Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #129 :: January 11•17

Miramax

A lot of new films and shorts were released this week over the last hundred years. New animated shorts appeared with characters such as Felix the Cat, Tweety Bird, and Tom & Jerry starring. This week also some some very controversial wartime animated shorts from Disney and Warner Brothers which have rarely been seen. Also this week, Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite of all his films premiered in 1943. 1953 had a film about the film industry that spawned another film yet they were not sequels. In 1963, the Absent-Minded Professor returned for a second time despite Walt Disney’s disdain for sequels. 1993 had a film depicting a real life tragedy as well as a film that featured more of Madonna’s tragic acting. 2003 had a musical Best Picture Oscar winner, and 2013 had an Oscar contender based on another true story. Do you think any of your favorites are on the list? Read on and share your thoughts in the comments section below!

1923

January 13 – The Last Hour (USA)

Cast: Milton Sills, Carmel Myers, Pat O’Malley, Jack Mower, Alec B. Francis, Charles Clary, Walter Long, Eric Mayne, Clarence Wilson
Director: Edward Sloman
Production Company: Mastodon Films
Trivia: Gary Cooper appears as an extra.

January 14 – Drums of Fate (USA)

Cast: Mary Miles Minter, Maurice ‘Lefty’ Flynn, George Fawcett, Robert Cain, Casson Ferguson, Bertram Grassby, Noble Johnson
Director: Charles Maigne
Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Adapted from the novel Sacrifice by Stephen French Whitman. Sometimes referred to as Drums of Destiny in promotional material suggesting that as a working title. The film is thought to be lost.

January 15 – Felix Win’s Out (USA)

Director: Otto Messmer
Production Company: Pat Sullivan Cartoons, distributed by Margaret J. Winkler

January 14 – Gimme (USA)

Cast: Helene Chadwick, Gaston Glass, Kate Lester, Eleanor Boardman, David Imboden, May Wallace, Georgia Woodthorpe, Henry B. Walthall
Director: Rupert Hughes
Production Company: Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, distributed by Goldwyn Distributing Company
Trivia: The film encouraged women to be flappers and to increase their consumerism. It is considered a lost film.

January 14 – Paste and Paper (USA, short)

Cast: James Parrott, Jobyna Ralston, George Rowe, Eddie Baker
Director: George Jeske
Production Company: Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Pathé Exchange

January 14 – The Christian (USA)

Cast: Richard Dix, Mae Busch, Gareth Hughes, Phyllis Haver, Cyril Chadwick, Mahlon Hamilton, Joseph J. Dowling, Claude Gillingwater, John Herdman, Beryl Mercer, Robert Bolder, Milla Davenport
Director: Maurice Tourneur
Production Company: Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, distributed by Goldwyn Distributing Company
Trivia: Based on the novel The Christian by Hall Caine, published in 1897, the first British novel to reach the record of one million copies sold. This was the fourth film version of the story; the first was in 1911. Copies of the film are held at the George Eastman House, Museum of Modern Art and British Film Institute National Archive.

January 15 – All the Brothers Were Valiant (USA)

Cast: Malcolm McGregor, Billie Dove, Lon Chaney, William Orlamond, Robert McKim, Bob Kortman, Otto Brower
Director: Irvin Willat
Production Company: Metro Pictures Corporation
Trivia: Also known as Cold Courage. Based on the eponymous novel by Ben Ames Williams. Two real whaling ships were used in the making of the film. The film is considered lost, destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire.

January 15 – Garrison’s Finish (USA)

Cast: Jack Pickford, Madge Bellamy, Clarence Burton, Charles A. Stevenson, Charles Ogle, Ethel Grey Terry, Tom Guise, Frank Elliott, Audrey Chapman
Director: Arthur Rosson
Production Company: Jack Pickford Productions, distributed by Allied Producers & Distributors Corporation
Trivia: Based on the novel by William Blair Morton Ferguson. The second film version of the story following one in 1914.

January 15 – The Passionate Friends (USA)

Cast: Milton Rosmer, Valia, Fred Raynham, Madge Stuart, Lawford Davidson, Ralph Forster, Teddy Arundell, Annie Esmond
Director: Maurice Elvey
Production Company: Stoll Picture Productions, distributed by C.B.C. Film Sales Corp.
Trivia: The film was first released in the UK in January 1922. Based on H.G. Wells’ The Passionate Friends: A Novel (1913), although the film avoided any of Wells’ radical social commentary regarding the United Kingdom. It was remade in 1949 by David Lean.

January 15 – The Scarlet Car (USA)

Cast: Herbert Rawlinson, Claire Adams, Edward Cecil, Norris Johnson, Tom McGuire, Marc B. Robbins, Tom O’Brien
Director: Stuart Paton
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Based on a novel by Richard Harding Davis, which had previously been turned into a 1917 Lon Chaney film of the same title. The film is considered lost.

January 15 – When Kane Met Abel (USA, short)

Cast: Reginald Denny, Hayden Stevenson, Elinor Field
Director: Harry A. Pollard
Production Company: Universal Jewel, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: Tenth episode in the first ‘Leather Pushers’ series of two-reel boxing shorts.

1933

January 12 – Laughter in Hell (USA)

Cast: Pat O’Brien, Tommy Conlon, Gloria Stuart, Berton Churchill, Merna Kennedy, Douglass Dumbrille, Dick Winslow
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Adapted from the 1932 novel of the same name by Jim Tully. The film had been considered lost, but a copy was found and preserved, screening at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood, CA in October 2012. A lynching scene in which several Black men were hanged received praise from African American publications for publicizing the atrocities that were happening in some Southern states. However, many state censor boards including New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania had the scene removed, allowing only an indication that a hanging was about to occur.

January 13 – Dinah (USA, short)

Cast: The Mills Brothers
Director: Dave Fleischer, Dave Tendlar
Production Company: Fleischer Studios, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The Mills Brothers appeared in a previous Fleischer Studios live-action/animation short, I Ain’t Got Nobody, in 1932.

January 13 – Don’t Play Bridge With Your Wife (USA, short)

Cast: Nora Lane, Marjorie Beebe, Ruthelma Stevens, Cornelius Keefe, Richard Cramer, Grady Sutton, Bud Jamison, Ted Stroback
Director: Leslie Pearce
Production Company: Sennett Picture Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The language spoken by the Stone Age bridge players is Pig Latin. Gladys Blake’s film debut in an uncredited role.

January 13 – Hollywood on Parade No. A-6 (USA, short)

Cast: Richard Arlen, Tallulah Bankhead, Lew Cody, Heinie Conklin, Frances Dee, Clark Gable, Buster Keaton
Director: Louis Lewyn
Production Company: Louis Lewyn Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The cast appears uncredited.

January 13 – Silvery Moon (USA, short)

Director: John Foster, Mannie Davis
Production Company: Van Beuren Studios, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Also known as Candy Town. Part of the Aesop’s Fables cartoon series, and seemingly inspired by Hansel & Gretel but with a less dark scenario. The voice cast is uncredited with only Margie Hines as the Countess a known contributor.

January 13 – The Monkey’s Paw (USA)

Cast: Ivan F. Simpson, Louise Carter, C. Aubrey Smith, Bramwell Fletcher, Betty Lawford, Winter Hall, Herbert Bunston, Nina Quartero, Nigel De Brulier, J.M. Kerrigan
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Based on the short story, ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ (1902) by W. W. Jacobs. The film’s prologue was directed by an uncredited Ernest B. Schoedsack. The film was believed lost until 2016. The surviving print is dubbed in French.

January 14 – Bosko in Dutch (USA, short)

Director: Friz Freleng, Hugh Harman
Production Company: Leon Schlesinger Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The uncredited voice cast includes Rochelle Hudson and Johnny Murray. First WB cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, and the 50th Looney Tunes cartoon. Last appearances of Wilber and Goopy Geer.

January 14 – Bring ‘Em Back a Wife (USA, short)

Cast: Ben Blue, Billy Gilbert, James C. Morton, Geneva Mitchell
Director: Del Lord
Production Company: Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Fifth of ten Hal Roach ‘Taxi Boys’ shorts released between 1932 and 1933.

January 14 – Bye-Gones (USA, short)

Cast: Ruth Etting, Fritz Hubert, Jean Hubert, Ruth Pine’s Tiny Tots
Director: Alfred J. Goulding
Production Company: The Vitaphone Corporation, distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures

January 15 – Air Hostess (USA)

Cast: Evalyn Knapp, James Murray, Arthur Pierson, Jane Darwell, J.M. Kerrigan, Thelma Todd, Mike Donlin, Dutch Hendrian
Director: Albert S. Rogell
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Trivia: Based on a 1919 True Story Magazine article called ‘Air Hostess’ by Grace Perkins, also known as Dora Macy. Shot primarily at the Glendale Grand Central Air Terminal and airport. Aerial scenes in Air Hostess were reprised from earlier films as Hollywood became more safety conscious with scenes of air crashes clipped from other films.

January 15 – Face in the Sky (USA)

Cast: Spencer Tracy, Marian Nixon, Stuart Erwin, Sam Hardy, Sarah Padden, Frank McGlynn Jr., Russell Simpson, Billy Platt, Lila Lee, Guy Usher
Director: Harry Lachman
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation

January 15 – Hot Pepper (USA)

Cast: Edmund Lowe, Lupe Vélez, Victor McLaglen, El Brendel, Lilian Bond, Boothe Howard, Gloria Roy
Director: John G. Blystone
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: Considered to be part of a series of films that began with 1926’s What Price Glory?

January 15 – When a Man Rides Alone (USA)

Cast: Tom Tyler, Adele Lacy, Al Bridge, Bob Burns, Frank Ball, Alma Chester, Barney Furey, Edward Burns
Director: J.P. McGowan
Production Company: Monarch Film Corporation, distributed by Freuler Film Associates

January 16 – The Plumber (USA, short)

Cast: Tex Avery, Walter Lantz
Director: Bill Nolan
Production Company: Walter Lantz Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures

January 17 – Just Around the Corner (USA, short)

Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Dick Powell, Preston Foster, Ruth Donnelly
Director:
Production Company: General Electric, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The director is unknown. Short produced to promote General Electric appliances and the upcoming film Just Around the Corner.

1943

January 11 – Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (USA)

Cast: Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, Shepperd Strudwick, Martin Kosleck, Virginia Gilmore, Felix Basch, Frank Lackteen, LeRoy Mason
Director: Louis King
Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
Trivia: Originally titled The Seventh Column. Based on a story by Jack Andrews, who also co-wrote the screenplay. After the war, the movie was pulled from circulation after Mihailović was accused of war crimes and executed by the Communist government that had taken over Yugoslavia.

January 14 – City Without Men (USA)

Cast: Linda Darnell, Edgar Buchanan, Michael Duane, Sara Allgood, Glenda Farrell, Leslie Brooks, Doris Dudley, Margaret Hamilton, Constance Worth, Rosemary DeCamp, Sheldon Leonard
Director: Sidney Salkow
Production Company: B.P. Schulberg Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The waterfront scenes in the movie were filmed in San Pedro, California.

January 16 – The Gorilla Man (USA)

Cast: John Loder, Ruth Ford, Marian Hall, Richard Fraser, Paul Cavanagh, Lumsden Hare, John Abbott, Mary Field, Rex Williams, Joan Winfield
Director: D. Ross Lederman
Production Company: Warner Bros.-First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Despite the title and marketing, it is not a horror film, but a World War II espionage thriller.

January 15 – Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi (USA, short)

Director: Clyde Geronimi
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by American author Gregor Ziemer. Narrated by Art Smith. One of 32 short propaganda films Disney produced under contract to the US government. Disney sought out the contract to help the studio financially after spending and losing too much money on Fantasia.

January 15 – London Blackout Murders (USA)

Cast: John Abbott, Mary McLeod, Lloyd Corrigan, Lester Matthews, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Louis Borel, Billy Bevan, Lumsden Hare, Frederick Worlock, Carl Harbord
Director: George Sherman
Production Company: Republic Pictures
Trivia: Final film of Carol Curtis-Brown.

January 15 – Shadow of a Doubt (USA)

Universal Pictures

Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Wallace Ford, Hume Cronyn, Edna May Wonacott, Charles Bates, Irving Bacon, Clarence Muse, Janet Shaw, Estelle Jewell
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Oscar nominated for Best Story, based on the true story of Earle Nelson, a serial killer of the late 1920s known as ‘the Gorilla Man’. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1991. Hitchcock’s favorites of all his films. His cameo is about 16 minutes into the film as a man playing cards on a train. Some of the buildings in the center of Santa Rosa that are seen in the film were damaged or destroyed by earthquakes in 1969; much of the area was cleared of debris and largely rebuilt.

January 15 – Silent Witness (USA)

Cast: Frank Albertson, Maris Wrixon, Bradley Page, Evelyn Brent, Milburn Stone, John Sheehan, Lucien Littlefield
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Production Company: Monogram Pictures
Trivia: Final film of Margaret Armstrong.

January 15 – The Powers Girl (USA)

Cast: George Murphy, Anne Shirley, Carole Landis, Dennis Day, Benny Goodman, Alan Mowbray
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Production Company: Charles R. Rogers Productions, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Also known as Hello, Beautiful. Based upon the book by John Robert Powers. Peggy Lee appears as herself uncredited.

January 16 – Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (USA, short)

Voice Cast: Danny Webb, Vivian Dandridge, Leo Watson, Lillian Randolph, Mel Blanc
Director: Robert Clampett
Production Company: Leon Schlesinger Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The film is an all-black parody of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White, and is one of the most controversial cartoons in the classic Warner Brothers library, being one of the Censored Eleven. The cartoon has been rarely seen on television, and has never been officially released on home video. The film directly parodies Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and was intended to have been named So White and de Sebben Dwarfs, which producer Leon Schlesinger thought was too close to the original film’s actual title. The film was also meant as a dedication to the all-black jazz musical films popular in the early 1940s. In April 1943, the NAACP protested the caricatures which appeared in Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, and called on Warner to withdraw it. Vivian Dandridge was the sister of Dorothy.

January 16 – G-men vs. the Black Dragon (USA, serial)

Cast: Rod Cameron, Roland Got, Constance Worth, Nino Pipitone, Noel Cravat, George J. Lewis
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet, William Witney, William J O’Sullivan
Production Company: Republic Pictures
Trivia: This was director William Witney’s last production before leaving to serve in World War II. In 1966 the serial was edited into a 100 minute feature titled Black Dragon of Manzanar.

January 16 – Sufferin’ Cats! (USA, short)

Voice Cast: Frank Graham, William Hanna, Harry Lang
Director: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: The early depictions of Tom and Jerry show them as more cat-like and mouse-like than they do in later films.

1953

January 11 – Star of Texas (USA)

Cast: Wayne Morris, Paul Fix, Frank Ferguson, Rick Vallin, Jack Larson, James Flavin, William Fawcett, Robert Bice, Mickey Simpson, George Wallace, John Crawford, Stanley Price, Lyle Talbot
Director: Thomas Carr
Production Company: Westwood Productions, distributed by Allied Artists Pictures

January 15 – Girls in the Night (USA)

Cast: Harvey Lembeck, Joyce Holden, Glenda Farrell, Leonard Freeman, Patricia Hardy, Jaclynne Greene, Don Gordon, Anthony Ross, Emile Meyer
Director: Jack Arnold
Production Company: Universal International Pictures, distributed by Universal-International
Trivia: On screen co-stars Glenda Farrell and Tommy Farrell were mother and son. Final film of Pearl Early. Beverly Long’s debut.

January 15 – The Bad and the Beautiful (USA)

Cast: Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame, Gilbert Roland, Leo G. Carroll
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Nominated for six Academy Awards, winning five, a record for a film not nominated for Best Picture or Best Director. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2002. Based on a 1949 magazine story ‘Of Good and Evil’ by George Bradshaw, which was expanded into a longer version called Memorial to a Bad Man. The film’s creative team went on to produce Two Weeks in Another Town nine years later. Both films feature the song ‘Don’t Blame Me’, and clips from The Bad and the Beautiful are shown in a screening room presented as a film that Kirk Douglas’ character had starred in. Two Weeks, however, is not a direct sequel as the films’ stories are unrelated.

January 16 – I’ll Get You (USA)

Cast: George Raft, Sally Gray, Clifford Evans, Frederick Piper, Reginald Tate, Patricia Laffan
Director: Seymour Friedman, Peter Graham Scott
Production Company: Banner Films Ltd., distributed by Eros Films (UK), Lippert Pictures (USA)
Trivia: The film was first released in the UK in December 1952 as Escape Route. Largely filmed in the streets of London when there was still much bomb damage from the Second World War.

January 16 – The Clown (USA)

Cast: Red Skelton, Tim Considine, Jane Greer, Philip Ober, Loring Smith, Lou Lubin, Fay Roope, Walter Reed, Don Beddoe, Steve Forrest, Frank Nelson, Shirley Mitchell
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: The story is derived from The Champ (1931). The Ziegfeld Follies flashback is a 6-minute ballet class number taken from MGM’s Bathing Beauty, which also starred Red Skelton. Chalres Bronson appears in a small role as a gambler under his real name, Charles Buchinsky. Roger Moore and Billy Barty also appear in small roles.

January 17 – Snow Business (USA, short)

Voice Cast: Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet
Director: Friz Freleng
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Tweety Bird did not speak his famous phrase ‘I tawt I taw a putty-tat!’ in this short.

1963

January 11 – Operation Sewer Rats (USA)

Cast: Yûzô Kayama, Yôsuke Natsuki, Makoto Satô, Kumi Mizuno, Tadao Nakamaru, Ichirô Nakatani, Akihiko Hirata, Kunie Tanaka, Jun Tazaki, Ken Uehara, Ikio Sawamura, Hideyo Amamoto
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Production Company: Toho Company
Trivia: Originally opened in Japan on June 1, 1962 under the title Dobunezumi sakusen.

January 11 – The Fury of Hercules (USA)

Cast: Brad Harris, Luisella Boni, Mara Berni, Serge Gainsbourg, Alan Steel, Carlo Tamberlani, Irena Prosen, Franco Gasparri
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Production Company: Cinematografica Associati, Comptoir Français du Film Production, distributed by Medallion Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Originally opened in Italy on March 21, 1962 as La furia di Ercole.

January 16 – Son of Flubber (USA)

Cast: Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Ed Wynn, Bob Sweeney, Paul Lynde, Tommy Kirk, Leon Ames, Charlie Ruggles, Ken Murray, William Demarest
Director: Robert Stevenson
Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company
Trivia: Sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). Joe Flynn appears uncredited as a TV announcer. Keenan Wynn also appears in the film with his father Ed. Fred MacMurray was already starring in TV sitcom My Three Sons at this point in his career. William Demarest, who appears in the film, would join the series in 1965 after William Frawley retired due to poor health. Walt Disney hated sequels but agreed to make the film because there were unused gags from the first film. The college in the film, Medfield, was also used in Disney’s ‘Dexter Riley trilogy’: The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t and The Strongest Man in the World.

1973

January 11 – The Offence (UK)

Cast: Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant, Ian Bannen, Peter Bowles, Derek Newark, Ronald Radd, John Hallam, Richard Moore, Anthony Sagar
Director: Sidney Lumet
Production Company: Tantallon, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: The film opened in London on January 11, 1973, but did not see a release in the US until May 11. Based upon the 1968 stage play This Story of Yours by John Hopkins. Ian Bannen was nominated for a BAFTA award for his performance. The film’s working title was Something Like the Truth. Sean Connery was eager to make the film to move away from James Bond and show his range as an actor. The film was part of a two-picture deal Connery’s production company made with United Artists, but the commercial failure of the film led UA to opt out of the deal for the second picture.

1983

January 12 – Danton (France)

Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Wojciech Pszoniak, Patrice Chéreau, Bogusław Linda, Angela Winkler, Andrzej Seweryn, Serge Merlin, Roland Blanche, Jacques Villeret, Anne Alvaro
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Production Company: Gaumont, TF1 Films Production, Société Française de Production Cinématographique, T.M., Ministère de la Culture, Film Polski, Les Films du Losange, Zespól Filmowy ‘X’, distributed by Gaumont
Trivia: Adaptation of the 1929 play The Danton Case by Stanisława Przybyszewska. Winner of the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film in 1983.

January 14 – The Girl with the Red Hair (USA)

Cast: Renée Soutendijk, Peter Tuinman, Loes Luca, Johan Leysen, Robert Delhez, Ada Bouwman, Lineke Rijxman, Maria de Booy, Henk Rigters
Director: Ben Verbong
Production Company: Meteor Film Productions, Movies Productions B.V., Quendo, The Movies, Trio Film, VNU, Verenigde Arbeiders Radio Amateurs
Trivia: Originally released in the Netherlands on September 17, 1981 as Het meisje met het rode haar. Based on the biography of resistance fighter Hannie Schaft.

1993

January 13 – Motorama (USA)

Cast: Jordan Christopher Michael, Martha Quinn, Flea, Michael J. Pollard, Meat Loaf, Drew Barrymore, Garrett Morris, Susan Tyrrell, Mary Woronov, Allyce Beasley, Robin Duke, Shelley Berman, Jack Nance, John Laughlin, Dick Miller, John Diehl
Director: Barry Shils
Production Company: Planet Productions, Proletariat Productions Corporation, distributed by Two Moon Releasing
Trivia: Barrymore reprised her role as Fantasy Girl for the film Skipped Parts.

January 15 – A Captive in the Land (USA)

Cast: Sam Waterston, Aleksandr Potapov, Keir Giles, Tony Hall, Victor Ignatyev, Aleksei Ivashchenko, Albert Kondratyev, Sofron Yefimov
Director: John Berry
Production Company: Ask Soviet-American Films, Kinostudiya imeni M. Gorkogo, distributed by Gloria Films
Trivia: Originally released in the Soviet Union in 1990 as Plennik zemli. Based on the 1962 novel of the same name by James Aldridge. Sam Waterston had to return to Russia to complete the film after Aleksandr Potapov suffered a heart attack, causing a suspension of filming.

January 15 – Alive (USA)

The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, John Haymes Newton, Bruce Ramsay, David Kriegel, Jack Noseworthy, Kevin Breznahan, David Cubitt, Sam Behrens, Illeana Douglas, Jan D’Arcy, Vincent Spano, Danny Nucci, Josh Lucas
Director: Frank Marshall
Production Company: Film Andes S.A., Paramount Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Touchstone Pictures, United International Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Trivia: Also opened in India on January 15, 1993. Based on Piers Paul Read’s 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. One of the survivors, Nando Parrado (portrayed by Hawke in the film), served as the technical advisor for the film. John Malkovich provided the uncredited narration that opens the film. A companion documentary, Alive: 20 Years Later, was released at the same time as the film. It includes interviews with the survivors, as well as documentary footage of the rescue.

January 15 – Body of Evidence (USA)

Cast: Madonna, Willem Dafoe, Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, Stan Shaw, Charles Hallahan
Director: Uli Edel
Production Company: Constantin Film, Dino De Laurentiis Company, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Released simply as Body in France and Japan. Madonna’s other 1993 film, Dangerous Game, was released in Japan as Body II even though the films are totally unrelated. The film received an NC-17 rating and was cut from 101 minutes to 99 minutes to secure an R-rating for theatrical release. The uncut version was released to home video. The film received six Golden Raspberry Awards nominations with Madonna ‘winning’ for Worst Actress.

January 15 – Nowhere to Run (USA)

Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rosanna Arquette, Kieran Culkin, Tiffany Taubman, Joss Ackland, Ted Levine, Edward Blatchford, Anthony Starke, James Greene, John Finn
Director: Robert Harmon
Production Company: Adelson-Baumgarten Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: Jean-Claude Van Damme’s role of Sam was meant for Mel Gibson when the original script was more dramatic and character-driven. Working titles were Pals and Crossing the Line.

January 17 – The Hit List (USA)

Cast: Jeff Fahey, Yancy Butler, James Coburn, Michael Beach, Randy Oglesby, Charles Lanyer, Sherman Howard, Jeff Kober, Chris Pedersen, Michael Harris
Director: William Webb
Production Company: Vision International, Westwind
Trivia: Released direct-to-video in the US. Jeff Fahey and his stuntman are wearing two different colored shirts at the beginning of the film.

2003

January 17 – A Guy Thing (USA/Canada)

Cast: Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, James Brolin, Shawn Hatosy, Lochlyn Munro, Diana Scarwid, David Koechner, Julie Hagerty, Thomas Lennon
Director: Chris Koch
Production Company: David Ladd Films, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: The film was originally set to be released on August 23, 2002, then pushed to September 20, and finally on January 17, 2003 in time for Valentine’s Day.

January 17 – Big Shot’s Funeral (USA, limited)

Cast: Ge You, Rosamund Kwan, Paul Mazursky, Christopher Barden, Donald Sutherland
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Production Company: China Film Group Corporation, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Columbia Pictures, Huayi Brothers Advertising, Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd., distributed by Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International
Trivia: Originally opened in China on December 21, 2001, then opened in the UK on November 15, 2002.

January 17 – Chicago (UK)

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Lucy Liu, Dominic West, Jayne Eastwood, Mýa
Director: Rob Marshall
Production Company: Miramax, The Producer Circle Co., Storyline Entertainment, Kalis Productions GmbH & Co. KG, distributed by Miramax
Trivia: Opened in New York and Los Angeles on December 10 for awards consideration, opening in limited release in Canada and premiered in London on December 26, followed by a limited US release on December 27, with an expansion nationwide on January 24, 2003. The film also expanded across Canada on February 7. Based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name which in turn originated in the 1926 play of the same name. Rob Marshall’s directorial debut. Chita Rivera, who originated the role of Velma on Broadway, makes a cameo appearance as Nicky, a prostitute. Jennifer Aniston was considered for the role of Roxie Hart. Michael Jackson was considered for the role of Billy Flynn but Harvey Weinstein objected, saying people would pay more attention to Jackson than the rest of the cast. John Travolta was offered the role but turned it down. Several songs from the show were cut due to the film’s construct of the musical numbers being figments of Roxie’s imagination. The film was nominated for 13 Oscars, winning six including Best Picture, the first for a musical since Oliver! in 1968. It was nominated for 12 BAFTAs, winning one for Catherine Zeta-Jones, and eight Golden Globes, winning three including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy.

January 17 – City of God (USA, limited)

Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jonathan Haagensen, Roberta Rodrigues, Renato de Souza, Jefechander Suplino, Edson Oliveira, Alice Braga
Director: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund
Production Company: O2 Filmes, VideoFilmes, Globo Filmes, Lumière, Wild Bunch, StudioCanal, Hank Levine Film, Lereby Productions
Trivia: Originally released in Brazil on August 30, 2002, then in the UK & Ireland on January 3, 2003. Adapted from the 1997 novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is loosely based on real events. Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Director. It was Brazil’s entry for the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category but was not one of the five nominations. Shot on 16mm film stock. The only professional actor with years of filming experience was Matheus Nachtergaele.

January 17 – Divine Intervention (USA/UK/Ireland)

Cast: Elia Suleiman, Manal Khader, Denis Sandler Sapoznikov, Menashe Noy
Director: Elia Suleiman
Production Company: Arte France Cinéma, Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Gimages, Lichtblick Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Ness Communication & Productions Ltd., Ognon Pictures, Soread-2M, distributed by Avatar Films (USA)
Trivia: First released in France on October 2, 2002. The film was hoped to be entered into the Oscars’ Foreign Language Film category but producers claimed the Academy said no because Palestine was not a state recognized in their rules. The Academy countered that no decision had been made because the film had not been submitted, however it was considered the following year.

January 17 – Kangaroo Jack (USA)

Cast: Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren, Michael Shannon, Christopher Walken, Dyan Cannon, Marton Csokas
Director: David McNally
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Adam Garcia provides the uncredited voice of the title character. The film was originally titled Down and Under, and was filmed as a mob comedy in the style of Midnight Run, with cursing, sex and violence. With early test screenings showing positive response to the kangaroo, production shifted to a more family-friendly film with extensive new footage shot that replaced the animatronic kangaroo with a new CGI version and the film was edited down to a PG-rating. Critics and audiences still took issue with the film’s humor, violence and innuendo in a family film.

January 17 – National Security (USA)

Cast: Martin Lawrence, Steve Zahn, Colm Feore, Bill Duke, Eric Roberts, Timothy Busfield, Robinne Lee, Matt McCoy, Brett Cullen, Mari Morrow, Stephen Tobolowsky
Director: Dennis Dugan
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Outlaw Productions, Intermedia Films, The Firm, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Trivia: Shot at various locations in Greater Los Angeles, including Long Beach and Santa Clarita.

January 17 – The Hours (Canada)

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Jack Rovello, Toni Collette, Margo Martindale, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Eileen Atkins
Director: Stephen Daldry
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Miramax, Scott Rudin Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Opened in New York and Los Angeles on December 25, 2002 for awards consideration, went into limited release in Canada and the US on December 17, and received a wider US release on February 14, 2003. Based on Michael Cunningham’s 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning Best Actress for Nicole Kidman.

2013

January 11 – A Haunted House (USA)

Cast: Marlon Wayans, Essence Atkins, Cedric the Entertainer, Nick Swardson, David Koechner, Dave Sheridan, Marlene Forte, Andrew Daly, Alanna Ubach, Affion Crockett, Robin Thede, J.B. Smoove
Director: Michael Tiddes
Production Company: Open Road Films, IM Global, Endgame Entertainment, Automatik Entertainment, Baby Way Productions, distributed by Automatik Entertainment
Trivia: The film was panned by critics but earned $60 million against a $2.5 million budget, and produced a sequel in 2014.

January 11 – Freeloaders (USA, limited)

Cast: Josh Lawson, Kevin Sussman, Zoe Boyle, Nat Faxon, Warren Hutcherson, Brit Morgan, Clifton Collins, Jr., Jane Seymour, Olivia Munn
Director: Dan Rosen
Production Company: ATG Productions, Broken Lizard Industries, Matthew Pritzker Films, distributed by Myriad Pictures
Trivia: The film had been released to Video On Demand in the US on December 18, 2012. Dave Foley, Adam Duritz, Denise Richards and Richard Branson appear as themselves.

January 11 – Gangster Squad (USA/Canada)

Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick, Mireille Enos, Troy Garity, Holt McCallany, Sullivan Stapleton, Jon Polito, Wade Williams
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lin Pictures, Langley Park Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Opened in the UK & Ireland on January 10, 2013. Based on the non-fiction book by Paul Lieberman. The film was due to be released on September 7, 2012 but was delayed to accommodate re-shoots in the wake of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. A major scene in the film (and trailer) depicted movie-goers at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre being fired upon from behind the movie screen. The scene was re-filmed as an action sequence set in Chinatown.

January 11 – Horrid Henry: The Movie (USA)

Voice Cast: Theo Stevenson, Richard E. Grant, Parminder Nagra, Mathew Horne, Noel Fielding, Prunella Scales, David Schneider, Siobhan Hayes, Helen Lederer, Rebecca Front, Kimberley Walsh, Anjelica Huston
Director: Nick Moore
Production Company: Vertigo Films, Novel Entertainment Productions, Aegis Film Fund, Prescience, distributed by Vertigo Films (UK), Kaboom! Entertainment (USA)
Trivia: First released in the UK & Ireland on July 29, 2011. Based on the fictional character Horrid Henry from the children’s book series of the same name by Francesca Simon. The film is set before the third season of the UK TV series. The first British film for children to be shot in 3D.

January 11 – My Best Enemy (USA)

Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Georg Friedrich, Ursula Strauss, Marthe Keller, Udo Samel, Uwe Bohm, Rainer Bock
Director: Wolfgang Murnberger
Production Company: Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Samsa Film, Österreichisches Filminstitut, Filmfonds Wien, Österreichischer Rundfunk, Land Niederösterreich, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Land Niederösterreich Kultur, Luxembourg Film Fund, distributed by Filmladen (Austria), Sundance Selects (USA)
Trivia: First released in Austria on March 11, 2011 as Mein bester Feind.

January 11 – Officer Down (Canada)

Cast: Stephen Dorff, Dominic Purcell, David Boreanaz, Bree Michael Warner, Brette Taylor, AnnaLynne McCord, Zoran Radanovich, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, Jas Anderson, Stephen Lang, Elisabeth Röhm, Walton Goggins, Tommy Flanagan
Director: Brian A. Miller
Production Company: Jeff Most Productions, Most Films, distributed by Anchor Bay Films (USA)
Trivia: Opened in limited US release on January 18, 2013.

January 11 – Storage 24 (USA, limited)

Cast: Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Laura Haddock, Jamie Thomas King, Alex Price, Ned Dennehy, Geoff Bell, Ruth Gemmell
Director: Johannes Roberts
Production Company: Medient Studios, Unstoppable Entertainment, Big Yellow Films, distributed by Magnet Releasing (USA), Universal Pictures International (UK)
Trivia: First released in the UK & Ireland on June 29, 2012. Based on an original idea by Noel Clarke.

January 11 – Struck By Lightning (USA)

Cast: Chris Colfer, Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Hyland, Carter Jenkins, Brad William Henke, Rebel Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Polly Bergen, Dermot Mulroney, Robbie Amell
Director: Brian Dannelly
Production Company: Permut Presentations, Camellia Entertainment, Evil Media Empire, Inphenate, distributed by Tribeca Film
Trivia: Polly Bergen’s final film.

January 11 – The Baytown Outlaws (USA, limited)

Cast: Andre Braugher, Clayne Crawford, Daniel Cudmore, Travis Fimmel, Eva Longoria, Paul Wesley, Billy Bob Thornton, Thomas Sangster, Zoë Bell, Serinda Swan, Arden Cho, Brea Grant, Agnes Bruckner
Director: Barry Battles
Production Company: Lleju Productions, State Street Pictures, distributed by Phase 4 Films
Trivia: Barry Battles’ directorial debut.

January 11 – Zero Dark Thirty (USA/Canada)

Annapurna Pictures

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, James Gandolfini, Harold Perrineau, Mark Duplass, John Barrowman, Édgar Ramírez, Scott Adkins, Jeremy Strong, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Taylor Kinney, Mike Colter, Frank Grillo, Stephen Dillane, Mark Valley
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, First Light Production, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: Opened in the US in limited release on December 19, 2012 for awards consideration. The film’s working title was For God and Country. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning one for Best Sound Editing in a tie with Skyfall, the sixth tie in Academy history. Also nominated for four Golden Globes including Best Picture – Drama. The Washington Area Film Critics Association awarded Kathryn Bigelow the Best Director award, the second time a woman had won the award … and the second time Bigelow won that award (she also won for The Hurt Locker). Families of two 9/11 victims, Betty Ong (a flight attendant) and Brad Fetchet (who worked on the 89th floor of the WTC south tower), objected to the use of recordings of their voices without consent. Ong’s family urged the filmmakers to apologize if the film won any awards at the Oscars ceremony, and to make a charitable contribution in Ong’s name. The filmmakers and the US distributors did not honor the requests.

January 17 – Not Another Celebrity Movie (USA, limited)

Cast: Dave Burleigh, Joey Sagal, John Di Domenico, Nicole Lari-Joni, Chadwick Armstrong, Roger Kabler, Chandler Rylko, Natalie Reid, Baron Jay, Frank Medrano, Herbert Russell
Director: Emilio Ferrari
Production Company: First Napoleon Productions, A Plus Entertainment, distributed by Entertainment 7
Trivia: Julia Conley’s and Chelsea Wallace’s film debut.

Share this post