Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #156 :: July 19•25

New Line Cinema

We are right in the dead of Summer, but this week’s new movie releases are mostly forgotten, with the bulk of the big titles coming in the later part of the century. Several of 1922’s films are lost, while 1933 had films with starring roles for Marlene Dietrich and Ginger Rogers. 1943 had a lavishly expensive serial, while 1953 had a classic cartoon inspired by those classic sci-fi serials. 1963 sat the week out, 1973 had a copycat version of a classic cop drama, and 1983 had the third film in a popular summer franchise hop on the then current 3D fad. 1993 brought an SNL sketch to the big screen, and gave Janet Jackson a starring role in a film. 2003 had an action sequel regarded as better than the original, a prestigious film about a racehorse, and a family film to cash in on the then-popular 3D craze, and 2013 had another starring role for Kristen Wiig, a ‘colorful’ action sequel, two films cashing in on the then-popular 3D fad, and a classic horror film that launched a franchise. Read more about these and other films celebrating anniversaries this week, and tell us if your favorites are on the list!

1923

July 20 – The Eleventh Hour (USA)

Cast: Shirley Mason, Buck Jones, Richard Tucker, Alan Hale Sr., Walter McGrail, June Elvidge, Fred Kelsey, Nigel De Brulier, Fred Kohler
Director: Bernard Durning
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: Based on the unpublished and uncopyrighted play The Eleventh Hour by Lincoln J. Carter. Fox used the US Navy submarine USS R-6 in filming.

July 21 – Toilers of the Sea (USA)

Cast: Lucy Fox, Holmes Herbert, Horace Tesseron, Dell Cawley, Lucius Henderson
Director: Roy William Neill
Production Company: Community International Corporation, distributed by Selznick Pictures
Trivia: The film is considered lost. Adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel of the same title. Filmed in Italy.

July 22 – Itching Palms (USA)

Cast: Tom Gallery, Herschel Mayall, Virginia Fox, Tom Wilson, Joseph Harrington, Victor Potel, Gertrude Claire, Robert Walker, Thomas G. Lingham, Richard Cummings
Director: James W. Horne
Production Company: Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation, distributed by Film Booking Offices of America

July 22 – Law of the Lawless (USA)

Cast: Dorothy Dalton, Charles De Roche, Theodore Kosloff, Tully Marshall, Fred Huntley, Margaret Loomis, Frank Coghlan, Jr.
Director: Victor Fleming
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film is considered lost.

July 22 – Lawful Larceny (USA)

Cast: Hope Hampton, Conrad Nagel, Nita Naldi, Lew Cody, Russell Griffin, Yvonne Hughes, Dolores Costello, Gilda Gray, Florence O’Denishawn
Director: Allan Dwan
Production Company: Famous Players–Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Only about six minutes of the film survives. The film was remade with sound in 1930 with Bebe Daniels in the lead role.

July 22 – Skid Proof (USA)

Cast: Buck Jones, Laura Anson, Fred Eric, Jacqueline Gadsden, Peggy Shaw, Earl Metcalf, Claude Peyton
Director: Scott R. Dunlap
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: The film survives in the Museum of Modern Art collection.

July 22 – The Brass Bottle (USA)

Cast: Harry Myers, Ernest Torrence, Tully Marshall, Clarissa Selwynne, Ford Sterling, Aggie Herring, Charlotte Merriam, Edward Jobson, Barbara La Marr, Otis Harlan
Director: Maurice Tourneur
Production Company: Maurice Tourneur Productions, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
Trivia: Based on the 1900 novel The Brass Bottle by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, which was produced on Broadway in 1910. A film version was also produced in 1914, but it and the 1923 films are lost. The story was adapted again in 1964 with Tony Randall, Barbara Eden and Burl Ives, which in turn served as the inspiration for 196s TV series I Dream of Jeannie with Eden as Jeannie (she was the human love interest in the film).

July 22 – The Love Piker (USA)

Cast: Anita Stewart, William Norris, Robert Frazer, Carl Gerard, Arthur Hoyt, Betty Francisco, Winston Miller, Mayme Kelso
Director: E. Mason Hopper
Production Company: Cosmopolitan Productions, distributed by Goldwyn-Cosmopolitan Distributing Corporation

July 22 – The Victor (USA)

Cast: Herbert Rawlinson, Dorothy Manners, Frank Currier, Otis Harlan, Esther Ralston, Eddie Gribbon, Tom McGuire
Director: Edward Laemmle
Production Company: Universal Pictures

1933

July 19 – The Song of Songs (USA)

Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Brian Aherne, Lionel Atwill, Alison Skipworth, Hardie Albright, Helen Freeman
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Based on the 1908 novel The Song of Songs (Das hohe Lied) by Hermann Sudermann. The film is a remake of the 1918 silent of the same name, and the 1924 silent titled Lily of the Dust.

July 20 – Secret of the Blue Room (USA)

Cast: Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, Edward Arnold, Onslow Stevens, William Janney, Robert Barrat, Muriel Kirkland, Russell Hopton, Elizabeth Patterson
Director: Kurt Neumann
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Remake of the German film Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers (1932). Filmed in six days, and Universal’s least expensive film of the year. The studio remade the film in 1938 as The Missing Guest, and in 1944 as Murder in the Blue Room. Portions of the movie were filmed on sets from 1932’s The Old Dark House, which also starred Gloria Stuart.

July 20 – The Fiddlin’ Buckaroo (USA)

Cast: Ken Maynard, Gloria Shea Fred Kohler, Frank Rice, Jack Rockwell, Joseph W. Girard, Billy Franey, Slim Whitaker, Jack Mower, Robert McKenzie
Director: Ken Maynard
Production Company: Universal Pictures

July 20 – The Ghost Camera (UK)

Cast: Henry Kendall, Ida Lupino, John Mills, Victor Stanley, George Merritt, Felix Aylmer, Davina Craig, Fred Groves
Director: Bernard Vorhaus
Production Company: Twickenham Studios, Real Art Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures (UK), Olympic Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on November 3, 1937. Based on ‘A Mystery Narrative’, a short story by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon. Despite its low budget, the film is regarded as one of the most successful ‘quota quickies’ of the 1930s.

July 21 – Double Harness (USA)

Cast: Ann Harding, William Powell, Lucile Browne, Henry Stephenson, Lilian Bond, George Meeker, Reginald Owen, Kay Hammond
Director: John Cromwell
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Based on the play of the same name by Edward Poor Montgomery. The film was out of circulation for more than 50 years after producer Merian C. Cooper gained complete ownership of films he produced for RKO. Turner Classic Movies eventually acquired the rights to the films. TCM and the Library of Congress searched the world for copies of the film to create new 35mm prints.

July 21 – Her Bodyguard USA)

Cast: Edmund Lowe, Wynne Gibson, Edward Arnold, Alan Dinehart, Marjorie White, Johnny Hines, Fuzzy Knight, Louise Beavers
Director: William Beaudine
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: A nitrate print of this film survives at the UCLA Film and Television Archives. Marjorie White’s final film before her death in 1935.

July 21 – His Grace Gives Notice (UK)

Cast: Arthur Margetson, Viola Keats, Victor Stanley, Barry Livesey, Ben Welden, Edgar Norfolk
Director: Leslie S. Hiscott
Production Company: Julius Hagen Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: No US release. Based on the 1922 novel His Grace Gives Notice by Lady Laura Troubridge which had previously been adapted into a 1924 film. Made as a quota quickie.

July 21 – The Devil’s in Love (USA)

Cast: Victor Jory, Loretta Young, Vivienne Osborne, David Manners, C. Henry Gordon, Herbert Mundin, Émile Chautard, J. Carrol Naish
Director: William Dieterle
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: Also known as Consul of the Damned.

July 22 – A Shriek in the Night (USA)

Cast: Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark, Purnell Pratt, Lillian Harmer, Arthur Hoyt, Louise Beavers, Clarence Wilson, Maurice Black
Director: Albert Ray
Production Company: Allied Pictures
Trivia: The film is Allied Pictures’ best known production.

July 22 – Arizona to Broadway (USA)

Cast: James Dunn, Joan Bennett, Herbert Mundin, Sammy Cohen, Theodore von Eltz, Merna Kennedy, Earle Foxe, J. Carrol Naish
Director: James Tinling
Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
Trivia: The film’s story was reworked into Jitterbugs, a Laurel & Hardy feature made at Fox in the 1940s.

July 22 – Mary Stevens, M.D. (USA)

Cast: Kay Francis, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Thelma Todd, Harold Huber, Una O’Connor, Charles Wilson, Hobart Cavanaugh
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Joseph Breen of the Production Code refused to issue a certificate for the film’s re-release in 1936, probably due to the topics of marital infidelity and unwed motherhood.

July 24 – Police Call (USA)

Cast: Nick Stuart, Merna Kennedy, Roberta Gale, Mary Carr, Walter McGrail, Warner Richmond, Robert Ellis , Eddie Phillips, Harry Myers
Director: Phil Whitman
Production Company: Screencraft Productions, distributed by Showmen’s Pictures

July 25 – Rainbow Ranch (USA)

Cast: Rex Bell, Cecilia Parker, Bob Kortman, Harry Bowen, Henry Hall, Vane Calvert , Gordon De Main
Director: Harry L. Fraser
Production Company: Monogram Pictures
Trivia: The film has fallen into the public domain.

1943

July 23 – Honeymoon Lodge (USA)

Cast: David Bruce, Harriet Hilliard, June Vincent, Rod Cameron, Franklin Pangborn, Andrew Tombes, Ozzie Nelson, Veloz and Yolanda, Tip, Tap and Toe, Ray Eberle
Director: Edward C. Lilley
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Trivia: Also known as Second Honeymoon.

July 23 – Wings Over the Pacific (USA)

Cast: Inez Cooper, Edward Norris, Montagu Love, Robert Armstrong, Henry Guttman, Ernie Adams, Satini Puailoa, John Roth
Director: Phil Rosen
Production Company: Monogram Productions, Inc., distributed by Monogram Pictures Corp.
Trivia: A replica of a Curtiss P-40 is used in the film, but the flying scenes made use of a miniature.

July 24 – Secret Service in Darkest Africa (USA, serial)

Cast: Rod Cameron, Joan Marsh, Duncan Renaldo, Lionel Royce, Kurt Kreuger, Frederic Brunn, Sigurd Tor, Georges Renavent
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Production Company: Republic Pictures
Trivia: Republic’s 30th of 66 serials the studio produced. Also known as Manhunt in the African Jungles, and as The Baron’s African War when it was re-edited into a 100-minute film for television. It was the most expensive serial of 1943, and was one of two films to shoot for 45 days, the second longest shoot for any Republic serial. A car chase from this serial was re-used in Flying Disc Man from Mars. Sequel to G-Men vs. the Black Dragon.

1953

July 20 – Flame of Calcutta (USA)

Cast: Denise Darcel, Patric Knowles, Paul Cavanagh, George Keymas, Joseph Mell, Ted Thorpe, Leonard Penn, Gregory Gaye
Director: Seymour Friedman
Production Company: Esskay Pictures, distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Trivia: The film was shot in Technicolor, which was unusual for a B-movie of the time.

July 20 – Noose for a Lady (UK)

Cast: Dennis Price, Rona Anderson, Ronald Howard, Pamela Alan, Melissa Stribling, Alison Leggatt, Esma Cannon, Charles Lloyd-Pack, Colin Tapley, Robert Brown, George Merritt
Director: Wolf Rilla
Production Company: Insignia Films, Victor Hanbury Productions, distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors
Trivia: No known US release. Based on the novel Whispering Woman by Gerald Verner.

July 22 – Innocents in Paris (UK)

Cast: Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford, Claude Dauphin, Jimmy Edwards, Mara Lane, James Copeland, Gaby Bruyère
Director: Gordon Parry
Production Company: Romulus Films, De Grunwald Productions, distributed by Independent Film Distributors (UK), Tudor Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on March 4, 1955. Christopher Lee, Laurence Harvey and Kenneth Williams make cameo appearances.

July 23 – The Master of Ballantrae (UK)

Cast: Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Beatrice Campbell, Yvonne Furneaux, Felix Aylmer, Mervyn Johns, Charles Goldner, Ralph Truman, Francis de Wolff, Jacques Berthier, Gillian Lynne
Director: William Keighley
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: Opened in the US on August 5, 1953. A loose and highly truncated adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson 1889 novel of the same name. The last film of director William Keighley. Filming was said to have gone smoothly, in contrast to other Errol Flynn movies of the time.

July 23 – The Sword and the Rose (USA)

Cast: Glynis Johns, James Robertson Justice, Richard Todd, Michael Gough, Jane Barrett, Peter Copley, Ernest Jay
Director: Ken Annakin
Production Company: RKO-Walt Disney British Productions Limited, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures Ltd.
Trivia: Based on the 1898 novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major, which was made into a film in 1908, and again in 1922 as When Knighthood Was in Flower. Walt Disney went to England in September 1952 to oversee production.

July 24 – Gun Belt (USA)

Cast: George Montgomery, Tab Hunter, Helen Westcott, John Dehner, William Bishop, Jack Elam, Douglas Kennedy, James Millican, Hugh Sanders, Bruce Cowling, William ‘Bill’ Phillips, Willis Bouchey
Director: Ray Nazarro
Production Company: Global Productions, distributed by United Artists
Trivia: The film’s working titles were Johnny Ringo, Tombstone Trail and Screaming Eagles.

July 25 – Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (USA, short)

Warner Bros. Cartoons

Voice Cast: Mel Blanc
Director: Charles M. Jones
Production Company: Warner Bros. Cartoons, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, The Vitaphone Corporation
Trivia: First appearance of the Duck Dodgers character. The ‘Marvin the Martian’ character introduced in 1948 and was not given that name until 1979. He was given the title ‘Commander, Flying Saucer X-2’ in 1952’s The Hasty Hare.

July 25 – The Long Memory (USA)

Cast: John Mills, John McCallum, Elizabeth Sellars, Eva Bergh, Geoffrey Keen, Michael Martin Harvey, John Chandos, John Slater, Thora Hird, Vida Hope
Director: Robert Hamer
Production Company: Europa, British Film-Makers, distributed by Astor Pictures Corporation
Trivia: First opened in the UK on January 23, 1953. Based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Howard Clewes. Filmed on location in Kent and Shad Thames, a street near Tower Bridge. Many of the houses seen in the film were demolished shortly after production. Final film of 1920s-1930s star Henry Edwards.

1963

No new films were released this week in 1963.

1973

July 20 – Don Quixote (AUS)

Cast: Robert Helpmann, Ray Powell, Rudolph Nureyev, Francis Croese, Lucette Aldous, Colin Peasley
Director: Rudolph Nureyev, Robert Helpmann
Production Company: International Arts, Australian International Finance Cop., The Australian Ballet, distributed by Continental Distributing
Trivia: Opened in the US on November 2, 1973. Financing to film the ballet came mostly from the US, and was shot with an Australian crew and a British cinematographer in a converted airport hangar in Essendon with a pre-recorded soundtrack.

July 25 – Badge 373 (USA)

Cast: Robert Duvall, Verna Bloom, Henry Darrow, Eddie Egan, Felipe Luciano, Luis Avalos, Tracey Walter, Johnny Pacheco & His Orchestra
Director: Howard W. Koch
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Inspired by the life and career of Eddie Egan, as was The French Connection. In a deliberate attempt to recall the famous car chase scene in The French Connection, Robert Duvall’s Eddie Ryan hijacks a bus to chase down suspects. The chase does not follow actual Manhattan geography.

July 25 – Medusa (Italy)

Cast: George Hamilton, Luciana Paluzzi, Cameron Mitchell, Alana Stewart
Director: Gordon Hessler
Production Company: Roubanis and Company, distributed by American National Enterprises (USA)
Trivia: US release date is unknown. George Hamilton’s second film as a producer.

July 25 – No Sex Please, We’re British (UK)

Cast: Ronnie Corbett, Ian Ogilvy, Susan Penhaligon, Beryl Reid, Arthur Lowe, Michael Bates, Cheryl Hall, David Swift, Deryck Guyler, Valerie Leon
Director: Cliff Owen
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, John Woolf Productions, BHP, distributed by Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK), Columbia Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US on August 10, 1979. Based on the 1971 play No Sex Please, We’re British.

July 25 – The Mackintosh Man (USA)

Cast: Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Michael Horder, Nigel Patrick, Peter Vaughan, Roland Culver, Percy Herbert
Director: John Huston
Production Company: Newman-Foreman Company, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: The film’s script was said to have not been completed two weeks into shooting.

1983

July 20 – Attack of the Super Monsters (Japan)

Voice Cast: Tom Weiner, Dan Woren, Robin Beth Levenson, Cam Clark, Michael Reynolds, Joe Perry
Director: Toru Sotoyama, Tom Wyner
Production Company: Tsuburaya Productions, distributed by Holiday Films
Trivia: No known US release. The Tyrannus dinosaur suit was also used in 1977’s The Last Dinosaur.

July 21 – Goodbye Paradise (AUS)

Cast: Ray Barrett, Paul Chubb, Guy Doleman, Kate Fitzpatrick, Lex Marinos, Robyn Nevin
Director: Carl Schultz
Production Company: Petersham Pictures, New South Wales Film Corporation, distributed by Filmways Australasian Distributors
Trivia: No known US release. The film’s original plot was to have focused on a religious cult run by a charlatan that ended with the deaths of many of its followers, but that plan was scrapped in the wake of the Jonestown Massacre.

July 22 – Class (USA)

Cast: Rob Lowe, Jacqueline Bisset, Andrew McCarthy, Stuart Margolin , Cliff Robertson, John Cusack, Alan Ruck, Casey Siemaszko, Joan Cusack, Virginia Madsen
Director: Lewis John Carlino
Production Company: Orion Pictures
Trivia: Rob Lowe’s second released film following The Outsiders. Debuts of Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Virginia Madsen, Casey Siemaszko, and Lolita Davidovich. Jacqueline Bisset replaced Lesley Ann Warren in the role of Ellen Burroughs. Virginia Madsen said the guys in the film were terrible to work with, and Rob Lowe says her comments are justifiable.

July 22 – Jaws 3-D (USA)

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale, Louis Gossett Jr., John Putch, Lea Thompson, P. H. Moriarty, Kaye Stevens
Director: Joe Alves
Production Company: Universal Pictures, Alan Landsburg Productions, MCA Theatricals, distributed y Universal Pictures
Trivia: On-screen title for flat version of the movie is Jaws III. The following film, Jaws: The Revenge, completely ignores the film. The film was originally pitched as a spoof titled Jaws 3, People 0, but the project was shut down due to conflicts with the studio. Director Joe Alves was the production designer on the first two films. Alves said about 20 minutes of the film was removed at the insistence of the producer (and it shows). Louis Gossett Jr’s character was supposed to die at the end, but the producers liked his performance so much the script was rewritten so he lived. No actors from the first two movies returned, and Roy Scheider took a role in Blue Thunder to ensure he was unavailable. Dennis Quaid has said that he was high on cocaine in every frame of film in which he appears. Though the score is by Alan Parker, his first feature score, it does include John Williams’ familiar shark motif. The film earned five Golden Raspberry Awards nominations: Worst Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Gossett), Screenplay, and Worst New Stars (Cindy and Sandy, the dolphins).

July 23 – Hundra (Spain)

Cast: Laurene Landon, John Ghaffari, María Casal, Ramiro Oliveros, Luis Lorenzo, Tamara, Victor Gans, Cristina Torres
Director: Matt Cimber
Production Company: Continental Movie Productions, S.T.A.E. Productions, distributed by Continental Movie Distribution
Trivia: No known US release. A stunt double was used for Laurene Landon’s nude scenes, but Landon claims the director used a shorter, heavier double to force her into doing the scenes herself. When she saw footage of the double, she did exactly that.

1993

July 23 – Amongst Friends (USA)

Cast: Joseph Lindsay, Christian Thom, Patrick McGaw, Michael Leb, Steve Parlavecchio, Chris Santos, Mira Sorvino
Director: Rob Weiss
Production Company: Island World, Last Outlaw Films, distributed by Fine Line Features
Trivia: The film’s $900,000 budget was raised mostly from friends and family. Mira Sorvino was originally hired as a crew member and was eventually offered a lead role which helped jump start her career.

July 23 – Another Stakeout (USA)

Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Rosie O’Donnell, Dennis Farina, Marcia Strassman, Cathy Moriarty, John Rubinstein, Miguel Ferrer, Sharon Maughan, Christopher Doyle, Dan Lauria, Madeleine Stowe
Director: John Badham
Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Trivia: Madeleine Stowe had a major role in the first film but only appeared in an uncredited cameo due in the second to scheduling conflicts with Bad Girls.

July 23 – Coneheads (USA/Canada)

Paramount Pictures

Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Michelle Burke, Danielle Aykroyd, Michael McKean, David Spade, Chris Farley, Sinbad, Michael Richards, Eddie Griffin, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Jason Alexander, Dave Thomas, Laraine Newman, Kevin Nealon, Jan Hooks, Parker Posey, Joey Lauren Adams, Julia Sweeney, Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Meadows, Tom Davis, Peter Aykroyd, Jonathan enner, Whip Hubley
Director: Steve Barron
Production Company: Lorne Michaels Productions, NBC Films, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: Jon Lovitz and Tom Arnold appear uncredited. Screenwriters Bonnie and Terry Turner worked with Jane Curtain again on the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun. The plot of the film closely follows the plot of an animated special from ten years earlier.

July 23 – Poetic Justice (USA)

Cast: Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Regina King, Joe Torry, Tyra Ferrell, Rose Weaver, Billy Zane, Lori Petty, Khandi Alexander, Maya Angelou, Jenifer Lewis, René Elizondo Jr., Clifton Collins Jr., Tone Loc, Q-Tip, Keith Washington, The Last Poets
Director: John Singleton
Production Company: Columbia Pictures, New Deal Productions, Nickel, distributed by Columbia Pictures
Trivia: Jada Pinkett and Lisa Bonet were among the actresses who auditioned for the role of Justice, but John Singleton always knew the role was intended for Janet Jackson. Jackson received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for the original song ‘Always’.

2003

July 24 – Bad Eggs (AUS)

Cast: Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin, Bill Hunter, Judith Lucy, Alan Brough, Shaun Micallef, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Robyn Nevin, Brett Swain
Director: Tony Martin
Production Company: Macquarie Film Corporation, distributed by Village Roadshow Pictures
Trivia: No known US release. Tony Martin’s directorial debut.

July 24 – Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (Philippines)

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Ciarán Hinds, Gerard Butler, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor, Djimon Hounsou, Til Schweiger, Simon Yam, Terence Yin, Tom Wu, Graham McTavish
Director: Jan de Bont
Production Company: Paramount Pictures, Mutual Film Company, British Broadcasting Corporation, Lawrence Gordon Productions, Eidos Interactive, Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft, Toho-Towa, October Pictures, H2L Media Group, distributed by United International Pictures (Philippines), Paramount Pictures (USA)
Trivia: Opened in the US and Canada on July 25, 2003. The film was considered generally better than the first. A second sequel was planned but abandoned when Angelina Jolie opted not to return. One scene set in Shanghai was filmed on a set instead of on location. As part of the advertising campaign, 1,001 Jeep Wrangler Rubicons were produced and sold to coincide with the release of the film. Three were constructed for use in the film. Director Jan de Bont hated working on the film due to interference from the studio and the game makers. He did, however, like working with Jolie.

July 25 – Masked and Anonymous (USA, limited)

Cast: Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Steven Bauer, Michael Paul Chan, Bruce Dern, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Cheech Marin, Chris Penn, Giovanni Ribisi, Mickey Rourke, Richard C. Sarafian, Christian Slater, Susan Tyrrell, Fred Ward, Robert Wisdom
Director: Larry Charles
Production Company: BBC Films, Intermedia Films, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Trivia: Bob Dylan co-wrote the film with Larry Charles under the pseudonym Sergei Petrov. Dylan wanted to do a slapstick series for HBO, inspired by the films of Jerry Lewis, but after getting the greenlight Dylan said he didn’t want to do it anymore because it was too slapsticky. Charles stayed on and the project evolved into a dramatic film. Many of the actors worked for scale just to appear with Dylan.

July 25 – Seabiscuit (USA/Canada)

Cast: Tobey Maguire, Michael Angarano, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy, Eddie Jones, Michael O’Neill, David McCullough
Director: Gary Ross
Production Company: DreamWorks Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Larger Than Life Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: Based on the best-selling 1999 non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. The film received seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture, but lost all seven including six to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It also received two Golden Globe nominations.

July 25 – Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (USA)

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Ricardo Montalbán, Holland Taylor, Mike Judge, Matt O’Leary, Emily Osment, Cheech Marin, Ryan Pinkston, Danny Trejo, Alan Cumming, Tony Shalhoub, Sylvester Stallone, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Bill Paxton, George Clooney, Elijah Wood, Selena Gomez, Glen Powell, James Paxton
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Production Company: Troublemaker Studios, distributed by Dimension Films
Trivia: Intended to be the final film of the series, but was followed by Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. 90% of the film was shot on green screen.

2013

July 19 – Amitiés sincères (Canada)

Cast: Gérard Lanvin, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Wladimir Yordanoff, Ana Giradot, Zabou Breitman, Natacha Lindinger, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Alexia Barlier
Director: Stéphan Archinard, François Prévôt-Leygonie
Production Company: Wy Productions, Direct Cinéma, SND Films, Orange Cinéma Séries, Ciné+, Direct 8, Hoche Artois Images, Département de la Charente-Maritime, Région Poitou-Charentes, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, distributed by SND Films
Trivia: First opened in France and Belgium on January 30, 2013.

July 19 – Broken (USA, limited)

Cast: Nse Ikpe Etim, Kalu Ikeagwu, Bimbo Manuel, Sydney Diala, Iyke Adiele, Chucks Chyke
Director: Bright Wonder Obasi
Production Company: High Definition Film Studio, distributed by Paulo Concepts
Trivia: First opened in France on August 22, 2012. Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Daniel Clay, which was partly inspired by Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

July 19 – Evidence (USA)

Cast: Torrey DeVitto, Caitlin Stasey, Harry Lennix, Svetlana Metkina, Dale Dickey, Radha Mitchell, Stephen Moyer, Aml Ameen, Nolan Gerard Funk
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Production Company: Bold Films, FilmEngine, Marc Platt Productions, distributed by Image Entertainment
Trivia: First opened in the UAE on May 2, 2013.

July 19 – Girl Most Likely (USA, limited)

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Sydney Lucas, Julia Stiles, Annette Bening, Andrea Martin, Matt Dillon, Darren Criss, Christopher Fitzgerald, Natasha Lyonne, June Diane Raphael, Michelle Hurd, Nate Corddry, Mickey Sumner, Murray Bartlett, Bob Balaban
Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Production Company: Maven Pictures, Anonymous Content Pictures, Ambush Entertainment, 10th Hole Productions, Gambit Films, distributed by Lionsgate
Trivia: First opened in the Netherlands on July 18, 2013. The film was screened under its original title Imogene at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

July 19 – Grabbers (USA, limited)

Cast: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey, Lalor Roddy, David Pearse, Bronagh Gallagher, Pascal Scott, Ned Dennehy, Clelia Murphy
Director: Jon Wright
Production Company: Bord Scannán na hÉireann / The Irish Film Board, Forward Films, High Treason Productions, NVIZ, Samson Films
Trivia: First opened in Ireland on August 10, 2012.

July 19 – Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (USA, documentary)

Cast: Betty Beck, Camille Beck, Diane Beck, Misty Beck, Bill Duke, Ice-T, Quincy Jones, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Chris Rock, Henry Rollins, Snoop Dogg, Katt Williams
Director: Jorge Hinojosa
Production Company: Final Level Entertainment, distributed by Phase 4 Films

July 19 – Only God Forgives (USA/Canada, limited)

RADiUS-TWC

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 RADiUS-TWC
Trivia: First opened in France on May 22, 2013. Shot on location in Bangkok. Nicolas Winding Refn was to direct the film right after Valhalla Rising but accepted Ryan Gosling’s invitation to direct Drive instead. The film was shot mostly chronologically and edited the same day the scenes were shot.

July 19 – R.I.P.D. (USA/Canada)

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker, Kevin Bacon, Stéphanie Szostak, Marissa Miller, James Hong, Devin Ratray, Robert Knepper, Mike O’Malley
Director: Robert Schwentke
Production Company: Dark Horse Entertainment, Original Film, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: First opened in Iceland on July 17, 2013. Toby Huss and Mike Judge provided the voices of various Deados. Zach Galifianakis was considered for the role of Roy (Jeff Bridges) but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Jodie Foster was considered for the role of Proctor, but Mary-Lousie Parker was cast.

July 19 – Rabid Love (USA, limited)

Cast: Hayley Derryberry, Jessica Sonneborn, Brandon Stacy, Hannah Landberg, Brian Reece, Noel Thurman, Alexandra Boylan
Director: Paul J. Porter
Production Company: BAR Productions, Open Wound Films, Rogue Taurus Productions, distributed by Midnight Releasing
Trivia: The beer featured in the film, Hann’s Town Beer, was created specifically for the film by production designer Lance L. Ziesch and is named after Hanston, Kansas — where most of the movie was shot. The label features the town’s high school colors and elk mascot along with a wheat stalk in the background and the text ‘Reliable quality since 1927’.

July 19 – Red 2 (USA/Canada)

Cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Brian Cox, Byung-hun Lee, David Thewlis, Neal McDonough, Tim Pigott-Smith
Director: Dean Parisot
Production Company: Di Bonaventura Pictures, distributed by Summit Entertainment
Trivia: First opened in Greece, Israel, South Korea and other territories on July 18, 2013. Based on the limited comic book series of the same name, created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage. Anthony Hopkins was cast as the film’s villain but scheduling could not be worked out with Thor: The Dark World. Neal McDonough took the role. The film was mostly shot in Quebec for a 25% tax credit, and because of its resemblance to European cities. Some footage was shot in London even though Quebec did double for London as well. The childhood photo of Lee Byung-hun and his father was a real photo of the actor and his dad, who died in 2000. His father was a big movie fan and wanted to be an actor, so director Dean Parisot included his name in the end credits as one of the main cast.

July 19 – The Act of Killing (USA, documentary, limited)

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, Anonymous
Production Company: Final Cut for Real, Piraya Film A/S, Novaya Zemlya, Spring Films, distributed by Drafthouse Films
Trivia: First opened in Indonesia on November 1, 2012. Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature, and won the BAFTA in the same category. A companion film, The Look of Silence, was released in 2014.

July 19 – The Conjuring (USA/Canada)

Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Shanley Caswell, Hayley McFarland, Joey King, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Shannon Kook, John Brotherton, Sterling Jerins, Joseph Bishara
Director: James Wan
Production Company: New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, Evergreen Media Group, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia: First opened in Australia and New Zealand on July 18, 2013. The real Lorraine Warren appears uncredited as a woman in the audience. The film was developed under the titles The Untitled Warren Files Project and The Warren Files. Scenes were shot in chronological order. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga spent time with Lorraine Warren in Connecticut to prepare, and Warren also visited the set. Their time with Warren was invaluable, learning information they could not have gained through research. Warren said she had no complaints about how the story was adapted for the film.

July 19 – The Rooftop (USA)

Cast: Jay Chou, Alan Ko, Li Xin’ai, Darren Chiu, Wang Xueqi, Edison Huang, Xu Fan
Director: Jay Chou
Production Company: Chuang Yi Motion Pictures, Evergrande Entertainment, Edko Films, Beijing Talent International Media, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Trivia: First opened in China on July 11, 2013. The second feature film for Jay Chou.

July 19 – Under the Bed (USA, limited)

Cast: Jonny Weston, Gattlin Griffith, Peter Holden, Musetta Vander
Director: Steven C. Miller
Production Company: Site B, Through the Heart, distributed by Alameda Entertainment, XLrator Media
Trivia: First premiered on Video On Demand on July 3, 2013. Meredith Salenger was considered for the role of Angela Hausman.

July 19 – Ways to Live Forever (USA, limited)

Cast: Robbie Kay, Alex Etel, Ben Chaplin, Emilia Fox, Eloise Barnes, Phyllida Law, Greta Scacchi
Director: Gustavo Ron
Production Company: Life&Soul Productions, El Capitan Pictures, Formato Producciones, distrbuted by World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation
Trivia: First opened in Spain on October 29, 2010.

July 22 – Springsteen & I (USA/UK, documentary)

Cast: Bruce Springsteen, Mitchell A.S. Hallock, Matt Sullivan, Dyan McBride, Lisa Purcell
Director: Baillie Walsh
Production Company: Black Dog Films, RSA Films, Scott Free Productions, Arts Alliance, Mr Wolf, Ridley Scott Associates
Trivia: The film was assembled from over 300 hours of fan submitted video and photographs.

July 24 – Tad, the Lost Explorer (USA)

English Voice Cast: Kerry Shale, Ariel Winter, Cheech Marin, Adam James, Mac McDonald, Bruce Mackinnon, Liza Ross
Director: Enrique Gato
Production Company: Telecinco Cinema, El Toro Pictures, Lightbox Entertainment, Ikiru Films, Telefónica Studios, Media Networks, distrbuted by StudioCanal
Trivia: First opened in Spain on August 31, 2012. Spin-off of Enrique Gato’s shorts Tadeo Jones and Tadeo Jones and the Basement of Doom, but mainly adapted from the Spanish graphic novel Tadeo and the Secret of the Toactlum. Nominated for five Goya Awards, winning three including Best Animated Feature.

July 25 – Apartment 1303 3D (USA)

Cast: Mischa Barton, Rebecca De Mornay, Julianne Michelle, Corey Sevier, John Diehl
Director: Michael Taverna
Production Company: 1303 Productions, MonteCristo International Entertainment, distributed by Gravitas Ventures
Trivia: First opened in Russia on December 6, 2012. English-language remake of the 2007 Japanese film Apartment 1303, which in turn is an adaptation of the novel Apartment 1303 by Japanese author Kei Ôishi. A specialised crew of 3D experts from Hong Kong were hired for the film.

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