Universal Pictures
This last full week of September across the decades was full of new movies making their debuts. Only problem is not many of them were all that memorable. There were a few bright spots this week such as the 1943 film that benefited a charity. 1953 had an Oscar-nominee that was based on a play based on the life of an award winning actress, that also gave us the film debut of an actor who would garner more notice for a Hitchcock thriller. 1973 had a film that addressed racial strife and went on to earn preservation status, while 1983 gave us an Oscar-worthy biopic, and a cult rock-n-roll musical. 1993 saw a group of mostly unknown actors a bit dazed and confused, and turned Macaulay Culkin into the bad seed. 2003 put The Rock and Seann William Scott in the middle of the jungle, while Diane Lane spent some time in Tuscany, and 2013 gave us a 3D dance film, and a harrowing drama from the not-yet-director of Dune. Read on to learn more and tell us if your favorites are celebrating this week!
1923
September 22 – The Gold Diggers (USA)
- Cast: Hope Hampton, Wyndham Standing, Louise Fazenda, Gertrude Short, Alec Francis, Jed Prouty
- Director: Harry Beaumont
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the play The Gold Diggers by Avery Hopwood. The film served as the uncredited debut of Louise Beavers. Remade as a talkie in 1929 titled Gold Diggers of Broadway (now a lost film), and again in 1933 as Gold Diggers of 1933, followed by three sequels. The film was thought lost until an incomplete print including reels 1, 4, 5 and 6 was found in 2021, although there is some missing footage at the beginning and end of the reels.
September 23 – Hell’s Hole (USA)
- Cast: Buck Jones, Maurice Bennett Flynn, Ruth Clifford, Eugene Pallette, George Siegmann, Kathleen Key, Hardee Kirkland, Charles K. French
- Director: Emmett J. Flynn
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: The film is considered lost.
September 23 – The Call of the Wild (USA)
- Cast: Buck, Jack Mulhall, Walter Long, Sidney D’Albrook, Laura Roessing, Frank Butler, Lassie Lou Ahern
- Director: Fred Jackman
- Production Company: Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Pathé Exchange
- Trivia: Prints of the film are archived at the Museum of Modern Art.
September 23 – The Eternal Three (USA)
- Cast: Hobart Bosworth, Claire Windsor, Raymond Griffith, Bessie Love, George Cooper, Tom Gallery, Helen Lynch, Alec B. Francis, William Orlamond, Charles West, Marion Aye
- Director: Marshall Neilan, Frank Urson
- Production Company: Goldwyn Pictures
- Trivia: Prints are reportedly held at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, The Academy Film Archive, and Lobster Films.
September 23 – To the Last Man (USA)
- Cast: Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, Noah Beery Sr., Robert Edeson, Frank Campeau, Fred Huntley, Ed Brady, Eugene Pallette, Guy Oliver, Winifred Greenwood, Tom London
- Director: Victor Fleming
- Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: A print is held in the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow. The film was remade in 1933 with Noah Beery Sr. reprising his 1923 role.
September 24 – Adam’s Rib (USA)
- Cast: Milton Sills, Elliott Dexter, Theodore Kosloff, Anna Q. Nilsson, Pauline Garon, Julia Faye, Clarence Geldart, Robert Brower, Forrest Robinson, Gino Corrado
- Director: Cecil B. DeMille
- Production Company: Famous Players–Lasky Corporation, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: A print of the film exists in the George Eastman House film archive.
September 24 – The Clean Up (USA)
- Cast: Herbert Rawlinson, Claire Adams, Claire Anderson, Herbert Fortier, Margaret Campbell, Frank Farrington
- Director: William Parke
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: The film’s preservation status is unknown.
September 24 – Three Ages (USA, short)
- Cast: Buster Keaton, Margaret Leahy, Wallace Beery, Joe Roberts, Lillian Lawrence, Kewpie Morgan
- Director: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
- Production Company: Buster Keaton Productions, distributed by Metro Pictures
- Trivia: The first feature film Buster Keaton wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. A badly decomposed negative was discovered in 1954 and restored and preserved, although a good deal of damage is still evident.
1933
September 20 – All at Sea (USA, short)
- Cast: Vincent Lopez, Joe Laurie Jr., Hugh O’Connell, Ethel Barrymore Colt, William O’Neill, Pat Rooney
- Director: E.H. Kleinert
- Production Company: Mentone Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
September 20 – Neighbors’ Wives (USA)
- Cast: Dorothy Mackaill, Tom Moore, Mary Kornman, Vivien Oakland, Cyril Ring, Emerson Treacy, James Gordon, Mabel Van Buren, Paul Weigel
- Director: B. Reeves Eason
- Production Company: Fanchon Royer Pictures
- Trivia: Two nitrate prints of this film survive in the UCLA Film and Television Archives, but neither are listed for preservation.
September 22 – Doctor Bull (USA)
- Cast: Will Rogers, Vera Allen, Marian Nixon, Howard Lally, Berton Churchill, Louise Dresser, Andy Devine, Rochelle Hudson, Tempe Pigott, Elizabeth Patterson
- Director: John Ford
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: Based on the James Gould Cozzens novel The Last Adam. Andy Devine met his future wife during the making of this picture.
September 22 – Golden Harvest (USA)
- Cast: Richard Arlen, Chester Morris, Genevieve Tobin, Roscoe Ates, Julie Haydon, Elizabeth Patterson , Berton Churchill, Lawrence Gray, Henry Kolker, Richard Carle
- Director: Ralph Murphy
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: A three week location shoot in Pendleton, Oregon was the most extensive out-of-studio shoot Paramount had undertaken since the silent era.
September 22 – Midshipman Jack (USA)
- Cast: Bruce Cabot, Betty Furness, Frank Albertson, Arthur Lake, Florence Lake, John Darrow, Purnell Pratt, Margaret Seddon
- Director: Christy Cabanne
- Production Company: RKO Pictures
September 22 – My Weakness (USA)
- Cast: Lilian Harvey, Lew Ayres, Charles Butterworth, Harry Langdon, Sid Silvers, Irene Bentley, Henry Travers
- Director: David Butler
- Production Company: Fox Film Corporation
- Trivia: Second of four Hollywood films made by British-German actress Lilian Harvey. It was the first Hollywood film to use the word ‘gay’ as a descriptor for homosexuality, but the Studio Relations Committee censors decreed that the line had to be muffled.
September 22 – The Solitaire Man (USA)
- Cast: Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland, Lionel Atwill, May Robson, Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Forbes, Lucille Gleason
- Director: Jack Conway
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
September 22 – War of the Range (USA)
- Cast: Tom Tyler, Charles K. French, Ted Adams, Lane Chandler, Caryl Lincoln
- Director: J.P. McGowan
- Production Company: Monarch Film Corporation, distributed by Freuler Film Associates
- Trivia: The last of the Tom Tyler Westerns made by Monarch.
September 23 – I Loved a Woman (USA)
- Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Kay Francis, Genevieve Tobin, Robert Barrat, Murray Kinnell, Robert McWade, J. Farrell MacDonald, Henry Kolker
- Director: Alfred E. Green
- Production Company: First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Kay Francis was so much taller than Edward G. Robinson that he had to stand on a box in several scenes to match her height, humiliating the actor in the process. The two argued but he praised her acting, however three of her scenes were cut which reduced her presence in the film to a supporting role.
September 23 – Too Much Harmony (USA)
- Cast: Bing Crosby, Jack Oakie, Richard “Skeets” Gallagher, Harry Green, Judith Allen, Lilyan Tashman, Ned Sparks, Kitty Kelly, Grace Bradley
- Director: A. Edward Sutherland
- Production Company: Paramount Pictures
September 25 – Ladies Must Love (USA)
- Cast: June Knight, Neil Hamilton, Sally O’Neil, Dorothy Burgess, Mary Carlisle, George E. Stone, Maude Eburne, Oscar Apfel, Edmund Breese, Richard Carle
- Director: E. A. Dupont
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
1943
September 23 – Dangerous Blondes (USA)
- Cast: Allyn Joslyn, Evelyn Keyes, Edmund Lowe, John Hubbard, Anita Louise, Frank Craven
- Director: Leigh Jason
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the story If the Shroud Fits by Kelley Roos. Working titles for the film were Reckless Lady and The Case of the Dangerous Blondes.
September 24 – Always a Bridesmaid (USA)
- Cast: The Andrews Sisters, Patric Knowles, Grace McDonald, Charles Butterworth, Billy Gilbert, Edith Barrett, Addison Richards, Walter Baldwin, Eddy Waller
- Director: Erle C. Kenton
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
September 24 – Dizzy Pilots (USA, short)
- Cast: Curly Howard, Larry Fine, Moe Howard
- Director: Jules White
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: The 74th Three Stooges film of 190 released by Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. The short was filmed over four days, and stock footage from Boobs in Arms was used for the boot camp scene except for the shot where the Stooges escape from the base. The gag of an aircraft being too large to take out of a hangar was reused in 1972 on The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode featuring the Stooges as guest stars (‘The Ghost of the Red Baron’).
September 25 – Thank Your Lucky Stars (USA)
Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast: Eddie Cantor, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Edward Everett Horton, S.Z. Sakall, Mike Mazurki, Noble Johnson, Ruth Donnelly, Ralph Dunn, Paul Harvey
- Director: David Butler
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: The film was made as a World War II fundraiser with the stars’ salaries donated to the Hollywood Canteen. Stars making guest appearances include Willie Best, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis (co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen with John Garfield), Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Hattie McDaniel, Dinah Shore, Alexis Smith, Doodles Weaver, Don Wilson and Spike Jones. Shore and Jones were making their film debuts. The film used sets that had been built for The Green Pastures and Wonder Bar. ‘They’re Either Too Young or Too Old’ was Oscar nominated for Best Original Song, and it became a Number One hit on Your Hit Parade.
1953
September 20 – Fighting Lawman (USA)
- Cast: Wayne Morris, Virginia Grey, John Kellog, Harry Lauter, John Pickard, Rick Vallin, Myron Healey
- Director: Thomas Carr
- Production Company: Westwood Productions, distributed by Allied Artists Pictures
- Trivia: Virginia Grey replaced Beverly Garland after Garland’s horse reared back its head, hitting her in the face and breaking her nose.
September 20 – Saginaw Trail (USA)
- Cast: Gene Autry, Champion, Connie Marshall, Eugene Borden, Ralph Reed, Henry Blair, Myron Healey, Mickey Simpson, Smiley Burnette
- Director: George Archainbaud
- Production Company: Columbia Pictures
September 22 – Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (UK)
- Cast: Bonar Colleano, Diana Dors, David Tomlinson, Diana Decker, Sid James, Audrey Freeman, Hubert Woodward, MacDonald Parke, Lou Jacobi
- Director: Maurice Elvey
- Production Company: David Dent Productions, distributed by Adelphi Films Ltd.
- Trivia: No known US release. Based on Vivian Tidmarsh’s 1944 West End hit play by the same name. The screenplay was by Talbot Rothwell who went on to write 20 Carry On films.
September 22 – Marry Me Again (USA)
- Cast: Robert Cummings, Marie Wilson, Ray Walker, Mary Costa, Jess Barker, Lloyd Corrigan, June Vincent, Richard Gaines, Moroni Olsen, Frank Cady
- Director: Frank Tashlin
- Production Company: Wedding Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
- Trivia: Mary Costa’s film debut.
September 23 – A Lion Is in the Streets (USA)
- Cast: James Cagney, Barbara Hale, Anne Francis, Warner Anderson, John McIntire, Jeanne Cagney, Lon Chaney, Frank McHugh, Larry Keating, Onslow Stevens
- Director: Raoul Walsh
- Production Company: William Cagney Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1945 novel by Adria Locke Langley. The film was unfavorably compared to 1949’s All the King’s Men.
September 23 – East of Sumatra (USA)
- Cast: Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Maxwell, Anthony Quinn, Suzan Ball, John Sutton, Jay C. Flippen, Scatman Crothers
- Director: Budd Boetticher
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Gloria Grahame was offered the female lead but turned it down.
September 23 – The Golden Blade (USA)
- Cast: Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie, Gene Evans, George Macready, Kathleen Hughes, Steven Geray, Edgar Barrier
- Director: Nathan Juran
- Production Company: Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Anita Ekberg appears in an uncredited role. The film’s story borrows heavily from One Thousand and One Nights and the myth of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone. Farley Granger was originally set to star.
September 23 – Thy Neighbor’s Wife (USA)
- Cast: Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Ken Carlton, Kathleen Hughes, Anthony Jochim, Tom Fadden
- Director: Hugo Haas
- Production Company: Hugo Haas Productions, distributed by 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Based on The Peasant Judge by Oskar Jellinek.
September 25 – The Actress (USA)
- Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright, Anthony Perkins, Ian Wolfe, Kay Williams, Mary Wickes, Norma Jean Nilsson, Dawn Bender
- Director: George Cukor
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s Inc.
- Trivia: Based on Ruth Gordon’s autobiographical play Years Ago, with Gordon penning the screenplay for which she received a WGA nomination. Anthony Perkins’ film debut. Jackie Coogan has an uncredited role. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design – Black-and-White. Spencer Tracy won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. Director George Cukor wanted Debbie Reynolds for the lead but MGM studio boss Dore Schary decided not to cast her.
1963
September 25 – Shock Corridor (USA)
- Cast: Peter Breck, Constance Towers, Gene Evans, James Best, Hari Rhodes, Larry Tucker, Paul Dubov, Chuck Roberson, Bill Zuckert, Philip Ahn
- Director: Samuel Fuller
- Production Company: Allied Artists Pictures
- Trivia: Director Samuel Fuller wrote the screenplay under the title Straitjacket for Fritz Lang in the late 1940s, but Lang wanted to change the lead character to a woman so he could cast Joan Bennett. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1996.
1973
September 20 – Big Zapper (Netherlands)
- Cast: Linda Marlowe, Gary Hope, Sean Hewitt, Michael O’Malle, Richard Monette, Jack May, Penny Irving
- Director: Lindsay Shonteff
- Production Company: Syn-Frank Enterprises, distributed by Actueel Film (Netherlands), Levitt-Pickman (USA)
- Trivia: Released in the US in January 1974. The film was followed by the sequel The Swordsman.
September 21 – The Spook Who Sat By the Door (USA)
- Cast: Lawrence Cook, Janet League, Paula Kelly, J.A. Preston, Joseph Mascolo
- Director: Ivan Dixon
- Production Company: Bokari, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: Based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Sam Greenlee. The film was shot in Gary, Indiana because Chicago mayor Richard Daley didn’t like the film’s themes of racial strife. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2012. The word ‘spook’ in the title has a dual meaning: a racial slur for an African American and a slang term for spy. The film was referenced in the eighth episode of the TV series Atlanta titled ‘The Goof Who Sat By the Door’.
September 23 – Harry in Your Pocket (USA)
- Cast: James Coburn, Michael Sarrazin, Trish Van Devere, Walter Pidgeon
- Director: Bruce Geller
- Production Company: Cinema Video Communications, distributed by United Artists
- Trivia: The film’s working title was Harry Never Holds. Partially filmed in Seattle, the then-mayor Wes Uhlman makes a cameo appearance.
September 24 – El asesino está entre los trece (Spain)
- Cast: Patty Shepard, Simón Andreu, José María Prada, Trini Alonso, Dianik Zurakowska, Jack Taylor, Paloma Cela, May Heatherly, Carmen Maura
- Director: Javier Aguirre
- Production Company: Belén Films, Producciones Internacionales Cinematográficas Asociadas, distributed by Belén Films
- Trivia: Released on Blu-ray in the US on April 28, 2020 as The Killer Is One of Thirteen. Paul Naschy was entirely dubbed by Jesús Nieto.
September 26 – The Slams (USA)
- Cast: Jim Brown, Judy Pace, Roland ‘Bob’ Harris, Paul E. Harris, Frank DeKova, Ted Cassidy, Quinn Redeker
- Director: Jonathan Kaplan
- Production Company: Penelope Productions, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: The film was produced by Roger Corman’s brother Gene. The film was shot on location mostly at Lincoln Heights Prison in Los Angeles.
1983
September 21 – Cross Creek (USA)
- Cast: Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Peter Coyote, Dana Hill, Keith Michell, Alfre Woodard, Malcolm McDowell, Joanna Miles, Ike Eisenmann, Cary Guffey
- Director: Martin Ritt
- Production Company: Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Based in part on Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s 1942 memoir Cross Creek. The film was originally announced in 1978 as a TV movie for NBC, but that was never made. Several studio heads loved the screenplay but refused to make the film without a star like Jane Fonda or Meryl Streep. One even suggested Barbra Streisand. After Mary Steenburgen was cast, her then-husband Malcolm McDowall was announced for the role of editor Max Perkins. Filming took place in Ocala, Florida near Rawlings’ home, which is now a state museum. Rawlings’ husband Norton Baskin has a cameo in the film (Rawlings died in 1953). The film received four Oscar nominations — Supporting Actor (Rip Torn), Supporting Actress (Alfre Woodard), Costume Design and Original Score.
September 22 – Careful, He Might Hear You (AUS)
- Cast: Wendy Hughes, Robyn Nevin, Nicholas Gledhill, Michael Long
- Director: Carl Schultz
- Production Company: Syme International Productions, New South Wales Film Corporation, distributed by Hoyts Distribution (AUS), Twentieth Century Fox (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in the US on June 15, 1984. Based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Australian-American author Sumner Locke Elliott. A film adaptation was announced in the 1960s with Joshua Logan directing Elizabeth Taylor, but it did not come to pass.
September 22 – Man of Flowers (AUS)
- Cast: Norman Kaye, Alyson Best, Chris Haywood, Sarah Walker, Julia Blake, Bob Ellis, Barry Dickins, Patrick Cook, Werner Herzog
- Director: Paul Cox
- Production Company: Flowers International, distributed by Roadshow Films (AUS), International Spectrafilm (USA)
- Trivia: Received a limited US release on December 16, 1984.
September 23 – Eddie and the Cruisers (USA)
Aurora Productions
- Cast: Tom Berenger, Michael Paré, Joe Pantoliano, Matthew Laurance, Helen Schneider, David Wilson, Michael “Tunes” Antunes
- Director: Martin Davidson
- Production Company: Aurora Productions, distributed by Embassy Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the novel by P. F. Kluge. Ellen Barkin appears in an uncredited role, what she called a ‘pay the rent’ job. Production was originally set up with Time-Life, which was getting into the film business but after two financially unsuccessful films the company quickly exited the industry leaving producers high and dry. Embassy Pictures offered a sizable bid to distribute the film, but had no real experience at the time and was unable to properly release the film to theaters in August for its intended teenage audience. The film was pulled from theaters after three weeks and ended up on HBO six months later, gaining a cult following. Star Michael Paré was discovered in a New York City restaurant working as a chef.
1993
September 24 – Bopha! (USA)
- Cast: Danny Glover, Malcolm McDowell, Alfre Woodard, Marius Weyers, Maynard Eziashi, Malick Bowens, Robin Smith
- Director: Morgan Freeman
- Production Company: Arsenio Hall Communications, Taubman Entertainment Group, distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Trivia: Morgan Freeman’s directorial debut. Adapted from a 1986 play of the same name.
September 24 – Dazed and Confused (USA)
- Cast: Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Shawn Andrews, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Sasha Jenson, Marissa Ribisi, Cole Hauser, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey, Renée Zellweger
- Director: Richard Linklater
- Production Company: Alphaville, Detour Filmproduction, distributed by Gramercy Pictures
- Trivia: The film was a box office disappointment but developed a cult audience through the home video market. Director Richard Linklater got support for the film from Hollywood after the success of his indie Slacker. Many on his Slacker crew were wary about working within the Hollywood system but he was able to convince several of them to join him. Vince Vaughn was almost cast as the bully O’Bannon, but Linklater went with Ben Affleck because he was more likable. Renée Zellweger was originally up for the role that went to Parker Posey. The cast stayed at the Crest Hotel in Austin, Texas during filming, and according to Affleck the party atmosphere at the hotel mirrored the film itself. Shawn Andrews was meant to have a larger role in the film but his behavior with the cast resulted in his screen time being cut in favor of Matthew McConaughey’s character. The change also resulted in Milla Jovovich’s screen time being reduced as she played the girlfriend of Andrews’ character.
September 24 – Eye of the Stranger (USA)
- Cast: David Heavener, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland, Don Swayze, John Pleshette, Stella Stevens, Sy Richardson, Joe Estevez, Chao-Li Chi
- Director: David Heavener
- Production Company: Davita Productions, Hero Films, distributed by Borde Releasing
September 24 – The Good Son (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Elijah Wood, Macaulay Culkin, Wendy Crewson, David Morse, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Jacqueline Brookes
- Director: Joseph Ruben
- Production Company: 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Rory Culkin is seen in a photograph as Richard Evans. The film was originally set up at Universal in 1988 with Michael Klesic as Henry Evans, but it was put on hold due to funding issues. After the success of Home Alone and The Silence of the Lambs, Fox picked up the rights seeing an interest from audiences in films about children and extreme thrillers. Jesse Bradford was then cast as Henry. With pre-production underway, Kit Culkin insisted his son Macaulay be cast as Henry, a condition for his participation in Home Alone 2. Fox agreed due to Culkin’s bankability, which resulted in production being pushed back by a year because both films were scheduled to shoot at the same time. Due to the delay, Mary Steenburgen was no longer available for the role of Susan, replaced with Wendy Crewson, and it enabled the participation of Elijah Wood. Original director Michael Lehmann also left the project. The elder Culkin also insisted daughter Quinn have a role in the film as well, and had to approve the new director. The delays caused the budget to balloon from $12 million to $20 million.
September 24 – The Program (USA)
- Cast: James Caan, Halle Berry, Omar Epps, Craig Sheffer, Kristy Swanson, Abraham Benrubi, Andrew Bryniarski, Duane Davis, Joey Lauren Adams
- Director: David S. Ward
- Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Last names of the crew members were used on the back of jerseys for the extras who stood in as football players. Bo Schembechler and Lynn Swann make cameo appearance playing themselves as commentators in the film.
2003
September 25 – Japanese Story (AUS)
- Cast: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima, Matthew Dyktynski, Lynette Curran, Yumiko Tanaka, Kate Atkinson, Bill Young, Reg Evans, George Shevtsov, Justine Clarke
- Director: Sue Brooks
- Production Company: Australian Film Finance Corporation, Fortissimo Films, Gecko Films Pty. Ltd., Showtime Australia, ScreenWest, Lotteries Commission of Western Australia, Film Victoria, Film Australia, The Australian Film Commission, The South Australian Film Corporation, Associatione éQuinoxe, Footprint Films, Premium Movie Partnership, distributed by Palace Films (AUS), Samuel Goldwyn Films (USA)
- Trivia: Opened in limited release in the US on December 31, 2003.
September 26 – Duplex (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, James Remar, Robert Wisdom, Swoosie Kurtz, Wallace Shawn, Maya Rudolph, Amber Valletta, Tracey Walter
- Director: Danny DeVito
- Production Company: Red Hour Films, Flower Films, distributed by Miramax Films
- Trivia: Released in the UK as Our House. Danny DeVito is the uncredited narrator. Drew Barrymore earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress for both this film and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle but lost to Jennifer Lopez in Gigli.
September 26 – National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze (USA, limited)
- Cast: Cameron Richardson, Tony Denman, Boti Bliss, Edwin Hodge, Patrick Renna, Tatyana Ali, Marieh Delfino, Danielle Fishel, Randy Spelling, Chris Owen
- Director: Scott Hillenbrand
- Production Company: National Lampoon, distributed by Showcase Entertainment
- Trivia: The film featured then new and mostly unknown actors.
September 26 – Prey for Rock & Roll (USA)
- Cast: Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole, Marc Blucas, Ashley Drane
- Director: Alex Steyermark
- Production Company: Prey LLC, distributed by MAC Releasing
- Trivia: Adapted from a semi-autobiographical musical of the same name by Cheri Lovedog, which was staged at New York City’s CBGB club. Lovedog did not want actors to lip-sync to another singer’s vocals. Gina Gershon was suggested after the music supervisor saw her perform on Broadway in Cabaret. Joan Jett was a consultant and gave Gershon guitar lessons, but left the film after a pay dispute that culminated in a lawsuit.
September 26 – El misterio Galíndez (Spain)
- Cast: Saffron Burrows, Harvey Keitel, Eduard Fernández, Guillermo Toledo, Reynaldo Miravalles, John Furey, Chete Lera
- Director: Gerardo Herrero
- Production Company: Antena 3 Televisión, DMVB Films, Ensueño Films, Greenpoint Films, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos, Storie S.r.l., TeleMadrid, Tornasol Films, Vía Digital, distributed by Alta Classics S.L. Unipersonal (Spain)
- Trivia: Received a limited US release on July 14, 2005 as The Galíndez File. Based on Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s 1991 novel Galíndez.
September 26 – The Rundown (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Walken, Ewen Bremner, Jon Gries, Ernie Reyes Jr., William Lucking, Antonio Muñoz, Stephen Bishop
- Director: Peter Berg
- Production Company: Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Strike Entertainment, WWE Films, distributed by Universal Pictures
- Trivia: Known internationally as Welcome to the Jungle, and was originally titled Helldorado.While scouting locations in Brazil, director Peter Berg and producer Kevin Misher were robbed at gunpoint so they decided to film in Hawaii instead. Berg wanted to have the longest fall down the side of a mountain ever filmed, but Dwayne Johnson’s stuntman refused to do it. They hired another guy who was known to do just about anything. He was knocked out on the first take. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an uncredited cameo after he was spotted lunching with Johnson. He agreed if they could do it right then and everything was ready within 15 minutes.
September 26 – Under the Tuscan Sun (USA/Canada)
- Cast: Diane Lane, Sandra Oh, Lindsay Duncan, Raoul Bova, Vincent Riotta, Mario Monicelli, Roberto Nobile, Anita Zagaria, Kate Walsh, David Sutcliffe, Matt Salinger, Dan Bucatinsky
- Director: Audrey Wells
- Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- Trivia: Based on Frances Mayes’ 1996 memoir of the same name. Jeffrey Tambor has an uncredited role. Diane Lane received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
2013
September 20 – Battle of the Year (USA)
- Cast: Josh Holloway, Chris Brown, Josh Peck, Laz Alonso, Caity Lotz, Terrence J
- Director: Benson Lee
- Production Company: Contrafilm, distributed by Screen Gems
- Trivia: Based upon Benson Lee’s award-winning 2007 documentary Planet B-Boy, about the b-boying competition of the same name. The film was produced in 3D.
September 20 – Kelly + Victor (UK)
- Cast: Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Julian Morris, William Ruane, Stephen Walters, Claire Keelan, Mark Womack, Michael Ryan
- Director: Kieran Evans
- Production Company: Hot Property Films, Venom Films, distributed by Verve Pictures
- Trivia: No US release outside of a March 9, 2013 screening at South by Southwest. Based on Niall Griffiths’s 2002 novel of the same name.
September 20 – Prisoners (USA)
Alcon Entertainment
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dennis Christopher, Dylan Minnette, David Dastmalchian, Len Cariou
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Production Company: Alcon Entertainment, 8:38 Productions, Madhouse Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Oscar nominated for Roger Deakins’ cinematography. Based on a short story by Aaron Guzikowski that was partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’. The film initially received an NC-17 rating for disturbing violence and explicit images and was edited down to receive an R.
September 20 – Sunshine on Leith (USA)
- Cast: George MacKay, Kevin Guthrie, Antonia Thomas, Freya Mavor, Jane Horrocks, Peter Mullan, Jason Flemyng, Paul Brannigan, Paul McCole, Sara Vickers, Daniela Nardini
- Director: Dexter Fletcher
- Production Company: DNA Films, Black Camel Pictures, British Film Institute, Creative Scotland, distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors
- Trivia: Adaptation of the stage musical of the same name, a jukebox musical featuring songs by The Proclaimers. The songs are performed by the cast, and The Proclaimers have a brief cameo.
September 20 – The Wizard of Oz 3D (USA)
- Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin
- Director: Victor Fleming
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: The film was restored and post-converted to 3D for a one-week IMAX engagement celebrating the film’s 75th anniversary. Because the film had been altered from its original presentation with the 3D conversion, it had to be resubmitted to the MPAA where it received a PG rating for ‘Some scary moments’ although there were no changes to the original story content. The 2D version still retains its G-rating.
September 26 – Attarintiki Daredi (USA)
- Cast: Pawan Kalyan, Samantha, Pranitha Subhash, Nadhiya, Boman Irani, Brahmanandam, Rao Ramesh, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Ali, M. S. Narayana
- Director: Trivikram Srinivas
- Production Company: Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra, distributed by Reliance Entertainment
- Trivia: The title translates to ‘Which path leads to my aunt’s house?’
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