Bryan Foy Productions
This was another week filled with movies, but not many that were very notable. But 1953 of this week did give us some real classics in the genres of science fiction/fantasy, Western and horror, and also gave us the first major studio film in color and 3D. Meanwhile, 1943 had another entry in The East Side Kids series, while 1953 had another film in the Ma & Pa Kettle series. Faye Dunaway turned ‘wicked’ in 1983, and aliens ran rampant across the land. 1993 brought another Stephen King novel to the big screen, while 2003 gave us a film that was inspired by an Agatha Christie novel. Read on to learn more about these and other films celebrating anniversaries this week!
1923
April 22 – Snowdrift (USA)
- Cast: Eleanor Boardman, Lew Cody, Richard Dix, Mae Busch, Frank Mayo, Barbara La Marr, Arthur Hoyt, David Imboden, Roy Atwell
- Director: Rupert Hughes
- Production Company: Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, distributed by Goldwyn Distributing Company
- Trivia: Based on the 1922 novel Snowdrift by James Hendryx.
April 22 – Souls for Sale (USA)
- Cast: Eleanor Boardman, Lew Cody, Richard Dix, Mae Busch, Frank Mayo, Barbara La Marr, Arthur Hoyt, David Imboden, Roy Atwell
- Director: Rupert Hughes
- Production Company: Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, distributed by Goldwyn Distributing Company
- Trivia: Based on the novel of the same name by Rupert Hughes. Eleanor Boardman’s first starring role having won a contract with Goldwyn Pictures through their highly publicized ‘New Faces of 1922’ contest just two years earlier. King Vidor, Fred Niblo, Marshall Neilan, Charlie Chaplin, and Erich von Stroheim make cameo appearances. The film was thought lost but several incomplete prints were found and the film was restored and shown on TCM in June 2009 and released on DVD. The film entered the public domain in 2019.
April 22 – The Bright Shawl (USA)
- Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, Jetta Goudal, William Powell, Mary Astor, Andre Beranger, E.G. Robinson
- Director: John S. Robertson
- Production Company: Inspiration Pictures, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a novel by Joseph Hergesheimer. Several days of filming took place in Cuba. The first confirmed screen appearance of Edward G. Robinson. A print of The Bright Shawl survives at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
April 22 – The Tiger’s Claw (USA)
- Cast: Jack Holt, Eva Novak, George Periolat, Bertram Grassby, Aileen Pringle, Carl Stockdale, Frank Butler, George Field, Evelyn Selbie, Frederick Vroom, Lucien Littlefield
- Director: Joseph Henabery
- Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures.
- Trivia: The film is presumed lost.
April 23 – Dead Game (USA)
- Cast: Ed ‘Hoot’ Gibson, Robert McKim, Harry Carter, Laura La Plante, William Welsh, Tony West, William A. Steele
- Director: Edward Sedgwick
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
April 23 – The Pill Pounder
- Cast: Charles Murray, Clara Bow, James Turfler
- Director: Gregory La Cava
- Production Company: All Star Comedies, distributed by W.W. Hodkinson
April 23 – The Sunshine Trail (USA)
- Cast: Douglas MacLean, Edith Roberts, Muriel Frances Dana, Rex Cherryman, Josie Sedgwick, Al Hart, Barney Furey, William Courtright
- Director: James W. Horne
- Production Company: Thomas H. Ince Corporation, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
April 23 – Will He Conquer Dempsey? (USA, short)
- Cast: Luis Firpo, Jack Dempsey
- Trivia: A profile of boxer Luis Firpo, who challenged Jack Dempsey for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
April 25 – Main Street (USA)
- Cast: Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Harry Myers, Robert Gordon, Noah Beery, Alan Hale, Louise Fazenda, Anne Schaefer, Josephine Crowell, Otis Harlan
- Director: Harry Beaumont
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1920 novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. A Broadway play version of the novel was produced in 1921. The first film to be released after the foundation of Warner Bros. Pictures on April 4, 1923. The film is lost as Warner Bros. destroyed the negative, along with many others, on December 27, 1948 due to the nitrate decomposition of its pre-1933 films.
April 25 – Sweetie (USA, short)
- Cast: Baby Peggy, Jerry Mandy, Louise Lorraine, Max Asher, Jennie the Monkey
- Director: Alfred J. Goulding
- Production Company: Century Film, distributed by Universal Pictures
1933
April 20 – Lucky Dog (USA)
- Cast: Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Tom O’Brien, Harry Holman, Clarence Geldart
- Director: Zion Myers
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
April 20 – The Working Man (USA)
- Cast: George Arliss, Bette Davis, Theodore Newton, Hardie Albright, Gordon Westcott, J. Farrell MacDonald
- Director: John G. Adolfi
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the story The Adopted Father by Edgar Franklin. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress collection. The second pairing of George Arliss and Bette Davis.
April 21 – Kiss of Araby (USA)
- Cast: Maria Alba, Walter Byron, Claire Windsor, Theodore von Eltz, Claude King, Frank Leigh, Edmund Cobb, Carlotta Monti, Alfred Cross, Reginald Simpson
- Director: Phil Rosen
- Production Company: Monarch Productions, distributed by Monarch Film Corporation
April 21 – Trick for Trick (USA)
- Cast: Ralph Morgan, Victor Jory, Sally Blane, Tom Dugan, Luis Alberni, Edward Van Sloan, Willard Robertson, Dorothy Appleby
- Director: Hamilton MacFadden
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
April 22 – A Bedtime Story (USA)
- Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Helen Twelvetrees, Edward Everett Horton, Adrienne Ames, Baby LeRoy, Earle Foxe, Leah Ray, Betty Lorraine, Gertrude Michael, Ernest Wood
- Director: Norman Taurog
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Baby LeRoy, who was discovered in an orphanage, grew two front teeth during production causing continuity issues for earlier scenes that needed to be reshot.
April 22 – Bondage (USA)
- Cast: Dorothy Jordan, Alexander Kirkland, Merle Tottenham, Nydia Westman, Jane Darwell, Edward Woods, Isabel Jewell, Dorothy Libaire, Rafaela Ottiano
- Director: Alfred Santell
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: A complete print is being held at the UCLA film and television archive.
April 22 – So This Is Africa (USA)
- Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Raquel Torres, Esther Muir, Berton Churchill, Henry Armetta, Spencer Charters, Spec O’Donnell, Jerome Storm
- Director: Edward F. Cline
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Wheeler and Woolsey’s only film for Columbia Pictures. The Motion Picture Division of the Education Board of New York State felt that several lines of dialogue and other sequences in this film were inappropriate. As a result, Columbia Pictures was forced to delete sections of So This Is Africa prior to its release. Writer Norman Krasna requested his name be taken off the credits accordingly. The film has been shown on TCM but has not been made available to the home video market.
April 23 – Diamond Trail (USA)
- Cast: Rex Bell, Frances Rich, Lloyd Whitlock, Bud Osborne, Jerome Storm, John Webb Dillon, Billy West
- Director: Harry L. Fraser
- Production Company: Trem Carr Pictures, distributed by Monogram Pictures
- Trivia: Film debut of Frances Rich.
April 24 – Night of Terror (USA)
- Cast: Bela Lugosi, Sally Blane, Wallace Ford, Tully Marshall, George Meeker, Edwin Maxwell, Gertrude Michael, Bryant Washburn
- Director: Benjamin Stoloff
- Production Company: Bryan Foy Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Also known as He Lived to Kill and Terror in the Night. Despite top billing, Bela Lugosi has a relatively small role. While filming by night, he was also filming International House by day.
1943
April 19 – The Ghost and the Guest (USA)
- Cast: James Dunn, Florence Rice, Robert Dudley, Mabel Todd, Sam McDaniel, Jim Toney, Eddy Chandler, Robert Bice
- Director: William Nigh
- Production Company: Alexander-Stern Productions, distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation
- Trivia: The first film script by comedian Morey Amsterdam. His wife Mabel Todd appeared in the ‘dumb blonde’ role of Little Sister Mabel. Florence Rice’s last film.
April 20 – Shantytown (USA)
- Cast: Mary Lee, John Archer, Marjorie Lord, Harry Davenport, Billy Gilbert, Anne Revere, John F. Hamilton, Frank Jenks, Cliff Nazarro, Carl Switzer
- Director: Joseph Santley
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
- Trivia: Eve Martell’s debut.
April 20 – Willoughby’s Magic Hat (USA, short)
- Narrator: John McLeish
- Director: Bob Wickersham
- Production Company: Screen Gems, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: A 1943 Phantasies animated short subject. The film was created by animators who had defected from Disney following the 1941 animators’ strike.
April 21 – China (USA)
- Cast: Loretta Young, Alan Ladd, William Bendix, Philip Ahn, Iris Wong, Sen Yung, Marianne Quon, Jessie Tai Sing, Richard Loo
- Director: John Farrow
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Alan Ladd’s leather-jacketed, khaki- and fedora-wearing, beard stubbled character was an inspiration for Indiana Jones. Aside from Tala Birelli, the entire supporting cast is Asian. After being cast as Ladd’s sidekick, William Bendix played Ladd’s sidekick in three more films.
April 23 – Clancy Street Boys (USA)
- Cast: The East Side Kids, Noah Beery, Amelita Ward, Rick Vallin, Billy Benedict, J. Farrel MacDonald, Jan Rubini, Martha Wentworth, George DeNormand
- Director: William Beaudine
- Production Company: Sam Katzman Productions, distributed by Monogram Pictures
- Trivia: William Beaudine’s first film with the East Side Kids. It was also William Benedict’s first appearance with the East Side Kids. There is no mention of Clancy Street in the film.
April 23 – White Savage (USA)
- Cast: Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu, Thomas Gomez, Sidney Toler, Paul Guilfoyle, Turhan Bey, Don Terry, Constance Purdy
- Director: Arthur Lubin
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film was re-released in 1948 on a double bill with Cobra Woman, featuring the same top-billed three stars, and again in 1953 under the title White Savage Woman.
April 24 – Edge of Darkness (USA)
- Cast: Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston, Helmut Dantine, Ruth Gordon, Judith Anderson, Roman Bohnen, Monte Blue
- Director: Lewis Milestone
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the 1942 novel The Edge of Darkness by William Woods. Also known as Norway in Revolt. Humphrey Bogart was originally cast as the male lead but dropped out. Shooting was then postponed for two weeks so Errol Flynn could recuperate from poor health, but Hedda Hopper reported he’d gone to Mexico for some hunting as he didn’t want to do the film but the studio pressured him to return.
1953
April 19 – Genevieve (Portugal)
- Cast: John Gregson, Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More, Kay Kendall, Geoffrey Keen, Reginald Beckwith, Arthur Wontner, Joyce Grenfell, Leslie Mitchell
- Director: Henry Cornelius
- Production Company: Sirius Productions, distributed by Universal-International
- Trivia: Released in the US on February 15, 1954. Dirk Bogarde and Guy Middleton were offered the leads but turned them down. The story of Genevieve was the basis for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
April 20 – Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (USA)
- Cast: Marjorie Main. Percy Kilbride, Ray Collins, Barbara Brown, Bodil Miller, Sig Ruman, Oliver Blake, Teddy Hart, Ivan Triesault, Peter Brocco
- Director: Charles Lamont
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Originally opened in the UK on October 25, 1952. Sixth installment of Universal-International’s Ma and Pa Kettle series.
April 21 – City Beneath the Sea (USA)
- Cast: Robert Ryan, Mala Powers, Anthony Quinn, Suzan Ball, George Mathews, Karel Štěpánek, Hilo Hattie, Lalo Ríos, Woody Strode, John Warburton, Peter Mamakos, Barbara Morrison
- Director: Budd Boetticher
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the book Port Royal: The Ghost City Beneath the Sea by Harry E. Rieseberg.
April 22 – Invaders from Mars (USA)
National Pictures Corp.
- Cast: Jimmy Hunt, Arthur Franz, Helena Carter, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke, Morris Ankrum, Walter Sande, Max Wagner, Milburn Stone, Douglas Kennedy, Bert Freed, Barbara Billingsley, Richard Deacon
- Director: William Cameron Menzies
- Production Company: National Pictures Corp., distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
- Trivia: The film was rushed into production to show in theaters before George Pal’s War of the Worlds (also 1953), becoming the first feature film to show aliens and their spacecraft in color. Helena Carter retired from acting after this film was completed. The British release featured new footage shot after the film’s US release, and altered the original ‘was it all a dream’ ending to make it more definitive.
April 22 – It Happens Every Thursday (USA)
- Cast: Loretta Young, John Forsythe, Frank McHugh, Edgar Buchanan, Palmer Lee, Harvey Grant, Jane Darwell, Willard Waterman, Jimmy Conlin, Regis Toomey
- Director: Joseph Pevney
- Production Company: Universal International Pictures, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Loosely based on the 1951 autobiographical book of the same title by Jane S. McIlvaine. Loretta Young’s last theatrical film as she switched to television work. Her next film was the 1986 TV movie Christmas Eve.
April 22 – Jamaica Run (USA)
- Cast: Ray Milland, Arlene Dahl, Wendell Corey, Patric Knowles, Laura Elliot, Carroll McComas, William Walker, Murray Matheson
- Director: Lewis R. Foster
- Production Company: Clarion Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Laura Elliott became better known as Kasey Rogers. Much of the personnel in this movie worked on the previous year’s Caribbean Gold. Based on a 1950 novel, The Neat Little Corpse by Max Murray, which was originally published as a magazine serial.
April 22 – Sombrero (USA)
- Cast: Ricardo Montalbán, Pier Angeli, Vittorio Gassman, Yvonne De Carlo, Cyd Charisse, Rick Jason, Nina Foch, Kurt Kasznar
- Director: Norman Foster
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Based on the 1945 book Mexican Village by Josefina Niggli. The film’s original title was Mexican Village. Vittorio Gassman’s second American film after The Glass Wall. Ava Gardner was among the cast but dropped out and was put on suspension by MGM until she agreed to make Mogambo. Fernando Lamas was also cast, dropped out and placed on suspension until he agreed to make The Girl Who Had Everything. Rick Jason, possibly replacing Lamas, makes his film debut.
April 23 – Shane (USA)
- Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon deWilde, Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer, Elisha Cook Jr., Ellen Corby
- Director: George Stevens
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Jack Schaefer, and derived from the 1892 Johnson County War. Jean Arthur’s last feature film, and her only one in color. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993. Alan Ladd disliked guns and his shooting demonstration for Joey took 116 takes, and Ladd’s eyes are closed when firing the gun.
April 24 – Code Two (USA)
- Cast: Ralph Meeker, Robert Horton, Sally Forrest, Jeff Richards, Elaine Stewart, Keenan Wynn, Robert Burton
- Director: Fred M. Wilcox
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Shirley Falls’s debut.
April 24 – Folly to Be Wise (South Africa) (Dec 4, 1952 UK)
- Cast: Alastair Sim, Elizabeth Allan, Roland Culver, Colin Gordon, Martita Hunt, Janet Brown, Peter Martyn, Miles Malleson, Edward Chapman, Cyril Chamberlain
- Director: Frank Launder
- Production Company: London Film Productions, British Lion Film Corporation, distributed by British Lion Film Corporation (UK), Fine Arts Films (UK)
- Trivia: Originally opened in the UK on December 4, 1952. Released in the US on December 6, 1953. Based on the play It Depends What You Mean by James Bridie.
April 25 – House of Wax (USA)
- Cast: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni, Roy Roberts, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer, Charles Buchinsky
- Director: Andre DeToth
- Production Company: Bryan Foy Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Remake of the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum. While Columbia’s Man in the Dark became the first Hollywood studio 3D feature two days earlier, House of Wax was the first released in color and with stereophonic sound. The film was re-released in 3D in 1971 and in the early 1980s. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2014. Filmed under the title The Wax Works. Director Andre DeToth was blind in one eye and was unable to experience the 3D effects.
1963
April 21 – Sammy Going South (UK)
- Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Fergus McClelland, Constance Cummings, Harry H. Corbett, Paul Stassino, Zia Mohyeddin, Orlando Martins, John Turner, Zena Walker, Jack Gwillim, Patricia Donahue
- Director: Alexander Mackendrick
- Production Company: Michael Balcon Productions, distributed by Bryanston Distributing (UK), Paramount Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Based on the 1961 novel of the same name by W. H. Canaway. Opened in the US on May 12, 1965 as A Boy Ten Feet Tall. Edward G. Robinson suffered a heart attack during production and some cast members were bitten by snakes. Filming could not be conducted in Egypt for political reasons but some long shots were done clandestinely by a second unit in Egypt, with an Arab boy dressed as Sammy, and the negative was later smuggled out of the country. The finished film’s running time came in at over three hours, and two film editors were brought in to trim it down to 129 minutes. The film was cut by an additional 40 minutes when it was released in the US so it could be released on a double bill.
April 24 – Free, White and 21 (USA)
- Cast: Frederick O’Neal, Annalena Lund, George Edgley, Johnny Hicks, George Russell, Hugh Crenshaw, Miles Middough, James ‘Ike’ Altgens, Jonathan Ledford, Bill McGhee
- Director: Larry Buchanan
- Production Company: Falcon International Corporation, distributed by American International Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the true story of the controversial trial of a black man, Tony Davis, accused of raping a white woman in Dallas, Texas in the 1960s. Davis was friends with the director and agreed to work on the film before the trial concluded. The film was released with the gimmick of having the audiences act as a jury and be given ballot papers to mark deciding whether the accused was innocent or guilty. The film was a success and AIP suggested Buchanan produce a similar film targeted at a younger audience. The result was Under Age (1964), which featured several of the same actors reprising their roles from Free, White and 21.
April 24 – Love Is a Ball (USA)
- Cast: Glenn Ford, Hope Lange, Charles Boyer, Ricardo Montalbán, Telly Savalas, Ruth McDevitt, Ulla Jacobsson, Georgette Anys
- Director: David Swift
- Production Company: Gold Medal, Oxford Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Released in the UK as All This And Money Too. Based on the novel The Grand Duke and Mr. Pimm by Lindsay Hardy. The option to the novel was purchased in 1959, with the author submitting a screenplay and Blake Edwards attached to direct. Glenn Ford and Hope Lange, a real-life couple at the time, were signed early on, and David Swift eventually signed to write and direct. Ulla Jacobsson made her American debut with the film.
1973
April 20 – Ganja & Hess (USA)
- Cast: Marlene Clark, Duane Jones, Bill Gunn, Sam Waymon, Leonard Jackson, Candece Tarpley, Richard Harrow, John Hoffmeister, Betty Barney, Mabel King
- Director: Bill Gunn
- Production Company: Kelly/Jordan Enterprises
- Trivia: One of only two lead roles for Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead being the other). Remade by Spike Lee in 2014 as Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.
April 20 – Hitler: The Last Ten Days (West Germany)
- Cast: Alec Guinness, Simon Ward, Adolfo Celi, Diane Cilento, Gabriele Ferzetti, Eric Porter, Doris Kunstmann, Joss Ackland, John Bennett, Julian Glover
- Director: Ennio De Concini
- Production Company: World Film Services, Tomorrow Entertainment, West Film, Wolfgang Reinhardt Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (West Germany), Paramount Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on May 9, 1973. Based on the book Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account by Gerhard Boldt, an officer in the German Army who survived the Führerbunker.
1983
April 21 – Dusty (AUS)
- Cast: Bill Kerr, Noel Trevarthen, Carol Burns, John Stanton, Nick Holland, Dan Lynch, Kati Edwards, William Kerr, Ed Thurley, Mary Howlett, Peter Aanensen
- Director: John Richardson
- Production Company: Dusty Productions, Film Victoria, Kestrel Films, distributed by Filmways Australasian Distributors
- Trivia: The film led to a six-episode Australian TV mini-series. The film premiered in the US on The Disney Channel in 1986.
April 21 – The Wicked Lady (UK)
- Cast: Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott, Prunella Scales, Oliver Tobias, Glynis Barber, Joan Hickson, Marina Sirtis
- Director: Michael Winner
- Production Company: Golan-Globus Productions, London-Cannon Films, Columbia Pictures Corporation (UK), Cannon Film Distributors (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on October 28, 1983. Remake of the 1945 film of the same name, which was one of the popular series of Gainsborough melodramas. The film received a Razzie Award nomination for Faye Dunaway as Worst Actress.
April 22 – Exposed (USA)
- Cast: Nastassja Kinski, Rudolf Nureyev, Harvey Keitel, Ian McShane, Bibi Andersson, Ron Randell, Pierre Clémenti, James Russo, Tony Sirico, James Toback, Amy Steel, Janice Dickinson, Iman
- Director: James Toback
- Production Company: United Artists, distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Company
- Trivia: Director James Toback said he based the script on a romance he had with an airline stewardess. Ron Randell’s last film role.
April 22 – My Tutor (USA)
- Cast: Caren Kaye, Matt Lattanzi, Kevin McCarthy, Clark Brandon, Bruce Bauer, Arlene Golonka, Crispin Glover
- Director: George Bowers
- Production Company: Marimark Productions, distributed by Crown International Pictures
- Trivia: Crispin Glover’s feature film debut. First lead role for Matt Lattanzi. This is the first and only filmed script of writer Joe Roberts.
April 22 – The Deadly Spawn (USA)
Filmline
- Cast: Charles George Hildebrant, Tom DeFranco, Richard Lee Porter, Jean Talfer, Karen Tighe, James L. Brewster, Elissa Neil, Ethel Michelson, John Schmerling, Judith Mayes
- Director: Douglas McKeown
- Production Company: Filmline, distributed by 21st Century Film Corporation
- Trivia: Retitled in some territories as Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn or The Return of the Alien’s Deadly Spawn in an attempt to cash in on the worldwide success of Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien. Much of the film was shot in Gladstone, New Jersey; New Brunswick; and the Palisades Park home of the producer.
1993
April 22 – American Ninja 5 (Philippines)
- Cast: David Bradley, Lee Reyes, Anne Dupont, Pat Morita, James Lew, Clement von Franckenstein, Marc Fiorini, Aharon Ipale, Norman Burton
- Director: Bobby Jean Leonard
- Production Company: International Movie Service S.r.l., The Cannon Group, distributed by Eastern Films (Philippines)
- Trivia: Premiered direct-to-video in the US on November 7, 1995. The working title was Little Ninja Man, but made under the title American Dragons. It was not intended to be part of the American Ninja series, which explains why David Bradley is playing a different character than the one he played in American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation.
April 22 – Map of the Human Heart (AUS)
- Cast: Jason Scott Lee, Robert Joamie, Anne Parillaud, Annie Galipeau, Patrick Bergin, Clotilde Courau, John Cusack, Jeanne Moreau, Ben Mendelsohn, Jerry Snell
- Director: Vincent Ward
- Production Company: Australian Film Finance Corporation, Les Films Ariane, Map Films, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Sunrise Pictures Company, Vincent Ward Films, Working Title Films, distributed by Hoyts Distribution (AUS), Miramax (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US in limited release on April 23, 1993, followed by a wide release on May 14. Also called Carte du Tendre and La Carte du Tendre; released in the Philippines as War Dragon. Director Vincent Ward had only intended to be the writer of this film as he was attached to write and direct the third Alien film, but his dismissal from the film (with only a writing credit) led to his directing this film.
April 23 – Ruby Cairo (Spain)
- Cast: Andie MacDowell, Liam Neeson, Viggo Mortensen, Jack Thompson, Amy Van Nostrand, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Paul Spencer, Chad Power
- Director: Graeme Clifford
- Production Company: Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A., Majestic Films International, Miramax, distributed by Filmayer (Spain), Shochiku-Fuji Company (Japan), Miramax (USA)
- Trivia: Originally opened in Japan on December 12, 1992. Released in the US on October 29, 1993 as Deception. According to Andie MacDowell, the director was stoned throughout filming.
April 23 – Indian Summer (USA)
- Cast: Alan Arkin, Matt Craven, Diane Lane, Bill Paxton, Elizabeth Perkins, Kevin Pollak, Sam Raimi, Vincent Spano, Julie Warner, Kimberly Williams
- Director: Mike Binder
- Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, Outlaw Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Filmed at Camp Tamakwa (a summer camp in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada), which director Binder had attended for ten summers as a child camper.
April 23 – The Dark Half (USA)
- Cast: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, Robert Joy, Chelsea Field, Royal Dano, Rutanya Alda, Beth Grant
- Director: George A. Romero
- Production Company: Dark Half Productions, distributed by Orion Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from Stephen King’s 1989 novel of the same name. Royal Dano’s final film.
April 23 – The Mystery of Edwin Drood (UK)
- Cast: Robert Powell, Jonathan Phillips, Peter Pacey, Nanette Newman, Freddie Jones, Gemma Craven, Marc Sinden, Rosemary Leach, Glyn Houston, Andrew Sachs, Barry Evans
- Director: Timothy Forder
- Production Company: Curzon Films, First Standard Media, distributed by Curzon
- Trivia: Fourth film adaptation of the Charles Dickens unfinished 1870 novel of the same name. Last film of Barry Evans.
April 23 – This Boy’s Life (USA)
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Jonah Blechman, Eliza Dushku, Chris Cooper, Carla Gugino, Zack Ansley, Tracey Ellis, Kathy Kinney, Tobey Maguire, Michael Bacall, Gerrit Graham, Sean Murray
- Director: Michael Caton-Jones
- Production Company: Knickerbocker Films, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the memoir of the same name by author Tobias Wolff. Tobey Maguire’s first credited appearance in a feature-length movie. This was the first time Leonardo DiCaprio worked with Maguire and Robert De Niro.
April 23 – Who’s the Man? (USA)
- Cast: Doctor Dré, Ed Lover, Badja Djola, Cheryl ‘Salt’ James, Colin Quinn, Denis Leary, Bernie Mac, Terrence Howard, Richard Gant, Guru, Ice-T, Vinny Pastore
- Director: Ted Demme
- Production Company: Tin Pan Apple, de Passe Entertainment, Thomas Entertainment, distributed by New Line Cinema
- Trivia: Bill Bellamy, Busta Rhymes, Del the Funkee Homosapien, D-Nice, Eric B., Everlast, Fab 5 Freddy, Flavor Flav, Heavy D, House of Pain, Humpty Hump, Kris Kross, KRS-One, Monie Love, Naughty By Nature, Penny Hardaway, Queen Latifah, Run-D.M.C., Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, and Scottie Pippen are among those making cameo appearances. Ted Demme’s feature directing debut, and the feature film debut of Terrence Howard.
2003
April 23 – Wondrous Oblivion (UK)
- Cast: Sam Smith, Leagh Conwell, Dominic Barklem, Jo Stone-Fewings, Emily Woof, Yasmin Paige, Richard Ashton, Carol MacReady, Stanley Townsend
- Director: Paul Morrison
- Production Company: APT Films, MetFilm Production, distributed by Momentum Pictures (UK), Palm Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Received a limited US release in September 2006.
April 25 – Better Luck Tomorrow (USA)
- Cast: Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho, Karin Anna Cheung, Jerry Mathers, Ryan Cadiz
- Director: Justin Lin
- Production Company: Hudson River Entertainment, Cherry Sky Films, Day O Productions, Trailing Johnson Productions, distributed by MTV Films/Paramount Classics
- Trivia: The film was based loosely on the murder of Stuart Tay, a teenager from Orange County, California, by four Sunny Hills High School honor students on December 31, 1992. MC Hammer received a producer credit for providing funding for the film. Lin’s original investors wanted a white cast with Macaulay Culkin as the male lead if he wanted the million dollar investment. MTV Films’ first ever film acquisition. Justin Lin planned to shoot the film on digital video, but a deal with Fujifilm and Kodak allowed him to shoot on 35mm film. With Sung Kang appearing in this and Lin’s Fast & Furious films as the same character, Han Lue, this film serves as Lue’s origin story and retroactively connects it to the F&F franchise.
April 25 – Confidence (USA)
- Cast: Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy García, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Brian Van Holt, Franky G, Luis Guzmán, Donal Logue, Morris Chestnut, Louis Lombardi, John Carroll Lynch, Robert Forster, Leland Orser
- Director: James Foley
- Production Company: Lions Gate Films, Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, Ignite Entertainment, Cinewhite Productions, Epsilon Motion Pictures, distributed by Lions Gate Films
- Trivia: The movie was filmed on location at the Deep Nightclub in Hollywood.
April 25 – Identity (USA/Canada)
Columbia Pictures
- Cast: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Clea DuVall, William Lee Scott, Rebecca De Mornay, Leila Kenzle, John C. McGinley, Bret Loehr, Jake Busey, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Alfred Molina
- Director: James Mangold
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Konrad Pictures, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
- Trivia: Loosely based on Agatha Christie’s 1939 whodunit And Then There Were None. Angelo Badalamenti was originally signed to score the film, but his music was replaced with a new score by Alan Silvestri.
April 25 – It Runs in the Family (USA)
- Cast: Michael Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Rory Culkin, Cameron Douglas, Diana Dill, Bernadette Peters, Michelle Monaghan, Geoffrey Arend
- Director: Fred Schepisi
- Production Company: Further Films, distributed by MGM Distribution Co.
- Trivia: The film stars three generations of the Kirk Douglas family. Sigourney Weaver was under consideration to play Michael Douglas’ wife, but Douglas suggested Bernadette Peters.
April 25 – The Real Cancun (USA)
- Cast: Benjamin ‘Fletch’ Fletcher, Nicole Frilot, Roxanne Frilot, David Ingber, Jeremy Jazwinski, Amber Madison
Paul Malbry, Marquita “Skye” Marshall, Laura Ramsey, Matthew Slenske, Hot Action Cop, Simple Plan, Snoop Dogg - Director: Rick de Oliveira
- Production Company: FilmEngine, Bunim/Murray Productions, distributed by New Line Cinema
- Trivia: Inspired by the reality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13–23, 2003 as they celebrated spring break in Cancún, Mexico. Film debut of Laura Ramsey. The film was released one month after filming completed. Nominated for Worst Picture and Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content) at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards.
2013
April 19 – Errors of the Human Body (USA, limited)
- Cast: Michael Eklund, Karoline Herfurth, Tómas Lemarquis, Rik Mayall
- Director: Eron Sheean
- Production Company: Instinctive Film, XYZ Films, High5Films, Kurt Media, distributed by IFC Films
April 19 – Farah Goes Bang (USA, limited)
- Cast: Nikohl Boosheri, George Basil, Kiran Deol, Kandis Erickson, Julie Lake
- Director: Meera Menon
- Production Company: Farah Goes Bang, distributed by Seed&Spark
- Trivia: Meera Menon’s feature film debut.
April 19 – Filly Brown (USA)
- Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Jenni Rivera, Lou Diamond Phillips, Edward James Olmos, Emilio Rivera, Noel Gugliemi, Baby Bash
- Director: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos
- Production Company: Cima Productions, Olmos Productions, Silent Giant Entertainment, distributed by Pantelion Films
- Trivia: Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. This was Jenni Rivera’s first and only film before her death on December 9, 2012.
April 19 – Herman’s House (USA, documentary, limited)
- Cast: Jackie Sumell, Herman Wallace
- Director: Angad Bhalla
April 19 – Home Run (USA/Canada, limited)
- Cast: Scott Elrod, Dorian Brown, Charles Henry Wyson, Vivica A. Fox, James Devoti, Nicole Leigh, Drew Waters, Robert Peters, Samantha Isler
- Director: David Boyd
- Production Company: Hero Productions, Impact Productions, distributed by Provident Films
April 19 – In the House (USA/Canada, limited)
- Cast: Fabrice Luchini, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Denis Ménochet, Bastien Ughetto, Ernst Umhauer, Yolande Moreau
- Director: François Ozon
- Production Company: Mandarin Films, Mars Films, France 2 Cinéma, FOZ, Canal+, Ciné+, France Télévisions, La Banque Postale Images 5, Cofimage 23, Palatine Étoile 9, La Région Île-de-France, distributed by Cohen Media Group (USA)
- Trivia: Originally opened in Belgium as Dans la maison on October 10, 2012. Loosely based on Juan Mayorga’s play El chico de la última fila (The Boy in the Last Row).
April 20 – Meitantei Conan: Zekkai no puraibêto ai (Japan)
- Cast: Minami Takayama, Wakana Yamazaki, Rikiya Koyama, Kappei Yamaguchi, Ryō Horikawa, Yuko Miyamura, Ken’ichi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yukiko Iwai, Ikue Ōtani
- Director: Kobun Shizuno
- Production Company: TMS Entertainment, distributed by Toho
- Trivia: Title translates to Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea. Part of the film series based on the Case Closed manga and anime series.
April 23 – Assassins Run (USA)
- Cast: Christian Slater, Sofya Skya, Cole Hauser, Angus Macfadyen, Marianna Khalifman, Svetlana Tsvichenko, Joe Basile, Angelika Astrakhantseva, Romuald Makarenko
- Director: Robert Crombie, Sofya Skya
- Production Company: Whale Studio, distributed by Grindstone Entertainment Group
April 23 – Deep Dark Canyon (USA)
- Cast: Ted Levine, Spencer Treat Clark, Nick Eversman, Martin Starr, Michael Bowen, Matthew Lillard, Justine Bateman, Greg Cipes, Abraham Benrubi
- Director: Silver Tree, Abe Levy
- Production Company: Secret Identity Productions, distributed by Colorfast Pictures
- Trivia: Originally titled Lawless, but renamed to avoid confusion with other films of the same title.
April 23 – Sirius (USA, documentary)
- Narrator: Thomas Jane
- Director: Amardeep Kaleka
- Production Company: Neverending Light Productions, Bayview Films, Vision Tree, distributed by TriCoast Worldwide
- Trivia: Based upon ufologist Steven M. Greer’s book Hidden Truth, Forbidden Knowledge. The film was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
April 24 – At Any Price (USA)
- Cast: Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Kim Dickens, Heather Graham, Clancy Brown, Ben Marten, Chelcie Ross, Red West, Maika Monroe, Sophie Curtis
- Director: Ramin Bahrani
- Production Company: Big Indie Pictures, Black Bear Pictures, Cineric, Killer Films, Noruz Films, Treehouse Pictures, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
- Trivia: Selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.
April 26 – The Reluctant Fundamentalist (USA, limited)
- Cast: Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Meesha Shafi, Martin Donovan, Adil Hussain, Imaad Shah, Chandrachur Singh
- Director: Mira Nair
- Production Company: Doha Film Institute, Mirabai Films, Cine Mosaic, distributed by IFC Films
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