Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #125 :: December 14•20

Columbia Pictures

As we inch closer to Christmas and the end of the year, the deadline for awards consideration, Hollywood (and beyond) put their big guns on display this week across the decades, with a stunning number of well-known films hitting in 1982. And they said the Summer of ’82 was something to behold. Every decade this week had something to offer, though not all of them were recognized by the awards groups. it wasn’t until 1942 that we get our first Oscar contender with one film garnering seven nominations, and one of its stars winning … for a different film. 1962 had an Oscar nominated animated short from Disney, while 1972 had films that were Oscar and Golden Globe nominated. ’72 also had a notorious Marlon Brando starrer, and the first film to use a new camera that helped revolutionize filmmaking. In 1982, seven of the ten films released earned Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations (and a Razzie), with several wins. 1992 had two Oscar nominees, with one of those films also scoring a Razzie nomination, while 2012 had two high profile Oscar nominees, but they were only nominated in technical categories. This week also features two films starring Paul Newman and one which he directed. There were also two films in different decades shot partially in the Baltimore area, and one of them involved Baltimore native Barry Levinson … who also had a second film this week not filmed in Baltimore. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau appeared in 1972, but in different films, while 1972 was also the year that Steve McQueen met and fell in love with Ali MacGraw during production of their film. All in all, a pretty major week for movie anniversaries. Read on and tell us if your favorites are celebrating this week!

1922

December 18 – Peg o’ My Heart (USA)

Cast: Laurette Taylor, Mahlon Hamilton, Russell Simpson, Ethel Grey Terry, Nigel Barrie, Lionel Belmore, Vera Lewis, Fred Huntley
Director: King Vidor
Production Company: Metro Pictures Corporation
Trivia: Based on the 1912 play written by star Laurette Taylor’s husband J. Hartley Manners. Six of the original eight reels survive and are held by the Library of Congress. The 38-year-old Taylor played an 18-year-old character in the film which presented certain technical challenges to disguise the star’s age, which was harder to hide with a film stock that required ample lighting. Modified lenses succeeded in hiding her age, but nothing could disguise the stage mannerisms Taylor had developed during her Lengthy Broadway career. Taylor was so pleased with the film that she would screen it at social gatherings, prompting Ethel Barrymore to warn her that she would not attend another of her parties if she had to sit through the film again. A version of the play was filmed in 1919 with Wanda Hawley starring, but Taylor and Manners sued and the film was never released.

1932

December 16 – Fast Life (USA)

Cast: William Haines, Madge Evans, Conrad Nagel, Arthur Byron, Cliff Edwards, Warburton Gamble, Kenneth Thomson, Albert Gran, Pete Smith
Director: Harry A. Pollard
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Based upon the story Let’s Go by E.J. Rath.

1942

December 17 – Random Harvest (USA)

Cast: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters, Henry Travers, Reginald Owen, Bramwell Fletcher, Rhys Williams, Una O’Connor
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Based on the 1941 James Hilton novel of the same title. The adapted screenplay was Oscar nominated. The film received six other nominations including Best Actor (Colman), Best Supporting Actress (Peters), Best Director, and Best Picture. Greer Garson was also Oscar nominated, but for Mrs. Miniver for which she won the award.

December 17 – The Valley of Vanishing Men (USA, serial)

Cast: Bill Elliott, Slim Summerville, Carmen Morales
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The serial consisted of 15 chapters.

December 18 – The Great Impersonation (USA)

Cast: Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, Aubrey Mather, Edward Norris, Kaaren Verne, Henry Daniell, Ludwig Stössel, Mary Forbes
Director: John Rawlins
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Adaptation of the 1920 novel The Great Impersonation by Edward Phillips Oppenheim, with the setting moved from the early 1910s of the novel to the Second World War. A remake of Universal’s 1935 film of the same name.

1952

December 19 – Pony Soldier (USA)

Cast: Tyrone Power, Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Gomez, Penny Edwards, Robert Horton, Anthony Earl Numkena, Adeline DeWalt Reynolds, Howard Petrie, Stuart Randall
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Trivia: Based on a 1951 Saturday Evening Post story ‘Mounted Patrol’ by Garnett Weston. An American Northern Western set in Canada but filmed in Sedona, Arizona when no suitable locations could be found in Montana. Known as MacDonald of the Canadian Mounties in the UK. Richard Boone and Earl Holliman, in his uncredited film debut, are also in the cast. Michael Rennie provided the narration.

1962

December 14 – Der Schatz im Silbersee (West Germany)

Cast: Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Götz George, Herbert Lom, Karin Dor, Eddi Arent, Marianne Hoppe, Ralf Wolter, Mirko Boman
Director: Harald Reinl
Production Company: Rialto Film, Jadran Film, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie, distributed by Constantin Film (West Germany), Columbia Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on November 1, 1965 as The Treasure of the Silver Lake. Very loosely based on Karl May’s 1891 novel of the same name. Filmed in Yugoslavia, where the Plitvice Lakes National Park doubled for the American West.

December 19 – A Symposium on Popular Songs (USA)

Voice Cast: Paul Frees, Gloria Wood, Billy Storm, Skip Farrell
Director: Bill Justice
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company
Trivia: The featurette includes songs by the Sherman Brothers, who also co-wrote the script for which they received no credit. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

December 19 – Traumreise unter weissen Segeln (West Germany)

Cast: Burl Ives, Hans Clarin, Graham Hill, Grace Kelly, Begum Aga Khan III, King Constantine II, Prince Rainier of Monaco
Director: Karl Hartl, Hermann Leitner, Rudolf Nussgruber
Production Company: Bavaria Film, Triglav Film, distributed by Continental Distributing
Trivia: Opened in the US on December 15, 1964 as Mediterranean Holiday. Filmed in Superpanorama 70 and shown on curved screens as Cinevision. It was also advertised as a Cinerama release when shown at a Cinerama theater. Burl Ives narrates the English version, while Hans Clarin takes the part for the German release. The other cast members appear as themselves.

December 19 – Taras Bulba (USA)

Cast: Tony Curtis, Yul Brynner, Christine Kaufmann, Sam Wanamaker, Brad Dexter, Guy Rolfe, Perry Lopez, George Macready
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Production Company: Harold Hecht Productions, Curtleigh Productions, Avala Film, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Originally released in France on November 21, 1962. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol’s novel Taras Bulba. The film differs greatly from the 1835 publication, but is closer to the expanded 1842 edition. Filming took place over two months in Argentina, with the final two months completed in Hollywood. Production went $2.2 million over budget, bringing it to $6 million, ultimately losing $4.5 million for United Artists.

December 20 – La marcia su Roma (Italy)

Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Roger Hanin, Mario Brega, Angela Luce, Liù Bosisio, Daniele Vargas, Howard Nelson Rubinen
Director: Dino Risi
Production Company: Fair Film, Orsay Films, distributed by Dino de Laurentiis Distribuzione
Trivia: English title is March on Rome.

1972

December 15 – Le Dernier Tango à Paris (France)

Cast: Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Maria Michi, Massimo Girotti, Giovanna Galletti, Catherine Allégret
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Production Company: Produzioni Europee Associate, Les Productions Artistes Associés, distributed by Les Artistes Associés (France), United Artists (USA)
Trivia: Opened in general US release on February 7, 1973 as Last Tango in Paris. The film received an X-rating upon its original US release. An R-rated cut was re-released in 1981, and the original version was reclassified as NC-17 in 1997. The screenplay was later adapted as a novel by Robert Alley. Andy Warhol claimed the film was based on his own 1969 film Blue Movie. The Italian release faced criminal proceedings of ‘aggravated, gratuitous pansexualism’ and the film was ordered to be seized and all copies destroyed. Director Bertolucci and star Brando received suspended sentences of two months imprisonment. As was Brando’s usual practice, he refused to memorize his lines, instead placing cue cards around the set which Bertolucci was forced to shoot around.

December 17 – Avanti! (USA)

Cast: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Gianfranco Barra, Franco Angrisano, Ty Hardin, Sergio Bruni
Director: Billy Wilder
Production Company: The Mirisch Corporation, Phalanx Productions, Jalem Productions, Produzioni Europee Associate, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Based on Samuel A. Taylor’s play. Nominated for five Golden Globes, with Jack Lemmon winning for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Billy Wilder cast Juliet Mills because he was a fan of her acting on the TV series Nanny and the Professor … which he hated. Wilder called and offered her the part personally. Mills agreed to gain 25 lbs for the film and appear in a nude scene.

December 17 – Daigoro vs. Goliath (Japan)

Cast: Shinsuke Minami, Kazuya Kosaka, Hachiro Misumi, Akiji Kobayashi, Hiroshi Inuzuka
Director: Toshihiro Iijima
Production Company: Toho Company, Tsuburaya Productions, distributed by Toho Company
Trivia: The film’s Japanese title Kaijū Daifunsen Daigorō tai Goriasu literally translates to Great Monster Battle: Daigoro vs. Goliath.

December 17 – The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (USA)

Coleytown Productions

Cast: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Perkins, Anthony Zerbe, Ava Gardner, Victoria Principal, Ned Beatty
Director: John Huston
Production Company: Coleytown Productions, First Artists, distributed by National General Pictures
Trivia: Loosely based on the life and times of Judge Roy Bean. Victoria Principal’s film debut. Screenwriter John Milius hoped to direct with Warren Oates as the lead, but once Newman saw the script and showed interest the studio did not want Milius to direct and paid a record sum to own the script outright. Milius felt John Huston ruined the movie and claimed the whole experience prompted him to get into directing.

December 17 – Pete ‘n’ Tillie (USA)

Cast: Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett, Geraldine Page, Barry Nelson, René Auberjonois, Lee H. Montgomery, Kent Smith
Director: Martin Ritt
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Adapted from the 1968 novella Witch’s Milk by Peter De Vries. The adapted screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. Geraldine Page was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Walter Matthau and Carl Burnett were both Golden Globe nominated, with Matthau winning for Lead Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He also won the BAFTA for this role and his performance in Charley Varrick.

December 17 – Travels with My Aunt (USA/Canada)

Cast: Maggie Smith, Alec McCowen, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Stephens, Cindy Williams, Robert Flemyng, José Luis López Vázquez, Valerie White
Director: George Cukor
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Loosely based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene. George Cukor wanted Katharine Hepburn for the lead but she felt the book could not be made into a film. After reading it again, she agreed to take the part but was then unhappy with the finished screenplay so writer Jay Presson Allen told her to rewrite it herself. She did but the studio felt Hepburn’s script was missing the charm of the book. MGM head James T. Aubrey also felt Hepburn was too old to convincingly play the younger version of the character in flashbacks, and then told her the project was being postponed. The next day her agent told her she was being put on notice for not reporting to work. Hepburn considered suing for payment for her contributions to the screenplay but opted not to take legal action. Only one speech she wrote remained in the shooting script but she was denied credit as she was not a member of the Screen Writers Guild.

December 18 – Images (USA)

Cast: Susannah York, René Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, Hugh Millais, Cathryn Harrison, John Morley
Director: Robert Altman
Production Company: Hemdale, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: Susannah York won the Best Actress award at the 25th Cannes Film Festival for her performance. The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best English-Language Foreign Film, and John Williams received an Oscar nomination for his original score. The movie received little promotion upon its release and was not widely seen. It has gained more stature with the advent of home video which has allowed more people to see the film. It is also regarded as Robert Altman’s only horror film. York nearly backed out of the film when she discovered she was pregnant, but she was dressed in loose-fitting clothing to conceal the pregnancy. The actors play characters with the inverse of their names: Susannah plays Cathryn, while Cathryn Harrison plays Susannah. René Auberjonois plays Hugh, Hugh Millais plays Marcel, and Marcel Bozzuffi plays René.

December 19 – Across 110th Street (USA)

Cast: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Paul Benjamin, Ed Bernard, Richard Ward, Antonio Fargas, Norma Donaldson, Gilbert Lewis, Marlene Warfield, Tim O’Connor, Burt Young, Robert Sacchi
Director: Barry Shear
Production Company: Film Guarantors, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Executive producer Anthony Quinn originally wanted John Wayne or Kirk Douglas for the lead role but they both passed, as did Burt Lancaster, so Quinn took the role himself. Quinn also wanted Sidney Poitier as his co-star but the residents of Harlem felt he was ‘too Hollywood’ and not urban enough for the role so Quinn went with Yaphet Kotto. The film was the first to use the new, lightweight and quiet Arriflex 35BL camera, which helped especially when shooting dialogue in small rooms, preventing the need for dialogue looping in post-production. 95% of the movie was shot at 60 different exterior and interior locations in Harlem.

December 16 – The Getaway (Italy)

Cast: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers, Al Lettieri, Slim Pickens, Richard Bright, Jack Dodson, Dub Taylor, Bo Hopkins, Roy Jenson
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Production Company: First Artists, Foster-Brower Productions, Solar Productions, National General Pictures, Tatiana Films, distributed by Fida Cinematografica (Italy), National General Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on December 19, 1972. Based on the 1958 novel by Jim Thompson. Peter Bogdanovich was the film’s original director and Thompson was the screenwriter, but creative differences between Steve McQueen and Thompson led to his firing. Bogdanovich was fired when McQueen learned Warner Bros. had offered him the chance to direct What’s Up, Doc? with the stipulation that he start right away. Bogdanovich wanted to do both but the studio refused and McQueen told him he’d get someone else to direct. The film’s opening scene was shot on location at Huntsville Penitentiary with McQueen surrounded by actual convicts.

December 20 – Hit Man (USA)

Cast: Bernie Casey, Pam Grier, Lisa Moore, Bhetty Waldron, Sam Laws, Candy All, Don Diamond, Edmund Cambridge, Roger E. Mosley
Director: George Armitage
Production Company: Penelope Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: A blaxploitation-themed adaptation of Ted Lewis’ 1970 novel Jack’s Return Home, more famously adapted as Get Carter, with the action relocated from England to the United States. George Armitage claimed the producer gave him a script with no title and said MGM owned it. He rewrote it to be set in an African American community and only then was he told the script was Get Carter. Paul Gleason appears in an uncredited role as a cop.

December 20 – The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (USA)

Cast: Joanne Woodward, Nell Potts, Roberta Wallach, Judith Lowry, David Spielberg, Richard Venture, Carolyn Coates, Will Hare, Estelle Omens, Jess Osuna
Director: Paul Newman
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox, Newman-Foreman Company, distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
Trivia: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play of the same title by Paul Zindel. Paul Newman cast his wife Joanne Woodward and daughter Nell Potts in two of the three lead roles, with Eli Wallach’s daughter Roberta in the third. While set in Staten Island, Newman chose to shoot the film in Bridgeport, Connecticut because it was 17 minutes from his home in Westport. Woodward earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

1982

December 15 – Honkytonk Man (USA)

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Kyle Eastwood, John McIntire, Alexa Kenin, Verna Bloom, Matt Clark, Barry Corbin, Jerry Hardin, Tim Thomerson, Porter Wagoner, Macon McCalman, Joe Regalbuto, Gary Grubbs, Marty Robbins, Tracey Walter
Director: Clint Eastwood
Production Company: The Malpaso Company, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Based on Clancy Carlile’s 1980 novel of the same name. Marty Robbins’ final film appearance.

December 16 – The Grey Fox (Canada)

Cast: Richard Farnsworth, Jackie Burroughs, Ken Pogue, Wayne Robson, Timothy Webber, Gary Reineke, Sean Sullivan
Director: Phillip Borsos
Production Company: Zoetrope Studios, Mercury Pictures, Canadian Film Development Corporation, Famous Players, David Brady Productions, distributed by United Artists Classics
Trivia: Opened in the US on March 18, 1983. Designated and preserved as a ‘masterwork’ by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage. Based on the true story of Bill Miner, an American stagecoach robber who staged his first Canadian train robbery on 10 September 1904. The scene where Miner is captured was filmed a quarter of a mile away from the actual capture site. Miner’s actual .41 Bisley Colt was used by Farnsworth in close-ups. Nominated for 13 Genie Awards, winning seven including Best Picture, Director, Foreign Actor and Supporting Actress. Farnsworth was also Golden Globe nominated. The film received a 4K restoration in 2020 and received its first official DVD & Blu-ray release.

December 17 – Best Friends (USA)

Cast: Burt Reynolds, Goldie Hawn, Jessica Tandy, Barnard Hughes, Audra Lindley, Keenan Wynn, Ron Silver
Director: Norman Jewison
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Timberlane Productions, Major Studio Partners, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Based on the true story of the relationship between its writers Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin. The couple divorced the year the film was released. Curtin has an uncredited cameo. Goldie Hawn persuaded Norman Jewison to make the film after reading the script, which he felt had issues. The original song ‘How Do You Keep the Music Playiny?’, performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram, was nominated for an Academy Award and has become a standard recorded by such artists as Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. Hawn was nominated for a Golden Globe.

December 17 – The Dark Crystal (USA/Canada)

Voice Cast: Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, Barry Dennen, Michael Kilgarriff, Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, Thick Wilson, Brian Muehl, John Baddeley, David Buck, Charles Collingwood, Seán Barrett
Director: Jim Henson, Frank Oz
Production Company: Incorporated Television Company, Jim Henson Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: The film’s conceptual roots lay in Henson’s short-lived ‘The Land of Gorch’, a recurring sketch that appeared on the first season of Saturday Night Live. The film’s release was delayed after ITC Entertainment was sold to Robert Holmes à Court, who was not convinced of the film’s potential due to bad preview reactions and the need to re-voice the soundtrack. The film was given minimal advertisement and release, so Henson bought it from Holmes à Court and funded its release with his own money. The last film of cinematographer Oswald Morris before he retired. Morris used a ‘light flex’ unit placed in front of the camera which gave a faint color tint to each scene in order to give the film a more fairy tale atmosphere.

December 17 – Fanny och Alexander (Sweden)

Cast: Gunn Wållgren, Jarl Kulle, Mona Malm, Angelica Wallgren, Maria Granlund, Kristian Almgren, Emelie Werkö, Allan Edwall, Ewa Fröling, Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Börje Ahlstedt, Christina Schollin
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Production Company: Cinematograph AB, Svenska Filminstitutet, Gaumont, Persona Film, Sveriges Television, Tobis, distributed by Sandrew Film & Teater (Sweden), Embassy Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Received a limited US release on June 17, 1983 as Fanny and Alexander. Bergman intended this to be his final film before retiring, and his script is semi-autobiographical. He did continue to write and direct for television. The documentary film The Making of Fanny and Alexander was made simultaneously with the feature and chronicles its production. The production was originally conceived as a TV mini-series, which ran 312 minutes. The theatrical release ran 188 minutes, and was the first version to be released. Both versions have received theatrical releases, with the 312-minute version one of the longest cinematic films in history. The theatrical version won for Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language Film. Scenes were shot in chronological order, and Bertil Guve only learned the thrust of the story was his conflict with his stepfather during production. Bergman staged a pillow fight on the first day of shooting which endeared him to the child actors.

December 17 – Harry Tracy, Desperado (Canada)

Cast: Bruce Dern, Helen Shaver, Gordon Lightfoot, Michael C. Gwynne
Director: William A. Graham
Production Company: Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, Ronald Cohen Productions, Canadian Film Development Corporation, Famous Players, Guardian Trust Company, distributed by Astral Films (Canada), Castle Hill Productions (USA)
Trivia: Released in the US in January 1983. The farm featured in the film was previously used as the Kent farm in Superman: The Movie.

December 17 – Six Weeks (USA)

Cast: Dudley Moore, Mary Tyler Moore, Katherine Healy, Shannon Wilcox, Bill Calvert, Joe Regalbuto, John Harkins
Director: Tony Bill
Production Company: PolyGram Pictures, Guber-Peters Company, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: Based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Fred Mustard Stewart. Dudley Moore received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Score, and Katherine Healy was nominated for Best New Female Star of the Year. Mary Tyler Moore, however, received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress.

December 17 – Tootsie (USA/Canada)

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, George Gaynes, Geena Davis, Doris Belack, Ellen Foley, Lynne Thigpen, Christine Ebersole
Director: Sydney Pollack
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Mirage Enterprises, Punch Productions, Delphi Films, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The second most profitable film of 1982. Earned ten Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, with Jessica Lange the only winner for Best Supporting Actress. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1998. Before Dustin Hoffman’s involvement in the film, his role was offered to Peter Sellers and Michael Caine. Dick Richards was the film’s original director but delays and creative differences led to his departure. Hal Ashby took over but was threatened with legal action is his post-production commitments to Lookin’ To Get Out weren’t fulfilled. Sydney Pollack signed on in November 1981. Hoffman wanted Pollack to play the role of the agent, which was written for Dabney Coleman. Pollack resisted but Hoffman was persistent so he accepted and Coleman was given the role of the sexist, arrogant soap opera director. To prepare for the role, Hoffman watched La Cage aux Folles several times, and visited the set of General Hospital for research. Extensive makeup tests were also conducted, and Hoffman realized he’d never be a beautiful woman although he found her interesting. He also said he’d never have spoken to this woman at a party, and as a result he missed out on many interesting conversations with interesting women that he may not have found attractive. He also never regarded the film as a comedy.

December 17 – Trail of the Pink Panther (USA)

Cast: Joanna Lumley, Herbert Lom, David Niven, André Maranne, Robert Loggia, Richard Mulligan, Burt Kwouk, Capucine, Graham Stark, Ronald Fraser, Colin Blakely, Peter Arne, Denise Crosby
Director: Blake Edwards
Production Company:, United Artists, Blake Edwards, Titan Productions, Lakeline Productions Ltd., Amjo Productions, distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Company
Trivia: The film opened first in Australia on December 2, 1982 followed by the UK on December 3. The seventh film in the Pink Panther series, the first following Peter Sellers’ death and the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. As he died 18 months before production began, his performance consists solely of scenes the previous film, many of them deleted scenes, The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Harvey Korman appears in previously unseen footage, while Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale appear in previously seen footage. David Niven was suffering from ALS during production and his voice was too weak to loop his own dialogue so impressionist Rich Little provided his voice. Sellers’ widow Lynne Frederick sued the producers saying the film diminished his legacy, and she was awarded over $1 million in damages. Frederick claimed Sellers had vetoed the use of outtakes from previous films in his lifetime and that his estate should have the right to control the use of outtakes after his death. The reason for this is because Edwards had constructed a three-hour version of Strikes Again to recapture the spectacle of The Great Race, but United Artists vetoed the idea and the film was drastically cut to just over 90 minutes. Shooting scripts for the film, as well as The Pink Panther Returns and Revenge of the Pink Panther, show that a wealth of comedic material was left on the cutting room floor. Julie Andrews appears in an uncredited cameo as a cleaning lady, dressed as her friend Carol Burnett’s charwoman character.

December 17 – The Verdict (USA/Canada)

Cast: Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O’Shea, Lindsay Crouse, Edward Binns, Julie Bovasso, Roxanne Hart
Director: Sidney Lumet
Production Company: Fox-Zanuck/Brown Productions, distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
Trivia: Adapted from Barry Reed’s 1980 novel of the same name. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. Bruce Willis and Tobin Bell appear in uncredited roles as courtroom observers. David Mamet’s original screenplay ended as the jury went into deliberations leaving the story without a resolution, a situation no one was happy with except for Mamet. Several rewrites were made but when Newman came on board and Lumet was hired to direct, they were given all of the scripts and went with Mamet’s original, only making minor changes and crafting a resolution with Mamet’s approval, something the producers had been unable to get previously. Lumet held extensive dress rehearsals prior to filming which allowed Newman to develop his performance.

December 17 – The Year of Living Dangerously (Australia)

Cast: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Kerr, Michael Murphy, Linda Hunt, Noel Ferrier
Director: Peter Weir
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Freddie Fields Productions, McElroy & McElroy, distributed by United International Pictures (Australia), MGM/UA Entertainment Company (USA)
Trivia: Released in the US on February 18, 1983. Adapted from Christopher Koch’s 1978 novel The Year of Living Dangerously. The film was banned in Indonesia until 2000, after the forced resignation of coup-leader and political successor Suharto in 1998. Dancer David Atkins was originally cast as Billy Kwan, but Peter Weir didn’t feel the relationship between his and Mel Gibson’s character was working so the role was recast. Bob Balaban and Wallace Shawn were among the actors under consideration but when Weir saw a photo of Linda Hunt he asked her to audition and decided to cast her in the male role, which led to her winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hunt was also Golden Globe nominated.

1992

December 16 – Forever Young (USA)

Cast: Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Isabel Glasser, George Wendt, Joe Morton, Nicolas Surovy, David Marshall Grant, Robert Hy Gorman
Director: Steve Miner
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Icon Entertainment International, Icon Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Based on the original story ‘The Rest of Daniel’, which Warner Bros. purchased for $2 million, the most ever paid for a screenplay. Gibson was offered the opportunity to direct the film as well as star but turned it down. While ‘You Are My Sunshine’ was not the song that was intended for Elijah Wood to sing to the girl in the tree house, the original song was too expensive and the one used was freely available in the public domain. The first film in which Jamie Lee Curtis plays a mother.

December 17 – Chaplin (UK)

Carolco Pictures

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys, John Thaw, Moira Kelly, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller, Kevin Kline, Milla Jovovich, Kevin Dunn, Diane Lane, Nancy Travis, David Duchovny
Director: Richard Attenborough
Production Company: Carolco Pictures, Japan Satellite Broadcasting, CanalPlus, RCS Video, distributed by Guild Film Distribution (UK), TriStar Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US in limited release on December 25, 1992 to meet the deadline for awards consideration, then expanded on January 8, 1993. Charlie Chaplin’s daughter Geraldine plays his mother Hannah. The screenplay was adapted from Chaplin’s 1964 book My Autobiography and the 1985 book Chaplin: His Life and Art by film critic David Robinson. Downey won the BAFTA for Best Actor and was Oscar and Golden Globe nominated. The film was also Oscar nominated for Art Direction and Original Score. Geraldine Chaplin was Golden Globe nominated for Supporting Actress, and John Barry’s score was also nominated. Richard Attenborough originally wanted to make a mini-series to fully explore Chaplin’s life. While he wanted Downey for the role, the studio suggested Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Jim Carrey. Downey revealed in an interview with David Letterman that Attenborough also considered Tom Cruise. The film’s original four-hour run time was cut to two-and-a-half hours for release.

December 17 – Sidekicks (Germany)

Cast: Jonathan Brandis, Chuck Norris, Beau Bridges, Mako, Joe Piscopo, Danica McKellar, John Buchanan, Richard Moll, Julia Nickson-Soul, Gerrit Graham, Eric Norris
Director: Aaron Norris
Production Company: Gallery Films, Vision PDG, distributed by Gorilla Pictures (International), Triumph Releasing Corporation (USA)
Trivia: Received a limited US release on April 9, 1993. The film was a pet project of Houston furniture outlet owner Jim ‘Mattress Mac’ McIngvale, who invested $8 million in producing the movie.

December 17 – That Night (Australia)

Cast: C. Thomas Howell, Juliette Lewis, Helen Shaver, Eliza Dushku, John Dossett, J. Smith-Cameron, Katherine Heigl, Adam LeFevre
Director: Craig Bolotin
Production Company: Alcor Films, CanalPlus, New Regency Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Opened in the US on August 6, 1993. Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Alice McDermott. Originally titled One Hot Summer. Features the debuts of both Eliza Dushku and Katherine Heigl. Filming took place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

December 18 – Leap of Faith (USA)

Cast: Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas, Albertina Walker, Meat Loaf, Philip Seymour Hoffman, M. C. Gainey, La Chanze, Delores Hall, Phyllis Somerville, Troy Evans, Ricky Dillard
Director: Richard Pearce
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Part of the movie was filmed in Plainview, Texas where the town water tower still has the fictional town mascot painted on the side. Steve Martin was a replacement for Michael Keaton, who quit the production.

December 18 – Toys (USA)

Cast: Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Jack Warden, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright, LL Cool J, Donald O’Connor, Arthur Malet, Jamie Foxx, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Blake Clark, Yeardley Smith, Wendy Melvoin, Debi Mazar
Director: Barry Levinson
Production Company: Baltimore Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
Trivia: Barry Levinson was nominated for the Worst Director Razzie Award, but the film was Oscar-nominated for Art Direction and Costume Design. The sets took over every soundstage at Fox Studios in Los Angeles. The film’s teaser featuring Williams walking through a large field of green grass and talking directly to the audience was parodied on The Simpsons episode ‘Burns’ Heir’, with Mr. Burns substituted for Williams.

2002

December 14 – Gojira tai Mekagojira (Japan)

Cast: Yumiko Shaku, Shin Takuma, Kana Onodera, Kou Takasugi, Akira Nakao, Yūsuke Tomoi, Junichi Mizuno, Kumi Mizuno, Yoshikazu Kanō, Tsutomu Kitagawa, Hirofumi Ishigaki
Director: Masaaki Tezuka
Production Company: Toho Company
Trivia: Premiered on DVD in the US on March 23, 2004 as Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. The 27th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the fourth in the franchise’s ‘Millennium period’ which ignores events in all the other Godzilla films except the original. The direct sequel Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. followed a year later. Mechagodzilla is referred to in the film as Kiryu to differentiate it from the original incarnation of the character, but is called ‘Mecha-G’ and ‘Mechagodzilla’ in the English dubbed version.

December 15 – Chance (London)

Cast: Amber Benson, James Marsters, Christine Estabrook, Tressa di Figlia, Andrew Hallett, Rayder Woods, Jeff Ricketts, Nate Barlow
Director: Amber Benson
Production Company: Benson Entertainment Inc.
Trivia: Amber Benson’s directing debut. Many of Benson’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer co-stars appear in the film. Benson planned to finance the film herself, but when it ended up costing three times as much as estimated, she turned to fans for support, selling autographed photos, scripts and props. Her company distributes the film on home video. Costumes were borrowed from Buffy‘s wardrobe department, and the show’s producer Joss Whedon allowed Benson to shoot on the Buffy set with the club scenes filmed in the interior and exterior sets for The Bronze. Christine Estabrook, who was working on the Warner Bros. TV series Nikki, met Benson at a WB party and told her how much she enjoyed her on Buffy, leading Benson to ask Estabrook if she would play her mother in the film.

December 20 – Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (USA)

Cast: Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk, John Ventimiglia, Ron Leibman, Wallace Shawn, David Warshofsky, Leo Fitzpatrick, Tim Guinee
Director: Rebecca Miller
Production Company: Blue Magic Pictures, Goldheart Pictures, IFC Productions, InDigEnt, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film and the Cinematography Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

2012

December 14 – Dead Europe (UK)

Cast: Ewen Leslie, Marton Csokas, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jean-François Balmer, Yigal Naor, William Françoise Lebrun, Thanos Samaras, Danae Skiadi, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Director: Tony Krawitz
Production Company: See-Saw Films, Porchlight Films, Inkas Film & T.V. Productions, Pioneer Pictures, distributed by Momentum Pictures
Trivia: Adaptation of the 2005 novel by Christos Tsiolkas.

December 14 – Hitchcock (USA)

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Jessica Biel, Michael Stuhlbarg, James D’Arcy, Michael Wincott, Kurtwood Smith, Richard Portnow, Ralph Macchio, Wallace Langham
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Production Company: Searchlight Pictures, Cold Spring Pictures, The Montecito Picture Company, Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Media, Big Screen Productions, Prana Studios, distributed by Searchlight Pictures (USA), Twentieth Century Fox (Canada/UK)
Trivia: Opened in limited release in the US and Canada on November 23, 2012 before expanding. It did not open in the UK until February 8, 2013. Based on Stephen Rebello’s 1990 non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. The project was originally announced as a TV mini-series for A&E. The film was originally developed at Paramount, but after four years the project moved to Fox Searchlight. The film received a single Oscar nomination for Makeup and Hairstyling. It was also nominated for the BAFTA in the same category. Mirren received a nomination for Best Actress from the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes.

December 14 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (USA/Canada)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/New Line Cinema

Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, James Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Andy Serkis, Manu Bennett, Barry Humphries, Benedict Cumberbatch
Director: Peter Jackson
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Originally opened in New Zealand on December 12, 2012, then the UK on December 13. The first installment in The Hobbit trilogy. Based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The original plan was a two-film adaptation produced by Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro, but del Toro left the project after two years of work due to delays caused by MGM’s financial problems. The film earned three Oscar nominations in technical categories. The first major film widely released in a High Frame Rate format (48 fps), although most theaters screened it in standard 24 fps due to early reactions comparing the HFR to the dreaded ‘soap opera effect’ seen on high definition televisions at factory settings.

December 14 – U.F.O. (UK)

Cast: Bianca Bree, Sean Brosnan, Jean-Claude van Damme, Simon Phillips, Julian Glover, Sean Pertwee
Director: Dominic Burns
Production Company: Filmbox, Hawthorne Productions, distributed by Filmbox (UK), Phase 4 Films (USA)
Trivia: Received a limited US release on June 21, 2013. Retitled Alien Uprising in 2013.

December 19 – The Guilt Trip (USA/Canada)

Cast: Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Brett Cullen, Adam Scott, Ari Graynor, Casey Wilson, Colin Hanks, Yvonne Strahovski, Jeff Kober, Miriam Margolyes, Kathy Najimy, Dale Dickey, Nora Dunn, Danny Pudi
Director: Anne Fletcher
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, Michaels Goldwyn, Broadway Video, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film is based on a real-life trip by screenwriter Dan Fogelman and his mother from New Jersey to Las Vegas years before. The film’s working title was My Mother’s Curse. This was Streisand’s first starring role since 1996’s The Mirror Has Two Faces. She previous had supporting roles in Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers.

December 20 – Papadopoulos & Sons (Greece)

Cast: Stephen Dillane, Georges Corraface, Georgia Groome, Frank Dillane, Ed Stoppard, Cosima Shaw, Selina Cadell
Director: Marcus Markou
Production Company: Double M Films, distributed by Hollywood Entertainment (Greece), Miracle Communications Ltd. (UK)
Trivia: Opened in the UK on April 5, 2013. Played the Seattle International Film Festival on May 30, 2013. Marcus Markou self-distributed the film with a one-week agreement with Cineworld, but due to unprecedented audience demand the run was extended and expanded beyond its initial limited release. The film was shot in London, and the crew found a street with two vacant shops, taking the lease on them to create The Three Brothers chip shop and the competing kebab shop.

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