Warner Bros. Pictures
In the modern era, January is the month known as the ‘cinematic dumping ground’, a period where the studios drop what they know to be their least creatively successful films of the year. The first half of the century, though, didn’t seem to suffer though as several films were released this week up to 1964. Relatively few of them are remembered today, but 1944 did give us two Bugs Bunny shorts and another short from Disney that was meant to be part of another film. More notable films came after 1964 with an American classic dropping in 1974 and a cult classic in 1994. 1984 is still on vacation. 2004 gave us the first of two ‘first daughter’ films that year, and 2014 brought us the fifth film in a horror franchise. Scroll through the list below and tell us if you remember any of the films celebrating anniversaries this week!
1924
- January 3 – The Great White Way (USA, Goldwyn Pictures)
- January 6 – Don’t Call It Love (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- January 6 – Judgment of the Storm (USA, Film Booking Offices of America)
- January 6 – Restless Wives (USA, C.C. Burr Productions)
- January 6 – The Love Bandit (USA, Vitagraph Company of America)
- January 6 – Through the Dark (USA, Goldwyn Pictures)
- January 6 – West of the Water Tower (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- January 7 – Grit (USA, Hodkinson Distribution)
- January 7 – Hook and Ladder (USA, Universal Pictures Corporation)
The Great White Way was made with the cooperation of the New York City Fire Department. It was remade twelve years later as Cain and Mabel with Marion Davies and Clark Gable. Unfortunately the film is considered lost.
Don’t Call It Love was based upon the play Rita Coventry by Hubert Osborne. Restless Wives may be a lost film but a vintage movie trailer displaying short clips of the film still exists. An abridged version of The Love Bandit survives with a private collector.
Through the Dark was based on the short story ‘The Daughter of Mother McGinn’ by Jack Boyle, which appeared in serial form in Cosmopolitan. The film was banned by the British Board of Film Censors upon its release for its depiction of unspecified ‘taboo’ subject matter. An incomplete print of the film is preserved at the Library of Congress.
West of the Water Tower was based on the novel of the same name by Homer Croy. The film is considered lost. Grit was based upon a screen story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film is considered lost. It had been banned by the British Board of Film Censors for an undisclosed reason in 1925.
1934
- January 3 – The Scotland Yard Mystery (UK, Wardour Films)
- January 5 – A Political Party (UK, Pathé Pictures Ltd.)
- January 5 – Eight Girls in a Boat (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- January 5 – Fugitive Lovers (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- January 5 – Gallant Lady (USA, United Artists)
- January 6 – Bombay Mail (USA, Universal Pictures)
- January 6 – The Big Shakedown (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 8 – The Black Abbot (UK, RKO Radio Pictures)
The Scotland Yard Mystery and A Political Party have no known US theatrical release dates. The Black Abbot was released in the US on May 21, 1934 through RKO.
The Scotland Yard Mystery was based on a play by Wallace Geoffrey. Eight Girls in a Boat was a remake of the 1932 German film Acht Mädels im Boot. Ted Healy and his Stooges appear Fugitive Lovers, billed as The Three Julians. Gallant Lady was remade in 1938 as Always Goodbye.
Bombay Mail was based on the Lawrence Blochman novel of the same name which was originally published in 1933 in the pulp magazine Complete Stories. The film required elaborate sets and the construction of an entire Indian train and several stations, and ensured each and every character, from brahmins to untouchables, were correctly costumed and correctly dressed.
The Big Shakedown was based on the story ‘Cut Rate’ by Niven Busch and Samuel G. Engel. It was director John Francis Dillon’s final film. The Black Abbot was made as a ‘quota quickie’ for release by RKO.
1944
Warner Bros. Pictures
- January 4 – Little Red Riding Rabbit (USA, short, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 5 – Hands Across the Border (USA, Republic Pictures)
- January 5 – Pride of the Plains (USA, Republic Pictures)
- January 7 – Sing a Jingle (USA, Universal Pictures)
- January 7 – Standing Room Only (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- January 7 – The Pelican and the Snipe (USA, short, RKO Radio Pictures)
- January 8 – What’s Cookin’ Doc? (USA, short, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Little Red Riding Rabbit is the first Bugs Bunny film in which Mel Blanc receives an onscreen voice credit. Billy Bletcher parodied his voice work for Disney, giving the Big Bad Wolf the same voice as the Wolf in Disney’s Three Little Pigs and its spin-off, The Big Bad Wolf.
The Pelican and the Snipe was meant to be a segment of Disney’s The Three Caballeros, but a decision was made to release it as a stand-alone.
Live-action footage included in What’s Cookin’ Doc? was taken from 1937’s A Star is Born, depicting the footprints of the stars at the Chinese Theatre, and nightlife at the Trocadero and the Cocoanut Grove. The film also includes subtle references to World War II.
1954
- January 5 – The Final Test (USA, Continental Distributing)
- January 5 – The Golden Coach (USA, I.F.E. Releasing Corporation)
- January 6 – Border River (USA, Universal Pictures)
- January 6 – Trader Tom of the China Seas (USA, serial, Republic Pictures)
- January 7 – The Million Pound Note (UK, General Film Distributors)
The Final Test originally opened in the UK on May 4, 1953 through General Film Distributors. The Golden Coach originally opened in Italy on December 5, 1952 as Le carrosse d’or through Distribuzione Cinematografica Nazionale. The Million Pound Note was released in the US as Man With a Million on June 18, 1954 through United Artists.
The Final Test was written by Terence Rattigan as a television play in 1951 as a tribute to cricketer Sir Donald Bradman. The play was then filmed in 1953.
The screenplay for The Golden Coach was based on the 1829 play Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement (The Coach of the Blessed Sacrament), by Prosper Mérimée. The film was a French-Italian co-production filmed in English. A French version was planned and abandoned due to budgetary constraints. An Italian version was produced. Director Jean Renoir preferred the English version, and was the only one restored in 2012.
Trader Tom of the China Seas was re-edited to a 100-minute movie for television broadcast and retitled Target: Sea of China. The original serial was the cheapest made at Republic in 1954.
The Million Pound Note was based on the 1893 Mark Twain short story The Million Pound Bank Note, and is a precursor to the 1983 film Trading Places.
1964
- January 6 – Seven Days… Seven Nights (USA, Royal Films International)
- January 7 – Raggedy Rug (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)
Seven Days… Seven Nights was originally released in France as Moderato cantabile on May 25, 1960 through Les Films Paramount. The film was based on the 1958 novel Moderato cantabile by Marguerite Duras. Jeanne Moreau won the Best Actress award at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival for her performance. Richard Burton was to be the male lead in a French-speaking part, but withdrew shortly before filming began stating that French unions objected to the British actor appearing in an all-French production, even though Brit Peter Brook was the director. He was replaced with Jean-Paul Belmondo.
1974
- January 4 – McQ (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 5 – Badlands (Brazil, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 9 – Home Sweet Home (France, Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique)
- January 9 – Cycle Psycho (USA, Cinemation Industries)
Badlands, Terrence Malick’s directorial debut, was released in the US on March 24, 1974 through Warner Bros. Home Sweet Home has no known US theatrical release date.
McQ was filmed in Washington state with extensive location shooting in Seattle, and a sequence near the end filmed on the Pacific Coast at Moclips. Stunt driver Hal Needham performed the very first car stunt using a black powder cannon charge to flip a car without the use of a ramp. On the second practice run down in Los Angeles, the car was unknowingly overcharged, and Needham was nearly killed. Gary McLarty performed the stunt on the beach that is featured in the film.
Badlands was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993. Sissy Spacek, in just her second film, was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles at the 28th BAFTAs. Martin Sheen won Best Actor at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Director Terrence Malick makes a cameo as the man at the rich man’s door because the original actor failed to show up. Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez appear briefly as two boys sitting under a lamppost outside Holly’s house. Malick originally felt Sheen was too old for the role, but Spacek has said their chemistry was immediate, he was Kit and with him she was Holly. Sheen based his performance on James Dean. Jack Fisk was the film’s art director, and he and Spacek fell in love and married in April 1974. Fisk continued to work with Malick on his projects through 2016.
Cycle Psycho is also known as The Bloody Slaying of Sarah Ridelander and Savage Abduction.
1984
- No new movies were released this week in 1984.
1994
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
- January 7 – Cabin Boy (USA, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
- January 7 – The Air Up There (USA, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
Cabin Boy was originally to be directed by Tim Burton, who was a producer, but left the project when he was offered Ed Wood. Burton had contacted Chris Elliott to star in the film after seeing him in the TV series Get a Life. Elliott earned a Razzie nomination for Worst New Star. David Letterman has a cameo as ‘Old Salt in the Fishing Village’ but the credits list him as ‘Earl Hofert’, an inside joke as Letterman had referred to himself as ‘Hofert’ in some skits on his old Late Night with David Letterman show. Hofert is actually one of Letterman’s uncles.
Locations in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario doubled for the US in The Air Up There. Coops Coliseum in Hamilton stood in for the University’s arena. Scenes in Africa were filmed in Kenya and South Africa.
2004
Warner Bros. Pictures
- January 9 – Chasing Liberty (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 9 – My Baby’s Daddy (USA, Miramax Films)
Chasing Liberty was first announced as Untitled First Daughter Project. The storyline was inspired by Chelsea Clinton, who was photographed trying to blend in with other students at a Stanford basketball game. The exterior scenes of the White House were filmed at Hylands House in Chelmsford, Essex, England, because of its resemblance to the White House. Blueprints of the White House were also used to create a digital replica, which helped make the exterior scenes look authentic.
2014
- January 3 – Open Grave (USA, Tribeca Film)
- January 3 – Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (USA, Paramount Pictures)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the fifth film in the Paranormal Activity franchise, though not a direct sequel to the previous films. It is director Christopher Landon’s second film. The film was originally to be released in October 2013, but with production finishing in late July of that year the release date was pushed to January 2014. An unrated version of the film was released to home video on April 8, 2014, running 17 minutes longer than the theatrical cut.
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