Universal Pictures
As we hit the middle of March, quite a few new films were released across the decades, some hits, some misses, but there is one undeniable classic in the bunch from 1963. Other noteworthy films throughout the years include one from 1933 that marked the end of a career for a silent film star. 1943 saw Abbott & Costello co-starring with a horse, while 1953 made history in the film noir genre. 1973 was a week for horror and musicals, with two of the former and three of the latter. 1983 saw Tom Selleck fly to the big screen, and 1993 saw a remake of a popular French action flick, and the return of everyone’s favorite ‘turtles on the half shell’. 2003 gave Piglet his own movie, while 2013 gave us films set in a 911 call center, the world of magic in Las Vegas, and spring break in Florida. Read on to learn about all of this week’s celebratory films, and tell us if your favorites are on the list!
1923
March 15 – Are You a Failure? (USA)
- Cast: Madge Bellamy, Lloyd Hughes, Tom Santschi, Hardee Kirkland, Jane Keckley, Hallam Cooley, Sam Allen, Myrtle Vane
- Director: Tom Forman
- Production Company: B.P. Schulberg Productions, distributed by Preferred Pictures
March 15 – Gallopin’ Through (USA)
- Cast: Jack Hoxie, Priscilla Bonner, Doreen Turner, Scout the Horse, Bunk the Dog
- Director: Robert N. Bradbury
- Production Company: Sunset Productions, distributed by Aywon Film Corporation
March 15 – The Tie That Binds (USA)
- Cast: Walter Miller, Barbara Bedford, Raymond Hatton, William P. Carleton, Robert Edeson, Julia Swayne Gordon, Marian Swayne, Effie Shannon
- Director: Joseph Levering
- Production Company: Jacob Wilk Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a novel of the same name by Frank R. Adams. The film is considered lost.
March 16 – Is Divorce a Failure? (USA)
- Cast: Leah Baird, Richard Tucker, Walter McGrail, Tom Santschi, Alec B. Francis
- Director: Wallace Worsley
- Production Company: Arthur Beck, distributed by Associated Exhibitors
- Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown which may indicate it is a lost film.
March 17 – The Midnight Guest (USA)
- Cast: Grace Darmond, Mahlon Hamilton, Clyde Fillmore, Pat Harmon, Mathilde Brundage
- Director: George Archainbaud
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
March 18 – The Isle of Lost Ships (USA)
- Cast: Anna Q. Nilsson, Milton Sills, Frank Campeau, Walter Long, Bert Woodruff, Aggie Herring, Herschel Mayall
- Director: Maurice Tourneur
- Production Company: Maurice Tourneur Productions, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
- Trivia: Based on Crittenden Marriott’s novel The Isle of Dead Ships. The film is thought to be lost.
March 18 – Just Like a Woman (USA)
- Cast: Marguerite De La Motte, George Fawcett, Ralph Graves, Jane Keckley, Julia Calhoun, J. Frank Glendon
- Director: Scott R. Beal, Hugh McClung
- Production Company: Grace S. Haskins Productions, distributed by W. W. Hodkinson Corporation
- Trivia: Prints of the film are preserved at the Library of Congress and George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection.
March 18 – The Nth Commandment (USA)
- Cast: Colleen Moore, James W. Morrison, Eddie Phillips, Charlotte Merriam, George Cooper
- Director: Frank Borzage
- Production Company: Cosmopolitan Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a story, The Nth Commandment, by Fannie Hurst. The film’s title jests somewhat Cecil B. DeMille’s upcoming epic The Ten Commandments which was released later that same year. An incomplete copy of the film is in the Library of Congress collection.
March 19 – Golden Silence (USA)
- Cast: Jack Perrin, Hedda Nova
- Director: Paul Hurst
- Production Company: Sylvanite Productions, distributed by Richard Kipling Enterprises
March 19 – Jacqueline (USA)
- Cast: Marguerite Courtot, Helen Rowland, Gus Weinberg, Effie Shannon, Lew Cody, Joseph Depew
- Director: Dell Henderson
- Production Company: Pine Tree Pictures, distributed by Arrow Film Corporation
- Trivia: Also known as Blazing Barriers. Based on a 1918 short story of the same title by James Oliver Curwood.
March 19 – Mr. Billings Spends His Dime (USA)
- Cast: Walter Hiers, Jacqueline Logan, George Fawcett, Robert McKim, Patricia Palmer, Josef Swickard, Guy Oliver
- Director: Wesley Ruggles
- Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The film is considered lost.
March 19 – Where the Pavement Ends (USA)
- Cast: Alice Terry, Ramón Novarro, Edward Connelly, Harry T. Morey, John George
- Director: Rex Ingram
- Production Company: Metro Pictures
- Trivia: Filmed on location in Cuba and Florida. It is considered a lost film.
1933
March 15 – Love Is Dangerous (USA)
- Cast: John Warburton, Rochelle Hudson, Bradley Page, Judith Vosselli, Dorothy Revier, Albert Conti
- Director: Richard Thorpe
- Production Company: George R. Batcheller Productions, distributed by Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation
- Trivia: Also known as Love Is Like That.
March 15 – The Phantom Broadcast (USA)
- Cast: Ralph Forbes, Vivienne Osborne, Arnold Gray, Gail Patrick, Paul Page, Pauline Garon, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Rockliffe Fellowes
- Director: Phil Rosen
- Production Company: Monogram Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a story by Tristram Tupper entitled Phantom of the Air.
March 16 – Rustlers’ Roundup (USA)
- Cast: Tom Mix, Diane Sinclair, Noah Beery Jr., Douglass Dumbrille, Roy Stewart, Nelson McDowell, William Desmond, Frank Lackteen, William Wagner, Gilbert Holmes, Bud Osborne
- Director: Henry MacRae
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
March 16 – Secrets (USA)
- Cast: Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, C. Aubrey Smith, Blanche Friderici, Doris Lloyd, Herbert Evans, Ned Sparks, Allan Sears, Mona Maris, Huntley Gordon
- Director: Frank Borzage
- Production Company: Mary Pickford Company, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Mary Pickford’s last film role. Remake of Secrets (1924) which was based on a 1922 play of the same name. Pickford had started a remake of Secrets titled Forever Yours in 1930 but after spending $300,000, production was stopped and she destroyed the negatives because she was unhappy with the results.
March 17 – Our Betters (USA)
- Cast: Constance Bennett, Anita Louise, Gilbert Roland, Violet Kemble-Cooper, Charles Starrett, Grant Mitchell, Minor Watson, Hugh Sinclair, Alan Mowbray, Tyrell Davis
- Director: George Cukor
- Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1917 play of the same title by Somerset Maugham. Gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell, known for her society parties, served as a consultant for the film’s general tone and costumes.
March 17 – Sailor’s Luck (USA)
- Cast: James Dunn, Sally Eilers, Victor Jory, Sammy Cohen, Frank Moran, Esther Muir, Will Stanton
- Director: Raoul Walsh
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: Before production started, the film’s title was changed to Bad Boy to associate it with star James Dunn’s 1931 hit Bad Girl, but the title was reinstated during production. Dunn did go on to star in Fox’s 1935 film Bad Boy.
March 17 – Strictly Personal (USA)
- Cast: Marjorie Rambeau, Dorothy Jordan, Eddie Quillan, Edward Ellis, Louis Calhern, Dorothy Burgess, Rollo Lloyd, Olive Tell, Hugh Herbert, Thomas E. Jackson
- Director: Ralph Murphy
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Final film of Hazel Jones.
March 18 – Grand Slam (USA)
- Cast: Paul Lukas, Loretta Young, Frank McHugh, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Roscoe Karns, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Reginald Barlow, Walter Byron, Esther Howard
- Director: William Dieterle, Alfred E. Green
- Production Company: First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: The film uses the actual cover of the November 8, 1932 (no. 2572) edition of Life magazine.
March 18 – The Telegraph Trail (USA)
- Cast: John Wayne, Frank McHugh, Marceline Day, Otis Harlan, Albert J. Smith, Yakima Canutt, Lafe McKee
- Director: Tenny Wright
- Production Company: Leon Schlesinger Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Final film directed by Tenny Wright. The second film in which Yakima Canutt appeared with John Wayne. This is the film that James Cagney used to show an example of talking pictures, and the reason for his impending unemployment in Footlight Parade (1933). Ironically, actor Frank McHugh, who plays John Wayne’s sidekick in this film, also appears in Footlight Parade, and watches himself on the movie screen in the other film.
March 21 – Primavera en otoño (Spain)
- Cast: Catalina Bárcena, Antonio Moreno, Mimi Aguglia, Luana Alcañiz, Julio Peña, María Calvo, Agostino Borgato
- Director: Eugene Forde
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: Opened in the US on May 17, 1933.
1943
March 17 – Salute for Three (USA)
- Cast: Betty Jane Rhodes, Macdonald Carey, Marty May, Dona Drake, Noel Neill, Cliff Edwards
- Director: Ralph Murphy
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
March 18 – After Midnight with Boston Blackie (USA)
- Cast: Chester Morris, Richard Lane, Ann Savage, George E. Stone, Lloyd Corrigan, Walter Baldwin, Don Barclay
- Director: Lew Landers
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Fifth in the series of 14 Boston Blackie films starring Chester Morris.
March 19 – It Ain’t Hay (USA)
Universal Pictures
- Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Grace McDonald, Cecil Kellaway, Eugene Pallette, Patsy O’Connor, Leighton Noble, Shemp Howard
- Director: Erle C. Kenton
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Based upon the Damon Runyon story, Princess O’Hara, which Universal first made into a film in 1935 with Chester Morris. Lou Costello’s brother Pat was his stunt double in the ‘headless horseman’ scene. The film was released on DVD in 2008 after a long legal battle with Damon Runyon’s estate caused the delay.
March 19 – The Bismarck Convoy Smashed (AUS, documentary short)
- Narrator: Peter Bathurst
- Director: Ken G. Hall
- Production Company: Australian Department of Information, Cinesound Productions Limited
- Trivia: Also known as Battle of the Bismark Sea.
March 20 – Aerial Gunner (USA)
- Cast: Chester Morris, Richard Arlen, Jimmy Lydon, Lita Ward, Dick Purcell, Keith Richards, William ‘Billy’ Benedict, Olive Blakeney
- Director: William H. Pine
- Production Company: Pine-Thomas Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Robert Mitchum appears in an uncredited role. First feature film directed by William H. Pine. Lita Ward’s film debut. The film was rushed to theaters to beat Howard Hawks’ Air Force.
March 20 – Air Force (USA)
- Cast: John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, Charles Drake, Harry Carey, George Tobias, Ward Wood, Ray Montgomery, John Garfield, James Brown
- Director: Howard Hawks
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Made in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, it is one of the first US patriotic/wartime propaganda films. Howard Hawks and producer Hal Wallis famously clashed over Hawks constantly changing the dialog, with Hawks being replaced with Vincent Sherman for about a week due to ‘illness’. When Hawks returned, Sherman remained as second unit director.
1953
March 15 – Born to the Saddle (USA)
- Cast: Chuck Courtney, Donald Woods, Leif Erickson, Rand Brooks, Glenn Strange, Dolores Prest, Robert J. Anderson
- Director: William Beaudine
- Production Company: Elliott-Shelton Films Inc., distributed by Astor Pictures Corporation
- Trivia: Karen Morley’s last film role before she was blacklisted.
March 16 – Appointment in London (UK)
- Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Ian Hunter, Dinah Sheridan, Bryan Forbes, Walter Fitzgerald, Bill Kerr, William Sylvester
- Director: Philip Leacock
- Production Company: Mayflower Productions, distributed by Romulus Films
- Trivia: Released in the US in September 1955 as Raiders in the Sky. Peter Finch was originally cast to play ‘Bill Brown’ but had to withdraw due to other commitments and recommended Bill Kerr for the role.
March 17 – Desperate Moment (UK)
- Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling, Philip Friend, Albert Lieven, Fritz Wendhausen, Carl Jaffe, Gerard Heinz, André Mikhelson, Walter Gotell, Ferdy Mayne, Theodore Bikel
- Director: Compton Bennett
- Production Company: George H. Brown Productions, distributed by General Film Distributors (UK), Universal Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on August 1, 1953. Based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Martha Albrand.
March 17 – South of Algiers (UK)
- Cast: Van Heflin, Wanda Hendrix, Eric Portman, Charles Goldner, Jacques B. Brunius, Jacques François, Aubrey Mather, Simone Silva, Marne Maitland, George Pastell, Alec Mango
- Director: Jack Lee
- Production Company: Mayflower Productions, distributed by Associated British-Pathé (UK), United Artists (USA)
- Trivia: Released in the US on March 1, 1954, as The Golden Mask. Partly filmed on location in Algeria.
March 17 – Street Corner (UK)
- Cast: Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Anne Crawford, Rosamund John, Barbara Murray, Sarah Lawson, Ronald Howard, Eleanor Summerfield, Michael Medwin, Charles Victor
- Director: Muriel Box
- Production Company: J. Arthur Rank Organisation, London Independent Producers, distributed by General Film Distributors (UK), Universal Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on January 11, 1954 as Both Sides of the Law. Conceived as a female version of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp.
March 18 – Never Let Me Go (UK)
- Cast: Clark Gable, Gene Tierney, Bernard Miles, Richard Haydn, Belita, Kenneth More, Karel Štěpánek, Theodore Bikel
- Director: Delmer Daves
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Opened in the US on May 1, 1953. Based on the 1949 novel Came the Dawn by Roger Bax.
March 20 – Destination Gobi (USA)
- Cast: Richard Widmark, Don Taylor, Casey Adams, Murvyn Vye, Darryl Hickman, Earl Holliman, Martin Milner
- Director: Robert Wise
- Production Company: 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Robert Wise’s first color film. Ernest Borgnine believed Richard Widmark’s role of CPO Sam McHale was the basis for his Captain Quentin McHale character on the TV series McHale’s Navy.
March 20 – I Love Melvin (USA)
- Cast: Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Una Merkel, Richard Anderson, Allyn Joslyn, Les Tremayne, Noreen Corcoran, Jim Backus
- Director: Don Weis
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s, Inc.
- Trivia: Robert Taylor appears as himself in a cameo; the part was originally filmed with Howard Keel.
March 20 – Perils of the Jungle (USA)
- Cast: Clyde Beatty, Phyllis Coates, John Doucette, Leonard Mudie, Roy Glenn, Olaf Hytten, Stanley Farrar, Joel Fluellen, Tudor Owen
- Director: George Blair
- Production Company: Commodore Productions, distributed by Lippert Pictures
March 20 – Seminole (USA)
- Cast: Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale, Anthony Quinn, Richard Carlson, Hugh O’Brian, Russell Johnson, Lee Marvin, Ralph Moody, Fay Roope, James Best
- Director: Budd Boetticher
- Production Company: Universal International Pictures, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film depicts the Second Seminole War (1835-1842).
March 20 – The Hitch-Hiker (USA)
- Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, José Torvay, Wendell Niles, Jean Del Val, Clark Howat, Natividad Vacío
- Director: Ida Lupino
- Production Company: The Filmakers Inc., distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
- Trivia: The first American mainstream film noir directed by a woman. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1998.
March 20 – Woman They Almost Lynched (USA)
- Cast: John Lund, Brian Donlevy, Audrey Totter, Joan Leslie, Ben Cooper, James Brown, Nina Varela, Ellen Corby, Fern Hall, Minerva Urecal, Jim Davis, Reed Hadley, Ann Savage, Virginia Christine
- Director: Allan Dwan
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
- Trivia: Quentin Tarantino’s favorite Allan Dwan film.
March 21 – Johann Mouse (USA, short)
- Narrator: Hans Conried
- Director: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: The 75th Tom & Jerry cartoon, and winner of the 1952 Oscar for Animated Short Subject, the seventh and last Oscar the Tom & Jerry cartoons received.
1963
March 16 – To Kill a Mockingbird (USA)
- Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson, Alice Ghostley, Robert Duvall
- Director: Robert Mulligan
- Production Company: Brentwood Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film was first released in Canada on March 7, 1963. Based on Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name. The film earned six times its budget at the box office, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning three including Best Actor for Gregory Peck. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1995. Kim Stanley provided the uncredited voice of the adult Scout Fimch. James Stewart turned down the role of Atticus Finch over concerns the film would be too controversial. Rock Hudson was offered the role when the project was first being developed but producer Alan J. Pakula wanted a bigger star.
March 21 – The Balcony (USA)
- Cast: Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, Lee Grant, Peter Brocco, Jeff Corey, Ruby Dee, Joyce Jameson, Arnette Jens, Leonard Nimoy, Kent Smith
- Director: Joseph Strick
- Production Company: Allen-Hodgdon Productions, City Film, Walter Reade-Sterling, distributed by Continental Distributing
- Trivia: Adaptation of Jean Genet’s 1957 play The Balcony. The film received an Oscar nomination for cinematography. The Academy Film Archive preserved The Balcony in 2010.
1973
March 15 – Tom Sawyer (USA)
- Cast: Johnny Whitaker, Jodie Foster, Jeff East, Celeste Holm, Warren Oates, Lucille Benson, Henry Jones, Noah Keen, Dub Taylor, Richard Eastham, Sandy Kenyon
- Director: Don Taylor
- Production Company: Reader’s Digest, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Musical film adaptation of Mark Twain’s 1876 boyhood adventure story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The film received Oscar nominations for its Score, Production Design and Costume Design.
March 16 – The Crazies (USA)
- Cast: Lane Carroll, Will McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Bill Hinzman
- Director: George A. Romero
- Production Company: Pittsburgh Films, distributed by Cambist Films
- Trivia: Also known as Code Name: Trixie. The military element of the story only figured in the first 10-20 pages of the original screenplay by Paul McCollough, titled The Mad People. To get the film financed, George Romero agreed to rewrite the script to make the military takeover of the town the focal point of the story.
March 16 – Theatre of Blood (Canada)
Harbour Productions Limited
- Cast: Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Harry Andrews, Robert Coote, Michael Hordern, Robert Morley, Coral Browne, Jack Hawkins, Arthur Lowe, Dennis Price, Milo O’Shea, Diana Dors
- Director: Douglas Hickox
- Production Company: Harbour Productions Limited, Cineman Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Opened in the US on April 5, 1973. Known in the U.S. as Theater of Blood. Because of the removal of Jack Hawkins’ larynx in 1965 due to throat cancer, his voice was dubbed in all of his subsequent films, and for this film it was dubbed by his friend Charles Gray. Both Hawkins and Dennis Price died within a few months of the film’s release. The film’s original title was Much Ado About Murder. The film was a favorite of Vincent Price because it gave him a chance to perform Shakespeare. Diana Rigg considered it her best film. Rigg introduced Price to his future wife Coral Browne during the making of the film, unaware that Price was married at the time. Brown had not wanted to make a ‘scary Vincent Price film’ but was persuaded to by her friends Robert Morley and Michael Hordern, noting the film had a very strong cast.
March 17 – Lost Horizon (USA)
- Cast: Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, Sally Kellerman, George Kennedy, Michael York, Olivia Hussey, Bobby Van, James Shigeta, Charles Boyer, John Gielgud
- Director: Charles Jarrott
- Production Company: Ross Hunter Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon, and a musical remake of the 1937 film. It was the last film produced by Ross Hunter. The production very nearly ended the career of Burt Bacharach, and did end his partnership with longtime collaborator Hal David. Bacharach had stated the songs they wrote worked individually, but not in the film’s context. Bacharach felt the producers were weakening his music and his attempt to exert greater influence led to him being banned from the editing suite. Feeling left to defend himself, and with inadequate support from David, lawsuits were exchanged and their professional relationship was destroyed. Bacharach’s versions of several of the songs did appear on his album Living Together. Only Sally Kellerman, Bobby Van and James Shigeta performed their own singing. Pamelyn Ferdin was one of the children who provided a singing voice for the Shangri-La children. The soundtrack was more successful than the film, with several singles being released. The 5th Dimension’s recording of ‘Living Together, Growing Together’ was the group’s last Top 40 hit on the Billboard pop chart. Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye covered ‘Things I Will Not Miss’, and Tony Bennett recorded ‘Living Together, Growing Together’ and ‘If I Could Go Back’. Julie Andrews was considered for the role of Catherine (Liv Ullmann). Screenwriter Larry Kramer was not fond of the work he did adapting the original film’s script, but after earning an Oscar nomination for Women in Love, the deal he made for his work on the film, and skilled investments, allowed him to live the rest of his life free from financial worries, devoting himself to gay community activism and writing. The film is included in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and is listed in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.
March 18 – Two People (USA)
- Cast: Peter Fonda, Lindsay Wagner, Estelle Parsons, Alan Fudge, Frances Sternhagen, Geoffrey Horne
- Director: Robert Wise
- Production Company: Universal Pictures, Robert Wise Productions, The Filmakers Group, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Peter Fonda had stated that the film was shot in chronological order after a week and a half of rehearsal.
March 21 – Godspell (USA)
- Cast: Victor Garber, Katie Hanley, David Haskell, Merrell Jackson, Joanne Jonas, Robin Lamont, Gilmer McCormick, Jeffrey Mylett, Jerry Sroka, Lynne Thigpen
- Director: David Greene
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The film’s full title is Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew. Adaptation of the 1971 Off-Broadway musical. Victor Garber’s film debut. The Cherry Lane Theatre (recently purchased by film studio A24), where the first musical version of Godspell began its off-Broadway run the year before the film was shot, was used as a location for the telling of ‘The Prodigal Son’ story. All four of the musicians from the original stage production and cast album were retained for the film recording. With the film’s larger budget, additional musicians were added including keyboardist Paul Shaffer.
1983
March 15 – Copkiller (Italy)
- Cast: Harvey Keitel, John Lydon, Nicole Garcia, Leonard Mann, Sylvia Sidney
- Director: Roberto Faenza
- Production Company: Aura Film, Cooperativa Jean Vigo, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana, distributed by Filman International (Italy), New Line Cinema (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on January 19, 1984 as Order of Death. First credited acting role of John Lydon without using his stage name Johnny Rotten.
March 16 – Scrubbers (Sweden)
- Cast: Amanda York, Chrissie Cotterill, Elizabeth Edmonds, Kate Ingram, Amanda Symonds, Kathy Burke, Debby Bishop, Eva Mottley, Imogen Bain, Honey Bane, Miriam Margolyes, Robbie Coltrane
- Director: Mai Zetterling
- Production Company: HandMade Films, distributed by City-Euro-Centra (Netherlands), HandMade Films (UK), Orion Classics (USA)
- Trivia: Originally opened in the UK on September 24, 1982. Received a US release on February 1, 1984. The film spawned a novel written by Alexis Lykiard and published in London by W. H. Allen Ltd in 1982.
March 18 – High Road to China (USA)
- Cast: Tom Selleck, Bess Armstrong, Jack Weston, Wilford Brimley, Robert Morley, Brian Blessed
- Director: Brian G. Hutton
- Production Company: Golden Harvest Company, City Films, Jadran Film, Pan Pacific Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Tom Selleck’s first starring film role. Loosely based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Jon Cleary. The film was originally to be directed by John Huston, with Roger Moore and Jacqueline Bisset starring, then Sidney J. Furie (with Bo Derek replacing Bisset), before they both left the project. The film is assumed to be an imitation of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the source material predates that film by four years. Rumors have also suggested Selleck was ‘given’ the film to make up for him not being able to accept the role of Indiana Jones due to his commitment to Magnum, P.I.
March 18 – Sweet Sixteen (Sweden)
- Cast: Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Patrick Macnee, Don Stroud, Dana Kimmell, Don Shanks, Aleisa Shirley, Steve Antin, Sharon Farrell, Logan Clarke, Michael Pataki, Henry Wilcoxon, Larry Storch
- Director: Jim Sotos
- Production Company: Sweet Sixteen Productions, Productions Two, distributed by T&O Film (Norway), Century International (USA)
- Trivia: The film premiered in Greenwood, South Carolina on January 13, 1983, but was not released nationwide in the US until September 16.
1993
March 19 – Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (USA)
- Cast: Ariyan A. Johnson, Kevin Thigpen, Ebony Jerido, Chequita Jackson, Jerard Washington, Tony Wilkes, Karen Robinson, Johnny Roses, Kisha Richardson, Monet Cherise Dunham, Wendell Moore, William Badgett
- Director: Leslie Harris
- Production Company: Truth 24 F.P.S, distributed by Miramax Films
- Trivia: The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17, 1992, and at Sundance in January 1993. Leslie Harris’ first and only feature film to date. The idea for the film generated from a short film Leslie Harris made for Planned Parenthood titled ‘Another Girl’, as well as a personal experience Harris had as a teenager when her friend became pregnant. The film’s budget was $170,000.
March 19 – Point of No Return (USA)
- Cast: Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Anne Bancroft, Harvey Keitel, Miguel Ferrer, Olivia d’Abo, Richard Romanus, Geoffrey Lewis, Lieux Dressler, Michael Rapaport
- Director: John Badham
- Production Company: Art Linson Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Also known as The Assassin. Remake of Luc Besson’s 1990 film La Femme Nikita.
March 19 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (USA)
- Cast: Paige Turco, Elias Koteas, Stuart Wilson, John Aylward, Sab Shimono, Vivian Wu
- Voice Cast: Brian Tochi, Corey Feldman, Tim Kelleher, Robbie Rist, James Murray
- Director: Stuart Gillard
- Production Company: Golden Harvest, distributed by New Line Cinema
- Trivia: Brian Tochi and Robbie Rist are the only two voice actors to voice the same character throughout all 3 live-action TMNT movies. Corey Feldman returned after being absent from the second film. A fourth film was planned to be released in 1996 but it never materialized. The franchise was rebooted in 2014 after Viacom’s acquisition of the property.
2003
March 21 – Dreamcatcher (USA)
- Cast: Thomas Jane, Mikey Holekamp, Damian Lewis, Giacomo Baessato, Timothy Olyphant, Joel Palmer, Jason Lee, Reece Thompson, Donnie Wahlberg, Andrew Robb, Tyler Myer, Morgan Freeman, Tom Sizemore
- Director: Lawrence Kasdan
- Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures, Kasdan Pictures, NPV Entertainment, WV Films II, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on Stephen King’s 2001 novel of the same name.
March 21 – Piglet’s Big Movie (USA/Canada)
- Voice Cast: John Fiedler, Jim Cummings, Andre Stojka, Kath Soucie, Nikita Hopkins, Peter Cullen, Ken Sansom, Tom Wheatley
- Director: Francis Glebas
- Production Company: DisneyToon Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: The third theatrically released Winnie the Pooh feature. Kath Soucie was also the singing voice for Christopher Robin. Carly Simon wrote seven new songs for the film, and performed six of them.
March 21 – View from the Top (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, Candice Bergen, Joshua Malina, Kelly Preston, Rob Lowe, Mike Myers, Marc Blucas, Jon Polito, Concetta Tomei, Robyn Peterson, Nadia Dajani, John Francis Daley
- Director: Bruno Barreto
- Production Company: Brad Grey Pictures, distributed by Miramax Films
- Trivia: The film was originally scheduled to be released for Christmas 2001, but due to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the film’s subject matter, the release was pushed back. The film was a box office bomb, and even star Gwyneth Paltrow called it ‘the worst movie ever’.
2013
March 15 – The Call (USA)
- Cast: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, David Otunga, Justina Machado, José Zúñiga
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Production Company: TriStar Pictures, Stage 6 Films, Troika Pictures, WWE Studios, Amasia Entertainment, Apotheosis Media Group, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
- Trivia: The film’s story was originally conceived for a TV series titled The Hive, but was rewritten for the movie. It is the most successful film produced by the WWE.
March 15 – The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (USA)
- Cast: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, Jim Carrey, Jay Mohr, Brad Garrett, Gillian Jacobs
- Director: Don Scardino
- Production Company: New Line Cinema, Benderspink, Carousel, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: David Copperfield cameos as himself, and the film’s co-writer John Francis Daley cameos as a paramedic. James Gandolfini’s final film appearance during his lifetime. The original 2006 script was titled Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth. Alan Arkin’s elderly magician, Rance Holloway, was scripted to die but the studio felt the audience had too strong of a connection to the character so he remained alive. Adam Pally was considered for the Jim Carrey role. The movie was shot on film stock instead of digitally because the color palettes of the magicians’ outfits were better captured on stock.
March 15 – The Trouble with Barry (USA)
- Cast: Peter Stickles, Rena Riffel, Eric Dean, Shannon Amabile, Matthew Stephen Herrick, April Baker, Lynn Lowry, Juliette Danielle, Michelle Bauer, Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley
- Director: Mike Justice, Stephen Kitaen
- Production Company: Lion’s Den Films, distributed by Mechanical Bull Media
- Trivia: The character of ‘Europa’ is based on Asia Argento.
March 15 – Shell (UK)
- Cast: Chloe Pirrie, Michael Smiley, Joseph Mawle, Iain De Caestecker, Paul Hickey, Kate Dickie, Morven Christie, Tam Dean Burn
- Director: Scott Graham
- Production Company: British Film Institute, Creative Scotland, Brocken Spectre Jockey Mutch, Bard Entertainments, Flying Moon Filmproduktion, Molinare, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, ARTE, distributed by (Yet) Another Distribution Company
- Trivia: The film received three 2012 BFI London Film Festival, including Best Newcomer for Chloe Pirrie. Director Scott Graham was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
March 15 – Spring Breakers (USA)
A24
- Cast: James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Gucci Mane, Heather Morris
- Director: Harmony Korine
- Production Company: Muse Productions, Annapurna Pictures, Division Films, Radar Productions, distributed by A24
- Trivia: The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Emma Roberts was originally cast with Gomez and Hudgens but dropped out due to being uncomfortable with the film’s explicit sexuality. She was replaced by Ashley Benson.
March 15 – Welcome to the Punch (UK/Ireland)
- Cast: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, Elyes Gabel, Peter Mullan, David Morrissey, Daniel Kaluuya, Daniel Mays, Johnny Harris, Dannielle Brent, Jason Flemyng, Ruth Sheen
- Director: Eran Creevy
- Production Company: Worldview Entertainment, Between The Eyes, Automatik Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, distributed by Momentum Pictures (UK), IFC Films (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in limited release in the US on March 27, 2013.
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