Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #136 :: March 1•7

Touchstone Pictures

The first week of March looks to be a huge week for new releases, but that is a bit deceptive. There are many films on the list this week that were released in March but the dates have been lost to history. A very large number of films released in the UK in 1933 were dubbed ‘Quota Quickies’ because of a program enacted to help sustain the then failing British film industry. Movies were churned out and released quickly just to keep production moving, so many of those release dates have gone missing. 1923 also has a large number of films without release dates, and many of those are now considered lost. The first significant films on the list show up in 1943 where Mickey Rooney scored an Oscar nominations for one film, and two Universal Monsters teamed up for the first time in another. 1953 saw Humphrey Bogart make his first and only film for MGM, while 1963 saw Vincent Price go ‘mad’ in one film, while another gave us Judy Garland’s final screen performance. 1973 was a new era with many sexually charged films, but in the midst of them was an animated film based on a children’s classic novel. In 1983, the slasher genre attempted to cater to an older demographic with little success, and one studio basically abandoned a film that went on to earn five Oscar nominations and two wins. 2003 paired up Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, and 2013 saw Nicholas Hoult face off against a band of CGI giants. Check out the films on this week’s list, learn some interesting facts, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating this week!

1923

March – The Drug Traffic (USA)

Cast: Robert Walker, Gladys Brockwell, Barbara Tennant, Ben Hewlett
Director: Irving Cummings
Production Company: Irving Cummings Productions, distributed by Principal Pictures
Trivia: The film was produced independently and released on a state-by-state basis.

March – Hornet’s Nest (UK)

Cast: Florence Turner, Fred Wright, Nora Swinburne, James Knight, Kathleen Vaughan, Lewis Gilbert, Cecil Morton York, Forbes Dawson, Jeff Barlow, Arthur Walcott, Somers Bellamy
Director: Walter West
Production Company: Walter West Productions, distributed by Butcher’s Film Service

March – It Happened Out West (USA)

Cast: Franklyn Farnum, Shorty Hamilton, Virginia Lee, AlmHart
Director: Unknown
Production Company: William M. Smith Productions, distributed by Merit Film Corporation

March – St. Elmo (UK)

Cast: Shayle Gardner, Gabrielle Gilroy, Madge Tree, Harding Thomas
Director: Rex Wilson
Production Company: R.W. Syndicate, distributed by Capitol
Trivia: Based on the 1867 novel of the same name written by Augusta Jane Evans.

March – The Love Nest (USA, short)

Cast: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Virginia Fox
Director: Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton
Production Company: Buster Keaton Productions, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
Trivia: Buster Keaton’s final short film. All of the names listed on the clipboard as the ship’s crew were contemporary comedians/actors.

March – The Temptation of Carlton Earle (UK)

Cast: C. Aubrey Smith, James Lindsay, Gertrude McCoy, Simeon Stuart
Director: Wilfred Noy
Production Company: British Actors Film Company

March 1 – Deceit (USA)

Cast: Evelyn Preer, William Fountaine, Norman Johnstone, A. B. DeComathiere, Cleo Desmond
Director: Oscar Micheaux
Production Company: Micheaux Film
Trivia: Filming was completed in 1921 but the film was not released until 1923. The film is considered to be lost.

March 1 – Luck (USA)

Cast: Johnny Hines, Robert Edeson, Edmund Breese, Violet Mesereau, Charles Murray, Flora Finch, Warner Richmond, Polly Moran, Harry Fraser, Matthew Betz, Tommy Carr
Director: Unknown
Production Company: C.C. Burr Productions, distributed by Mastodon Films

March 1 – Temptation (USA)

Cast: Bryant Washburn, Eva Novak, June Elvidge, Phillips Smalley, Vernon Steele
Director: Edward LeSaint
Production Company: Columbia Pictures

March 1 – Western Justice (USA)

Cast: Josephine Hill, Jack Perrin
Director: John Frederick Caldwell
Production Company: A.B. Maescher Productions, distributed by Arrow Film Corporation

March 4 – Before the Public (USA, short)

Cast: ‘Snub’ Pollard, Marie, Mosquini, James Finkayson, Noah Young
Director: Charley Chase
Production Company: Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Pathé Exchange

March 4 – Brass (USA)

Cast: Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Irene Rich, Harry Myers, Frank Keenan, Helen Ferguson, Pat O’Malley, Miss DuPont, Ethel Grey Terry
Director: Sidney Franklin
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: A complete 16mm print of the film made for television broadcast in the 1950s survives.

March 4 – Can a Woman Love Twice? (USA)

Cast: Ethel Clayton, Muriel Frances Dana, Kate Lester, Fred Esmelton, Victory Bateman, Wilfred Lucas
Director: James W. Horne
Production Company: Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation, distributed by Film Booking Offices of America

March 4 – The Tents of Allah (USA)

Cast: Monte Blue, Mary Alden, Frank Currier, Mary Thurman, Amalia Rivera, Martin Faust, Macey Harlam, Charles Lane, Sally Crute
Director: Charles A. Logue
Production Company: Encore Pictures, distributed by Associated Exhibitors
Trivia: No prints of the film have been located in any archives so it is considered lost.

March 4 – The White Flower (USA)

Cast: Betty Compson, Edmund Lowe, Edward Martindel, Arline Pretty, Sylvia Ashton, Arthur Hoyt, Leon Barry
Director: Julia Crawford Ivers
Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film was shot on location in Hawaii. It is considered a lost film.

March 5 – Driven (USA)

Cast: Emily Fitzroy, Burr McIntosh, Charles Emmett Mack, George Bancroft, Fred Koser, Ernest Chandler, Leslie Stowe, Elinor Fair
Director: Charles Brabin
Production Company: Charles J. Brabin, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: Adapted from ‘The Flower of the Flock’, a short story by Jay Gelzer. The film is considered lost.

March 5 – Scars of Jealousy (USA)

Cast: Frank Keenan, Edmund Burns, Lloyd Hughes, Marguerite De La Motte, James Neill, Walter Lynch, James “Jim” Mason, Mattie Peters, George Reed
Director: Lambert Hillyer
Production Company: Thomas H. Ince Corporation, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
Trivia: Prints of Scars of Jealousy survive at the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and George Eastman Museum.

March 5 – The Bolted Door (USA)

Cast: Frank Mayo, Charles A. Stevenson, Phyllis Haver, Nigel Barrie, Kathleen Kirkham, Frank Whitson, Bertram Anderson-Smith, Calvert Carter
Director: William Worthington
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Based on the 1910 novel The Bolted Door by George Gibbs. With no archival listings, the film may be lost.

March 5 – The Shriek of Araby (USA)

Cast: Ben Turpin, Kathryn McGuire, Ray Grey, George Cooper, Charles Stevenson, Dick Sutherland, Tiny Ward, Kewpie Morgan
Director: F. Richard Jones
Production Company: Mack Sennett Comedies, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: A copy of the film survives at the Museum of Modern Art.

March 5 – Your Friend and Mine (USA)

Cast: Enid Bennett, Huntley Gordon, Willard Mack, Rosemary Theby, J. Herbert Frank, Otto Lederer, Allene Ray
Director: Clarence G. Badger
Production Company: Sawyer-Lubin Pictures Corporation, distributed by Metro Pictures
Trivia: Based upon the play of the same name by Willard Mack. No prints have been located in any archives, so it is considered lost.

March 7 – If Winter Comes (USA)

Cast: Percy Marmont, Arthur Metcalfe, Sidney Herbert, Wallace Kolb, Riley Hatch, Raymond Bloomer, Leslie King, George Pelzer, Jim Tenbrooke, Ann Forrest, Margaret Fielding, Gladys Leslie, Dorothy Allen, Eleanor Daniels, Virginia Lee
Director: Harry Millarde
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: Based on the 1921 novel later turned into a play by A. S. M. Hutchinson and Basil Macdonald Hastings. The film is not listed in any archives and is presumed lost.

1933

March – Bitter Sweet (UK)

Cast: Anna Neagle, Fernand Gravey, Miles Mander, Clifford Heatherley, Esme Percy, Ivy St. Helier, Gibb McLaughlin
Director: Herbert Wilcox
Production Company: Herbert Wilcox Productions, British & Dominions Film Corporation, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: The first film adaptation of Noël Coward’s 1929 operetta Bitter Sweet. The film was remade in the US in 1940 but was less faithful to the source material due to Production Code censorship.

March – Counsel’s Opinion (UK)

Cast: Henry Kendall, Binnie Barnes, Lawrence Grossmith, Cyril Maude, Francis Lister, Harry Tate, C. Denier Warren, Mary Charles, Margaret Baird, J. Fisher White, Stanley Lathbury
Director: Allan Dwan
Production Company: London Film Productions, distributed by Paramount British Pictures
Trivia: Opened in Australia on October 7, 1933. Based on a 1931 Gilbert Wakefield play and was remade, again by London Films, in 1938 as The Divorce of Lady X. The British Film Institute does not hold a print in its National Archive and classes the film as ‘missing, believed lost’, and is one of the BFI’s ’75 Most Wanted’ missing British feature films.

March – Daughters of Today (UK)

Cast: George Barraud, Betty Amann, Marguerite Allan, Gerald Rawlinson, Hay Petrie, Herbert Lomas, Marie Ault
Director: F.W. Kraemer
Production Company: F.W. Kraemer Productions, distributed by United Artists

March – Double Wedding (UK)

Cast: Joan Marion, Jack Hobbs, Viola Keats, Anthony Hankey, Mike Johnson, Ernest Sefton
Director: Frank Richardson
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Viola Keats’ debut. The film was made as a ‘quota quickie’ to help stimulate the declining British film industry.

March – Excess Baggage (UK)

Cast: Claud Allister, Frank Pettingell, Sydney Fairbrother, Rene Ray, Gerald Rawlinson, Viola Compton, O. B. Clarence, Maud Gill, Finlay Currie
Director: Redd Davis
Production Company: Real Art Productions, distributed by RKO Pictures
Trivia: Opened in Australia on December 9, 1933. The film was made as a ‘quota quickie’.

March – Forging Ahead (UK)

Cast: Margot Grahame, Garry Marsh, Anthony Holles, Clifford Heatherley, Clifford Makeham, Melville Cooper, Edgar Norfolk, Edith Saville
Director: Norman Walker
Production Company: Harry Cohen Productions, distributed by Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: This is another ‘quota quickie’.

March – Going Straight (UK)

Cast: Moira Lynd, Helen Ferrers, Tracy Holmes, Joan Marion, Hal Walters, Huntley Wright, Eric Stanley, George Merritt, Gilbert Davis
Director: John Rawlins
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Another ‘quota quickie’.

March – I’m an Explosive (UK)

Cast: William Hartnell, Gladys Jennings, Eliot Makeham, D. A. Clarke-Smith, Sybil Grove, Harry Terry
Director: Adrian Brunel
Production Company: George Smith Productions, distributed by Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: Another ‘quota quickie’. Based on a novel by Gordon Phillips.

March – King of the Ritz (UK)

Cast: Stanley Lupino, Betty Stockfeld, Hugh Wakefield, Henry Kendall, Gina Malo, Gibb McLaughlin, Harry Milton, John Singer
Director: Carmine Gallone, Herbert Smith
Production Company: British Lion, Gainsborough Pictures, distributed by Gaumont British Distributors (UK)
Trivia: Opened in Australia on March 9, 1935. A separate French-language version King of the Hotel was made, with Betty Stockfield appearing in both films.

March – Matinee Idol (UK)

Cast: Camilla Horn, Miles Mander, Marguerite Allan, Viola Keats, Anthony Hankey, Hay Petrie, Margaret Yarde, Barry Livesey, John Turnbull, Albert Whelan
Director: George King
Production Company: Wyndham Productions, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: The film was a ‘quota quickie’.

March – Money for Speed (UK)

Cast: John Loder, Ida Lupino, Cyril McLaglen, Moore Marriott, Marie Ault, David Lean
Director: Bernard Vorhaus
Production Company: Hall Mark Productions, distributed by United Artists (UK), Regal Distributing (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on January 17, 1936. Also known as Daredevils of Earth. The film was thought lost for many years until two prints surfaced. It became of critical interest after a revival in the 1980s, and is regarded as one of the most significant low-budget films of the era.

March – Soldiers of the King (UK)

Cast: Cicely Courtneidge, Edward Everett Horton, Anthony Bushell, Dorothy Hyson, Frank Cellier, Leslie Sarony, Bransby Williams, Albert Rebla, Herschel Henlere, Ivor McLaren, Olive Sloane, Arty Ash, O. B. Clarence
Director: Maurice Elvey
Production Company: Gainsborough Pictures, distributed by Woolf & Freedman Film Service
Trivia: Cicely Courtneidge’s fourth film, and the first without her husband Jack Hulbert. The film was popular enough to be re-released in 1939.

March – That’s My Wife (UK)

Cast: Claud Allister, Frank Pettingell, Betty Astell, Davy Burnaby, Helga Moray, Hal Walters, Thomas Weguelin, Jack Vyvian
Director: Leslie S. Hiscott
Production Company: British Lion
Trivia: Opened in Australia on February 7, 1934. This film was a ‘quota quickie’.

March – The Blarney Stone (UK)

Cast: Tom Walls, Anne Grey, Robert Douglas, W.G. Fay, J.A. O’Rourke, George Barret, Robert Horton, Haidee Wright, Dorothy Tetley, Louis Bradfield, Zoe Palmer, Charles Carson, Peter Gawthorne, Dickie Edwards
Director: Tom Walls
Production Company: Herbert Wilcox Productions, British & Dominions Film Corporation, distributed by Woolf & Freedman Film Service (UK), Principal Distributing (USA)
Trivia: Released in the US on August 18, 1933 as The Blarney Kiss.

March – The Crime at Blossoms (UK)

Cast: Hugh Wakefield, Joyce Bland, Eileen Munro, Ivor Barnard, Frederick Lloyd, Iris Baker, Arthur Stratton, Maud Gill, Wally Patch, Barbara Gott, Moore Marriott, George Ridgwell
Director: Maclean Rogers
Production Company: British & Dominions Film Corporation, distributed by Paramount British Pictures
Trivia: Remade in 1949 as Dark Secret.

March – The Golden Cage (UK)

Cast: Anne Grey, Anthony Kimmins, Frank Cellier, Mackenzie Ward
Director: Ivar Campbell
Production Company: Sound City Films, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Made as a ‘quota quickie’ for distribution by MGM.

March – The Melody-Maker (UK)

Cast: Lester Matthews, Joan Marion, Evelyn Roberts, Wallace Lupino, A. Bromley Davenport, Vera Gerald, Joan White, Charles Hawtrey, Toni Edgar-Bruce
Director: Leslie S. Hiscott
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Made as a ‘quota quickie’ for the British subsidiary of Warner Bros. Pictures.

March – The Wishbone (UK)

Cast: Nellie Wallace, Davy Burnaby, A. Bromley Davenport, Jane Wood
Director: Arthur Maude
Production Company: Sound City Films, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Made as a ‘quota quickie’ for distribution by MGM.

March – Their Night Out (UK)

Cast: Claude Hulbert, Renee Houston, Gus McNaughton, Binnie Barnes, Jimmy Godden, Amy Veness, Judy Kelly, Ben Welden, Hal Gordon, Marie Ault
Director: Harry Hughes
Production Company: British International Pictures, distributed by Wardour Films
Trivia: Opened in Australia on October 7, 1933.

March 1 – Breed of the Border (USA)

Cast: Bob Steele, Marion Byron, Ernie Adams, George “Gabby” Hayes, Henry Roquemore, Fred Cavins, John Elliott
Director: Robert N. Bradbury
Production Company: Trem Carr Pictures, distributed by Monogram Pictures
Trivia: A print is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.

March 1 – The Thundering Herd (USA)

Cast: Randolph Scott, Judith Allen, Buster Crabbe, Noah Beery Sr., Raymond Hatton, Blanche Friderici, Harry Carey, Monte Blue ,Barton MacLane
Director: Henry Hathaway
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Based on the novel The Thundering Herd by Zane Grey, and is a remake of the 1925 film The Thundering Herd. Noah Beery, Sr. and Raymond Hatton appeared as the same characters in both films. The film is now in the public domain under the title Buffalo Stampede.

March 2 – The Shadow (UK)

Cast: Henry Kendall, Elizabeth Allan, Felix Aylmer, Jeanne Stuart, Cyril Raymond, Viola Compton, John Turnbull, Ralph Truman, Dennis Cowles, Vincent Holman, James Raglan, Gordon Begg, Charles Carson
Director: George A. Cooper
Production Company: Real Art Productions, distributed by United Artists (UK), Globe Film Distributors (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on June 27, 1936. Based on the play The Shadow by Gerald Verner (as Donald Stuart).

March 3 – A Lady’s Profession (USA)

Cast: Alison Skipworth, Roland Young, Sari Maritza, Kent Taylor, Roscoe Karns, Warren Hymer, George Barbier, DeWitt Jennings, Billy Bletcher, Dewey Robinson, Edgar Norton, Ethel Griffies, Claudia Craddock, James Burke, Jackie Searl
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: One of over 700 films sold to Universal in 1958 for television distribution.

March 3 – Humanity (USA)

Cast: Ralph Morgan, Boots Mallory, Alexander Kirkland, Irene Ware, Noel Madison, Wade Boteler, Christian Rub
Director: John Francis Dillon
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation

March 3 – Silent Men (USA)

Cast: Tim McCoy, Florence Britton, J. Carroll Naish, Wheeler Oakman, Matthew Betz, William V. Mong, Joseph W. Girard, Sid Saylor
Director: D. Ross Lederman
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The film was shot in five days.

March 3 – The Great Jasper (USA)

Cast: Richard Dix, Edna May Oliver, Florence Eldridge, Wera Engels, Walter Walker, David Durand, Bruce Cabot, Betty Furness, James Bush
Director: J. Walter Ruben
Production Company: RKO Pictures
Trivia: Based on The Great Jasper by Fulton Oursler.

March 4 – Girl Missing (USA)

Cast: Glenda Farrell, Ben Lyon, Mary Brian, Lyle Talbot, Guy Kibbee, Harold Huber, Edward Ellis, Peggy Shannon, Helen Ware, Ferdinand Gottschalk
Director: Robert Florey
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The original working title for the movie was The Blue Moon Murder Case.

March 4 – Parole Girl (USA)

Cast: Mae Clarke, Ralph Bellamy, Marie Prevost, Hale Hamilton, Ferdinand Gottschalk
Director: Edward Cline
Production Company: Columbia Pictures

March 4 – Reform Girl (USA)

Cast: Noel Francis, Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, Hale Hamilton, Robert Ellis, Dorothy Peterson, Stanley Smith, Ben Hendricks Jr., DeWitt Jennings
Director: Sam Newfield
Production Company: Tower Productions, distributed by Capitol Film Exchange

March 5 – Phantom Thunderbolt (USA)

Cast: Ken Maynard, Frances Lee, Frank Rice, William Gould, Bob Kortman, Frank Beal, Wilfred Lucas
Director: Alan James
Production Company: K.B.S. Productions Inc., distributed by World Wide Pictures

March 7 – Sailor Be Good (USA)

Cast: Jack Oakie, Vivienne Osborne, George E. Stone, Lincoln Stedman, Gertrude Michael, Huntley Gordon, Charles Coleman
Director: James Cruze
Production Company: Jefferson Pictures Corporation, distributed by RKO Pictures
Trivia: Steve Fisher, who became known for his pulp stories, novels and screenplays, served as technical advisor and appeared on screen in an uncredited bit part.

March 7 – What Price Decency (USA)

Cast: Dorothy Burgess, Alan Hale, Walter Byron, Henry Durant, Val Duran
Director: Arthur Gregor
Production Company: Equitable Pictures, distributed by Majestic Pictures
Trivia: Adapted from one of the director’s own plays. The film is considered lost.

1943

March – Harrigan’s Kid (USA)

Cast: Bobby Readick, Frank Craven, William Gargan, J. Carrol Naish, Jay Ward, Douglas Croft, Bill Cartledge, Irving Lee, Selmer Jackson
Director: Charles Reisner
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc.

March – Keep ‘Em Slugging (USA)

Cast: The Dead End Kids, Evelyn Ankers, Elyse Knox, Frank Albertson, Don Porter, Shemp Howard, Samuel S. Hinds, Joan Marsh, Milburn Stone
Director: Christy Cabanne
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: This was the final film in Universal’s ‘Little Tough Guys’ series, and although Universal still billed the group as ‘The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys’, none of the Little Tough Guys appeared in this film. Usual Dead End Kids stars Billy Halop and Bernard Punsley had been drafted prior to production on the film and their roles were filled by Bobby Jordan and Norman Abbott. With Halop gone, Huntz Hall received top billing for this film.

March 2 – The Human Comedy (USA)

Cast: Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed
Director: Clarence Brown
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s, Inc
Trivia: William Saroyan was contracted to script and direct the film, but he was removed from the project because his 240-page script would have produced a four-hour movie, and then wrote the novel of the same name, which was published just before the film was released. The film did win the Oscar for Best Story, and was also nominated for Best Actor (Rooney), Black & White Cinematography, Director and Picture. Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum and Don DeFore appear together as boisterous soldiers in uncredited supporting roles. Carl Switzer, best known as ‘Alfalfa’ in the Our Gang shorts, appears uncredited as Auggie, a friend of Ulysses.

March 3 – Carson City Cyclone (USA)

Cast: Don ‘Red’ Barry, Lynn Merrick, Noah Beery Sr., Bryant Washburn, Emmett Lynn, Stuart Hamblen, Roy Barcroft, Bud Osborne
Director: Howard Bretherton
Production Company: Republic Pictures

March 3 – The Mysterious Doctor (USA)

Cast: John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester, Lester Matthews, Forrester Harvey, Matt Willis
Director: Benjamin Stoloff
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Although set in England, there is a recruiting poster for the Queen’s York Rangers on the wall – which was, and still is part of the Canadian Army, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

March 4 – Let’s Have Fun (USA)

Cast: Bert Gordon, John Beal, Constance Worth
Director: Charles Barton
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The film’s working title may have been Shall I Tell ‘Em.

March 4 – They Got Me Covered (USA)

Cast: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Lenore Aubert, Otto Preminger, Eduardo Ciannelli, Marion Martin, Donald Meek
Director: David Butler
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Also known as Washington Story and The Washington Angle. Paramount loaned out Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour to RKO in exchange for Gary Cooper’s appearance in Star Spangled Rhythm — in which Hope and Lamour also appeared.

March 5 – Bad Men of Thunder Gap (USA)

Cast: Dave O’Brien, James Newill, Guy Wilkerson, Janet Shaw, Jack Ingram, Charles King
Director: Albert Herman
Production Company: Alexander-Stern Productions, distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation
Trivia: Second film in the ‘Texas Rangers’ series.

March 5 – Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (USA)

Universal Pictures

Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Dennis Hoey, Don Barclay, Rex Evans, Dwight Frye, Harry Stubbs, Doris Lloyd, Jeff Corey
Director: Roy William Neill
Production Company: Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Trivia: This was the first of Universal’s ‘Monster Rallies’ film that combined characters from different film series. The film’s chronology follows The Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, combining characters from films that take place in two different eras, and almost no one noticed or cared about those little details. The film was developed as Wolf Man Meets Frankenstein, with the intention being Lon Chaney Jr. would play both characters. The idea was halted before production began because of the physical toll it would take on the actor. Chaney then agreed to play the Monster but reconsidered and returned to his Wolf Man role. Bela Lugosi’s Frankenstein’s Monster had dialog that was cut from the film after test audiences laughed at his delivery of the lines. The removal of the dialog also meant that the Monster’s blindness is never mentioned in the film. Lugosi collapsed on set and was sent home during filming on October 5, 1942 due to the 35 pounds of makeup he wore. Maria Ouspenskaya also suffered an ankle injury the same day. This was Dwight Frye’s final film for Universal, dying several months after the film’s release.

March 5 – The Ape Man (USA)

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall, Minerva Urecal, Emil Van Horn, J. Farrell MacDonald, Wheeler Oakman, Ralph Littlefield, Jack Mulhall
Director: William Beaudine
Production Company: Banner Productions, distributed by Monogram Pictures Corp.
Trivia: Based on ‘They Creep in the Dark’ by Karl Brown, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post. The film’s original title was The Gorilla Strikes. Louise Currie commented that Monogram Pictures’ budget was so low that she had to wear her own clothes because the studio had no wardrobe department.

1953

March – Deadly Nightshade (UK)

Cast: Emrys Jones, Zena Marshall, John Horsely, Joan Hickson, Hector Ross, Roger Maxwell, Lesley Deane, Marne Maitland, Frederick Piper
Director: John Gilling
Production Company: Kenilworth Film Productions, distributed by General Film Distributors
Trivia: The film’s soundtrack may be the same as the one used for 1950’s The Quiet Woman.

March – Intimate Relations (UK)

Cast: Harold Warrender, Marian Spencer, Ruth Dunning, Enoch Russell, Elsy Albin
Director: Charles Frank
Production Company: David Dent Productions, distributed by Adelphi Films
Trivia: Opened in the US on February 4, 1954 as Disobedient. Based upon the play Les Parents terribles by Jean Cocteau.

March 1 – Down Among the Sheltering Palms (USA)

Cast: Mitzi Gaynor, William Lundigan, David Wayne, Jane Greer, Gloria DeHaven, Gene Lockhart, Lyle Talbot, Jack Paar
Director: Edmund Goulding
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Trivia: The film originally opened in the UK on June 16, 1952. Final film of Anne Moore and Vida Aldana. First film of Eden Hartford.

March 3 – All Ashore (USA)

Cast: Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes, Peggy Ryan, Ray McDonald, Barbara Bates, Jody Lawrance, Fay Roope, Jean Willes
Director: Richard Quine
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The last film for married couple Ray McDonald and Peggy Ryan.

March 6 – Battle Circus (USA)

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn, Robert Keith, William Campbell
Director: Richard Brooks
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Humphrey Bogart’s only film for MGM. The film’s original title was MASH 66, but was rejected by the studio which felt audiences wouldn’t understand the connection to a military hospital. Bogart took the film because he liked the script’s humor, but ultimately did not enjoy making it especially after he burned his thumb in a scene that was left in the film.

March 6 – The Titfield Thunderbolt (UK)

Cast: Stanley Holloway, George Relph, Naunton Wayne, John Gregson, Godfrey Tearle, Hugh Griffith, Gabrielle Brune, Sid James, Reginald Beckwith, Edie Martin
Director: Charles Crichton
Production Company: Ealing Studios, Michael Balcon Productions, distributed by General Film Distributors (UK), Universal-International (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on October 20, 1953. The first of Ealing Studios’ comedies filmed in Technicolor. The Thunderbolt itself was represented by an actual antique museum resident, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway locomotive Lion, built in 1838 and so at the time 114 years old. It was repainted a bright red and green for the Technicolor process and ran under its own power.

March 7 – Prince of Pirates (USA)

Cast: John Derek, Barbara Rush, Carla Balenda, Whitfield Connor, Edgar Barrier, Robert Shayne, Harry Lauter, Don C. Harvey, Henry Rowland, Britt Lomond, Gene Roth
Director: Sidney Salkow
Production Company: Sam Katzman Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The film utilized an abundance of stock Technicolor footage, particularly from 1948’s Joan of Arc.

1963

March – House of the Damned (USA)

Cast: Ronald Foster, Merry Anders, Richard Crane, Erika Peters, Dal McKennon, Georgia Schmidt, Stacey Winters, Richard Kiel
Director: Maury Dexter
Production Company: Associated Producers, distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
Trivia: Writer Harry Spalding said he was inspired by the movie Freaks. The movie was shot in seven days.

March – The Bay of St. Michel (UK)

Cast: Keenan Wynn, Mai Zetterling, Ronald Howard, Rona Anderson, Trader Faulkner
Director: John Ainsworth
Production Company: Acropolis Film, Alfa Studios, distributed by Herts-Lion International Corp.
Trivia: Released in the US in December 1964 as Operation Mermaid.

March 1 – La cabeza viviente (Mexico)

Cast: Mauricio Garcés, Ana Luisa Peluffo, Abel Salazar, Germán Robles, Eric del Castillo
Director: Chano Urueta
Production Company: Cinematográfica ABSA, distributed by Alameda Films (Mexico)
Trivia: The film may have had a US release sometime in 1964, but is listed with an official date of May 29, 1968 under the title The Living Head.

March 3 – California (USA)

Cast: Jock Mahoney, Faith Domergue, Michael Pate, Susan Seaforth, Rodolfo Hoyos, Penny Santon, Jimmy Murphy, Nestor Paiva
Director: Hamil Petroff
Production Company: Caren Productions, distributed by American International Pictures
Trivia: The film was shot on the old Republic Pictures lot. The sword fight at the end was director Hamil Petroff’s last-minute idea and it did not appear in the original script.

March 3 – The Long Ships (UK)

Cast: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Oskar Homolka, Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Beba Lončar, Clifford Evans, Gordon Jackson, Colin Blakely
Director: Jack Cardiff
Production Company: Warwick Film Productions, Avala Film, distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation
Trivia: Opened in the US on June 24, 1964. Very loosely based on the Swedish novel The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. José Ferrer was to be the film’s original director but he dropped out. The film’s costume design earned a BAFTA nomination.

March 6 – Diary of a Madman (USA)

Cast: Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, Chris Warfield, Elaine Devry, Ian Wolfe, Stephen Roberts, Lewis Martin, Mary Adams, Joseph Ruskin, Don Brodie
Director: Reginald Le Borg
Production Company: Robert Kent Productions/Admiral Pictures, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s short story ‘Le Horla’ (‘The Horla’), written in 1887. The Horla was the film’s original title.

March 6 – Papa’s Delicate Condition (USA)

Cast: Jackie Gleason, Glynis Johns, Linda Bruhl, Charlie Ruggles, Laurel Goodwin, Ned Glass, Murray Hamilton, Elisha Cook, Jr., Charles Lane
Director: George Marshall
Production Company: Amro Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Adaptation of the Corinne Griffith’s memoir of the same name. Oscar winner for Best Original Song, ‘Call Me Irresponsible’. Another song, ‘Walking Happy’, was cut from the film, then later used in a Broadway musical of the same name. The film was originally announced in 1955 as a musical with Fred Astaire, but postponed so Astaire could make Silk Stockings. Filming did not commence until 1962, with a new writer and a new star (Gleason).

March 7 – I Could Go On Singing (UK)

Cast: Judy Garland, Dirk Bogarde, Jack Klugman, Gregory Phillips, Aline MacMahon, Pauline Jameson, Jeremy Burnham
Director: Ronald Neame
Production Company: Barbican Films, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: Opened in the US on May 15, 1963. Judy Garland’s final film role. Originally titled The Lonely Stage, the film was renamed so that audiences would know that Garland sings in it. The last film in which she sang was 1954’s A Star is Born.

1973

March – Group Marriage (USA)

Cast: Victoria Vetri, Aimée Eccles, Solomon Sturges, Claudia Jennings, Zack Taylor, Jeff Pomerantz, Norman Bartold
Director: Stephanie Rothman
Production Company: Dimension Pictures
Trivia: The top four female leads in this film all appeared in Playboy Magazine, three on the cover.

March – Not Now, Darling (UK)

Cast: Trudi Van Doorn, Leslie Phillips, Julie Ege, Joan Sims, Derren Nesbitt, Ray Cooney, Bill Fraser, Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Barbara Windsor, Moira Lister, Jackie Pallo
Director: Ray Cooney, David Croft
Production Company: LMG Film Productions Limited, Sedgemoor Productions Ltd., Not Now Films, distributed by LMG Film Productions Limited (UK), Dimension Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Released in the US in April 1975. Adapted from the 1967 play of the same title by John Chapman and Ray Cooney. It was the last film to feature appearances by Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert who had been a leading celebrity couple in the 1930s and 1940s.

March – Please Don’t Eat My Mother (USA)

Cast: Buck Kartalian, Lyn Lundgren, Art Hedberg, Rene Bond, Alice Fredlund, Adam Blair, Flora Weisel, Ric Lutze
Director: Carl J. Monson
Production Company: Boxoffice International Pictures
Trivia: An adult-themed parody of Roger Corman’s The Little Shop of Horrors.

March – The Baby (USA)

Cast: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Suzanne Zenor, Tod Andrews, Michael Pataki, Beatrice Manley Blau
Director: Ted Post
Production Company: Quintet Productions, distributed by Scotia International
Trivia: David Mooney shaved his whole body for his role as Baby. Mooney provided all of the baby sounds himself, but a remastered version of the soundtrack includes canned baby sounds, suggesting the original audio was lost or damaged.

March – The Cheerleaders (USA)

Cast: Stephanie Fondue, Denise Dillaway, Jovita Bush, Sandy Evans, Kim Stanton, Brandy Woods, Raoul Hoffnung, Jonathan Jacobs, Richard Meatwhistle, Partick Wright, Janus Blythe
Director: Paul Glickler
Production Company: Cinemation Industries
Trivia: Known in the UK as The 18 Year Old Schoolgirls.

March – The Roommates (USA)

Cast: Marki Bey, Pat Woodell, Roberta Collins, Laurie Rose, David Moses, Ken Scott, Christina Hart, John Morgan Evans, Barbara Fuller, John Hart
Director: Arthur Marks
Production Company: A.G.&S., distributed by General Film Corporation
Trivia: The film was shot on location in and around Lake Arrowhead, where the film’s story is set.

March 1 – Charlotte’s Web (USA)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Voice Cast: Henry Gibson, Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde, Agnes Moorehead, Don Messick, Herb Vigran, Pamelyn Ferdin, Martha Scott, Danny Bonaduce, Dave Madden, Rex Allen
Director: Charles A. Nichols, Iwao Takamoto
Production Company: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Sagittarius Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Based on the 1952 children’s book of the same name by E. B. White. The film’s songs were written by the Sherman Brothers, best known for Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. Tony Randall originally voiced the rat Templeton, but his readings were felt to be too flat and his singing too operatic so he was replaced with Paul Lynde.

March 1 – Miss Leslie’s Dolls (USA)

Cast: Salvador Ugarte, Terri Juston, Marcelle Bichette, Kitty Lewis, Charles Pitts
Director: Joseph G. Prieto
Production Company: World-Wide Film Productions, distributed by Horizon Films
Trivia: Though released in 1973, the film had been considered lost due to not having received a home video release. It was eventually restored in 2018 and released on Blu-ray in the UK.

March 1 – The Thief Who Came to Dinner (USA)

Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Jacqueline Bisset, Warren Oates, Jill Clayburgh, Charles Cioffi, Ned Beatty, Austin Pendleton, Gregory Sierra, Michael Murphy, John Hillerman, Alan Oppenheimer, Margaret Fairchild
Director: Bud Yorkin
Production Company: Bud Yorkin Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Based on the novel by Terrence Lore Smith. Jill Clayburgh makes an early film appearance. Charlotte Rampling was the original female lead but became pregnant and had to drop out, replaced by Jacqueline Bisset. Filming took place on location in Houston. Ryan O’Neal later regretted doing the film.

March 1 – Themroc (France)

Cast: Michel Piccoli, Béatrice Romand, Marilù Tolo, Francesca Romana Coluzzi, Jeanne Herviale, Patrick Dewaere, Coluche, Miou-Miou
Director: Claude Faraldo
Production Company: Productions Filmanthrope, Les Productions FDL, distributed by Cinema International Corporation (France), Libra Films (USA)
Trivia: Released in the UK in May 1973, but did not get a US release until October 1980. The film’s language is completely gibberish.

March 4 – Baxter! (USA)

Cast: Scott Jacoby, Patricia Neal, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Britt Ekland, Lynn Carlin, Sally Thomsett, Paul Eddington, Paul Maxwell
Director: Lionel Jeffries
Production Company: Anglo-EMI Film Distributors, Group W Films, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Performing Arts, distributed by National General Pictures
Trivia: Based on a book by Kin Platt, called The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear. Lionel Jeffries’ second film as a director, but released after his third film, The Amazing Mr. Blunden.

March 6 – The National Health (UK)

Cast: Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely, Eleanor Bron, Donald Sinden, Jim Dale, Bob Hoskins
Director: Jack Gold
Production Company: Virgin Films, distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation
Trivia: Opened in the US on August 10, 1979. Based on the play The National Health by Peter Nichols.

March 7 – Ludwig (Italy)

Cast: Helmut Berger, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano, Gert Fröbe, Helmut Griem, Umberto Orsini, John Moulder-Brown
Director: Luchino Visconti
Production Company: Mega Film, Cinétel, Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, Divina-Film, distributed by Panta Cinematografica Distribuzione (Italy), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on March 8, 1973. Known as Ludwig II in Germany. The third and final film of Visconti’s ‘German Trilogy’, following The Damned and Death in Venice. One of the most expensive European films at the time. The film’s 238 minute running time was heavily cut to 177 minutes for US release. Oscar nominated for Costume Design.

March 7 – Slither (USA)

Cast: James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman, Louise Lasser, Allen Garfield, Richard B. Shull, Alex Rocco
Director: Howard Zieff
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: The first screenplay by W.D. Richter. James Caan said he took the role only for the money.

1983

March 1 – Sněženky a machři (Czechoslovakia)

Cast: Václav Kopta, Michal Suchánek, Jan Antonín Duchoslav, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Veronika Freimanová, Eva Jeníčková, Valentina Thielová, Pavel Marek, Boris Halmi, Karel Kovář
Director: Karel Smyczek
Production Company: Filmové studio Barrandov, distributed by Bontonfilm
Trivia: The English title is Snowdrops and Aces.

March 4 – Baby It’s You (USA)

Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano, Joanna Merlin, Jack Davidson, Liane Curtis, Tracy Pollan, Matthew Modine
Director: John Sayles
Production Company: Double Play, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: This was Matthew Modine’s screen debut, and the first credited role for Robert Downey Jr. as an adult. John Sayles’ first major Hollywood film. Based on an autobiographical story by Amy Robinson.

March 4 – Curtains (USA)

Cast: John Vernon, Linda Thorson, Samantha Eggar, Anne Ditchburn, Lynne Griffin, Lesleh Donaldson, Michael Wincott, Maury Chaykin, Booth Savage
Director: Jonathan Stryker
Production Company: Simcom Limited, distributed by Jensen Farley Pictures
Trivia: Jonathan Stryker was a pseudonym for director Richard Ciupka, and was also the name of John Vernon’s character. The film was intended to be a slasher movie for older audiences, but a troubled production that spanned nearly three years led to Richard Ciupka taking his name off the film. The film was shelved for a year, leading to rewrites, reshoots and one major recasting. The film features two sets of end credits labeled Act I and Act II. An uncredited Peter R. Simpson, the film’s producer, had to take over directing the film when Ciupka quit after completing just 45 minutes of the film.

March 4 – Tender Mercies (USA/Canada)

Cast: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley, Ellen Barkin, Allan Hubbard, Lenny Von Dohlen, Paul Gleason
Director: Bruce Beresford
Production Company: Antron Media Production, EMI Films, distributed by Universal Pictures (USA), EMI Films (Worldwide)
Trivia: Robert Duvall and director Bruce Beresford clashed during production, with Beresford at one point contemplating quitting the film. Following poor test screenings of the film, Universal did little to promote its release. The film, however, was critically acclaimed and earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture. It won for Original Screenplay and Best Actor.

March 4 – Vigilante (USA)

Cast: Robert Forster, Fred Williamson, Richard Bright, Rutanya Alda, Don Blakely, Joseph Carberry, Willie Colón, Joe Spinell, Carol Lynley, Frank Pesce, Steve W. James, Woody Strode, Vincent Beck
Director: William Lustig
Production Company: Magnum Motion Pictures Inc., distributed by Artists Releasing Corporation
Trivia: Released on video as Street Gang.

1993

March 5 – Amos & Andrew (USA)

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Dabney Coleman, Brad Dourif, Michael Lerner, Margaret Colin, Giancarlo Esposito, Tracey Walter, Ron Taylor
Director: E. Max Frye
Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, New Line Cinema, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The film’s title is a play on that of the sitcom Amos ‘n’ Andy while the premise also appears to be a riff on The Defiant Ones.

March 5 – Best of the Best II (USA)

Cast: Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, Chris Penn, Edan Gross, Ralf Moeller, Claire Stansfield, Meg Foster, Sonny Landham, Wayne Newton, Nicholas Worth, Kane Hodder
Director: Robert Radler
Production Company: The Movie Group, Picture Securities Ltd., distributed by 20th Century Fox
Trivia: David Boreanaz appears uncredited as a Parking Valet.

March 5 – Mad Dog and Glory (USA)

Cast: Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Bill Murray, David Caruso, Mike Starr, Tom Towles, Kathy Baker
Director: John McNaughton
Production Company: Mad Dog Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: Richard Belzer appears in a small role as M.C./Comic.

March 5 – Rich in Love (USA)

Cast: Albert Finney, Jill Clayburgh, Kathryn Erbe, Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie, Ethan Hawke, Suzy Amis, Ramona Ward, Alfre Woodard
Director: Bruce Beresford
Production Company: The Zanuck Company, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Based on the 1987 novel Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys.

March 5 – Swing Kids (USA)

Cast: Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey, Tushka Bergen, David Tom, Kenneth Branagh, Noah Wyle, Jessica Hynes, Martin Clunes
Director: Thomas Carter
Production Company: Hollywood Pictures, Touchwood Pacific Partners, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Trivia: Kenneth Branagh is actually uncredited in the film because he didn’t want his name to appear before the boys who he felt were the real stars of the film. Frank Whaley was 28 when he played teenager Arvid. Branagh was 31 in an ‘adult’ role. Directorial debut of Thomas Carter, although Frank Marshall was the original choice.

March 5 – Xi yan (Taiwan)

Cast: Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Gua Ah-leh, Lung Sihung, Michael Gaston, Ang Lee
Director: Ang Lee
Production Company: Ang Lee Productions, Central Motion Pictures, Good Machine, distributed by The Samuel Goldwyn Company (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on August 4, 1993 as The Wedding Banquet. Winston Chao’s film debut. Ang Lee’s second feature film, and the first to get a US release. The film was Oscar and Golden Globe nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

2003

March – Baggage (USA)

Cast: M. Emmet Walsh, Mariette Hartley, Vincent Schiavelli, Camille Solari
Director: Evan Aaronson
Production Company: Cinewave Productions LLC, Terence Michael Productions
Trivia: The director was kidnapped during a break in post-production while on a trip to Peru. The crooks wanted the money on his credit cards and didn’t believe his story that they were maxed out due to making the movie. He was choked, blindfolded and threatened with a gun at his head before he was eventually let go.

March – Ronny Camaro and Seven Angry Women (USA)

Cast: Bo Lennart Robert Linton, Brien Perry, Jennifer Fontaine, LeAnna Campbell
Director: Bo Lennart Robert Linton
Production Company: Bo Linton/Susan Soares Productions, distributed by Absolute Distribution

March 1 – Ancient Warriors (USA)

Cast: Franco Columbu, Daniel Baldwin, Richard Lynch, Andy Mackenzie, Michelle Hunziker, Iris Peynado
Director: Walter von Huene
Production Company: Arc2 Intertainment, Eclipse Entertainment Group, distributed by Romar Entertainment

March 7 – Bringing Down the House (USA/Canada)

Cast: Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Kimberly J. Brown, Angus T. Jones, Joan Plowright, Jean Smart, Missi Pyle, Steve Harris, Michael Rosenbaum, Betty White
Director: Adam Shankman
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, Mandeville Films, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Trivia: The house in which Jean Smart’s character lives is the same house from Father of the Bride, also starring Steve Martin. Michael Rosenbaum wore a wig as Todd Gendler due to shaving his head for the role of Lex Luthor on Smallville. The original script was titled Jailbabe.com, with Adam Sandler and Angelina Jolie in mind for the leads.

March 7 – Tears of the Sun (USA/Canada)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, Tom Skerritt, Cole Hauser, Paul Francis, Eamonn Walker, Johnny Messner, Fionnula Flanagan
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Revolution Studios, Cheyenne Enterprises, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Trivia: The aircraft carrier scenes were filmed aboard the active USS Harry S. Truman, 60 miles east of Cape Hatteras in the Atlantic Ocean. The Navy repeatedly turned the carrier so that director Fuqua would have beneficial lighting conditions.

2013

March – The Hit Girl (USA)

Cast: Ella Celina Bowen, Jessamyn Arnstein, James Castle Stevens, Sharon Gibson, Cortney Palm, Delaney Dziwak, Michael Cole, Matt Sklena, Jim Jones, James A. Ward
Director: James A. Ward
Production Company: Three Degrees Off Center Productions
Trivia: All but two of the male characters are named after characters portrayed by actor Nathan Fillion, of whom the writer/director is a huge fan, and all of the female characters are named after characters portrayed by actress Jessica Harper. Patrick Beckstead has been killed off in all of James Wards films to date. The red candle that is lit at the beginning of The Hit Girl is the same candle that was blown out near the end of James Ward’s previous movie Identity Theft, and it hadn’t been lit in between that time.

March 1 – 21 & Over (USA)

Cast: Justin Chon, Miles Teller, Skylar Astin, Sarah Wright, Francois Chau, Jonathan Keltz, Daniel Booko, Samantha Futerman
Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Production Company: Virgin Produced, Mandeville Films, SkyLand Entertainment, distributed by Relativity Media
Trivia: Jon Lucas’ and Scott Moore’s directorial debut.

March 1 – Ghost Exchange (USA, documentary)

Cast: James Angel, Cathy O’Neil, Harvey Pitt, Adam Sussman
Director: Camilla Sullivan, Rob Lyall
Production Company: Arbitrage Pictures

March 1 – I, Me Aur Main (USA)

Cast: John Abraham, Prachi Desai, Chitrangada Singh, Zarina Wahab, Raima Sen, Sameer Soni, Sheena Shahabadi
Director: Kapil Sharma
Production Company: Rose Movies, distributed by Reliance Entertainment
Trivia: The film’s title translates to I, me and myself.

March 1 – Jack the Giant Slayer (USA)

New Line Cinema

Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner, Ralph Brown, John Kassir, Ben Daniels, Christopher Fairbank
Director: Bryan Singer
Production Company: New Line Cinema, Legendary Pictures, Original Film, Big Kid Pictures, Bad Hat Harry Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The film was originally titled Jack the Giant Killer, and is based on the British fairy tales ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.

March 1 – Phantom (USA)

Cast: Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech, Jason Beghe, Sean Patrick Flanery
Director: Todd Robinson
Production Company: RCR Media Group, Trilogy Entertainment, Solar Filmworks, distributed by RCR Distribution
Trivia: Loosely based on the real-life events involving the sinking of the submarine K-129 in 1968. Onboard scenes took place in the former Foxtrot-class B-39 Soviet submarine which was at the time a museum at San Diego.

March 1 – Pieces of Easter (USA)

Cast: Christina Karis, Jefferson Moore, Sylvia Boykin, Tom Luce, Keith McGill
Director: Jefferson Moore
Production Company: Kelly’s Filmworks
Trivia: Released in some markets as Backroads and Lilies.

March 1 – Stoker (USA)

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Lucas Till, Alden Ehrenreich, Phyllis Somerville
Director: Park Chan-wook
Production Company: Indian Paintbrush, Scott Free Productions, distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Trivia: Park Chan-wook’s English language debut. Actor Wentworth Miller wrote the screenplay under the pen name Ted Foulke so the film could sink or swim on its own. Miller has said the film was influenced by Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt.

March 1 – The Attacks of 26/11 (USA)

Cast: Nana Patekar, Rahaao, Sanjeev Jaiswal, Atul Gavandi, Ashish Bhatt, Sukesh Mishra, Vishal Khosla, Mak Mukesh Tripathi, Atul Kulkarni
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Production Company: Alumbra Entertainment, distributed by Eros International
Trivia: Based on the book Kasab: The Face of 26/11 by Rommel Rodrigues, about the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

March 1 – The Condemned (USA)

Cast: Cristina Rodlo, René Monclova, Axel Anderson, Rocky Venegas, Luz Odilea Font, Marisé Alvarez, Dolores Pedro, Victor Seguí
Director: Roberto Busó-García
Production Company: Alquimia Films, distributed by Strand Releasing
Trivia: Originally opened in Puerto Rico on April 19, 2012 as Los condenados. The film’s working title was El Acantilado (The Cliff).

March 1 – The Last Exorcism Part II (USA)

Cast: Ashley Bell, Julia Garner, Spencer Treat Clark, David Jensen, Tarra Riggs, Louis Herthum, Boyana Balta, Muse Watson
Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly
Production Company: Arcade Pictures, Strike Entertainment, StudioCanal, Anton Capital Entertainment, distributed by CBS Films
Trivia: Unlike the first film, this is not presented as a found footage film. Damien Chazelle wrote the screenplay. Eli Roth was a producer on the film.

March 1 – The Legend of Sarila (Canada)

Cast: Dustin Milligan, Rachelle Lefevre, Tim Rozon, Christopher Plummer, Geneviève Bujold, Tyrone Benskin
Director: Nancy Florence Savard
Production Company: 10th Ave Productions, CarpeDiem Film & TV
Trivia: Canada’s first 3D animated feature film. The film was released in the US as Frozen Land with a logo similar to Disney’s Frozen, prompting a lawsuit.

March 1 – Wampler’s Ascent (USA, , documentary, limited)

Cast: Stephen Wampler
Director: Elizabeth Wampler
Production Company: 11 Amps, distributed by Hollywood Locations

March 4 – Pulp (UK)

Cast: Jay Sutherland, Gavin Molloy, Simon Burbage, Lucy Cudden, John Thomson, Sarah Alexandra Marks, Neil Jennings, Lee Ravitz, Bhasker Patel, Amelia Tyler, Brooke Burfitt
Director: Adam Hamdy, Shaun Magher
Production Company: Dare Productions, Reels In Motion
Trivia: The film bypassed traditional distribution models and premiered on Xbox.

March 5 – Vamp U (Canada)

Cast: Julie Gonzalo, Adam Johnson, Gary Cole, Maclain Nelson, Matt Mattson, Bart Johnson, Alexis Knapp, Clare Niederpruem
Director: Matt Jespersen, Maclain Nelson
Production Company: DeepStudios, Essence Entertainment, Main Dog Productions, distributed by Level 33 Entertainment

March 7 – Blinder (AUS)

Cast: Oliver Ackland, Anna Hutchison, Angus Sampson, Jack Thompson, Josh Helman, Rose McIver, Bobby Morley, Zoe Carides, Aaron Jakubenko
Director: Richard Gray
Production Company: Revival Film Company

March 7 – Just like a Woman (Italy)

Cast: Sienna Miller, Golshifteh Farahani, Bahar Soomekh, Tim Guinee, Roschdy Zem
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Production Company: Taghit llc, Doha Film Institute, Cohen Media Group, 3B Productions, ARTE, Minerva Pictures, The 7th Floor, The Bureau, Trivia:
Trivia: Mayte Garcia, ex-wife of Prince, was offered the lead role of Marilyn but had to decline due to commitments to Hollywood Exes. Shakira was considered, and Lady Gaga lobbied hard for the role. Sasha Alexander was also made an offer but had to turn it down due to schedule conflicts with Rizzoli & Isles.

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