Buena Vista Pictures
The last week of October includes many new films but you’d be hard-pressed to find many horror films in the bunch. What’s horrible, for movie buffs, is that five of 1923’s films are considered lost. Of the eight 1933 films, the most famous one is a detective film with William Powell that isn’t a ‘Thin Man’ film. 1943 included a film from a new director known later for his gimmicks, two films that were part of two different film series, and a Bugs Bunny short. 1953 had a 3D Western and one Oscar nominee. 1963 gave us the second film featuring the world’s favorite secret agent, a Vincent Price horror anthology, and the return of that director known for his gimmicks. 1973 included another horror anthology film that did not start out as a horror anthology. 1983 brought Richard Pryor back to the big screen in a concert film, 1993 gave us one of the most beloved holiday films of all time — and the debate still rages as to which holiday the film actually celebrates, 2003 had one film with multiple Oscar nominations, and 2013 had a comedy film that earned an unlikely Oscar nomination. Scroll down to see the list of films that made their debuts this week across the decades and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating.
1923
- October 25 – The Light That Failed (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- October 27 – Broadway Broke (USA, Selznick Distributing Corporation)
- October 28 – In the Palace of the King (USA, Goldwyn Pictures)
- October 28 – The Dancer of the Nile (USA, Film Booking Offices of America)
- October 28 – The Extra Girl (USA, Associated Exhibitors)
- October 28 – The Governor’s Lady (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
- October 28 – Woman-Proof (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- October 30 – Why Women Remarry (USA, Associated Photoplays)
The Light That Failed, In the Palace of the King, The Dancer of the Nile, The Governor’s Lady, and Woman-Proof are considered lost films. Prints of The Extra Girl are held in several archives and it has been released on DVD.
The Light That Failed was based on the 1891 novelette of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. It was remade in 1939 as a sound film The Light That Failed starring Ronald Colman.
In the Palace of the King was based on the novel of the same name by F. Marion Crawford. The story had previously been filmed in 1915, and was adapted into a Broadway play in 1900.
The Dancer of the Nile was originally titled Tutankhamen. The Extra Girl was Mabel Normand’s final feature film and her last film working with producer Sennett.
1933
- October 25 – Hold the Press (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- October 26 – Strawberry Roan (USA, Universal Pictures)
- October 26 – The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (USA, Monogram Pictures)
- October 27 – Chance at Heaven (USA, RKO Pictures)
- October 27 – Day of Reckoning (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- October 27 – The Mad Game (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
- October 28 – Ever in My Heart (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- October 28 – The Kennel Murder Case (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Chance at Heaven was based on a 1932 short story of the same name by Vina Delmar. Day of Reckoning was based on a novel by Morris Lavine.
The Kennel Murder Case was adapted from the 1933 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. William Powell had played the character Philo Vance in three previous Paramount films in 1929 and 1930. The film was remade in 1940 as Calling Philo Vance.
1943
- October 26 – The Chance of a Lifetime (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- October 26 – The Return of the Rangers (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)
- October 27 – Guadalcanal Diary (USA, 20th Century Fox)
- October 27 – My Kingdom for a Cook (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- October 28 – Gildersleeve on Broadway (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
- October 28 – Is Everybody Happy? (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- October 29 – Bullets and Saddles (USA, Monogram Pictures Corporation)
- October 29 – Flesh and Fantasy (USA, Universal Pictures)
- October 29 – Mr. Muggs Steps Out (USA, Monogram Pictures)
- October 30 – Falling Hare (USA, short, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- October 30 – Man from Music Mountain (USA, Republic Pictures)
- October 31 – The Iron Major (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
The Chance of a Lifetime is one of fourteen ‘Boston Blackie’ films made by Columbia Pictures, the sixth in the series and one of three that did not have the name in the title. William Castle’s directorial debut.
Guadalcanal Diary marked the film debut of Richard Jaeckel, who was a studio messenger boy when he was cast in the production. It’s based on the book of the same name by Richard Tregaskis.
Gildersleeve on Broadway is the third of four ‘Gildersleeve’ feature films. Bullets and Saddles is the 24th and final entry in Monogram’s ‘Range Busters’ series. It uses footage from Fugitive Valley, another film in the series. Flesh and Fantasy had the earlier title For All We Know. Man from Music Mountain is also known as Texas Legionnaires.
Falling Hare went into production under the title Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. Walt Disney was developing a film based on Roald Dahl’s novel The Gremlins, and asked other animation studios not to produce any films involving gremlins. Warner Bros. was too far into production to make any changes so the film was simply retitled. It’s one of the few Bugs Bunny cartoons to have fallen into the public domain.
1953
- October 25 – Jennifer (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)
- October 27 – Thunder Over the Plains (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- October 30 – Gun Fury (Canada, Columbia Pictures)
- October 30 – Take the High Ground! (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- October 31 – Catty Cornered (USA, short, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- October 31 – So Big (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Jennifer is notable for introducing the jazz standard ‘Angel Eyes’, composed and performed by Matt Dennis. Thunder Over the Plains was Lex Barker’s first film after starring in five Tarzan movies.
Gun Fury opened in the US on November 11, 1953. The film was based on the novel Ten Against Caesar by Kathleen B. George and Robert A. Granger, and produced in 3D.
Take the High Ground! was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, losing to Titanic. The film’s working title was The Making of a Marine. The Marines refused to cooperate with production because of old controversies over the toughness of their training program. The Army cooperated fully.
So Big was based on the 1924 novel by Edna Ferber. It was the third adaptation of the book, following a 1924 silent film with Colleen Moore and So Big! with Barbara Stanwyck, released in 1932.
1963
United Artists
- October 25 – From Russia with Love (UK, United Artists)
- October 30 – Twice-Told Tales (USA, United Artists)
- October 31 – The Old Dark House (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- October 31 – The World Ten Times Over (UK, Warner-Pathé Distributors)
From Russia with Love opened in wide release in the US on May 27, 1964. It is the second official film of the James Bond series, and was based on Ian Fleming’s 1957 novel From Russia, With Love (the comma was dropped from the film’s title). It was the first film in the series to earn a BAFTA Award for Cinematography. The film’s budget was double that of its predecessor, Dr. No. The film was chosen as a follow-up because President John F. Kennedy named the novel as among his ten favorites of all time. It was the last movie he saw at the White House on 20 November 1963 before going to Dallas. The film introduced the pre-title sequence, the Blofeld character (only called Number 1 in the film but credited by name in the end credits), a secret weapon gadget, a helicopter sequence, a postscript action scene after the main climax, a theme song with lyrics, and the line ‘James Bond will return/be back’ in the credits. It was also the first film in the series with a a score composed by John Barry. Anthony Dawson, who played Professor Dent in the previous film, played Blofeld but is only credited as ‘?’ His dialogue was redubbed by Viennese actor Eric Pohlmann in the final cut. Peter Burton was unable to reprise the role of Major Boothroyd from the first film, and was replaced by Desmond Llewelyn. He is only credited at the end as Boothroyd, and Llewelyn played the character better known as Q in all but one film until his death in 1999. Daniela Bianchi, a 1960 Miss Universe runner-up, was cast as Tatiana, reportedly Sean Connery’s choice. She took English lessons for the role but her lines were ultimately dubbed by British actress Barbara Jefford. Martine Beswick was miscredited in the opening titles as ‘Martin Beswick’, an error that was not corrected until the 2001 DVD release. Pedro Armendáriz was cast as Kerim Bey, but was diagnosed with inoperable cancer while filming in Istanbul. Production there was terminated and moved back to London with Armendáriz’s scenes moved up so he could complete filming without delay. He worked as long as he could, visibly in pain, and when he could no longer work he went home and committed suicide. Remaining shots used a stunt double and director Terence Young as stand-ins for the last two months of production. The fight scene between Red Grant and Bond was carefully choreographed and took three weeks to film, worrying some on the production with its violence. Robert Shaw and Connery did most of the stunts themselves. Helicopters were hard to come by so the helicopter chase scene was filmed with a radio controlled miniature. The film’s theme song was nominated for a Golden Globe.
The three stories in Twice-Told Tales were all loose adaptations from the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Filming began on Halloween 1962.
The Old Dark House is a remake of Universal’s 1932 James Whale film of the same name, and is based on the 1927 novel by J. B. Priestley originally published under the name Benighted.
The World Ten Times Over was released in the US by Goldstone Film Enterprises as Pussycat Alley on December 15, 1965. Donald Sutherland makes a brief appearance in a night club scene, one of his earliest roles. The British Film Institute has described it as the first British film to deal with an implicitly lesbian relationship.
1973
- October 25 – Five on the Black Hand Side (USA, United Artists)
- October 26 – Some Call It Loving (France, Pleasant Pastures)
- October 29 – The Homecoming (USA, The American Film Theatre)
- October 29 – The Iceman Cometh (USA, The American Film Theatre)
- October 30 – La seduzione (Italy, Alpherat S.p.a.)
- October 31 – Tales That Witness Madness (USA, Paramount Pictures)
Five on the Black Hand Side was based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. The film was conceived as an uplifting antidote to the blaxploitation films of the era. The film helped launch the careers of Glynn Turman and Ja’net DuBois.
Some Call It Loving was released in the US by Cine Globe on November 16, 1973. Also known as Sleeping Beauty.
The Homecoming was based on the play of the same name by Harold Pinter. The Iceman Cometh was based on Eugene O’Neill’s 1946 play of the same name. With a run time of nearly four hours, the film had two intermissions. It was the last film for both Robert Ryan and Frederic March.
La seduzione had no known US theatrical release. It was released internationally as Seduction. It was based on the novel Graziella by Ercole Patti.
Tales That Witness Madness featured the final film performances of Frank Forsyth and Jack Hawkins. Hawkins had his larynx removed in an operation in 1966 due to cancer, and Charles Gray dubbed his voice in post-production. Rita Hayworth had been cast on the fourth segment of the film, ‘Luau’, but was replaced by Kim Novak shortly after production started. It was Novak’s first film in four years.
1983
- October 27 – Bullshot (UK, Island Pictures)
- October 28 – Richard Pryor: Here and Now (Columbia Pictures)
Bullshot, based on the stage play Bullshot Crummond, was released in the US on August 28, 1985 by Island Alive as Bullshot Crummond. The name comes from a parody of the 1929 film Bulldog Drummond. Alan Shearman and Diz White reprised their roles from the play.
1993
- October 27 – The Nightmare Before Christmas (Philippines, Buena Vista International)
- October 28 – Bedevil (AUS, 21st Century Pictures)
- October 29 – Dirty Weekend (UK, United International Pictures)
- October 29 – Fatal Instinct (USA, MGM/UA Distribution Co.)
- October 29 – Return of the Living Dead 3 (USA, limited, Trimark Pictures)
- October 29 – The Joy Luck Club (USA, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
The Nightmare Before Christmas received a limited US release on October 13, 1993, then expanded on October 29 distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. Disney originally planned to distribute the film through Touchstone Pictures because the studio believed the film would be ‘too dark and scary for kids’. It was Henry Selick’s feature directorial debut. The story originated from a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. Received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, a first for an animated film, but lost to Jurassic Park. Patrick Stewart recorded narration for the beginning and end of the film, but it was ultimately not used. It is, however, included on the soundtrack album. 227 puppets were constructed for the film, and the Jack Skellington character had about 400 different heads. Only Sally’s face mask was removed to preserve the order of her long, red hair. She had ten types of faces each made with a series of eleven expressions. The Jack Skellington figure was reused in James and the Giant Peach as Captain Jack.
Bedevil had no known US theatrical release. It was the first feature film directed by an Australian Aboriginal woman. Dirty Weekend, based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Helen Zahavi, was not released in the US until July 11, 1997. It was banned from video release in the UK for two years by the BBFC for its violent and sexual content.
Return of the Living Dead 3 director Brian Yuzna had no guidance from the studio except that ‘Trioxin gas’ had to be part of the story to justify using the ‘Living Dead’ title. Brian Peck, Scuzz from the first film and various zombies from the second, plays a government agent in the third. He is the only actor from the original to appear in all three films. The lead zombie character Julie required 100 different prosthetic pieces and an application that originally took nine hours but it was cut down to six as production moved forward. Anthony Hickox, director of Hellraiser III and Waxwork, plays one of the government scientists who is killed early in the film by a test zombie. Nearly a minute had to be cut from the film to get an R-rating from the MPAA. The film has been released uncut on home video.
The Joy Luck Club is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2020. Fifteen actresses played the main group of characters at various ages.
2003
- October 29 – The Human Stain (France, EuropaCorp. Distribution)
- October 31 – In America (UK, Twentieth Century Fox)
- October 31 – In the Cut (USA/UK, Screen Gems/Pathé Distribution)
- October 31 – Out of Bounds (UK, LifeSize Entertainment & Releasing)
- October 31 – Sylvia (USA, Focus Features)
The Human Stain, based on the novel of the same name by Philip Roth, was given a limited release in the US on October 31, 2003 by Miramax.
In America was released in the US on November 26, 2003 by Fox Searchlight. It received three Academy Award nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Samantha Morton) and Best Supporting Actor (Djimon Hounsou).
In the Cut was adapted from the 1995 novel of the same name by Susanna Moore. It was originally given a limited release in the US on October 22, 2003 before expanding on Halloween. Nicole Kidman was originally cast as Frannie but had to drop out because she was in the midst of her divorce from Tom Cruise. She was replaced with Meg Ryan.
Out of Bounds was released on DVD in the US on June 8, 2004. Also known as Dead in the Water. It was the directorial debut of Merlin Ward.
Sylvia is based on the real-life romance between prominent poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Plath’s daughter Frieda Hughes objected to the making of the film and denied the filmmakers the rights to her mother’s poetry.
2013
Paramount Pictures
- October 25 – Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- October 25 – The Selfish Giant (UK, Pigment Movie Pictures)
- October 26 – Strange Factories (UK, FoolishPeople)
- October 29 – Blood Shot (Canada, VVS Films)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa was the first film in the franchise to be nominated for an Academy Award, Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The old age makeup on Johnny Knoxville took three-and-a-half hours to apply every morning, with an additional five hour for scenes in which he had to take off his shirt. Much of the film was shot in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, and North Carolina.
The Selfish Giant, inspired by the Oscar Wilde short story, received a limited US release on December 20, 2013 by IFC Films. The film was nominated for the 2014 BAFTA for Best British Film.
Strange Factories had no known US theatrical release. It was an experimental horror film produced by the British immersive theatre and production collective FoolishPeople, and featured a mixture of film and live performance.
Blood Shot had no known US theatrical release.
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