Warner Bros. Pictures
The second week of March had few new releases than the previous week, but there are several films of note on this week’s list. 1933 saw the film debut of Buster Crabbe in a Tarzan knock-off, and gave us one of the most-loved musicals of all time. 1943 gave Van Johnson his first starring role, which he nearly lost after a terrible accident … but the film was so popular Steven Spielberg remade it as Always. Rosemary Clooney made her film debut in 1953, and Van Johnson was a top billed star by this point. 1973 saw Robert Altman adapt Raymond Chandler, and 1983 produced a barely remembered Disney film that paved the way for Touchstone Pictures. 1993 had a hip hop version of This is Spinal Tap, and a tale of alien abductions, 2003 saw Frankie Muniz take in a record paycheck, and 2013 plunked James Franco down in the Land of Oz. These movies and many more celebrate anniversaries this week, so read on and tell us if your favorites are here.
1923
March 9 – Little Church Around the Corner (USA)
- Cast: Claire Windsor, Kenneth Harlan, Hobart Bosworth, Pauline Starke, Walter Long, Cyril Chadwick, Alec B. Francis, Winter Hall, Margaret Seddon, George Cooper
- Director: William A. Seiter
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: A print of this film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.
March 10 – Racing Hearts (USA)
- Cast: Agnes Ayres, Richard Dix, Theodore Roberts, Robert Cain, Warren Rogers, J. Farrell MacDonald, Edwin J. Brady, Fred J. Butler, Robert Brower
- Director: Paul Powell
- Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The film is considered lost.
March 11 – Goodbye Girls (USA)
- Cast: William Russell, Carmel Myers, Tom Wilson, Kate Price, Robert Klein
- Director: Jerome Storm
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
March 11 – Grumpy (USA)
- Cast: Theodore Roberts, May McAvoy, Conrad Nagel, Casson Ferguson, Bertram Johns, Charles Ogle, Robert Bolder, Charles K. French
- Director: William C. deMille
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a 1913 Broadway play Grumpy by Horace Hodges and Thomas Wigney Percyval. The film was thought lost but a copy has been discovered in the Gosfilmofond Archive in Moscow, Russia.
March 11 – Shoot Straight (USA, short)
- Cast: James Parrott, Jobyna Ralston, George Rowe
- Director: J.A. Howe
- Production Company: Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Pathé Exchange
March 12 – Gossip (USA)
- Cast: Gladys Walton, Ramsey Wallace, Albert Prisco, Freeman Wood, Carol Holloway
- Director: King Baggot
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film is considered lost.
March 12 – Refuge (USA)
- Cast: Katherine MacDonald, Hugh Thompson, J. Gunnis Davis, J. Gordon Russell, Eric Mayne, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Mathilde Brundage, Fred Malatesta, Grace Morse, Victor Potel, Elita Proctor Otis
- Director: Victor Schertzinger
- Production Company: Preferred Pictures, distributed by First National Pictures
March 12 – The Handy Man (USA, short)
- Cast: Stan Laurel, Merta Sterling, Otto Fries, Harry Mann, Babe London
- Director: Robert P. Kerr
- Production Company: Quality Film Productions, distributed by Metro Pictures Corporation
March 12 – The Oregon Trail (USA, serial)
- Cast: Art Acord, Louise Lorraine, Duke R. Lee, Jim Corey, Sidney De Gray, Ruth Royce, Frederick Peters
- Director: Edward Laemmle
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The serial is considered lost.
1933
March 10 – Fast Workers (USA)
- Cast: John Gilbert, Robert Armstrong, Mae Clarke, Muriel Kirkland, Vince Barnett, Virginia Cherrill, Muriel Evans, Sterling Holloway, Guy Usher, Warner Richmond, Robert Burns
- Director: Tod Browning
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Also known as Rivets. Based on the unproduced play Rivets by John McDermott. Director Tod Browning received no credit on the film. John Gilbert’s last film for MGM.
March 10 – King of the Jungle (USA)
- Cast: Buster Crabbe, Frances Dee, Sidney Toler, Nydia Westman, Robert Barrat, Irving Pichel, Douglass Dumbrille, Sam Baker, Patricia Farley
- Director: H. Bruce Humberstone, Max Marcin
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Originally opened January 19, 1933 in Germany. Film debut of Buster Crabbe, who narrowly lost out on the role of Tarzan, so he starred in this copycat production.
March 10 – Scarlet River (USA)
- Cast: Tom Keene, Dorothy Wilson, Creighton Chaney, Roscoe Ates, Edgar Kennedy, Hooper Atchley, Betty Furness, Jack Raymond, James Mason, Yakima Canutt
- Director: Otto Brower
- Production Company: RKO Pictures
- Trivia: Myrna Loy, Joel McCrea, Bruce Cabot and Rochelle Hudson have brief, uncredited cameos in an early scene at the film studio.
March 11 – 42nd Street (USA)
- Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, Ginger Rogers, Ned Sparks, Dick Powell
- Director: Lloyd Bacon
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the 1932 novel of the same name by Bradford Ropes. The film’s choreography was by Busby Berkeley. Oscar nominated for Best Picture at the 6th Academy Awards. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1998. The film was adapted into a Broadway musical in 1980. In the original novel, Julian (Warner Baxter) and Billy (Dick Powell) are lovers, but same-sex relationships were unacceptable in films at the time so Billy’s love interest became Peggy (Ruby Keeler, in her first film). Mervyn LeRoy was the original director but became ill and was replaced with Lloyd Bacon. LeRoy suggested Ginger Rogers, whom he was dating, for the role of ‘Anytime Annie’.
March 11 – Obey the Law (USA)
- Cast: Leo Carrillo, Dickie Moore, Lois Wilson, Eddie Garr, Gino Corrado, Ward Bond, Henry Clive
- Director: Benjamin Stoloff
- Production Company: Bryan Foy Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
March 11 – Perfect Understanding (USA)
- Cast: Gloria Swanson, Laurence Olivier, John Halliday, Nigel Playfair, Michael Farmer, Genevieve Tobin, Charles Cullum, Nora Swinburne, Peter Gawthorne, Charles Childerstone
- Director: Cyril Gardner
- Production Company: Gloria Swanson British Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Originally opened in the UK in January 1933. The film was an attempt to revive Gloria Swanson’s career, which had suffered after the advent of talkies.
March 13 – The Constant Woman (USA)
- Cast: Conrad Nagel, Leila Hyams, Tommy Conlon, Claire Windsor, Stanley Fields, Fred Kohler, Alexander Carr, Robert Ellis, Lionel Belmore, Ruth Clifford
- Director: Victor Schertzinger
- Production Company: K.B.S. Productions Inc., distributed by World Wide Pictures
- Trivia: Also known as Auction in Souls and Hell in a Circus. Based on the 1913 Eugene O’Neill play Recklessness.
March 13 – The Intruder (USA)
- Cast: Monte Blue, Lila Lee, Gwen Lee, Arthur Housman, Mischa Auer, Harry Cording, William B. Davidson, Wilfred Lucas, Sidney Bracey, Lynton Brent
- Director: Albert Ray
- Production Company: Allied Pictures
- Trivia: A copy of the film survives in the Library of Congress collection.
1943
March 10 – A Guy Named Joe (USA)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Cast: Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Ward Bond, James Gleason, Lionel Barrymore, Barry Nelson, Esther Williams, Henry O’Neill, Don DeFore, Charles Smith, Addison Richards
- Director: Victor Fleming
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc
- Trivia: Van Johnson’s first starring role. Johnson was seriously injured in a car accident during production, suffering damage to his skull so severe doctors inserted a plate in his head. MGM wanted to replace Johnson but Spencer Tracy convinced them to suspend production until he healed. Filming continued four months later and Johnson can be seen with and without a forehead scar in the film. Irene Dunne had to begin work on another picture after production resumed, resulting in her acting in both films at the same time. She found the process of inhabiting two different characters at the same time unbearable. The main reason Johnson was allowed to stay was because the studio made a deal with Tracy and Victor Fleming to stop making Dunne’s life miserable. During Johnson’s recovery, Dunne and Tracy did re-shoots of scenes where their hostility was noticeable.
March 10 – Idaho (USA)
- Cast: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, Bob Nolan, Sons of the Pioneers, Virginia Grey, Harry Shannon, Ona Munson, Dick Purcell, Onslow Stevens, Arthur Hohl, Hal Taliaferro, The Robert Mitchell Boys Choir
- Director: Joseph Kane
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
March 11 – Assignment in Brittany (USA)
- Cast: Jean-Pierre Aumont, Susan Peters, Margaret Wycherly, Signe Hasso, Richard Whorf, George Coulouris, John Emery, Darryl Hickman, Sarah Padden, Adia Kuznetzoff, Reginald Owen, Miles Mander, Alan Napier, Odette Myrtil, Juanita Quigley, William Edmunds
- Director: Jack Conway
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Jean-Pierre Aumont’s and Signe Hasso’s American film debuts. Adapted from a novel by Helen MacInnes, which was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post. The film’s working title was Fire in the Night.
March 12 – Dixie Dugan (USA)
- Cast: Lois Andrews, James Ellison, Charlotte Greenwood, Charles Ruggles, Helene Reynolds, Raymond Walburn, Ann E. Todd, Eddie Foy Jr., Irving Bacon, Sarah Edwards
- Director: Otto Brower
- Production Company: Twentieth Century Fox
- Trivia: Based on the long-running comic strip of the same name.
March 12 – Hoppy Serves a Writ (USA)
- Cast: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Victor Jory, George Reeves, Jan Christy, Hal Taliaferro, Forbes Murray, Robert Mitchum, Byron Foulger, Earle Hodgins, Roy Barcroft
- Director: George Archainbaud
- Production Company: Harry Sherman Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: The 43rd of 66 Hopalong Cassidy features. Features the second screen performance of Robert Mitchum.
March 12 – The Blocked Trail (USA)
- Cast: Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, Jimmie Dodd, Helen Deverell, George J. Lewis, Walter Soderling, Charles Miller, Kermit Maynard, Pierce Lyden, Carl Mathews, Hal Price, Budd Buster
- Director: Elmer Clifton
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
March 12 – The Purple V (USA)
- Cast: John Archer, Mary McLeod, Fritz Kortner, Rex Williams, Kurt Katch, Walter Sande, Wilhelm von Brincken, Peter Lawford, Kurt Kreuger
- Director: George Sherman
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
- Trivia: John Archer and Mary McLeod were borrowed from MGM for the film.
March 14 – The Moon Is Down (USA)
- Cast: Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Henry Travers, Lee J. Cobb, Dorris Bowdon, Margaret Wycherly, Peter van Eyck, William Post, Jr., Henry Rowland, E. J. Ballantine, Hans Schumm
- Director: Irving Pichel
- Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox
- Trivia: Based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck. The set of How Green Was My Valley was reused for this film.
1953
March 8 – White Lightning (USA)
- Cast: Stanley Clements, Barbara Bestar, Steve Brodie, Gloria Blondell, Paul Bryar, Lyle Talbot, Frank Jenks, Lee Van Cleef, Myron Healey, Riley Hill
- Director: Edward Bernds
- Production Company: Monogram Pictures, distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
- Trivia: The film features an early performance from Lee Van Cleef.
March 10 – Mantrap (UK)
- Cast: Paul Henreid, Lois Maxwell, Kieron Moore, Hugh Sinclair, Lloyd Lamble, Anthony Forwood, Bill Travers
- Director: Terence Fisher
- Production Company: Hammer Films, distributed by Exclusive Films (UK), United Artists (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on October 2, 1953 as Man in Hiding. Based on the 1952 novel Queen in Danger by Elleston Trevor.
March 11 – The Stars Are Singing (USA)
- Cast: Rosemary Clooney, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Lauritz Melchior, Bob Williams, Tom Morton, Fred Clark, John Archer, Mikhail Rasumny, Lloyd Corrigan, Don Wilson
- Director: Norman Taurog
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Rosemary Clooney’s film debut. The film premiered in Clooney’s home town of Maysville, Kentucky at the Russell Theatre.
March 13 – Confidentially Connie (USA)
- Cast: Van Johnson, Janet Leigh, Louis Calhern, Walter Slezak, Gene Lockhart, Marilyn Erskine, Hayden Rorke, Robert Burton, Kathleen Lockhart, Arthur Space, Barbara Ruick
- Director: Edward Buzzell
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc.
- Trivia: Real-life married couple Gene and Kathleen Lockhart, parents of June Lockhart, played the married couple the Magruders.
March 13 – The Glass Wall (USA)
- Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Gloria Grahame, Ann Robinson, Douglas Spencer, Robin Raymond, Jerry Paris, Jack Teagarden, Shorty Rogers, Joseph Turkel
- Director: Maxwell Shane
- Production Company: Shane-Tors Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The title refers to a design feature of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
March 13 – The Sun Shines Bright (Italy)
- Cast: Charles Winninger, Arleen Whelan, John Russell, Stepin Fetchit, Russell Simpson, Ludwig Stössel, Francis Ford, Paul Hurst, Mitchell Lewis, Grant Withers, Milburn Stone, Dorothy Jordan, Slim Pickens, Jane Darwell
- Director: John Ford
- Production Company: Argosy Pictures, distributed by Republic Pictures
- Trivia: Opened in the US on May 2, 1953. Based on material taken from the ‘Judge Priest’ short stories in The Saturday Evening Post. Stepin Fetchit played the part of Judge Priest’s assistant Poindexter in both this and the 1934 Judge Priest film.
March 14 – She’s Back on Broadway (USA)
- Cast: Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson, Frank Lovejoy, Steve Cochran, Patrice Wymore, Virginia Gibson, Larry Keating, Paul Picerni, Nedrick Young, Jacqueline deWit, Mabel Albertson
- Director: Gordon Douglas
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Virginia Mayo’s last musical film. Her voiced was dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams. The film was an unofficial follow-up to Mayo’s 1952 musical hit She’s Working Her Way Through College.
1963
March 10 – Mystery Submarine (France)
- Cast: Edward Judd, James Robertson Justice, Laurence Payne, Joachim Fuchsberger, Arthur O’Sullivan, Albert Lieven, Robert Flemyng, Richard Carpenter, Richard Thorp, Jeremy Hawk
- Director: C. M. Pennington-Richards
- Production Company: Bertram Ostrer Productions, British Lion Film Corporation, distributed by Britannia Films (UK), Universal Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Originally opened in West Germany on October 26, 1962. It opened in the US on August 22, 1963. Based on a play by Jon Manchip White.
March 15 – El ángel exterminador (Finland)
- Cast: Silvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, José Baviera, Augusto Benedico, Luis Beristáin, Antonio Bravo, Claudio Brook, César del Campo
- Director: Luis Buñuel
- Production Company: Producciones Gustavo Alatriste, distributed by Vídeo Mercury Films
- Trivia: The film was screened at the New York Film Festival on September 10, 1963 but did not get a formal US release until August 21, 1967 as The Exterminating Angel. While traveling in Mexico, Marilyn Monroe visited the studio, met Luis Buñuel, and took pictures on set with the cast.
1973
March 8 – The Long Goodbye (USA)
- Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, David Arkin, Jim Bouton, Warren Berlinger, Pancho Córdova, Enrique Lucero, Rutanya Alda, Jack Riley
- Director: Robert Altman
- Production Company: Lion’s Gate Films, distributed by
United Artists - Trivia: Based on Raymond Chandler’s 1953 novel. The film’s story period was moved from 1949-1950 to 1970s Hollywood. The film features an early uncredited appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021. The casting was unconventional with choices such as former baseball player Jim Bouton, Nina Van Pallandt (known then as ex-lover of Clifford Irving), director Mark Rydell, and Henry Gibson, best known for Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Bonanza star Dan Blocker was to appear as well, but he died before production started. The film is dedicated to his memory.
1983
March 11 – 10 to Midnight (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Charles Bronson, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis, Geoffrey Lewis, Wilford Brimley, Robert Lyons, Ola Ray
- Director: J. Lee Thompson
- Production Company: Cannon Group, City Films, distributed by Cannon Films
- Trivia: While selling the film at the Cannes Film Festival with no actual story, producers scrambled back in Los Angeles to come up with something. A colleague of the producer suggested just using the script of Bloody Sunday and attaching the already chosen title to it. The name of killer Warren for Warren Stacy was based on Hollywood star Warren Beatty. Kelly Preston has a small role in the film, billed as Kelly Palzis.
March 11 – Trenchcoat (USA)
- Cast: Margot Kidder, Robert Hays, Gila von Weitershausen, Daniel Faraldo, Ronald Lacey, John Justin, Leopoldo Trieste, Jennifer Darling, Kevork Malikyan, Vic Tablian
- Director: Michael Tuchner
- Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
- Trivia: Because of the limited promotion and mostly negative reviews, Trenchcoat is one of the more difficult Disney films to find (also Disney’s involvement is uncredited due to the film’s adult themes). The film’s working title was Malta Wants Me Dead and was origibally set up at EMI. Princess Aida was played by Ronald Lacey (Raiders of the Lost Ark), and may be the first openly gay character in a Disney film. This is one of the films of the era when Disney was trying to produce more adult fare that lead to the creation of Touchstone Pictures.
1993
March 12 – A Far Off Place (USA)
- Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall, Jack Thompson, Sarel Bok, Robert John Burke, Patricia Kalember, Daniel Gerroll, Maximilian Schell, Miles Anderson
- Director: Mikael Salomon
- Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Touchwood Pacific Partners, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Also known as Far Off Place and Kalahari. Based on Laurens van der Post’s works A Far Off Place (1974) and its prequel, A Story Like the Wind (1972). Filmed on location in Namibia and Zimbabwe.
March 12 – CB4 (USA)
Imagine Entertainment
- Cast: Chris Rock, Allen Payne, Deezer D, Chris Elliott, Phil Hartman, Charlie Murphy, Khandi Alexander, Art Evans, Theresa Randle, Willard E. Pugh, Ty Granderson Jones, Rachel True, Stoney Jackson, Isaac Hayes
- Director: Tamra Davis
- Production Company: Imagine Entertainment, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Ice-T, Halle Berry, Ice Cube, Flavor Flav, Shaquille O’Neal, Eazy-E, Butthole Surfers cameo as themselves. Tommy Davidson has an uncredited cameo as Weird Warren.
March 12 – Ethan Frome (USA)
- Cast: Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette, Joan Allen, Tate Donovan, Katharine Houghton, George Woodard, Jay Goede
- Director: John Madden
- Production Company: American Playhouse, British Broadcasting Corporation, Richard Price, distributed by Miramax
- Trivia: Adaptation of the 1911 novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.
March 12 – Fire in the Sky (USA)
- Cast: D. B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, James Garner, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, Henry Thomas, Bradley Gregg, Kathleen Wilhoite, Georgia Emelin, Scott MacDonald, Noble Willingham
- Director: Robert Lieberman
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on Travis Walton’s book The Walton Experience, which describes an extraterrestrial abduction. The book was later re-released as Fire in the Sky to promote its connection to the film. The film’s alien abduction scenes bear almost no resemblance to those describer in the book. Studio executives found Walton’s account boring and insisted on the changes. While doing research on the real life Mike Rogers, Robert Patrick found out through his family that the two were actually related by marriage.
2003
March 13 – Stevie (Netherlands, documentary)
- Cast: Steve James, Stephen Fielding, Tonya Gregory, Bernice Hagler, Brenda Hickam, Doug Hickam, Judy James
- Director: Steve James
- Production Company: Kartemquin Films, Films Transit International, distributed by Lions Gate Films
- Trivia: The film received a limited US release on April 11, 2003. Nominated for Best Documentary at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards.
March 13 – You Can’t Stop the Murders (AUS)
- Cast: Anthony Mir, Gary Eck, Akmal Saleh, Richard Carter, Kirstie Hutton
- Director: Anthony Mir
- Production Company: Big Mo Film Pty. Ltd., Miramax, SBS Independent, Showtime Australia, distributed by Buena Vista International
- Trivia: The plot revolves around a series of Village People-themed murders in a small town, and the title is a satirical reference to the 1980 film Can’t Stop the Music, in which the Village People star.
March 14 – Agent Cody Banks (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff, Angie Harmon, Keith David, Ian McShane, Arnold Vosloo, Martin Donovan, Daniel Roebuck, Cynthia Stevenson, Connor Widdows, Darrell Hammond
- Director: Harald Zwart
- Production Company: Splendid Pictures, Maverick Films, Dylan Sellers Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by MGM Distribution Co.
- Trivia: Hilary Duff’s first major motion picture aside from the Lizzie Maguire movie spun off from her TV series. It was also Angie Harmon’s first film after three years on Law & Order. Madonna is an executive producer through her production company Maverick Films. Jason Alexander is also an EP and was originally set to direct, but was replaced by Vic Armstrong who was then replaced by Harald Zwart. Frankie Minuz received $2 million to appear in the film, the highest salary for a child actor since Macaulay Culkin. Muniz and Harmon did most of their own stunts.
March 14 – Spun (USA)
- Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, Nicholas Gonzalez, Charlotte Ayanna
- Director: Jonas Åkerlund
- Production Company: Muse Productions, Brink Films, Little Magic Films, Muse/Blacklist Films, Saggitaire, Silver Nitrate, Spun Inc., Stone Canyon Entertainment, distributed by StudioCanal (International), Newmarket Films (USA)
- Trivia: First opened in Norway on February 7, 2003. The original script was based on three days of writer William De Los Santos’s life in the Eugene, Oregon, drug subculture. Jonas Åkerlund’s feature directorial debut. Larry Drake, Billy Corgan, China Chow, Rob Halford, Tony Kaye, Ron Jeremy, and Josh Peck have cameo roles.
March 14 – The Hunted (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio del Toro, Connie Nielsen, Leslie Stefanson, John Finn, José Zúñiga, Ron Canada, Mark Pellegrino, Jenna Boyd
- Director: William Friedkin
- Production Company: Lakeshore Entertainment, Alphaville Films, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The technical adviser for the film was Tom Brown Jr., an American outdoorsman and wilderness survival expert, and the story is partially based on a real-life incident involving Brown.
March 14 – Willard (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, Laura Elena Harring, Jackie Burroughs, Kimberly Patton, William S. Taylor, Ty Olsson
- Director: Glen Morgan
- Production Company: Hard Eight Pictures, distributed by New Line Cinema
- Trivia: Loosely based on the novel Ratman’s Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, as well as on the novel’s first film adaptation, Willard (1971), and its sequel, Ben (1972). Bruce Davidson, who played Willard in the 1971 film, is seen in a portrait as Willard’s late father Alfred Benjamin Stiles.
2013
March 8 – Dead Man Down (USA)
- Cast: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Dominic Cooper, Terrence Howard, F. Murray Abraham, Armand Assante, Wade Barrett, Luis Da Silva, Isabelle Huppert, James Biberi
- Director: Niels Arden Oplev
- Production Company: Original Film, Frequency Films, IM Global, WWE Studios, distributed by FilmDistrict
- Trivia: Director Niels Arden Oplev has disowned the American advertising campaign, which he felt misrepresented the film.
March 8 – Emperor (USA)
- Cast: Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones, Eriko Hatsune, Masayoshi Haneda, Colin Moy, Masatoshi Nakamura, Isao Natsuyagi, Masatō Ibu, Takatarō Kataoka, Shōhei Hino, Toshiyuki Nishida
- Director: Peter Webber
- Production Company: Krasnoff Foster Productions, United Performers’ Studio, distributed by Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate
- Trivia: Director Peter Webber’s first film in five years.
March 8 – I’m So Excited (USA)
- Cast: Javier Cámara, Antonio de la Torre, Raúl Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Hugo Silva, Lola Dueñas, Cecilia Roth, Guillermo Toledo, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Laya Martí, José María Yazpik, José Luis Torrijo, Blanca Suárez
- Director: Pedro Almodóvar
- Production Company: Canal+ España, El Deseo, Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Televisión Española (TVE), distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
- Trivia: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Paz Vega, Susi Sánchez, Carmen Machi make cameo appearances. The original Spanish title is Los amantes pasajeros. The film was completely financed through pre-sales to international film markets.
March 8 – Oz the Great and Powerful (USA)
Walt Disney Pictures
- Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, Tony Cox, Stephen R. Hart, Bruce Campbell, William Bock, Abigail Spencer, Tim Holme
- Director: Sam Raimi
- Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Roth Films, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- Trivia: The film is a spiritual prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp both turned down the title role. Bruce Campbell appears as a Winkie guard in the Emerald City. Abigail Spencer plays May, Oscar’s temporary magic assistant, and Ted Raimi is a small-town skeptic at Oscar’s magic show. Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly, who all appeared in Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, make appearances as Quadling townspeople. John Paxton, who plays the Elder Tinker, made his final film performance before dying in November 2011. The great grandson of Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 film, also appears as a tinker.
March 14 – Goddess (AUS)
- Cast: Ronan Keating, Laura Michelle Kelly, Magda Szubanski, Phoenix Morrison, Levi Morrison, Dustin Clare, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Corinne Grant, Pia Miranda, Natalie Tran, Lucy Durack, Celia Ireland
- Director: Mark Lamprell
- Production Company: The Film Company, Ealing Metro International, Wildheart Films, distributed by Roadshow Films
- Trivia: Based on the original stage play Sinksongs.
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