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This was a big week for new movie releases with many notable, popular and classic films coming from almost every decade. Sadly the three films from 1923 are lost. 1933 gave us the first sound version of a classic tale, an all-star comedic answer to Grand Hotel, and an Oscar-winning Disney short. 1943 gave us a film adaptation of a children’s literary classic, and a new Three Stooges short. 1953 had a film noir classic, and a filmed operetta. 1963 had a vampire movie minus the vampires, a Paul Newman classic, and a Roger Corman two-day ‘quickie’ that ended up taking months to produce. 1973 gave us a classic award winning comedy, while 1983 had the third film in a classic sci-fi trilogy. 1993 brought the Bard to the screen once again, put Sylvester Stallone in some precarious situations, and adapted a popular video game for the big screen. 2003 gave Pixar its first Oscar winner, and 2013 had the sixth film in a franchise that just released its tenth. Read on to learn more about these and other movies celebrating anniversaries this week, and tell us if your favorites are on the list.
1923
May 27 – Burning Words (USA)
- Cast: Roy Stewart, Laura La Plante, Harold Goodwin, Edith Yorke, Alfred Fisher, William Welsh, Noble Johnson, Eve Southern, Harry Carter, George A. McDaniel
- Director: Stuart Paton
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film’s preservation status is unknown.
May 27 – Fog Bound (USA)
- Cast: Dorothy Dalton, David Powell, Martha Mansfield, Maurice Costello, Jack Richardson
- Director: Irvin Willat
- Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The film’s preservation status is unknown.
May 28 – Trifling with Honor (USA)
- Cast: Rockliffe Fellowes, Fritzi Ridgeway, Buddy Messinger, Hayden Stevenson, Emmett King, William Welsh, Fred R. Stanton, William Robert Daly, Jim Farley, Sidney De Gray
- Director: Harry A. Pollard
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the short story His Good Name by William Slavens McNutt, which appeared in the July 1922 Collier’s, and is also known by that title. The film is lost but the trailer is preserved in the Library of Congress.
1933
May 24 – Man Hunt (USA)
- Cast: Junior Durkin, Charlotte Henry, Dorothy Davenport, Arthur Vinton, Edward LeSaint, Richard Carle, Carl Gross
- Director: Irving Cummings
- Production Company: J.G. Bachmann Productions, distributed by RKO Pictures
- Trivia: Only screen appearance for Carl Gross.
May 25 – Don Quixote (UK)
- Cast: Feodor Chaliapin, George Robey, Donnio, Renée Valliers, Emily Fitzroy, Sidney Fox, Miles Mander, Wally Patch, Oscar Asche, Lydia Sherwood, Frank Stanmore
- Director: G. W. Pabst
- Production Company: Nelson Film, Vandor Film, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Released in the US on December 23, 1934. Adapted from the classic Miguel de Cervantes novel. This is the first sound version of the classic story. The film was produced in English, French and German with Feodor Chaliapin appearing in all three. Five composers were approached to write songs for Chaliapin, and each thought they were the only one commissioned. The film was known for its striking early use of visual effects, but it reportedly lost £100,000 and led to the collapse of Nelson Film.
May 25 – The Return of Casey Jones (USA)
- Cast: Charles Starrett, Ruth Hall, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Robert Elliott, Margaret Seddon, Jackie Searl, George Walsh, Gordon De Main
- Director: John P. McCarthy
- Production Company: Monogram Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the story of the same name by John Johns, published in the April 1933 issue of Railroad Stories magazine.
May 25 – When Strangers Marry (USA)
- Cast: Jack Holt, Lilian Bond, Arthur Vinton, Barbara Barondess, Ward Bond, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Paul Porcasi, Rudolph Anders, Charles Stevens, Harry Stubbs
- Director: Clarence G. Badger
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
May 25 – Yes, Mr Brown (USA)
- Cast: Jack Buchanan, Hartley Power, Elsie Randolph, Margot Grahame, Vera Pearce, Clifford Heatherley, David Bane, Muriel George
- Director: Herbert Wilcox
- Production Company: British & Dominions Film Corporation, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: The film is missing from the BFI National Archive and is listed on the BFI’s ’75 Most Wanted’ list of lost films.
May 26 – Emergency Call (USA)
- Cast: William Boyd, Wynne Gibson, William Gargan, George E. Stone, Betty Furness, Edwin Maxwell, Merna Kennedy, Oscar Apfel, Paul Fix, Helen Lynch
- Director: Edward L. Cahn
- Production Company: RKO Pictures
- Trivia: Jane Darwell appears in an uncredited role.
May 26 – Peg o’ My Heart (USA)
- Cast: Marion Davies, Onslow Stevens, J. Farrell MacDonald, Juliette Compton, Irene Browne, Tyrell Davis, Alan Mowbray, Doris Lloyd, Robert Greig
- Director: Robert Z. Leonard
- Production Company: Cosmopolitan Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Film adaptation of the play of the same name by J. Hartley Manners.
May 26 – Rusty Rides Alone (USA)
- Cast: Tim McCoy, Silver King the Dog, Barbara Weeks, Dorothy Burgess, Wheeler Oakman, Rockcliffe Fellows, Edmund Burns, Clarence Geldert
- Director: D. Ross Lederman
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Remade in 1939 as Riders of the Sage.
May 26 – Sunset Pass (USA)
- Cast: Randolph Scott, Tom Keene, Kathleen Burke, Harry Carey, Noah Beery Sr., Kent Taylor, George Barbier
- Director: Henry Hathaway
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a Zane Grey novel, and a remake of a lost 1929 version. The film was remade again in 1946.
May 26 – The Girl in 419 (USA)
- Cast: James Dunn, Gloria Stuart, David Manners, William Harrigan, Shirley Grey, Jack La Rue, Johnny Hines, Vince Barnett, Kitty Kelly, Edward Gargan
- Director: Alexander Hall, George Somnes
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
May 27 – Gold Diggers of 1933 (USA)
- Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers
- Director: Mervyn LeRoy
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the play The Gold Diggers by Avery Hopwood, which was made into a silent film in 1923 and again as a talking in 1929 (Gold Diggers of Broadway). Busby Berkeley directed the musical sequences, and appears in a small role. Sterling Holloway and Hobart Cavanaugh also appear in small roles. Charles Lane, Jane Wyman and Billy Barty are among the uncredited cast. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2003. The film was originally to be titled High Life, but after the success of 42nd Street, the film was turned into a musical and retitled. Oscar nominated for Best Sound Recording. Alternate footage was filmed for distribution in areas where state censors were notoriously strict.
May 27 – International House (USA)
- Cast: Peggy Hopkins, W. C. Fields, Stuart Erwin, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Sari Maritza, Lumsden Hare, Bela Lugosi, Franklin Pangborn, Edmund Breese
- Director: A. Edward Sutherland
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The pre-Code era film featured risqué humor on topics such as divorce, drugs and homosexuality, and costumes that were extremely revealing, none of which would be permitted once the Production Code went into effect. The film was preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and the audio was re-recorded and denoised, revealing very high fidelity and the ‘Reefer Man’ musical number dubbed 4 dB louder than the rest of the soundtrack, giving Cab Calloway’s band a powerful musical presence.
May 27 – Somewhere in Sonora (USA)
- Cast: John Wayne, Henry B. Walthall, Shirley Palmer, J. P. McGowan, Paul Fix, Ralph Lewis, Frank Rice, Billy Franey
- Director: Mack V. Wright
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures, distributed by Vitagraph, Inc.
- Trivia: Remake of the 1927 silent film of the same name, and based on the 1925 novel Somewhere South by Will Levington Comfort.
May 27 – Three Little Pigs (USA, short)
- Voice Cast: Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Dorothy Compton, Mary Moder
- Director: Burt Gillett
- Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Winner of the 1934 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1933. Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2007.
May 28 – Cross Fire (Spain)
- Cast: Tom Keene, Betty Furness, Edgar Kennedy, Eddie Phillips, Stanley Blystone, Lafe McKee, Nick Cogley, Murdock MacQuarrie, Tom Kennedy
- Director: Otto Brower
- Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
May 28 – The Mystic Hour (USA)
- Cast: Charles Hutchison, Lucille Powers, Montagu Love, Charles Middleton, Edith Thornton, Eddie Phillips, Jimmy Aubrey
- Director: Melville De Lay
- Production Company: Reliable Pictures, distributed by Progressive Pictures
- Trivia: Also known as At Twelve Midnight. One of the earliest Reliable Pictures releases.
May 29 – The Gallant Fool (USA)
- Cast: Bob Steele, Arletta Duncan, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Theodore Lorch, John Elliott
- Director: Robert N. Bradbury
- Production Company: Paul Malvern Productions, distributed by Monogram Pictures
May 30 – Robbers’ Roost (USA)
- Cast: George O’Brien, Maureen O’Sullivan, Walter McGrail, Maude Eburne, Reginald Owen
- Director: David Howard, Louis King
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: Based on the 1932 novel Robbers’ Roost by Zane Grey. The film was remade in 1955 under the same title.
1943
May 25 – The Desperadoes (USA)
- Cast: Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor, Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes, Edgar Buchanan, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Raymond Walburn
- Director: Charles Vidor
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The first Columbia Pictures film to be released in Technicolor. Glenn Strange appears in an uncredited role.
May 26 – My Friend Flicka (USA)
- Cast: Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, Rita Johnson, James Bell, Diana Hale, Jeff Corey
- Director: Harold D. Schuster
- Production Company: Twentieth Century-Fox
- Trivia: Based on Mary O’Hara’s popular 1941 children’s novel of the same name.
May 27 – It’s a Great Life (USA)
- Cast: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Daisy, Reggie, Hugh Herbert, Jonathan Hale
- Director: Frank R. Strayer
- Production Company: King Features Syndicate, distributed by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: 13th of 28 ‘Blondie’ movies, and only one of two that did not feature ‘Blondie’ in the title.
May 27 – Law of the Northwest (USA)
- Cast: Charles Starrett, Shirley Patterson, Arthur Hunnicutt, Stanley Brown, Davison Clark, Johnny Mitchell, Donald Curtis, Douglas Leavitt, Reginald Barlow, John Tyrrell
- Director: William Berke
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
May 27 – Night Plane from Chungking (Mexico)
- Cast: Robert Preston, Ellen Drew, Stephen Geray, Otto Kruger, Victor Sen Yung, Tamara Geva
- Director: Ralph Murphy
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Opened in the US on May 31, 1943. Also known as China Pass and Sky Over China. Remake of Shanghai Express (1932). Remade in 1951 as Peking Express.
May 28 – Back from the Front (USA, short)
- Cast: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard
- Director: Jules White
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The 70th of 190 ‘Three Stooges’ shorts from Columbia Pictures. The film was shot in four days. It was the first Stooges short to have a sound effect for the eye poke gag. Moe Howard once again portrays Adolf Hitler in the short but they never referred to him by Hitler, rather by ‘Schicklgruber’, which was Hitler’s father’s surname for the first 40 years of his life until he changed it to Hiedler (Hitler).
May 28 – False Faces (USA)
- Cast: Stanley Ridges, Veda Ann Borg, William ‘Bill’ Henry, Janet Shaw, Rex Williams, John Maxwell, Joseph Crehan, Dick Wessel, Chester Clute, Etta McDaniel
- Director: George Sherman
- Production Company: Republic Pictures
May 28 – Five Graves to Cairo (Canada)
- Cast: Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, Akim Tamiroff, Erich von Stroheim, Peter van Eyck, Fortunio Bonanova
- Director: Billy Wilder
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Opened in the US on July 12, 1943. Based on Lajos Bíró’s 1917 play Hotel Imperial: Színmű négy felvonásban. Received Oscar nominations for Art Direction, Cinematography and Editing. Billy Wilder asked Cary Grant to take the lead role of Bramble, but he refused the offer (as he had done with any offer from Wilder although the two were friends). David O. Selznick offered to lend Ingrid Bergman for the female lead but Paramount borrowed Anne Baxter from Fox. All of the Germans in the film are played by Germans and have the correct accent, however Erich von Stroheim, who emigrated from Austria to the US at age 24, plays Rommel and his accent sometimes slips.
May 28 – Mister Big (USA)
- Cast: Gloria Jean, Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, Robert Paige, Elyse Knox, Samuel S. Hinds, Florence Bates, Mary Eleanor Donahue
- Director: Charles Lamont
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The last of seven B-movie musicals Universal cast with Donald O’Connor. After his popularity grew, his films were distributed as A-movies.
May 28 – The Leather Burners (USA)
- Cast: William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Victor Jory, George Reeves, George Givot
- Director: Joseph Henabery
- Production Company: Harry Sherman Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Robert Mitchum appears in an uncredited role.
1953
May 24 – Loose in London (USA)
- Cast: The Bowery Boys, Bernard Gorcey, Walter Kingsford, Norma Varden, Angela Greene, Matthew Boulton, John Rogers
- Director: Edward Bernds
- Production Company: Allied Artists Pictures
- Trivia: 13th film in the Bowery Boys series. Originally planned for production in 1950 with the title Knights of the Square Table. First film in the series where Chuck and Butch are given last names, ‘Anderson’ and ‘Williams’, respectively.
May 25 – Four Sided Triangle (UK)
- Cast: Barbara Payton, James Hayter, Stephen Murray, John Van Eyssen, Percy Marmont, Glyn Dearman, Sean Barrett
- Director: Terence Fisher
- Production Company: Hammer Film Productions, distributed by Exclusive Films (UK), Astor Pictures Corporation (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on June 15, 1953. Adapted from the 1949 novel by William F. Temple.
May 27 – Pickup on South Street (USA)
20th Century Fox
- Cast: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley, Willis Bouchey, Milburn Stone, Parley Baer, George E. Stone, Stuart Randall
- Director: Samuel Fuller
- Production Company: 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2018.
May 27 – Raiders of the Seven Seas (USA)
- Cast: John Payne, Donna Reed, Gerald Mohr, Lon Chaney Jr., Anthony Caruso, Henry Brandon
- Director: Sidney Salkow
- Production Company: Global Productions, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Originally known as Storm over the Caribbean, Barbarossa and Swords Against the Mast.
May 27 – Sangaree (USA)
- Cast: Fernando Lamas, Arlene Dahl, Patricia Medina, Francis L. Sullivan, Charles Korvin, Tom Drake, Willard Parker, Lewis Russell, John Sutton, Lester Matthews
- Director: Edward Ludwig
- Production Company: Pine-Thomas Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the 1948 novel of the same name by Frank G. Slaughter. After ten days of filming, Paramount head Adolph Zukor halted production and started over in 3D. It was the first of two films Fernando Lamas and Arlene Dahl made together. They wed in 1954.
May 29 – Dream Wife (AUS)
- Cast: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Walter Pidgeon, Betta St. John, Eduard Franz, Les Tremayne, Donald Randolph, Bruce Bennett, Richard Anderson
- Director: Sidney Sheldon
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Released in the US on June 19, 1953. Oscar nominated for Costume Design. Director Sidney Sheldon went on to create the TV series I Dream of Jeannie, and reused the character of Princess Tarji (Betta St. John) in the episode ‘This is Murder’, played by Gila Golan.
May 29 – Young Bess (USA)
- Cast: Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, Kay Walsh, Guy Rolfe, Kathleen Byron, Cecil Kellaway, Rex Thompson, Robert Arthur, Leo G. Carroll
- Director: George Sidney
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc.
- Trivia: Based on the novel of the same title by Margaret Irwin. Charles Laughton had played the role of Henry VIII 20 years earlier in The Private Life of Henry VIII. The film was originally announced for production in 1948 with Deborah Kerr and Errol Flynn. The film was again scheduled for 1949 but was postponed. The film was announced again in 1951 with Jean Simmons and her husband Stewart Granger in the leads, but was pushed back again due to Simmons’ contractual dispute with Howard Hughes. Filming finally began in October 1952.
May 30 – Don’s Fountain of Youth (USA, short)
- Voice Cast: Clarence Nash
- Director: Jack Hannah
- Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
May 30 – The Desert Song (USA)
- Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Gordon MacRae, Steve Cochran, Raymond Massey, Dick Wesson, Allyn McLerie, Ray Collins, Paul Picerni, Frank DeKova, William Conrad, Trevor Bardette
- Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1926 operetta The Desert Song by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto A. Harbach, Frank Mandel and Laurence Schwab. The third film version of the operetta by Warner Bros. and the second in three-strip Technicolor. It was not filmed in Cinemascope because 20th Century Fox held the rights to the format at the time.
1963
May 29 – Atom Age Vampire (USA)
- Cast: Alberto Lupo, Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni, Franca Parisi, Andrea Scotti, Rina Franchetti, Roberto Bertea, Ivo Garrani
- Director: Anton Giulio Majano
- Production Company: Lion’s Films, distributed by Film Selezione (Italy), Topaz Film Corporation (USA)
- Trivia: Originally opened in Italy as Seddok, l’erede di Satana on August 19, 1960, followed by a UK release on January 27, 1963. The Italian title translates to Seddok, the heir of Satan in English. There are no vampires in the movie. The film was cut from 105 minutes to 87 minutes for the US release, and cut further to 72 minutes for DVD. The film has been incorrectly attributed to Mario Bava as producer, but in fact it was produced by Elio Ippolito Mellino under the alias of Mario Fava.
May 29 – Hud (USA)
- Cast: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Brandon deWilde, Patricia Neal, Whit Bissell, Crahan Denton, John Ashley, Val Avery, George Petrie
- Director: Martin Ritt
- Production Company: Salem-Dover Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Based on Larry McMurtry’s 1961 novel, Horseman, Pass By. Hud Bannon, was a minor character in the original screenplay, but was reworked as the lead role. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three: Best Actress (Patricia Neal), Best Supporting Actor (Melvyn Douglas), and Best Black and White Cinematography (James Wong Howe).
May 29 – In the Cool of the Day (USA)
- Cast: Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Hill, Constance Cummings, Alexander Knox, Nigel Davenport, John Le Mesurier, Alec McCowen, Valerie Taylor
- Director: Robert Stevens
- Production Company: John Houseman Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Based on the 1960 novel of the same title by Susan Ertz.
May 29 – Tammy and the Doctor (USA)
- Cast: Sandra Dee, Peter Fonda, Macdonald Carey, Beulah Bondi, Margaret Lindsay, Reginald Owen, Alice Pearce, Adam West, Joan Marshall, Stanley Clements, Doodles Weaver, Mitzi Hoag
- Director: Harry Keller
- Production Company: Ross Hunter Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The third of four ‘Tammy’ films. Producer Ross Hunter liked to develop new talent and the movie features 23 actors who had never made a film before, including Peter Fonda.
May 29 – The List of Adrian Messenger (USA)
- Cast: George C. Scott, John Merivale, Jacques Roux, Clive Brook, Dana Wynter, Walter Anthony Huston, Kirk Douglas, Gladys Cooper, Herbert Marshall, Marcel Dalio, Bernard Archard, Roland Long
- Director: John Huston
- Production Company: Joel Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Bernard Fox appears in an uncredited role. Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster have cameo appearances under heavy makeup. Kirk Douglas also plays a second role under the John Chambers makeup. Only Curtis, Mitchum and Douglas acted in the film; Lancaster and Sinatra only appeared during the unmasking coda in the credits. Director John Huston also makes an appearance near the end of the film. Elizabeth Taylor was to be one of the disguised stars but bowed out after hearing of the grueling makeup process.
May 30 – The Terror (USA)
- Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Dick Miller, Sandra Knight, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze
- Director: Roger Corman
- Production Company: The Filmgroup, distributed by American International Pictures
- Trivia: Francis Ford Coppola, Dennis Jakob, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Jack Nicholson handled directing chores after Corman completed the Boris Karloff scenes and ran out of money to complete the union production. Karloff’s scenes were shot in two days. The film is not part of Corman’s ‘Poe Cycle’. The film was a challenge Corman gave himself to make a movie in two days using leftover sets from The Raven. Instead it turned into a nine month production, the longest of Corman’s career. Corman never asked AIP if he could use the sets they paid for, and execs grew suspicious at The Raven wrap party when the sets had not been taken down. But they knew Corman would come to them for a distribution deal, so it ultimately ended up being AIP’s film in the end.
1973
May 24 – Emperor of the North Pole (USA)
- Cast: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine, Charles Tyner, Matt Clark, Liam Dunn, Simon Oakland, Malcolm Atterbury, Elisha Cook, Jr., Harry Caesar, Vic Tayback
- Director: Robert Aldrich
- Production Company: Inter-Hemisphere, distributed by 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: The film was released on home video under the shorter and more well-known title Emperor of the North, to avoid being confused for a heartwarming holiday film. The screenplay was inspired by Jack London’s 1907 travel memoir, The Road, and Leon Ray Livingston’s The Trail of the Tramp (1913), and his 1917 travelogue, From Coast to Coast with Jack London.
May 25 – A Touch of Class (UK)
- Cast: George Segal, Glenda Jackson, Hildegarde Neil, Paul Sorvino, K Callan, Cec Linder, Lisa Vanderpump, Michael Elwyn, Mary Barclay, Nadim Sawalha, Eve Karpf
- Director: Melvin Frank
- Production Company: Brut Productions, Gordon Film Productions, Joseph E. Levine Productions, distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
- Trivia: Opened in the US on June 20, 1973. Nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, with Glenda Jackson winning Best Actress. Also nominated for five Golden Globes, winning for Jackson and George Segal. Roger Moore was offered the lead role of Steve but dropped out to star in Live and Let Die, his first Bond film.
May 25 – Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (USA)
- Cast: Roger E. Mosley, William Smith, Michael Pataki, Tom Johnigarn, Joe Tornatore, Damu King, Marla Gibbs
- Director: Henning Schellerup
- Production Company: Capitol Cinema, Entertainment Pyramid Inc., distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Production on this film was suspended in February of 1973 so Roger E. Mosley could appear in Terminal Island.
May 30 – Scalawag (Italy)
- Cast: Kirk Douglas, Mark Lester, Neville Brand, George Eastman, Don Stroud, Lesley-Anne Down, Danny DeVito
- Director: Kirk Douglas
- Production Company: Bryna Productions, Inex Film, Oceania Produzioni Internazionali Cinematografiche, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Opened in the US on October 16, 1973. Mel Blanc provided the voice of Barfly the Parrot. The film is a western re-telling of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
1983
May 25 – Return of the Jedi (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Sebastian Shaw, Alec Guinness
- Director: Richard Marquand
- Production Company: Lucasfilm Ltd., distributed by 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Steven Spielberg, David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project. Alan Webb was cast as the Emperor but dropped out due to illness. Lindsay Anderson was offered the role but had scheduling conflicts while directing Britannia Hospital. Ben Kingsley and David Suchet were also considered. Alan Rickman auditioned for the role of Moff Jerjerrod but lost the role to Michael Pennington. The film was shot under the title Blue Harvest, with the tagline ‘Horror Beyond Imagination’, to throw off fans and the press. The first stage of production occupied all nine stages at Elstree Studios in England. The film began production with a sandstorm scene ultimately cut from the finished film, the only major sequence cut during editing. Anthony Daniels clashed with the director, resulting in Daniels recording his C-3PO dialogue with George Lucas instead. A test screening with poor sound presentation — music and sound effects could not be heard in the mono sound system — led Lucas to create THX, ensuring theaters playing the film would present it as intended.
May 27 – Chained Heat (USA)
- Cast: Linda Blair, John Vernon, Sybil Danning, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Henry Silva, Nita Talbot, Louisa Moritz, Monique Gabrielle, Edy Williams, Carole Ita White, Michael Callan, Irwin Keyes, Kate Vernon
- Director: Paul Nicholas
- Production Company: Intercontinental Pictures, Jensen Farley Pictures, TAT Filmproduktion, distributed by Jensen Farley Pictures
- Trivia: The film was in theaters for two and a half weeks in total.
May 28 – Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japan)
- Cast: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson, Johnny Okura, Alistair Browning
- Director: Nagisa Ōshima
- Production Company: National Film Trustee Company, Antares-Nova, Recorded Picture Company, Oshima Productions, Asahi National Broadcasting Company, Broadbank Investments, distributed by Fuji Eiga Company (Japan), Universal Pictures (USA)
- Trivia: Released in the US on August 26, 1983. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portrayed by Tom Conti) as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II, as depicted in his books The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970).
1993
May 26 – Menace II Society (USA)
- Cast: Tyrin Turner, Brandon Hammond, Jada Pinkett, Larenz Tate, MC Eiht, Glenn Plummer, Clifton Powell, Arnold Johnson, Pooh-Man, Julian Roy Doster, Too Short, Khandi Alexander, Vonte Sweet, Bill Duke, Samuel L. Jackson, Charles S. Dutton, Saafir, Ryan Williams, Reginald Ballard
- Director: The Hughes Brothers
- Production Company: New Line Cinema
- Trivia: The Hughes Brothers directorial debut. Tupac Shakur was originally cast as Sharif but was fired due to causing trouble on set and demanding to know why his character would turn Muslim. Six months after the firing, Shakur assaulted Allan Hughes resulting in being found guilty of assault and battery. After Shakur’s death, Hughes still praised his acting and said he would have outshined everyone if he’d been in the film.
May 26 – Much Ado About Nothing (France)
- Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Richard Briers, Michael Keaton, Gerard Horan, Imelda Staunton, Brian Blessed, Phyllida Law, Patrick Doyle
- Director: Kenneth Branagh
- Production Company: Renaissance Films, American Playhouse Theatrical Films, BBC Films, distributed by UGC PH (France), The Samuel Goldwyn Company (USA)
- Trivia: Released in the US on July 2, 1993. Based on William Shakespeare’s play of the same name. Kate Beckinsale’s film debut. Filmed entirely in Greve in Chianti in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
May 28 – Bad Behaviour (UK)
- Cast: Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cusack, Philip Jackson, Clare Higgins, Phil Daniels, Mary Jo Randle
- Director: Les Blair
- Production Company: British Screen Productions, Channel Four Films, Parallax Pictures, distributed by First Independent Films (UK), October Films (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on September 3, 1993. There was no script for the film, only an outline of situations for which the cast improvised their own dialogue.
May 28 – Cliffhanger (USA)
- Cast: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner, Paul Winfield, Ralph Waite, Max Perlich, Bruce McGill, Zach Grenier
- Director: Renny Harlin
- Production Company: Carolco Pictures, Le Studio Canal+, Pioneer Corporation, RCS Video, distributed by TriStar Pictures
- Trivia: Based on a concept by climber John Long. The large majority of the film’s scenes were shot in the Dolomites in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Cliffhanger is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the costliest aerial stunt ever performed. Stuntman Simon Crane was paid $1 million to perform the aerial transfer scene, where he crossed between two planes at an altitude of 15,000 feet.
May 28 – Happily Ever After (USA)
- Voice Cast: Irene Cara, Malcolm McDowell, Phyllis Diller, Michael Horton, Dom DeLuise, Carol Channing, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Linda Gary, Jonathan Harris, Sally Kellerman, Tracey Ullman, Ed Asner, Frank Welker
- Director: John Howley
- Production Company: Filmation Associates, distributed by First National Film Corp.
- Trivia: Originally opened in the Philippines as Snow White: The Adventure Continues on June 30, 1989. The film is a direct sequel to the Snow White fairytale. The film’s title was changed after Disney filed a lawsuit regarding the project (and a Pinocchio film) as ‘blatant rip-offs’ of their properties. Filmation promised the characters would not resemble the Disney characters and changed the title.
May 28 – Made in America (USA)
- Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, Nia Long, Will Smith, Jennifer Tilly, Paul Rodriguez, Peggy Rea, Clyde Kusatsu, David Bowe
- Director: Richard Benjamin
- Production Company: Le Studio Canal+, Regency Enterprises, Alcor Films, Stonebridge Entertainment, Kalola Productions, Inc., distributed by Warner Bros.
- Trivia: The story did not originally specify black actors for any of the roles and was rewritten upon Whoopi Goldberg’s casting. The character of Hal Jackson is based in part on the real life car dealership owner Cal Worthington.
May 28 – Sankofa (USA)
- Cast: Kofi Ghanaba, Oyafunmike Ogunlano, Alexandra Duah, Nick Medley, Mutabaruka, Afemo Omilami, Reggie Carter
- Director: Haile Gerima
- Production Company: Channel Four Films, Diproci, Ghana National Commission on Culture, Mypheduh Films, Negod-Gwad Productions, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, distributed by Mypheduh Films
- Trivia: When no company would distribute his film, director Haile Gerima went on a roadshow tour from city to city, screening the film personally. It grossed around $3 million.
May 28 – Super Mario Bros. (USA)
- Cast: Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Samantha Mathis, Fisher Stevens, Richard Edson, Dana Kaminski, Fiona Shaw, Mojo Nixon, Don Lake, Lance Henriksen, Frank Welker, Dan Castellaneta
- Director: Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel
- Production Company: Hollywood Pictures, Lightmotive, Allied Filmmakers, Cinergi Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Movie. Based on Nintendo’s Super Mario video game series. Producer Roland Joffé was given creative license by Nintendo, which felt the brand was strong enough to withstand experimentation. The production innovated and introduced many filmmaking techniques now considered pivotal in the transition from practical to digital visual effects, including the first use of Autodesk Flame. Dustin Hoffman was interested in playing Mario but was deemed not right for the role. Danny DeVito was offered the role and the director’s chair. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Keaton turned down an offer to play Koopa. Tom Hanks was considered for Luigi but a string of box office failures took him out of contention. Bob Hoskins hated the original script and did not want to do another ‘childrens movie’ after Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook. But he felt he was the right shape for the role, he had a mustache and he’d worked as a plumber’s apprentice (setting his boots on fire with a blow torch), and after several script revisions he finally accepted the role. After Disney purchased the distribution rights, they demanded more script revisions, changing the tone of the film that was incompatible with the already constructed sets and was not at all like the script the directors had signed on for.
2003
May 30 – Finding Nemo (USA/Canada)
Pixar
- Voice Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Stephen Root, Austin Pendleton, Vicki Lewis, Joe Ranft, Geoffrey Rush, Andrew Stanton, Elizabeth Perkins, Eric Bana, Bruce Spence, Erik Per Sullivan, John Ratzenberger
- Director: Andrew Stanton
- Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Pre-production of the film began in early 1997. It was the highest grossing animated film at the time of its release. The film earned three Oscar nominations, winning Best Animated Feature, the first Pixar film to do so. Megan Mullally was to provide a voice in the film, but the producers were stunned to learn that her Karen Walker voice on Will & Grace was not her natural voice. They encouraged her to do the Karen voice, she refused and was dismissed. The animators took a crash course in fish biology and oceanography to make sure the movements were believable. The name of the great white shark, Bruce, is a reference to the name Steven Spielberg and crew gave to the mechanical shark used in Jaws.
May 30 – The Italian Job (USA)
- Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def, Franky G
- Director: F. Gary Gray
- Production Company: De Line Pictures, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: The film is a remake of the 1969 British film, but with an original story. Seth Green’s character Lyle claims to be the real inventor of Napster, insisting that Shawn Fanning stole his idea. Fanning plays himself in a cameo. A sequel titled The Brazilian Job was announced in 2004 but was later cancelled. To maintain a realistic feeling, the actors did most of their own stunts and CGI was used sparingly.
May 30 – Wrong Turn (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth, Julian Richings, Garry Robbins
- Director: Rob Schmidt
- Production Company: Constantin Film, Summit Entertainment, Regency Enterprises, Newmarket Capital Group, distributed by 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Development on the film began in 2001. Fox reportedly had issues securing an R-rating for the film, which may be why all of the sequels went straight-to-video.
2013
May 24 – A Green Story (USA, limited)
- Cast: Ed O’Ross, Billy Zane, Malcolm McDowell, Shannon Elizabeth, Annabella Sciorra, George Finn
- Director: Nika Agiashvili
- Production Company: Paramyth Films, Parmyth Films Greece, Storyman Pictures, distributed by Indican Pictures
May 24 – Before Midnight (USA)
- Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Walter Lassally, Ariane Labed
- Director: Richard Linklater
- Production Company: Castle Rock Entertainment, Venture Forth, Detour Filmproduction, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
- Trivia: Sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), it is the third installment in the ‘Before’ trilogy. Oscar nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Golden Globe nominated for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Julie Delpy.
May 24 – Epic (USA)
- Voice Cast: Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Beyoncé Knowles, Blake Anderson, Judah Friedlander, Thomas F. Wilson, Frank Welker
- Director: Chris Wedge
- Production Company: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation, distributed by 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Loosely based on William Joyce’s 1996 children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. During pre-production Chris Wedge was given permission to find a new home for the film and he turned to Pixar, which tried to close a deal, but Fox execs changed their minds and kept the film. The film was greenlit under the title Leaf Men but was changed to Epic. Wedge did not like the renaming or the subtitles given to the film in different countries such as The Battle of the Secret Kingdom in France.
May 24 – Fast & Furious 6 (USA)
Universal Pictures
- Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Gal Gadot, Luke Evans
- Director: Justin Lin
- Production Company: Relativity Media, Original Film, One Race Films, Dentsu, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: On-screen title is Furious 6. The film was planned prior to the production of Fast Five. Fast & Furious 6 featured mostly practical stuntwork, which required designed specialty vehicles in order to be completed. This was the last film in the franchise released during Paul Walker’s lifetime. The film first opened in the UK on May 17. It was only the third film to be given permission to film in Piccadilly Circus, with production given two minutes every hour to shut down the area for filming. Production took place entirely at night but did not involve any of the main cast. A scene with an exploding tanker had to be filmed on a replica of the landmark constructed at Shepperton Studios.
May 24 – Fill the Void (USA)
- Cast: Hadas Yaron, Chaim Sharir, Ido Samuel, Irit Sheleg, Yiftach Klein
- Director: Rama Burshtein
- Production Company: Reshet Broadcasting, Avi Chai fund, Sundance, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
- Trivia: Originally opened in Israel on November 15, 2012. Casting for the film took over a year, and editing took about 15 months.
May 24 – We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (USA, limited, documentary)
- Director: Alex Gibney
- Production Company: Jigsaw Productions, Global Produce, distributed by Focus World
- Trivia: Nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.
May 29 – Hannah Arendt (USA, limited)
- Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Janet McTeer, Klaus Pohl, Nicholas Woodeson, Axel Milberg, Julia Jentsch, Ulrich Noethen, Michael Degen, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Harvey Friedman
- Director: Margarethe von Trotta
- Production Company: Heimatfilm, Amour Fou Luxembourg, MACT Productions, Sophie Dulac Productions, Metro Communications, ARD Degeto Film, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, distributed by Zeitgeist Films
- Trivia: Originally opened in Germany on January 10, 2013. Hannah Arendt makes use of original film footage from the 1961 Adolf Eichmann trial, in black & white, as well as the real testimony of survivors and the prosecutor, Gideon Hausner.
May 30 – Only God Forgives (USA)
- Cast: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown, Rhatha Phongam, Tom Burke
- Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
- Production Company: Space Rocket Nation, Gaumont, Wild Bunch, Motel Movies, Film i Väst, DR/Filmklubben, Nordisk Film ShortCut, Det Danske Filminstitut, Nordisk Film & TV-Fond, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, distributed by Gaumont
- Trivia: Shot on location in Bangkok, Thailand.
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