Propaganda Films
This week’s movie anniversaries come in a mixed bag of popular films, flops, screen debuts, and award winners or nominees. 1922 saw the most expensive film ever produced in Austria, a Biblical epic by a director who would go on to make many Hollywood classics. 1932 saw Joan Crawford and Bette Davis competing for box office glory, and 1952 had five films in one with an all-star cast. 1972 saw a popular singer grace the big screen for the first time, and 1992 introduced a new boogeyman to horror film fans. 2002 had a groundbreaking single-shot feature film, and 2012 had a Best Picture Oscar winner with a true story stranger than fiction. Read on to learn more about these and the other films celebrating anniversaries this week, and share which are your favorites in the comments section below.
1922
October 13 – Sodom und Gomorrha: Die Legende von Sünde und Strafe (Austria)
- Cast: Richard Berczeller, Lucy Doraine, Walter Slezak, Victor Varconi, Kurt Ehrle, Georg Reimers, Erika Wagner
- Director: Mihaly Kertész (Michael Curtiz)
- Production Company: Sascha-Film, distributed by UFA
- Trivia: The title translates to ‘Sodom and Gomorrah: The Legend of Sin and Punishment’. Released in English as Sodom and Gomorrah or Queen of Sin and the Spectacle of Sodom and Gomorrha. The largest and most expensive film production in Austrian film history, with the employ of between 3,000 and 14,000 performers, extras and crew. Shot on the Laaer Berg, an area of the Vienna Woods, because the backdrops constructed were too big for the Sievering Studios. Walter Slezak’s film debut. The temple that was to collapse at the end caused serious injuries and deaths, leading to the arrest and jailing of the chief pyrotechnician for ten days with a fine of 500,000 Kronen. The original running time of the film was about three hours, and it was usually shown in two parts. By 1987, only about 25 minutes of the film were known to exist. Additional sequences have been discovered and a restored version runs about 98 minutes.
October 15 – Clarence (USA)
- Cast: Wallace Reid, Agnes Ayres, May McAvoy, Kathlyn Williams, Edward Martindel, Robert Agnew, Adolphe Menjou, Bertram Johns, Dorothy Gordon, Mayme Kelso
- Director: William C. deMille
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1919 play by Booth Tarkington. Wallace Reid’s penultimate film appearance. The film is considered lost.
October 16 – The Electric House (USA)
- Cast: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Keaton, Louise Keaton, Myra Keaton, Joe Roberts
- Director: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
- Production Company: First National Pictures, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
- Trivia: Keaton broke his ankle during filming on an escalator. The project was shelved, and re-done entirely after his recovery. No footage from the original production is known to exist.
October 18 – Robin Hood (USA)
- Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, Sam De Grasse, Enid Bennett, Paul Dickey, William Lowery, Willard Louis, Alan Hale, Bud Geary, Lloyd Talman, Billie Bennett
- Director: Allan Dwan
- Production Company: Douglas Fairbanks Pictures, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: The first motion picture ever to have a Hollywood premiere. The film’s full copyrighted title is Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood. One of the most expensive films of the 1920s, with a budget near $1 million. The film was a hit, earning about $2.5 million. A huge castle set and 12th century village were constructed at Pickford-Fairbanks Studio, which overwhelmed Fairbanks so much that he nearly cancelled the production. Wallace Beery played King Richard the Lion-Hearted again the following year in a sequel called Richard the Lion-Hearted. Alan Hale Sr. reprised the role of Little John 16 years later in The Adventures of Robin Hood, and again 28 years after his initial performance in 1950’s Rogues of Sherwood Forest.
1932
October 12 – Rain (USA)
- Cast: Joan Crawford, Fred Howard, Ben Hendricks Jr., William Gargan, Mary Shaw, Guy Kibbee, Kendall Lee, Beulah Bondi, Matt Moore, Walter Huston, Walter Catlett
- Director: Lewis Milestone
- Production Company: Feature Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Based on the 1922 play Rain by John Colton and Clemence Randolph, which in turn was based on the 1921 short story ‘Miss Thompson’ (later retitled ‘Rain’) by W. Somerset Maugham. The story was filmed in 1928 as Sadie Thompson, and again in 1953 as Miss Sadie Thompson. Set in the South Seas, the film was shot in part on Catalina Island.
October 14 – The Big Broadcast (USA)
- Cast: Bing Crosby, Stuart Erwin, Leila Hyams, Sharon Lynn, George Burns, Gracie Allen, George Barbier, The Mills Brothers, Cab Calloway, Kate Smith
- Director: Frank Tuttle
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the play Wild Waves by William Ford Manley. The first in a series of four Big Broadcast movies. Bing Crosby’s first starring role.
October 15 – Faithless (USA)
- Cast: Tallulah Bankhead, Robert Montgomery, Hugh Herbert, Maurice Murphy, Louise Closser Hale, Anna Appel, Lawrence Grant, Henry Kolker
- Director: Harry Beaumont
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc.
- Trivia: Based on Mildred Cram’s novel Tinfoil, which was the film’s working title. After five unsuccessful films, Bankhead was loaned to MGM by Pararmount where she was under contract. MGM hoped to refine Bankhead’s appearance and increas box office potential by dressing her in gowns by Adrian and giving her a stylish Garbo-type hairdo.
October 15 – The Cabin in the Cotton (USA)
Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Jordan, Bette Davis, Hardie Albright, David Landau, Berton Churchill, Dorothy Peterson, Russell Simpson, Tully Marshall, Henry B. Walthall, Edmund Breese
- Director: Michael Curtiz
- Production Company: First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the novel of the same title by Harry Harrison Kroll. Curtiz fumed all throughout production about being forced to cast Bette Davis, and Davis later called Curtiz a monster, but someone who knew how to shoot a film. They ended up making six more films together. Davis also stated that Barthelmess reserved his performance for his close-ups, doing little in the medium and wide shots, and Barthelmess later admitted to being frightened of Davis’ talent. Davis also recalled that she may not have gotten the part that required ‘raging sexuality’ if they had known she was a virgin at the time.
October 15 – Washington Merry-Go-Round (USA)
- Cast: Lee Tracy, Constance Cummings, Walter Connolly, Alan Dinehart, Arthur Vintonas, Arthur Hoyt, Berton Churchill, Frank Sheridan, Clay Clement, Clarence Muse
- Director: James Cruze
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
1942
October 16 – Eyes in the Night (USA)
- Cast: Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed, Stephen McNally, Katherine Emery, Allen Jenkins, Stanley Ridges, Reginald Denny, John Emery, Rosemary DeCamp, Barry Nelson, Reginald Sheffield, Steven Geray, Mantan Moreland
- Director: Fred Zinnemann
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Based on Baynard Kendrick’s 1941 novel The Odor of Violets. The film was followed by a sequel in 1945, The Hidden Eye, also starring Edward Arnold.
October 17 – King of the Mounties (USA, serial)
- Cast: Allan Lane, Gilbert Emery, Russell Hicks, Peggy Drake, George Irving, Abner Biberman, William Vaughn, Nestor Paiva, Bradley Page, Anthony Warde, Forrest Taylor
- Director: William Witney
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
- Trivia: Republic’s cheapest serial of 1942. Working titles include King of the Royal Mounted Rides Again, King of the Royal Mounted Strikes Again, King of the Royal Mounted Strikes Back and King of the Northwest Mounted Strikes Again. Originally a 12-part serial, many of the reels have been lost.
1952
October 16 – O. Henry’s Full House (USA)
- Cast: Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne (Segment 1); Dale Robertson, Richard Widmark, Richard Rober, House Peters (Segment 2); Anne Baxter, Jean Peters, Gregory Ratoff, Richard Garrick (Segment 3); Fred Allen, Oscar Levant, Lee Aaker (Segment 4); Jeanne Crain, Farley Granger, Fred Kelsey (Segment 5)
- Director: Henry Koster, Henry Hathaway, Jean Negulesco, Howard Hawks, Henry King
- Production Company: 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: The film consisted of five segments from five directors with five screenplays by different writers. John Steinbeck made his only on-screen performance introducing each segment of the film. The fourth segment, Howard Hawks’ ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’, was so poorly received that the studio removed it before the film opened. It was eventually reinstated and is included on home video releases.
1962
October 12 – The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (Japan)
- Cast: Shintarō Katsu, Yoshie Mizutani, Masayo Banri, Tomisaburō Wakayama, Yutaka Nakamura, Sōnosuke Sawamura, Eijirō Yanagi, Saburō Date
- Director: Kazuo Mori
- Production Company: Daiei Film
- Trivia: Second film in the Zatoichi series.
October 18 – Phaedra (USA)
- Cast: Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone, Elizabeth Ercy, Tzavalas Karousos, Zorz Sarri, Andreas Filippides, Olympia Papadouka, Stelios Vokovich, Nikos Tzogias
- Director: Jules Dassin
- Production Company: Jorilie, Melinafilm, distributed by Lopert Pictures Corporation[
- Trivia: Adapted from Euripides’ Hippolytus.
1972
October 12 – Lady Sings the Blues (ISA)
Motown Productions
- Cast: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James Callahan, Paul Hampton, Sid Melton, Virginia Capers, Yvonne Fair, Isabel Sanford, Jester Hairston, Lynn Hamilton, Scatman Crothers
- Director: Sidney J. Furie
- Production Company: Motown Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Loosely based on Billie Holiday’s 1956 autobiography. Diana Ross’ feature film debut. Received five Oscar nominations — Best Actress, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Costume Design, Score and Original Song Score — and three Golden Globe nominations (Actress & Score) with Ross winning Most Promising Newcomer – Female.
October 12 – The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (Australia)
- Cast: Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, Dick Bentley, Dennis Price, Julie Covington, Avice Landone, Joan Bakewell
- Director: Bruce Beresford
- Production Company: Longford Productions, distributed by Roadshow Films (Australia), Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK)
- Trivia: The first Australian film to surpass one million dollars in Australian box office receipts. A sequel, Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, was produced in 1974. Barry Humphries created the character of Barry McKenzie for a cartoon strip. He plays several characters in the film, including Aunt Edna Everage, which he would later develop into Dame Edna Everage.
October 13 – The King of Marvin Gardens (USA)
- Cast: Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Julia Anne Robinson, Benjamin ‘Scatman’ Crothers, Josh Mostel
- Director: Bob Rafelson
- Production Company: BBS Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The film, shot almost entirely in Atlantic City, serves as a visual record of the last days of the resort’s ‘classic era’, with many of the hotels shown being demolished in the next few years to make way for the new hotels and casinos erected after gambling was legalized. The scenes in Philadelphia were shot in Toronto. The film’s original title was The Philosopher King. Nicholson and Dern were originally cast in opposite roles, but were switched during rehearsals.
October 13 – You’ll Like My Mother (USA)
- Cast: Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, Richard Thomas, Sian Barbara Allen
- Director: Lamont Johnson
- Production Company: Bing Crosby Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the novel of the same name by Naomi A. Hintze. Shot entirely at the Glensheen Historic Estate in Duluth, Minnesota, which became infamous five years later as the site of the murder of the mansion’s owner and prominent heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse.
October 14 – La tua presenza nuda! (Italy)
- Cast: Mark Lester, Britt Ekland, Hardy Krüger, Lilli Palmer, Harry Andrews, Conchita Montes, Collette Jack
- Director: James Kelly
- Production Company: Cemo Film, Corona Filmproduktion, Eguiluz Films, Leander Films, Leisure Media, distributed by Excelsior Films (Belgium), AVCO Embassy Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Released in the US on May 18, 1973 as What the Peeper Saw. Also known as Night Child.
1982
October 14 – Turkey Shoot (Australia)
- Cast: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Carmen Duncan, Noel Ferrier, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward
- Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
- Production Company: Hemdale, FGH, Filmco, distributed by Roadshow Film Distributors
- Trivia: Released in the US as Escape 2000 and in the UK as Blood Camp Thatcher.
October 15 – Love Child (USA)
- Cast: Amy Madigan, Beau Bridges, Mackenzie Phillips, Albert Salmi, Joanna Merlin, Margaret Whitton
- Director: Larry Peerce
- Production Company: The Ladd Company, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the life of Terry Jean Moore. Amy Madigan received a Golden Globe nominations for New Actress of the Year.
1992
October 12 – Titanica (Canada, documentary)
- Narrators: Cedric Smith, Anatoly Sagalevich, Ralph White
- Director: Stephen Low
- Production Company: IMAX
- Trivia: The second feature-length IMAX film. A re-edited 40 minute of the film released in 1995 featured new narration by Leonard Nimoy and most of White’s original narration. A 27-minute edit was released in 1997. Eva Hart, a Titanic survivor interviewed in the film, had initially expressed concern that the filmmakers would loot the wreckage, but later commented that the film was splendid.
October 16 – Candyman (USA)
- Cast: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Kasi Lemmons, DeJuan Guy, Gilbert Lewis, Carolyn Lowery, Stanley DeSantis, Ted Raimi, Rusty Schwimmer
- Director: Bernard Rose
- Production Company: Propaganda Films, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, distributed by TriStar Pictures
- Trivia: Based on Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Forbidden’, with the setting changed from contemporary Liverpool to the Cabrini-Green public housing development in Chicago, and the theme changed from the British class system to race and social class in the US. Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen spent three days filming in the real Cabrini-Green, with plainclothes police by their side, a distressing experience for both actors. To keep the budget low, special effects were done practically instead of with optical effects. More than 200,000 honeybees were used throughout production. Even with protective body suits, all of the crew experienced at least one sting. Todd negotiated an extra $1,000 bonus for each of the 23 stings he received.
October 16 – Consenting Adults (USA)
- Cast: Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Kevin Spacey, Rebecca Miller, Forest Whitaker, E. G. Marshall, Kimberly McCullough, Billie Neal, Benjamin Hendrickson
- Director: Alan J. Pakula
- Production Company: Hollywood Pictures, Touchwood Pacific Partners I, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
- Trivia: The film was remade in Pakistan in 1995 as Jo Darr Gya Woh Marr Gya.
October 16 – Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (UK)
- Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Jeremy Northam, Simon Shepherd, Sophie Ward, Janet McTeer, Jason Riddington, Simon Ward, Jennifer Daniel, Paul Geoffrey, John Woodvine, Jonathan Firth, Sinéad O’Connor
- Director: Peter Kosminsky
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Feature film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. Ralph Fiennes’ film debut, opening the door for his role in Schindler’s List. The film is notable for including the oft-omitted second generation story of the children of Cathy, Hindley and Heathcliff. Paramount was forced to include Brontë’s name in the title due to Samuel Goldwyn Studios’ copyright on the title Wuthering Heights.
October 16 – The Public Eye (USA)
- Cast: Joe Pesci, Barbara Hershey, Stanley Tucci, Jerry Adler, Dominic Chianese, Richard Riehle, Max Brooks, Richard Schiff, Christian Stolte, Del Close
- Director: Howard Franklin
- Production Company: South Side Amusement Company, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Loosely based on New York Daily News photographer Arthur ‘Weegee’ Fellig, and some of the photos in the film were taken by Fellig. Pesci took the role after winning the Oscar for Goodfellas, attempting to capitalize on his popularity and elevate him from character actor to star status. Though set in Manhattan, the film was shot in Chicago, Cincinnati and Los Angeles. Jerry Goldsmith composed the original score for the film, but he was replaced with Mark Isham later in production.
2002
September 10 – Interstate 60 (Philippines)
- Cast: James Marsden, Gary Oldman, Amy Smart, Christopher Lloyd, Chris Cooper, Kurt Russell, Michael J. Fox, Ann-Margret, Amy Jo Johnson, Art Evans
- Director: Bob Gale
- Production Company: Fireworks Pictures, Seven Arts Pictures, distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films
- Trivia: Also known as Interstate 60: Episodes of The Road. Michael J. Fox appears in a cameo. Bob Gale’s directorial debut. The film went direct-to-video in the US. The DVD includes five deleted scenes. Kurt Russell filmed his scenes in one day.
October 18 – All or Nothing (UK)
- Cast: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, James Corden, Alison Garland, Ruth Sheen, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Sam Kelly, Kathryn Hunter, Sally Hawkins
- Director: Mike Leigh
- Production Company: Thin Man Films, StudioCanal, distributed by UGC Films UK
- Trivia: The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. First feature film for Sally Hawkins.
October 18 – Russian Ark (USA)
- Cast: Alexander Sokurov, Sergei Dontsov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Marksim Sergeyev, Anna Aleksakhina, Vladimir Baranov
- Director: Alexander Sokurov
- Production Company: Seville Pictures, distributed by Wellspring Media
- Trivia: Filmed entirely in the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum using a one-take 96-minute Steadicam sequence shot. The rooms were filled with more than 2,000 actors and three orchestras. It took four attempts to complete the single take. The first failed after five minutes. By the time of the fourth try, they had enough battery for one more take, and the daylight was beginning to fade. The final take was completed in 90 minutes. Audio was recorded separately. Object removal, such as cables, effects compositing, color correction, reframing the images, and slowing or speeding of time was accomplished in a post-production process that took several weeks. The video remained in an uncompressed format until it was printed to film for distribution.
October 18 – Welcome to Collinwood (USA)
- Cast: William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter, Luis Guzmán, Patricia Clarkson, Andrew Davoli, George Clooney, David Warshofsky, Jennifer Esposito, Gabrielle Union
- Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Production Company: Gaylord Films, H5B5 Media AG, Pandora Cinema, Section Eight, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: The last film released during Michael Jeter’s lifetime (Open Range and The Polar Express were released posthumously). Remake of the Oscar-nominated 1958 Italian film Big Deal on Madonna Street.
2012
October 12 – 3,2,1… Frankie Go Boom (USA, limited)
- Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Chris O’Dowd, Lizzy Caplan, Nora Dunn, Whitney Cummings, Ron Perlman, Chris Noth, Sam Anderson
- Director: Jordan Roberts
- Production Company: Ministry of Content, distributed by Variance Films
October 12 – Argo (USA/Canada)
Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Adrienne Barbeau, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Željko Ivanek, Titus Welliver, Keith Szarabajka, Bob Gunton, Richard Kind, Richard Dillane, Sheila Vand
- Director: Ben Affleck
- Production Company: GK Films, Smokehouse Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the 1999 book of the same name by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency operative Tony Mendez, his memoir The Master of Disguise, and the Wired article by Joshuah Bearman, ‘The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran’. Nominated for seven Oscars, winning three: Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Editing. Nominated for five Golden Globes, winning Best Picture – Drama. Won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Interiors set at the CIA were filmed in the basement of the Los Angeles Times Building. Music of the era was used but the song ‘Little T&A’ by The Rolling Stones was not released until a year after the events of the film.
October 12 – Here Comes the Boom (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler, Greg Germann, Joe Rogan, Gary Valentine, Jake Zyrus, Bas Rutten, Nikki Tyler-Flynn, Reggie Lee, Jason Miller, Mark Muñoz, Melissa Peterman
- Director: Frank Coraci
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions, Hey Eddie, Broken Road Productions, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
- Trivia: Filmed on location in Boston, Lowell and Quincy, Massachusetts.
October 12 – Nobody Walks (USA, limited)
- Cast: John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jane Levy
- Director: Ry Russo-Young
- Production Company: Super Crispy Entertainment, distributed by Magnolia Pictures
- Trivia: Winner of a special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
October 12 – Pusher (UK/Ireland)
- Cast: Richard Coyle, Agyness Deyn, Bronson Webb, Mem Ferda, Zlatko Burić, Paul Kaye, Shend
- Director: Luis Prieto
- Production Company: Vertigo Films, Embargo Films, distributed by Gaumont
- Trivia: English-language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s 1996 film of the same name.
October 12 – Seven Psychopaths (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Waits, Brendan Sexton III, Kevin Corrigan, Gabourey Sidibe, Michael Pitt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko, Željko Ivanek, Linda Bright Clay, Amanda Warren
- Director: Martin McDonagh
- Production Company: Blueprint Pictures, Film4, BFI, HanWay Films, distributed by Momentum Pictures (UK), CBS Films (USA)
- Trivia: The film had its world premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Mickey Rourke left The Expendables 2 to star in the film, then dropped out after a disagreement with the director. He was replaced with Woody Harrelson.
October 12 – Sinister (USA/Canada/Mexico)
- Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley
- Director: Scott Derrickson
- Production Company: Alliance Films, Automatik, Blumhouse Productions, IM Global, distributed by Summit Entertainment (USA), Momentum Pictures (UK)
- Trivia: The Super 8 segments were shot with actual Super 8 film and equipment. The film was shot on location on Long Island. Ethan Hawke’s character’s name, Ellison Oswalt, was a combination of Harlan Ellison and Patton Oswalt, both of whom writer C. Robert Cargill is a fan.
October 12 – Smashed (USA, limited)
- Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Mary Kay Place, Kyle Gallner, Bree Turner, Mackenzie Davis
- Director: James Ponsoldt
- Production Company: Super Crispy Entertainment, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
- Trivia: The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and Winstead received several nominations for her performance, including the Independent Spirit Award.
October 12 – Smiley (USA)
- Cast: Caitlin Gerard, Melanie Papalia, Shane Dawson, Andrew James Allen, Liza Weil, Toby Turner, Roger Bart, Keith David
- Director: Michael Gallagher
- Production Company: Level 10 Films, distributed by Fever Productions LLC, MIJ Productions
- Trivia: Director Gallagher alleged he received death threats from users of 4chan because it was mentioned in the film. Some suspect the allegations were just publicity stunts, but he insisted they were real.
October 15 – The Thompsons (UK, DVD)
- Cast: Cory Knauf, Elizabeth Henstridge, Mackenzie Firgens, Ryan Hartwig, Samuel Child, Sean Browne, Tom Holloway, Joseph McKelheer, Daniel O’Meara, Selina Giles, Sean Cronin
- Director: The Butcher Brothers
- Production Company: Film Harvest, Industrial City Films, San Francisco Independent Cinema, Sawhorse Productions, Snowfort Pictures, Straightwire Films, distributed by Alameda Entertainment
- Trivia: Sequel to the Butcher Brothers previous film The Hamiltons.
October 31 – Holy Motors (USA, limited)
- Cast: Denis Lavant, Édith Scob, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, Élise L’Homeau, Jeanne Disson, Michel Piccoli, Leos Carax
- Director: Leos Carax
- Production Company: Pierre Grise Productions, Théo Films, Arte France Cinema, Pandora Film, WDR/Arte, Soficinéma 8, Wild Bunch, distributed by Indomina Group
- Trivia: Director Leos Carax cited the influence of the film Eyes Without a Face, and cast its star Édith Scob as an explicit nod to the film. Michel Piccoli’s casting was meant to be a secret, with the actor made unrecognizable and credited under a pseudonym but word of his casting reached the media so the plan was dropped.
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