Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #15 :: November 4•10

Fox Searchlight

The first week of November. It’s getting dark earlier, the weather is getting cooler in many parts of the country, and Hollywood is beginning to roll out its more prestigious films for awards season. There are a couple of contenders this week, but it’s still a little early for the major award push. Among this week’s awards contenders are a 1940 swashbuckler, a musical interpretation of a holiday classic, a sprawling David Lean epic, and a true life drama. This week also offered everything from children’s films to horror, and Elvis Presley’s first film after being released from the Army. We have to note that last week we overlooked BUtterfield 8, so we’re including it on this week’s list.

1920

Nov 4 – The Forbidden Thing

• Cast: James Kirkwood, Helen Jerome, Marcia Manon, King Baggot, Gertrude Claire, Jack Roseleigh, Arthur Thalasso, Newton Hall, Harry Griffith, Katherine Norton
• Director: Allan Dwan
• Studio: Allan Dwan Productions, distributed by Associated Producers

Nov 7 – The Sins of Rosanne

• Cast: Ethel Clayton, Jack Holt, Fontaine La Rue, Mabel Van Buren, Fred Malatesta, Grace Morse, Dorothy Messenger, James Smith, Guy Oliver, Clarence Geldart
• Director: Tom Forman
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film is preserved in the Library of Congress but Reels 1 and 3 are missing.

Nov 8 – Are All Men Alike?

• Cast: May Allison, Wallace MacDonald, John Elliott, Winifred Greenwood, Emanuel Turner, Ruth Stonehouse, Lester Cuneo, Harry Lamont
• Director: Phil Rosen
• Studio: Metro Pictures, Screen Classics, distributed by Metro Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the short story ‘The Waffle Iron’ by Arthur Stringer.

1930

Nov 7 – The Cat Creeps

• Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, Raymond Hackett, Neil Hamilton, Lilyan Tashman, Jean Hersholt, Montagu Love, Lawrence Grant, Theodore von Eltz, Blanche Friderici, Elizabeth Patterson
• Director: Rupert Julian
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1922 play The Cat and the Canary by John Willard. This is a sound remake of the 1927 silent The Cat and the Canary, in which Universal sought to recast original star Laura La Plante who was unavailable so the title was changed. A Spanish language version of the film with Lupita Tovar was shot on the same sets after each day’s filming on the English version. The film is considered lost, with only two minutes of footage known to exist in the 1932 short Boo! The film was remade as The Cat and the Canary in 1939 with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. Elizabeth Patterson reprised her role as Aunt Susan. It was remade again in 1970. Universal released a film in 1946 titled The Cat Creeps but it was unrelated, borrowing heavily from 1940’s Horror Island.

Nov 8 – Feet First

• Cast: Harold Lloyd, Barbara Kent, Robert McWade, Lillian Leighton, Henry Hall, Noah Young, Alec B. Francis, Arthur Housman, Willie Best, Nick Copeland, James Finlayson, Buster Phelps, Leo Willis
• Director: Clyde Bruckman
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: This was Harold Lloyd’s second talkie. He was one of the few silent actors who successfully transitioned to sound. This was Lloyd’s second film with Barbara Kent, and the last in which he would appear with the same leading lady. In the film, Lloyd refers to a Black janitor by the name ‘Charcoal’ but overdubbed the dialogue for the 1960 re-release with the name ‘Charlie’ to avoid accusations of racial stereotyping.

1940

Nov 8 – The Mark of Zorro

• Cast: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard, Eugene Pallette, J. Edward Bromberg, Montagu Love, Janet Beecher, George Regas, Chris-Pin Martin, Robert Lowery, Belle Mitchell, John Bleifer, Frank Puglia, Eugene Borden, Pedro de Cordoba, Guy D’Ennery
• Director: Rouben Mamoulian
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. The music was re-used but the 1974 TV movie remake The Mark of Zorro. Portions of the music were also used in the 1981 spoof Zorro, the Gay Blade. The film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2009. The film is based on The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley, which was published in film installments in 1919 by All-Story Weekly. This is a remake of the popular 1920 silent film of the same title. In DC Comics continuity, it is established that the Wayne family is leaving a showing of The Mark of Zorro when the parents are killed before young Bruce’s eyes. Batman’s co-creator Bill Finger has said he was inspired by the 1920 version with Douglas Fairbanks, and the Batman comic pre-dates the Tyrone Power version by a year. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the family is leaving a screening of the 1940 version. The film is also referenced in the animated series Justice League Unlimited, but does not indicate which version. In 2019’s Joker, the Wayne family is exiting a theater in 1981 screening Blow Out and Zorro, the Gay Blade.

1950

Nov 9 – The Fireball

• Cast: Mickey Rooney, Pat O’Brien, Beverly Tyler, James Brown, Ralph Dumke, Milburn Stone, Bert Begley, Marilyn Monroe, Sam Flint, Glen Corbett, John Hedloe
• Director: Tay Garnett
• Studio: 20th Century Fox

Nov 9 – Tripoli

• Cast: John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, Howard Da Silva, Phillip Reed, Grant Withers, Lowell Gilmore, Connie Gilchrist, Alan Napier, Herbert Heyes, Alberto Morin, Emil Hanna, Grandon Rhodes, Frank Fenton, Rosa Turich, Ray Hyke, Walter Reed, Paul Livermore, Gregg Barton, Don Summers, Jack Pennick, Ewing Mitchell
• Director: Will Price
• Studio: Pine-Thomas Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Derna. This was one of four films at this time set against the Barbary War, including Slave Girl (1947), Barbary Pirate (1949) and To the Shores of Tripoli (1942). The film’s original title was The Barbarians, and was to have starred Dennis O’Keefe. Maureen O’Hara was the wife of director Will Price.

Nov 10 – Two Weeks with Love

• Cast: Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalbán, Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Phyllis Kirk, Carleton Carpenter, Debbie Reynolds, Clinton Sundberg, Gary Gray, Tommy Rettig, Charles Smith
• Director: Roy Rowland
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: When one of the film’s songs, ‘Aba Daba Honeymoon’, became a huge hit, MGM sent Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter on a multicity tour of Loews theaters to capitalize on its success and promote the film. The film received a comic book adaptation in December 1950 by Eastern Color Movie Love #6.

1960

Nov 2 – BUtterfield 8

• Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill, Mildred Dunnock, Betty Field, Jeffrey Lynn, Kay Medford, Susan Oliver, George Voskovec
• Director: Daniel Mann
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Elizabeth Taylor won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for the role of Gloria Wandrous. Taylor was also nominated for the Golden Globe. The film was based on the 1935 novel of the same name by John O’Hara, which was based on the mysterious death of Starr Faithfull in 1931, but the film bears on a superficial resemblance to the novel. The film was shot on location in New York.

Paramount Pictures

Nov 4 – G.I. Blues

• Cast: Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse, Robert Ivers, James Douglas, Letícia Román, Sigrid Maier, Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, Arch Johnson, Kenneth Becker, Carl Crow, Beach Dickerson, Trent Dolan, Fred Essler, John Hudson, The Jordanaires, Mickey Knox, Erika Peters, Jeremy Slate, Edson Stroll, Ron Starr, Ludwig Stössel
• Director: Norman Taurog
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Some pre-production footage was filmed in Germany before Elvis’ release from the Army, but the main production took place at Paramount studios. Elivs did not appear in the footage shot in Germany but his double, Private First Class Tom Creel, was used for some shots. The film was conceived with the title Christmas in Berlin, then Cafe Europa before becoming G.I. Blues. Presley returned to the US in March 1960 and began work on the film in April. Michael Curtiz was the original choice to direct, and Dolores Hart, Joan Blackman and Ursula Andress were all tested for the role won by Juliet Prowse. The film’s soundtrack album was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Nov 10 – The World of Suzie Wong

• Cast: William Holden, Nancy Kwan, Sylvia Syms, Michael Wilding, Laurence Naismith, Andy Ho, Jacqui Chan, Yvonne Shima
• Director: Richard Quine
• Studio: World Enterprises, Inc., Worldfilm, Ltd, Paramount British Pictures, Ltd, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Adapted from the stage play by Paul Osborn which was based on the novel by Richard Mason. France Nuyen was originally cast as Suzie Wong but was replaced after six weeks of shooting with Nancy Kwan, who was an understudy for the lead in a national tour of the show at the time. Nuyen had been in a relationship with Marlon Brando and his affair led Nuyen to overeat, making her unable to fit into the tight silk gowns. Producer Ray Stark refused to put production on hold so she could lose the weight requiring the entire cast and crew to return to Hong Kong to reshoot all of Nuyen’s scenes with Kwan. Stark also fired original director Jean Negulesco and replaced him with Richard Quine. The film had its premiere at Radio City Music Hall.

1970

Nov 5 – Scrooge

• Cast: Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Paddy Stone, David Collings, Frances Cuka, Richard Beaumont, Michael Medwin, Mary Peach, Gordon Jackson, Anton Rodgers, Laurence Naismith, Kay Walsh, Suzanne Neve, Derek Francis, Roy Kinnear, Geoffrey Bayldon, Molly Weir, Helena Gloag, Reg Lever, Keith Marsh, Marianne Stone
• Director: Ronald Neame
• Studio: Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures
• Trivia: Based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Albert Finney won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Finney was 33 at the time he played the younger Scrooge in flashbacks and the old, miserly Scrooge of the present. The film received four Academy Award nominations including Best Song. The film’s sets at Shepperton Studios included fully reconstructed Victorian streets. A stage musical adaptation was first produced in 1992 and has been revived several times. The show has toured in both the UK and US.

Nov 7 – The Phantom Tollbooth

• Cast: Butch Patrick, Mike Davis, Chuck Jones.
• Voice Cast: Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Candy Candido, Hans Conried, June Foray, Patti Gilbert, Shepard Menken, Cliff Norton, Larry Thor, Les Tremayne, Thurl Ravenscroft
• Director: Chuck Jones, Abe Levitow, Dave Monahan (live action)
• Studio: MGM Animation/Visual Arts, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Also known as The Adventures of Milo in the Phantom Tollbooth. Based on the 1961 children’s book of the same name by Norton Juster. Juster had no input and hated the completed film. The film was completed in 1968 but held up until 1970 due to internal studio problems. MGM’s animation studio closed soon after the film’s release. A remake was put into development at Warner Bros. in 2010 but moved to TriStar Pictures in 2017.

Nov 8 – The Horror of Frankenstein

• Cast: Ralph Bates, Kate O’Mara, Veronica Carlson, Dennis Price, Jon Finch, Bernard Archard, Graham James, James Hayter, Joan Rice, Stephen Turner, Neil Wilson, James Cossins, Glenys O’Brien, Geoffrey Lumsden, Chris Lethbridge-Baker, Terry Duggan, George Belbin, Hal Jeayes, Carol Jeayes, Michael Goldie, David Prowse
• Director: Jimmy Sangster
• Studio: Hammer Film Productions, distributed by MGM-EMI Distributors (U.K.), Continental Films (U.S.)
• Trivia: The was both a remake and a parody of Hammer’s The Curse of Frankenstein, with Ralph Bates cast as Victor Frankenstein, a role played by Peter Cushing for Hammer five times. David Prowse is the only actor to have portrayed Frankenstein’s monster in more than one Hammer film. This was the first, followed by Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell in 1974, albeit in much more elaborate makeup. He also appeared as the monster in traditional makeup in a brief role in 1967’s Casino Royale.

Nov 8 – Scars of Dracula

• Cast: Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Christopher Matthews, Christopher Lee, Patrick Troughton, Anouska Hempel, Michael Ripper, Michael Gwynn, Wendy Hamilton, Bob Todd, Delia Lindsay
• Director: Roy Ward Baker
• Studio: Hammer Film Productions, distributed by MGM-EMI Distributors (U.K.), Continental Films (U.S.)
• Trivia: The film restores elements from Bram Stoker’s original novel, and gives Lee more to do and say than any other Dracula film after the 1958 original. The film breaks the series continuity with no explanation by resurrecting Dracula in his Transylvanian castle after his demise in Taste the Blood of Dracula in an disused church. There is also confusion with Dracula’s servant Klove, played by Patrick Troughton. In the third film of the series, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, the Count had a servant also named Klove (Philip Latham) but the characters appear to be different. The continuity issues can be traced to the fact that the film was designed to be a new reboot of the franchise if Lee opted not to return to the role of the Count. The film was the first Hammer film to earn an R rating in the US. The film was released in some markets on a double bill with The Horror of Frankenstein.

Nov 9 – Ryan’s Daughter

• Cast: Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Christopher Jones, Leo McKern, Barry Foster, Gerald Sim, Evin Crowley, Marie Kean, Arthur O’Sullivan, Brian O’Higgins, Barry Jackson
• Director: David Lean
• Studio: Faraway Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: The film is a retelling of Gustave Flaubert’s 1857 novel Madame Bovary. The idea was to make a film version of Madame Bovary but David Lean didn’t find the script interesting, so it was reworked into another setting. The film was not a critical success, but it did well at the box office ranking as the eighth most popular film of the year. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two: Best Supporting Actor (John Mills) & Best Cinematography. The film was nominated for ten BAFTAs but won none. Alec Guinness turned down the role of Father Collins (Trevor Howard) because of his Catholic beliefs, objecting to what he felt was an inaccurate portrayal of a priest, and because he had clashed with Lean while filming Doctor Zhivago. Paul Scofield was the first choice for Shaughnessy but was unavailable due to a theatre commitment. George C. Scott, Anthony Hopkins and Patrick McGoohan were considered and Gregory Peck lobbied for the role but gave up when Mitchum was approached. Mitchum was hesitant to take the role due to a personal crisis at the time, telling Lean he was planning to commit suicide. The role of Major Doryan was written for Marlon Brando, who accepted but had to drop out due to production issues on Burn! Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris and Richard Burton were considered until Lean saw Christopher Jones in The Looking Glass War and cast him without ever meeting. Mitchum and Lean clashed during production but Mitchum later admitted in a radio interview that Lean was one of the best directors he’d ever worked with, and he felt the role was among his best. Lean also clashed with Jones who also clashed with Sarah Miles, leading to trouble while filming love scenes. At one point Miles and Mitchum conspired to drug Jones to get him through a love scene but Mitchum overdosed Jones and he was nearly catatonic during the filming. Lean was upset with Jones’ flat voice and inability to do a convincing British accent so all of his lines were dubbed by Julian Holloway. Jones retired from acting reportedly due to the bad reviews he received for the film. The film was originally rated R for nudity and MGM appealed for financial reasons, stating the studio needed more people to see the film to remain in business. The MPAA relented and gave the film a GP rating. When the film was resubmitted to the MPAA in 1996, it was re-rated back to the original R. The film’s original cut ran over 220 minutes and was criticized for being too long and slow. Lean removed 17 minutes of footage before the film’s general release. The missing footage has not been located. Despite the criticism, the film ran at one West End theater for almost two years.

Nov 10 – Where’s Poppa?

• Cast: George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Ron Leibman, Trish Van Devere, Rae Allen, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes, Garrett Morris, Rob Reiner, Paul Sorvino, Michael McGuire, Arnold Williams
• Director: Carl Reiner
• Studio: United Artists
• Trivia: Based on the 1970 novel by Robert Klane, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was re-released in 1975 under the title Going Ape and has developed a cult following. The film’s original ending featured Gordon (Segal) in bed with his mother (Gordon) but was considered too risqué and was removed before the film’s release. A pilot for a proposed half hour sitcom was produced by ABC in 1979 with Steven Keats and Elsa Lanchester, but the series was not picked up.

1980

Nov 7 – The Boogeyman

• Cast: Suzanna Love, Ron James, John Carradine, Nicholas Love, Raymond Boyden
• Director: Ulli Lommel
• Studio: Jerry Gross Organization
• Trivia: The film spawned two sequels: Boogeyman II and Return of the Boogeyman. Both films are padded heavily with flashbacks from the original. Filming took place on location in Waldorf, Maryland, with additional photography in Los Angeles.

1990

Nov 9 – Child’s Play 2

• Cast: Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif, Christine Elise, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Grace Zabriskie, Peter Haskell, Beth Grant, Greg Germann, Adam Wylie
• Director: John Lafia
• Studio: Living Doll Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The was the film debut of Adam Wylie. The first film was released by United Artists which greenlit the sequel, but the studio was about to be sold to an Australian company that did not want to make horror films. Almost every major studio in Hollywood was interested in picking up the film with Universal winning after Steven Spielberg assisted in convincing studio head Sid Sheinberg to make the bid. Five additional, official sequels followed.

Nov 9 – Guns

• Cast: Erik Estrada, Dona Speir, Roberta Vasquez, Bruce Penhall, Cynthia Brimhall, William Bumiller, Devin DeVasquez, Michael J. Shane, Phyllis Davis, Chuck McCann, Chu Chu Malave, Richard Cansino, George Cheung, Danny Trejo, Lisa London, Kym Malin, Liv Lindeland
• Director: Andy Sidaris
• Studio: Malibu Bay Films
• Trivia: This is the fifth installment in the ‘Triple B’ series.

Nov 9 – The Krays

• Cast: Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Susan Fleetwood, Charlotte Cornwell, Kate Hardie, Avis Bunnage, Alfred Lynch, Gary Love, Steven Berkoff, Jimmy Jewel
• Director: Peter Medak
• Studio: Fugitive Features, Parkfield Entertainment, distributed by Rank Film Distributors (UK), Miramax (United States)
• Trivia: The film opened first in the UK on April 27, 1990. Brothers Gary and Martin Kemp were members of the new wave band Spandau Ballet.

2000

Nov 10 – Little Nicky

• Cast: Adam Sandler, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Patricia Arquette, Reese Witherspoon, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr., Robert Smigel, Allen Covert, Rodney Dangerfield, Jonathan Loughran, Peter Dante, Blake Clark, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey, Michael McKean, Laura Harring, Jess Harnell
• Director: Steven Brill
• Studio: Happy Madison Productions, The Robert Simonds Company, distributed by New Line Cinema
• Trivia: The film’s cameos include Regis Philbin, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Walton, Dan Marino, Henry Winkler, George Wallace, Rob Schneider, Carl Weathers, Jon Lovitz, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Howard, and John Witherspoon. The film received five Razzie Awards nominations: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Adam Sandler), Worst Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette), Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. It lost in every category to Battelfield Earth.

Nov 10 – Men of Honor

• Cast: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Chris Warren Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport, Powers Boothe, David Keith, Holt McCallany, David Conrad, Joshua Leonard, Carl Lumbly, Lonette McKee, Glynn Turman, Joshua Feinman
• Director: George Tillman Jr.
• Studio: Fox 2000 Pictures, State Street Pictures, distributed by 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: Released in the UK and Ireland as Men of Honour. The Mark V diving equipment (used by the Navy from 1915-1985) was custom made for the film, with helmets that had larger glass windows for greater visibility of the actors. The diving equipment weighed about 200 pounds.

Nov 10 – Red Planet

• Cast: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon Baker, Terence Stamp
• Director: Antony Hoffman
• Studio: Village Roadshow Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)
• Trivia: To date, this is Hoffman’s only feature film directorial effort. Kilmer and Sizemore had been friends before production on the film, but had a major falling out when Kilmer learned production had paid to ship Sizemore’s exercise machine to the location (the film was shot in Southern Jordan and the Australian Outback). At one point, Kilmer so angered Sizemore that he threw a 50 poind weight at him, and the two refused to come to the set if the other was present, necessitating body doubles to shoot scenes involving both actors. Producers asked Sizemore to not hit Kilmer in the face when their big fight eventually happened, and when it did Sizemore punched Kilmer in the chest. Sizemore calls the film one of his biggest regrets and has said that he and Kilmer did eventually bury the hatchet.

2010

Nov 5 – 127 Hours

• Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan, Kate Burton, Treat Williams
• Director: Danny Boyle
• Studio: Pathé, Everest Entertainment, Film4 Productions, HandMade Films, Cloud Eight Films, distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment UK (United Kingdom), Fox Searchlight Pictures (United States)
• Trivia: Based on Aron Ralston’s memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2004). The film was nominated for six Acadmy Awards including Best Actor and Best Picture, three Golden Globes, and nine BAFTAs. A change early in the story involving Ralston showing hikers a hidden pool (he was actually showing them basic climbing moves) made Ralston uncomfortable, but he felt the rest of the film was so accurate it was almost a documentary. Danny Boyle had been wanting to make the film for four years. When production was announced in 2009, Cillian Murphy was named as Boyle’s top choice for the role of Ralston. Boyle employed two cinematographers who each worked on 50% of the film so Boyle and Franco could work longer hours without tiring the crew.

Nov 5 – Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

• Cast: Eliot Spitzer
• Director: Alex Gibney
• Studio: Magnolia Pictures
• Trivia: Gibney shared ideas and information from the film with Peter Elkind, who wrote the book Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer.

Nov 5 – Due Date

• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Juliette Lewis, Jamie Foxx, Matt Walsh, RZA, Danny McBride, Todd Phillips, Mimi Kennedy, Keegan-Michael Key, Aaron Lustig, Marco Rodríguez, Brody Stevens, Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer
• Director: Todd Phillips
• Studio: Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film premiered at the Night Visions film festival on October 31, 2010. Juliette Lewis is playing the same character from the film Old School. Sheen’s and Cryer’s Two and a Half Men co-star Angus T. Jones also had a cameo in the film with them but the scene was cut short and his cameo was not shown. Alan Arkin also filmed a cameo that did not make the final cut.

Nov 5 – For Colored Girls

• Cast: Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Macy Gray, Michael Ealy, Omari Hardwick, Hill Harper, Khalil Kain, Richard Lawson
• Director: Tyler Perry
• Studio: 34th Street Films, Tyler Perry Studios, distributed by Lionsgate
• Trivia: Adapted from Ntozake Shange’s 1975 original choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. It is the first film produced by Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films, and the first R-rated film directed by Perry. Mariah Carey had been cast in the film but pulled out due to her pregnancy. Thandie Newton was cast as her replacement. The film was intended to carry the source’s full title but was shortened in September 2010. The author had qualms about the film and said Tyler did a fine job but was not sure she’d call it a finished film. The film’s original 2010 release was pushed to January 14, 2011 then moved again to November 5, 2010 because Perry felt it lent itself better to the Fall period (i.e. ‘Awards Season’, although he didn’t say that explicitly). The film opened at Number 3 behind Megamind and Due Date.

Nov 5 – Megamind

• Voice Cast: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Ben Stiller, Christopher Knights, Tom McGrath, Jack Blessing, Justin Theroux, Jessica Schulte
• Director: Tom McGrath
• Studio: DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images, distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation
• Trivia: The film premiered in Russia on October 28, 2010. The film was scheduled to open in Japan on March 12, 2011 but was cancelled after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11. With over $321 million in worldwide grosses, it is one of DreamWorks’ lowest grossing CGI films of the 2010s. The film originally carried the titles Master Mind and Oobermind. Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. were originally selected for the role of Megamind, which went to Ferrell (Downey had scheduling conflicts). Theroux and Guillermo del Toro were creative consultants on the film.

Nov 5 – Tooth Fairy

• Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews, Stephen Merchant, Chase Ellison, Destiny Whitlock, Ryan Sheckler, Brendan Meyer, Billy Crystal, Seth MacFarlane, Brandon T. Jackson
• Director: Michael Lembeck
• Studio: Walden Media, Mayhem Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Dune Entertainment
• Trivia: The film spawned a direct-to-video sequel with Larry the Cable Guy replacing Johnson. The hockey scene was filmed at the Great Western Forum with members of the Los Angeles Kings.

Nov 10 – Freakonomics

• Cast: Carl Alleyne, Zoe Sloane, Adesuwa Addy Iyare, Jade Viggiano, Sammuel Soifer, Jalani McNair, Andrew Greiche, Alyssa Wheeldon, Greg Crowe, Hassan Brown, Kelli Chaves, Amancaya Aguilar, Kellie Gerardi, Rick Owens
• Director: Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, Morgan Spurlock
• Studio: Chad Troutwine Films, Cold Fusion Media Group, Green Film Company, Human Worldwide, Jigsaw Productions, Loki Films
• Trivia: Based on the 2005 book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner. The film premiered at Tribeca in April 2010.

Nov 10 – Morning Glory

• Cast: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, John Pankow, Jeff Goldblum, Matt Malloy, Ty Burrell, Patti D’Arbanville, Adrian Martinez
• Director: Roger Michell
• Studio: Bad Robot Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The premise of the film was partially inspired by Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys. Ford and Keaton had never met before making the film. This was Keaton’s second film with McAdams. McAdams didn’t think she was funny enough to be in the film but director Michell had several dinners with her to convince her to take the role. The film was originally to be released on July 30, 2010 but was pushed to November 12 then back to November 10.