a found footage sci-fi/horror film. Scroll down to see all of the movies released this week, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1926  •  1936  •  1946  •  1956  •  1966  •  1976  •  1986  •  1996  •  2006  •  2016

1926

March 6 – The Little Irish Girl (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Dolores Costello, John Harron, Matthew Betz, Lee Moran, Gertrude Claire
• Director: Roy Del Ruth
• Trivia: The film is considered lost, likely destroyed by the studio due to nitrate film decomposition.

March 7 – A Six Shootin’ Romance (USA, Blue Streak Western)

• Cast: Jack Hoxie, Olive Hasbrouck, William Steele, Carmen Phillips, Robert McKenzie
• Director: Clifford Smith
• Trivia: Carmen Phillips’ final screen performance. The film is considered lost.

March 7 – Oh! What a Nurse! (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Sydney Chaplin, Patsy Ruth Miller, Gayne Whitman, Matthew Betz, Edith Yorke, David Torrence, Edgar Kennedy
• Director: Charles Reisner
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 7 – Secret Orders (USA, Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation)

• Cast: Harold Goodwin, Robert Frazer, Evelyn Brent, John Gough, Margerie Bonner
• Director: Chester Withey
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

March 7 – The Arizona Streak (USA, Film Booking Offices of America)

• Cast: Tom Tyler, Alfred Hewston, Ada Mae Vaughn, Frankie Darro, Dave Ward, LeRoy Mason, Gunboat Smith
• Director: Robert De Lacey
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 7 – The Dixie Merchant (USA, Fox Film Corporation)

• Cast: Jack Mulhall, Madge Bellamy, J. Farrell MacDonald, Claire McDowell, Harvey Clark, Edward Martindel
• Director: Frank Borzage
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 8 – The Black Pirate (USA, Elton Corporation)

• Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, Anders Randolf, Donald Crisp, Tempe Pigott, Sam De Grasse, Charles Stevens
• Director: Albert Parker
• Trivia: Star Fairbanks took on the financial risk of producing the film in color, waiting until Technicolor had improved its filming and printing capacity. Fairbanks was concerned about a rumor suggesting brightly colored films distracted audiences from the narrative, so he used muted tones, his team testing and refining color controls over a period of months to create a visual consistency that contributed to the film’s success. The film suffered from the fragility of the two-strip film, which prompted Technicolor to abandon the process and develop a single-strip film which was used for later prints. Fairbanks considered using Technicolor again but gave up for various reasons. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993. The film has been restored and released on DVD in 1999, and on Blu-ray in 2004 and 2023. It was restored again in 2023 and screened in London, San Francisco and Hollywood.

1936

March 6 – Call of the Prairie (USA, Harry Sherman Productions)

• Cast: William Boyd, James Ellison, Muriel Evans, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Chester Conklin, Al Bridge, Willie Fung
• Director: Howard. Bretherton

March 6 – Give Us This Night (USA, Paramount Pictures)

• Cast: Gladys Swarthout, Jan Kiepura
• Director: Alexander Hall

March 6 – Little Lord Fauntleroy (USA, Selznick International Pictures)

• Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, C. Aubrey Smith, Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson, Mickey Rooney, Una O’Connor
• Director: John Cromwell
• Trivia: First film produced by Selznick International Pictures. It was the studio’s most profitable film until Gone With the Wind. The film is in the public domain, and has been restored by the George Eastman House from Selznick’s personal print.

March 6 – Love on a Bet (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Gene Raymond, Wendy Barrie, Helen Broderick, William Collier, Sr., Spencer Charters
• Director: Leigh Jason

March 6 – The Farmer in the Dell (New York City, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Fred Stone, Jean Parker, Esther Dale, Moroni Olsen, Frank Albertson, Maxine Jennings, Lucille Ball
• Director: Ben Holmes
• Trivia: Fred Stone’s film debut. Ben Holmes’ feature directing debut following his work directing a series of shorts.

March 6 – Three Godfathers (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan, Irene Hervey, Sidney Toler
• Director: Richard Boleslawski
• Trivia: The story was previously filmed as The Three Godfathers (1916), Marked Men (1919), both starring Harry Carey, and Hell’s Heroes (1929), which was William Wyler’s first all-talking film. John Ford directed a 1948 version, 3 Godfathers, dedicated to Carey and featuring his son, Harry Carey, Jr.

March 6 – Woman Trap (USA, Paramount Pictures)

• Cast: Gertrude Michael, George Murphy, Akim Tamiroff, Sidney Blackmer, Samuel S. Hinds, Dean Jagger
• Director: Harold Young

March 7 – Boulder Dam (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Ross Alexander, Patricia Ellis, Lyle Talbot, Eddie Acuff, Henry O’Neill, Egon Brecher
• Director: Frank McDonald

March 7 – The Old Mill Pond (USA, short, Harman-Ising Productions)

• Director: Hugh Harman
• Trivia: Oscar nominated for Best Animated Short Film but lost to Disney’s The Country Cousin. The film was followed in 1937 with the sequel, Swing Wedding.

March 9 – Alpine Antics (USA, short, Leon Schlesinger Studios)

• Cast: Tommy Bond, Billy Bletcher, Bernice Hansen
• Director: Jack King
• Trivia: Looney Tunes short featuring Porky Pig and Beans the Cat.

March 9 – King of the Pecos (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)

• Cast: John Wayne, Muriel Evans, Cy Kendall, Jack Clifford, Arthur Aylesworth
• Director: Joseph Kane

March 9 – Living Dangerously (UK, British International Pictures)

• Cast: Otto Kruger, Leonora Corbett, Francis Lister, Aileen Marson
• Director: Herbert Brenon
• Trivia: The film has no known US theatrical release date.

March 9 – Love Before Breakfast (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, Cesar Romero, Janet Beecher, Betty Lawford
• Director: Walter Lang
• Trivia: The film’s working title was Spinster Dinner. Paramount lent Carole Lombard to Universal for the film in exchange for Margaret Sullavan working on So Red the Rose.

March 10 – Desert Phantom (USA, Supreme Pictures)

• Cast: Johnny Mack Brown, Sheila Bromley, Ted Adams, Karl Hackett, Hal Price
• Director: S. Roy Luby

March 11 – Song and Dance Man (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Claire Trevor, Paul Kelly, Michael Whalen, Ruth Donnelly, James Burke, Margaret Dumont
• Director: Allan Dwan

1946

March 7 – Just Before Dawn (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Warner Baxter, Adelle Roberts, Martin Kosleck, Mona Barrie
• Director: William Castle
• Trivia: Sixth film in the Crime Doctor series, also known as Exposed by the Crime Doctor.

March 7 – Murder Is My Business (USA, Sigmund Neufeld Productions)

• Cast: Hugh Beaumont, Cheryl Walker, Lyle Talbot, George Meeker, Pierre Watkin
• Director: Sam Newfield

March 7 – Swing, Cowboy, Swing (USA, Three Crown Productions)

• Cast: Cal Shrum, Max Terhune, Alta Lee, Walt Shrum, Don Weston, I. Stanford Jolley
• Director: Elmer Clifton
• Trivia: Reissued under the title Bad Man from Big Bend.

March 7 – The Mask of Diijon (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)

• Cast: Erich von Stroheim, Jeanne Bates, William Wright, Denise Vernac, Edward Van Sloan
• Director: Lew Landers

March 9 – Cinderella Jones (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, Julie Bishop, William Prince, S. Z. Sakall, Edward Everett Horton, Charles Dingle, Ruth Donnelly, Elisha Cook, Jr.
• Director: Busby Berkeley

March 9 – Song of Arizona (USA, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Dale Evans, Lyle Talbot, Tommy Cook
• Director: Frank McDonald

1956

March 5 – Over-Exposed (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Cleo Moore, Raymond Greenleaf, Richard Crenna, Jack Albertson, Isobel Elsom, Dayton Lummis
• Director: Lewis Seiler

March 6 – 1984 (UK, Holiday Film Productions Ltd.)

• Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Michael Redgrave, Jan Sterling, David Kossoff, Mervyn Johns, Donald Pleasence
• Director: Michael Anderson
• Trivia: Released in the US in September 1956. Like the adaptation of Animal Farm, the film was secretly funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, and alters the novel’s ending.

March 7 – Hot Blood (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Jane Russell, Cornel Wilde, Luther Adler, Joseph Calleia
• Director: Nicholas Ray
• Trivia: Richard Deacon has an uncredited role, and Ross Bagdasarian and Les Baxter appear uncredited as gas station attendants. The film’s working title was Tambourine.

March 7 – Singing in the Dark (USA, A.N.O. Productions Inc.)

• Cast: Moyshe Oysher, Phyllis Hill, Joey Adams, Henry Sharp, Mickey Knox
• Director: Max Nosseck
• Trivia: Yiddish-language actor Moishe Oysher makes his only English-language film performance. Cindy Adams, future gossip columnist and wife of actor Joey Adams, also appears in the film.

March 9 – Come Next Spring (USA, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: Ann Sheridan, Steve Cochran, Walter Brennan, Sherry Jackson, Richard Eyer, Edgar Buchanan, Sonny Tufts, James Best
• Director: R. G. Springsteen
• Trivia: Tony Bennett performed the film’s theme song, ‘Come Next Spring’. Max Steiner composed the music for the song, and reused much of his Sergeant York score for the film.

March 9 – Meet Me in Las Vegas (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead, Lili Darvas, Jim Backus, Liliane Montevecchi, George Kerris, Paul Henreid
• Director: Roy Rowland
• Trivia: The film was specifically tailored for Charisse to show off her talents in modern and classical ballet. Jim Backus’ wife, Henny, appears in the film as ‘Bossy Wife’. Jerry Colonna, Lena Horne, Frankie Laine, and The Four Aces appear as themselves. Uncredited cameos include Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Pier Angeli, Peter Lorre, and Tony Martin (who was married to Charisse). Credited actor George Kerris is better known as George Chakiris.

March 10 – Never Say Goodbye (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Rock Hudson, Cornell Borchers, George Sanders, Shelley Fabares, Ray Collins, David Janssen
• Director: Jerry Hopper
• Trivia: Remake of 1945’s This Love of Ours. Clint Eastwood appears in an uncredited role.

March 10 – The Steel Jungle (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Perry Lopez, Beverly Garland, Walter Abel, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, Kenneth Tobey, Allison Hayes
• Director: Walter Doniger
• Trivia: Joe Flynn appears in an uncredited role.

1966

March 6 – Rasputin, the Mad Monk (UK, Hammer Film Productions-Seven Arts)

• Cast: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Joss Ackland
• Director: Don Sharp
• Trivia: Released in the US on April 6, 1966. Released on a double bill with The Reptile. It was filmed back-to-back with Dracula, Prince of Darkness, using the same sets and actors (Lee, Matthews, Shelley and Farmer). The original ending had the lifeless Rasputin lying on the ice with his hands held up to his forehead in benediction, but it was considered controversial for religious reasons and removed. The real-life killer of Rasputin, Felix Yusupov, was still alive at the time the film was being made, and his lawyers threatened Hammer, so last minute rewrites changed the character’s name to Ivan Kesnikov.

March 6 – The Reptile (UK, Hammer Film Productions)

• Cast: Ray Barrett, Jennifer Daniel, Michael Ripper, Noel Willman, Jacqueline Pearce
• Director: John Gilling
• Trivia: Released in the US on April 6, 1966. The film was pitched three years earlier to Universal as The Curse of the Reptiles. Actress Jacqueline Pearce suffered from claustrophobia while wearing the reptile make-up and swore to never wear creature make-up in her future acting projects.

March 9 – Johnny Reno (USA, A.C. Lyles Productions)

• Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Russell, Lon Chaney Jr., John Agar, Lyle Bettger, Tom Drake, Richard Arlen
• Director: R. G. Springsteen

1976

March 5 – Black Shampoo (USA, World Amusement Company)

• Cast: John Daniels, Tanya Boyd, Joe Ortiz, Skip E. Lowe
• Director: Greydon Clark
• Trivia: The day before production was to begin, the director of photography was in a car accident but assured director Clark that he would be fine to work. He quit on the first day due to pain and was replaced by the gaffer, Dean Cundy, who would go on to be the DP for several John Carpenter films.

March 5 – Man Friday (USA, Keep Films)

• Cast: Peter O’Toole, Richard Roundtree Peter Cellier, Christopher Cabot
• Director: Jack Gold
• Trivia: The film was based on a TV play by Adrian Mitchell which aired in 1972 as part of BBC’s Play for Today. It was one of the first films funded by ITC Entertainment. The film was recut without Gold’s involvement to give it a more upbeat ending, removing a scene of Robinson Crusoe committing suicide.

March 11 – Creature from Black Lake (USA, Jim McCullough Productions)

• Cast: Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, Dennis Fimple, John David Carson, Bill Thurman
• Director: Joy N. Houck Jr.
• Trivia: This was another early project for cinematographer Dean Cundey.

March 11 – Robin and Marian (USA, Rastar Pictures)

• Cast: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Nicol Williamson, Richard Harris, Denholm Elliott, Ronnie Barker, Ian Holm, Victoria Abril
• Director: Richard Lester
• Trivia: The film was originally titled The Death of Robin Hood but changed by the studio to make it more marketable, and perhaps to give equal billing to stars Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn.

1986

March 5 – Salvador (New York City, Hemdale)

• Cast: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo, Cindy Gibb, Tony Plana, José Carlos Ruiz
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Trivia: Expanded nationwide in the US on April 11, 1986. Due to safety concerns, the film was shot in Mexico instead of El Salvador. It was retitled Guns, Goons and Gold for the Philippines release. The film earned two Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Woods) and Original Screenplay (Stone).

March 7 – Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (USA, limited, Nelvana)

• Cast: Hadleu Kay, Chris Wiggins, Cree Summer, Alyson Court
• Director: Dale Schott
• Trivia: Nelvana’s third animated feature film. The film marked the first appearance of the Care Bear Cubs. This was Dale Schott’s directorial debut. A montage showing the Care Bears and their cousins growing to maturity nullified any continuity from the first movie.

March 7 – Desert Hearts (USA, Desert Hearts Productions)

• Cast: Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, Audra Lindley, Andra Akers, Gwen Welles, Dean Butler
• Director: Donna Deitch
• Trivia: Loosely based on the 1964 romance novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule. Deitch spent four years raising the $1.5 million needed to produce the film, with a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It took nearly six years to bring the film to the screen. Deitch found it difficult to cast actresses who would portray lesbians without reservation. Charbonneau was the first actress cast, making her film debut, and Shaver was cast because of their chemistry. The pair were contractually obligated to perform a sex scene nude from the waist up, and without the use of body doubles. The director, cinematographer and boom operator were the only crew on set.

March 7 – Highlander (USA, Davis-Panzer Productions)

• Cast: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart, Beatie Edney, Alan North, Jon Polito
• Director: Russell Mulcahy
• Trivia: The script was written as a class assignment by Gregory Widen while an undergraduate at UCLA, under the title Shadow Clan. Kurt Russell and Mickey Rourke were considered for the lead role until director Mulcahy saw a picture of Lambert from Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, feeling he had the perfect look. Russell was actually cast but dropped out due to the insistence of Goldie Hawn. The film’s climax was to originally take place on top of the Statue of Liberty, then an amusement park before finally being set on the roof of Silvercup Studios.

March 7 – Nomads (USA, Cinema VII)

• Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Lesley-Anne Down, Anna-Maria Monticelli, Adam Ant, Mary Woronov, Nina Foch, Frances Bay, Frank Doubleday, Josie Cotton
• Director: John McTiernan
• Trivia: Gérard Depardieu was considered for the lead before Brosnan was cast in his first leading film role following his stint on TV series Remington Steele.

March 7 – A Room with a View (USA, Merchant Ivory Productions)

• Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Rupert Graves
• Director: James Ivory
• Trivia: The film was Helena Bonham Carter’s breakthrough following her work on Lady Jane. It was the film debut of Rupert Graves. The film was shot extensively on location in Florence, Italy. It earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, winning for Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction and Costume Design. It also earned 14 BAFTA nominations, winning Best Film, Leading Actress (Maggie Smith), Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Costume Design and Production Design. The film also received three Golden Globe nominations, winning Supporting Actress for Smith.

1996

March 8 – Fargo (USA, limited, Working Title Films)

• Cast: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, Peter Stormare, John Carroll Lynch, Melissa Peterman
• Director: Joel Coen
• Trivia: The film’s US release expanded nationwide on April 5, 1996. José Feliciano appears as himself, and Bruce Campbell has an uncredited role as a Soap Opera Actor. William H. Macy was considered for a smaller role, but the Coen Brothers asked him to read for the role of Jerry. After the audition, Macy learned they were still casting the role so he flew to New York to attend another audition and insisted the role was his. The film earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Supporting Actor for Macy, winning Best Actress (McDormand) and Original Screenplay. It was nominated for six BAFTAs, winning Best Direction, and four Golden Globes.

March 8 – Hellraiser: Bloodline (USA, Dimension Films)

• Cast: Doug Bradley, Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Kim Myers, Adam Scott
• Director: Kevin Yagher and Joe Chappelle
• Trivia: Fourth installment in the Hellraiser series, serving both as a prequel and sequel. Doug Bradley, as Pinhead, was the only remaining original cast member. It was the last Hellraiser film to be released theatrically. Yagher left the production after completing the film, but Miramax demanded new scenes which were helmed by Chappelle. The new scenes gave the film a happy ending, introduced Pinhead earlier, and cut about 25 minutes from the run time. Yagher felt the changes diverged from his vision and was granted the Alan Smithee credit. This was Adam Scott’s first major film role.

March 8 – Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (USA, City Dogs Productions)

• Cast: Robert Hays, Kim Greist, Benj Thall, Veronica Lauren, Michael Rispoli, Max Perlich, Will Sasso
• Voice Cast: Michael J. Fox, Carla Gugino, Sally Field, Ralph Waite, Jon Polito, Adam Goldberg, Sinbad, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Stephen Tobolowsky
• Director: David R. Ellis
• Trivia: Ellis’ feature directorial debut.

March 8 – If Lucy Fell (USA, Motion Picture Corporation of America)

• Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer, Elle Macpherson, Ben Stiller, James Rebhorn, Robert John Burke
• Director: Eric Schaeffer

March 8 – The Birdcage (USA, United Artists)

• Cast: Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart
• Director: Mike Nichols
• Trivia: With Nichols’ comedy partner Elaine May writing the screenplay, this marks their first film collaboration. To do research for the film, Nichols, May and production designer Bo Welch visited drag shows in Chicago and Savannah, but after attending a drag show in South Beach, Nichols changed the film’s setting from New Orleans to South Beach. Nichols wanted to cast Williams and Steve Martin, but Martin turned him down, feeling he would not be able to play the camp quality needed for the role, and Williams did not want to play the drag queen after having played Mrs. Doubtfire. Williams wanted to play Armand, so Nichols cast Nathan Lane as Albert, convincing producer Scott Rudin to postpone the Broadway production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum so Lane, who had already committed to the show, could do the movie. Hackman accepted his role as a way to return to his improv comedy roots. Nichols also wanted to cast Adrian Lester as Agador Spartacus, but both came to a mutual decision that casting a Black person in the role of a housekeeper would connote racist undertones. Hank Azaria was cast, and had two interpretations of the role, one that was barely gay and the other overly flamboyant, the one that ended up in the movie after getting the blessing from a drag queen friend. Williams and Lane improvised for weeks during rehearsals, and May took note of their best bits for the screenplay because Nichols wanted to shoot the film like a play with little editing. The film received an Oscar nomination for Production Design, and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor for Lane.

March 8 – The Star Maker (USA, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica)

• Cast: Sergio Castellitto, Tiziana Lodato, Leopoldo Trieste, Leo Gullotta
• Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
• Trivia: First opened in Italy on September 21, 1995 as L’uomo delle stell. Tiziana Lodato claimed to be 18 when she filmed an explicit sex scene with Sergio Castellitto, but she was still underage. Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

2006

March 8 – Shooting Dogs (France, CrossDay Productions Ltd.)

• Cast: John Hurt, Hugh Dancy, Dominique Horwitz, Louis Mahoney, Nicola Walker
• Director: Michael Caton-Jones
• Trivia: Opened in limited US release on March 9, 2007 as Beyond the Gates.

March 9 – Beowulf & Grendel (Thailand, Endgame Entertainment)

• Cast: Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgård, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Sarah Polley, Eddie Marsan
• Director: Sturla Gunnarsson
• Trivia: Released in the US on June 16, 2006. A 2006 documentary about the difficulties making the film, Wrath of Gods, won six film awards in the US and Europe.

March 10 – Chromophobia (Italy, Quinta Communications)

• Cast: Penélope Cruz, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, Ian Holm, Damian Lewis, Ben Chaplin, Michelle Gomez
• Director: Martha Fiennes
• Trivia: The film has no known US theatrical release date. Besides writer-director Martha Fiennes, the film starred brother Ralph, and was scored by another brother, Magnus. Michelle Gomez was incorrectly credited as ‘Michele’.

March 10 – Failure to Launch (USA/Canada, Scott Rudin Productions)

• Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates, Rob Corddry, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Tobolowsky
• Director: Tom Dey

March 10 – Game6 (USA, limited, Serenade FIlms)

• Cast: Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Ari Graynor, Bebe Neuwirth, Griffin Dunne, Harris Yulin, Roger Rees, Lillias White, Catherine O’Hara
• Director: Michael Hoffman
• Trivia: Don DeLillo wrote the script in 1991, and went through a long period of ‘development hell’. It was De Lillo’s first screenplay to make it to the big screen.

March 10 – The Hills Have Eyes (USA/Canada, Craven-Maddalena Films)

• Cast: Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd, Tom Bower, Billy Drago, Robert Joy, Ted Levine
• Director: Alexandre Aja
• Trivia: Remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 film of the same name. The film originally received an NC-17 rating for its gruesome violence, but was trimmed to get an R. An unrated version was released to home video. It was the first American production for director Aja and his art director Grégory Levasseur. While set in New Mexico, the film was shot in Morocco. Ted Levine, who was a fan of Aja’s High Tension, was the first actor cast.

March 10 – The Libertine (USA, Isle of Man Film)

• Cast: Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, Samantha Morton, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, Ruchard Coyle, Rupert Friend, Jack Davenport, Kelly Reilly, Claire Higgins, Fancesca Annis
• Director: Laurence Dunmore
• Trivia: First opened in the UK on November 18, 2005. This was Dumore’s directorial debut.

March 10 – The Shaggy Dog (USA, Mandeville Films)

• Cast: Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr., Kristin Davis, Zena Grey, Spencer Breslin, Danny Glover, Jane Curtin, Philip Baker Hall, Annabelle Gurwitch
• Director: Brian Robbins
• Trivia: Fifth film in the unofficial franchise that began with 1959’s film of the same name.

2016

March 10 – 10 Cloverfield Lane (AUS, Bad Robot)

• Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr., Suzanne Cryer
• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Trivia: Opened in the US and Canada on March 11, 2016. Dan Trachtenberg’s feature directorial debut. The script was originally a stand-alone thriller titled The Cellar, but under Bad Robot’s production it was turned into a spiritual successor to Cloverfield. It was given the codename Valencia to keep production details secret. Suzanne Cryer also has a cameo in the third film, The Cloverfield Paradox. Bradley Cooper has a voice cameo as the fiance of Winstead’s character. Damien Chazelle was brought in to rewrite the script and to direct, but dropped out once his Whiplash project received funding. Trachtenberg received a Directors Guild nomination for First-Time Feature Film Directing.

March 10 – Eye in the Sky (Israel, Raindog Films)

• Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Barkhad Abdi, Alan Rickman, Jeremy Northam, Michael O’Keefe, Laila Robins, Gavin Hood, Iain Glen
• Director: Gavin Hood
• Trivia: Opened in limited US release on March 11, 2016, followed by a nationwide release on April 1. Final live-action film to feature Alan Rickman (his last film voice work on animated Alice Through the Looking Glass). The film was dedicated to him. Due to the characters’ separate locations in the story, Mirren, Paul, Rickman or Abdi never met during production.

March 10 – The Young Messiah (Argentina/Portugal, 1492 Pictures)

• Cast: Adam Greaves-Neal, Sara Lazzaro, Vincent Walsh, Christian McKay, Jonathan Bailey, Sean Bean
• Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh
• Trivia: Opened in the US, Canada and Mexico on March 11, 2016. Based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice.

March 11 – Hello, My Name Is Doris (USA, limited, Red Crown Productions)

• Cast: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Tyne Daly, Stephen Root, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Elizabeth Reaser, Isabella Acres, Peter Gallagher, Natasha Lyonne, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Wisocky, Jack Antonoff, Kyle Mooney
• Director: Michael Showalter
• Trivia: The film’s US release expanded nationwide on April 1, 2016.

March 11 – The Brothers Grimsby (USA/Canada, Four by Two Films)

• Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Gabourey Sidibe, Annabelle Wallis, David Harewood, Barkhad Abdi, Ian McShane
• Director: Louis Leterrier
• Trivia: First opened in the UK on February 24, 2016 as Grimsby.

March 11 – The Perfect Match (USA, Codeblack Films)

• Cast: Terrence J, Cassie Ventura, Donald Faison, Dascha Polanco, Robert Christopher Riley, Lauren London, Joe Pantoliano, Paula Patton, Brandy, Robin Givens, French Montana
• Director: Bille Woodruff

March 11 – The Ones Below (UK, Cuba Pictures)

• Cast: Clémence Poésy, David Morrissey, Stephen Campbell Moore, Laura Birn, Deborah Findlay, Jonathan Harden
• Director: David Farr
• Trivia: Released in the US on May 27, 2016. David Farr’s feature directorial debut.