Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #181 :: January 10•16

TriStar Pictures

Mid-January brings us a mix of easily forgotten and quite memorable films, many of them earning Oscar nominations and wins which is unusual for films released in the first weeks of the new year and all but forgotten by the end of the year. But a few stand out, some for not the best reasons. 1924 gave us one film that was never released in the US due to its star’s legal issues. 1934 produced one episode that included a Native American language, and another that was based on one of the hottest headlines of the day. 1944 gave us a Hitchcock classic with an ensemble cast in a single setting, earning several Oscar nominations in the process. 1954 had one film whose new star was recognized by the Golden Globes, and another with Oscar-nominated costumes. 1974 saw Christopher Lee make his last appearance as a bloodsucking Count, and 1984 introduced audiences to a ‘new’ style of dance, and gave us a film that was a sequel in name only. 1994 saw Tom Hanks in an Oscar-winning performance, 2004 had a popular romantic comedy and an intended satire of another film franchise, and 2014 brought a classic strongman to the big screen to a less than stellar reception. Scroll down the list to see the films celebrating premieres this week and tell us if your favorites have reason to party!

1924

• January 11 – Leap Year (France, Paramount Pictures)
• January 12 – Conductor 1492 (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• January 13 – The Humming Bird (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 14 – A Lady of Quality (USA, Universal Pictures)
• January 14 – Half-A-Dollar-Bill (USA, Metro Pictures)
• January 14 – The Starlit Garden (UK, George Clark Productions)
• January 15 – Discontented Husbands (USA, Columbia Pictures)

Leap Year, produced in 1921, was not seen in the US because of star Fatty Arbuckle’s murder trial until a Washington DC screening on March 18, 1981. Prints are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Library of Congress.

Conductor 1492 film has been preserved at several archives, including the Library of Congress, George Eastman House, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive. The Humming Bird was based on the play of the same name by Maude Fulton, and is preserved at the Library of Congress and the Nederlands Filmmuseum.

A Lady of Quality was based on the 1896 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and had been previously produced in 1913. The film is considered lost. A print of Half-A-Dollar-Bill was preserved by MGM labs and a print is held by the Cinematheque Royale de Belgique. The Starlit Garden has no known US theatrical release date. Discontented Husbands is considered a lost film.

1934

• January 10 – Eskimo (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• January 12 – His Double Life (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 12 – Miss Fane’s Baby Is Stolen (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 12 – The Meanest Gal in Town (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• January 13 – A Ticket in Tatts (AUS, Universal Film Manufacturing Company)
• January 13 – Easy to Love (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• January 13 – Man of Two Worlds (USA, RKO Pictures)
• January 15 – Cross Country Cruise (USA, Universal Pictures)
• January 15 – Enlighten Thy Daughter (USA, Exploitation Pictures)

A Ticket in Tatts has no known US theatrical release date.

Eskimo is known as Mala the Magnificent in the UK, and was retitled Eskimo Wife-Traders in the US to titillate and draw in audiences. It is based on the books Der Eskimo and Die Flucht ins weisse Land by Danish explorer and author Peter Freuchen. It was the first feature film to be shot in a Native American language (Inupiat). It received the first ever Oscar for Film Editing. The film’s original ending had the lead characters, Mala and Iva, escape onto the ice, only to drown. The producer felt this was too downbeat and changed it to a more upbeat ending. Native Alaskan extra received $5 a day for their work on the film, but went on strike for $10-$15 a day. Director W.S. Van Dyke hired strikebreakers from among the other natives as replacements and the strike ended. The scenes of walrus, bowhead whale, and caribou hunting are all real, with hunting seasons occurring at the same time, forcing the crew to spend a year in Alaska to cover two seasons to get the coverage needed for the film. The whale hunting shoot took three months to film because the whales would flee every time they spotted the boats. Total production on the film took 17 months. The budget was in the neighborhood of $1 million, and MGM had to keep the film in circulation for several years to recoup the cost. The running time for previews was 160 minutes, but the film was cut down to 117-120 minutes for release.

His Double Life was the directorial debut for Arthur Hopkins. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress, and is now in the public domain. It was remade in 1943 as Holy Matrimony.

Carole Lombard declined the lead role in Miss Fane’s Baby Is Stolen, so Swiss-German actress Dorothea Wieck was cast in one of her few English-language roles. The film’s story is based on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, which had not been resolved by the time the film was released. Unlike the real case, the baby is recovered in the film in compliance with the Hays Office guidelines.

Easy to Love was the first solo directorial effort from William Keighley, who had co-directed two earlier films with Howard Bretherton. The film was based upon the 1930 play As Good As New by Thompson Buchanan. The film includes a mildly risqué scene with star Genevieve Tobin discreetly naked in the bathtub. She and Keighley married in 1938.

Enlighten Thy Daughter is a sound remake of the 1917 silent film of the same name.

1944

20th Century Fox

• January 10 – The Volunteer (UK, short, The Archers)
• January 11 – Career Girl (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)
• January 11 – Lifeboat (USA, 20th Century Fox)
• January 13 – Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 13 – Timber Queen (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 14 – Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (USA, Universal Pictures)
• January 14 – Three Russian Girls (USA, United Artists)
• January 15 – Booby Traps (USA, short, U.S. Army Signal Corps)

The Volunteer has no known US theatrical release date. It was made during World War II as recruitment propaganda for the Fleet Air Arm, with volunteer numbers rising after its release. British actors Anna Neagle and Laurence Olivier make cameo appearances, as does the film’s co-director Michael Powell.

Career Girl is now in the public domain.

Lifeboat was based on a story by John Steinbeck, who unsuccessfully requested his name be removed from the credits after being disappointed with the finished film. The Alfred Hitchcock film is set entirely on a lifeboat launched from a passenger vessel torpedoed and sunk by a Nazi U-boat. The film was Oscar-nominated for Best Director, Best Original Story and Best Cinematography – Black and White. Tallulah Bankhead won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. This was Bankhead’s first major film role since 1932’s Faithless. It was Hitchcock’s only film for 20th Century Fox. He had been contracted for two films but the studio did not move forward with a second because of the time it took to complete Lifeboat, mainly due to illness and accidents that plagued production. The film was originally to be shot in Technicolor with an all-male cast. The film has no musical score outside of the opening and closing credits. Hitchcock’s cameo — as a before and after subject for a weight-loss product in a newspaper — appears about 25 minutes into the film. He originally planned to be a body floating in the water, which he employed in the trailer for 1972’s Frenzy.

Henry Aldrich, Boy Scout was ninth in a series of eleven ‘Henry Aldrich’ films. The Boy Scouts of America provided a technical advisor for the film. Timber Queen was originally title Timberman.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is derived from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, but the storyline departs greatly and includes an actual historic event. The role of Jamiel was meant to be played by Sabu. However, when he went into the army, the role was taken by Turhan Bey.

Three Russian Girls is also known as She Who Dares, and is a remake of the Soviet film The Girl from Leningrad (1941). It received an Oscar nominations for Best Musical Score. Booby Traps is the ninth in a series of 25 Private Snafu cartoons.

1954

• January 10 – The Golden Idol (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)
• January 11 – Solution by Phone (UK, Associated British-Pathé)
• January 12 – Crime Wave (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• January 13 – Forever Female (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• January 13 – Hell Below Zero (UK, Columbia Pictures Corporation)
• January 14 – Riders to the Stars (USA, United Artists)
• January 15 – Hollywood Thrill-Makers (USA, Lippert Pictures)
• January 15 – It Should Happen to You (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• January 15 – Knights of the Round Table (USA/Canada, Metro Goldwyn Mayer)
• January 15 – Spare the Rod (USA, short, RKO Radio Pictures)
• January 16 – His Majesty O’Keefe (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

Solution by Phone has no known US theatrical release date. Hell Below Zero was released in the US on July 16, 1954 through Columbia Pictures.

The Golden Idol is the tenth of 12 ‘Bomba, the Jungle Boy’ films, based on the Bomba series of juvenile adventure books.

Crime Wave is also known as The City Is Dark, and was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post – ‘Criminal Mark’ by John and Ward Hawkins. The film was shot on location in Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale, and one location — Sawyer’s Pet Hospital — is still standing and still a pet hospital but with a different name.

Forever Female won a Golden Globe for Pat Crowley, in her film debut, in the Most Promising Newcomer – Actress category. Crowley’s role was originally meant for Audrey Hepburn, but she was unavailable. The producer and director were not happy with any of Paramount’s contract players and saw 500 actresses before casting Crowley. Ginger Rogers lated said that while she liked the script, she felt the studio spent more publicizing Crowley than they did on the entire budget for the film. The film marked the debut of Marion Ross as well. The film was originally titled Rosalind then Reaching for the Stars.

Hell Below Zero was based on the 1949 novel The White South by Hammond Innes. The film’s working titles were White South and White Mantle. Hollywood Thrill-Makers is also known as Hollywood Stuntmen.

Riders to the Stars was directed by Richard Carlson who also stars, his first film in both roles. It is the second of producer Ivan Tors’ ‘Office of Scientific Investigation’ films, falling between The Magnetic Monster and Gog. One of the film’s stars, William Lundigan, went on to star in the Syndicated science fiction series Men Into Space, which was a continuation of the ideas explored in the film. The film was shot in color, but TV prints were in black-and-white. The color version has been shown on TCM.

It Should Happen to You features the first major film appearance of Jack Lemmon. The film was originally intended to star Danny Kaye, but screenwriter Garson Kanin’s wife Ruth Gordon suggested Judy Holliday for the lead. The film’s original title was A Name for Herself. Columbia Studios boss Harry Cohn wanted Lemmon to change his name to ‘Lennon’ to prevent critics from using his name as a joke to mock the film. Lemmon countered the change might confuse people into thinking his name was ‘Lenin’ and associate him with communism, a legitimate fear at the time. A teenage John Saxon appears as an uncredited extra in Central Park. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design (Black-and-White).

Knights of the Round Table was the first CinemaScope film made by MGM. The story was adapted from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, first published in 1485. The film was the second in an unofficial trilogy made by the same producer, director and star, coming between Ivanhoe (1952) and The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955). George Sanders was originally cast as Modred (the Welsh spelling of Mordred) but fell ill prior to shooting and was replaced by Stanley Baker. Production was interrupted when 200 extras went on strike in a demand for better pay. After a month, which affected other MGM productions as well, the studio agreed to meet the union demands. The film received two Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Sound Recording. Contractual obligations required that Miklos Rozsa’s score had to be recorded in England (by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson) for the UK prints, as well as being recorded in Hollywood by Rozsa himself. Only the US print is available on DVD, presumably with Rozsa’s recording.

Spare the Rod, a Donald Duck short, depicts racially insensitive African pygmy cannibals — who are also red-nosed anthropomorphic animals. All scenes depicting the cannibals were removed when the short was shown on TV, rendering it really short, cutting the run time from 6 minutes to two-and-a-half. The fully restored version is available on Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four.

His Majesty O’Keefe was based on the novel of the same name by Laurence Klingman and Gerald Green. The film was first announced in 1951, but star Burt Lancaster was very busy at this point and the film was not immediately made. Filming began in July 1952.

1964

• January 14 – Point of Order! (USA, documentary, Continental Distributing)
• January 16 – It’s All Over Town (UK, British Lion Film Corporation)

Point of Order! is a documentary about the Senate Army–McCarthy hearings of 1954. The film was composed of 188 hours of kinescopes from the hearings held by CBS. Orson Welles was initially approached to direct the film, but turned down the offer.

It’s All Over Town has no known US theatrical release date. Director Douglas Hickox stated that the film was shot in 15 days with no sound from a two page typewritten script, ‘badly typewritten at that.’

1974

Hammer Films

• January 10 – Giddy Up Woe (USA, short, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises)
• January 13 – The Satanic Rites of Dracula (UK, Columbia-Warner Distributors)
• January 14 – When the North Wind Blows (USA, distributor unknown)
• January 15 – The Bat People (USA, American International Pictures)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula received a limited US release on October 11, 1978 through Dynamite Entertainment, a heavily edited version titled Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride. It is the eighth of Hammer Film’s ‘Dracula’ series, and the seventh and final one to star Christopher Lee as Dracula. It was also the third film to feature Lee and Peter Cushing (as Van Helsing). It was the last Hammer film the two would make together. Michael Coles also reprises his role as Inspector Murray from Dracula A.D. 1972. Stephanie Beacham had previously played Van Helsing’s granddaughter Jessica, but was replaced with Joanna Lumley as a more mature version of the character. The film’s working title was Dracula is Dead … and Well and Living in London, a reference to the musical revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Lee was not amused, and stated in a 1973 press conference that he was doing the film under protest, calling the production ‘fatuous’ because it was not a comedy but had a comedy title. The film was eventually retitled, but still marketed in France as Dracula vit toujours à Londres (‘Dracula Is Still Living in London’). Production ended on the film on January 3, 1973, exactly 15 years after the first film in the series finished shooting. It appears to be the first film to feature a silver bullet used as a weapon against a vampire.

When the North Wind Blows is also known as The Snow Tiger. The Bat People is also known as It Lives By Night and It’s Alive. The film has been lampooned on a 1999 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

1984

• January 10 – Breakin’ (USA, MGM/UA Entertainment Company)
• January 13 – Covergirl (USA, New World Pictures)
• January 13 – Hot Dog… The Movie (USA, MGM/UA Entertainment Co.)
• January 13 – Surf II: The End of the Trilogy (USA, International Film Marketing)
• January 13 – Warriors of the Wasteland (USA, New Line Cinema)

Warriors of the Wasteland originally opened in Italy on April 10, 1983 as I nuovi barbari (‘The New Barbarians’) through Titanus.

Breakin’ is known as Breakdance in the UK, and Break Street ’84 in other regions. The film’s setting was inspired by a 1983 documentary titled Breakin’ ‘n’ Enterin’, set in the multi-racial hip hop club Radio-Tron, based out of MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Ice-T appeared in the documentary and makes his dramatic debut in the film. He considers the film and his performance to be ‘wack’. It was one of the final Cannon films produced by MGM/UA, and is considered the last profitable film made by Cannon. Producer Menahem Golan pressured the production crew to complete the film before Orion Pictures released their breakdancing film Beat Street.

Covergirl featured the debut of Paulina Porizkova.

Despite the film’s title, Surf II: The End of the Trilogy, there was no Surf I and there was no third (or second) film. The film was later promoted as Surf II: The Nerds Strike Back, following the success of Revenge of the Nerds. The role of Menlo Schwartzer was written especially for Eddie Deezen, of whom screenwriter and director Randall Badat was a fan from his performance in I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Deezen has said the character’s name was originally Stinky but he asked Badat to change it. Deezen provided several odd props in the film including a baseball cap with an absurdly elongated brim and an oversized pair of novelty scissors. Producers sought Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello to appear in the film, but they both flatly refused. A musical performance by surf guitarist Dick Dale was filmed but cut from the theatrical release. The scene was restored for the Director’s Cut in 2021. Scenes in the Buzzz Cola factory were filmed at an abandoned waste treatment plant in El Segundo, CA. The film was rejected by studios for distribution, resulting in the film being re-edited to include new shots of nudity and gross out gags to capitalize on the sex comedy trend set by Porky’s a year earlier. Badat was upset and embarrassed by the gratuitous nudity, noting the cinematography doesn’t match the original. The Director’s Cut restores Badat’s vision and runs ten minutes longer than the original theatrical release. The film’s Spanish release title roughly translates to ‘Beach Madness’. The film has gone on to attain cult status.

Warriors of the Wasteland is set in the year 2019 following a nuclear holocaust. The film, along with 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Escape from the Bronx, was written prepared and filmed outside of Rome in six months. The film’s stunts were filmed at three different speeds to enhance the editing.

1994

• January 14 – House Party 3 (USA, New Line Cinema)
• January 14 – Iron Will (USA, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
• January 14 – Philadelphia (USA, TriStar Pictures)

House Party 3 features the film debut of Angela Means and Chris Tucker, and a special appearance by Tisha Campbell. Martin Lawrence does not reprise his original character of Bilal, nor is he mentioned. The film was intended to be the end of a trilogy, but was followed seven years later by the direct-to-video sequel House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute.

Iron Will was based on the true story of a 1917 dog-sled race from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Saint Paul, Minnesota, a 522-mile-long stretch and part of the ‘Red River-St. Paul Sports Carnival Derby’. Neither city appears in the film which was shot on location in Minnesota, mainly along the Lake Superior shoreline. The starting point of the race in the film was shot in Duluth, Minnesota. The dramatic bridge scene was actually filmed on two different bridges — The Oliver Bridge in Duluth and on another railroad bridge along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Because of a lack of mountain in Minnesota, those scenes were filmed in Montana.

Philadelphia had two premieres, one in Los Angeles (December 14, 1993) and one in New York City (December 16, 1993), before opening in limited release in the US on December 22 for awards consideration, and in Canada on December 23, before expanding in the US on January 14. It was filmed on location in Philadelphia. It is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films not only to explicitly address HIV/AIDS and homophobia, but also to portray gay people in a positive light … although scenes showing more affection between the characters played by Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas were cut from the theatrical release. A scene of the two in bed was included on a DVD release. Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the role of Andrew Beckett but turned it down and Hanks was cast. Bill Murray and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). John Leguizamo was offered the role of Miguel Álvarez, but turned it down to play Luigi in the film Super Mario Bros. The film earned four Oscar nominations with Hanks winning Best Actor, and Bruce Springsteen winning Best Original Song for ‘Streets of Philadelphia’. The screenplay was nominated for a BAFTA, Oscar and Golden Globe. Hanks and Springsteen also won Golden Globes in their respective categories.

2004

Universal Pictures

• January 16 – Along Came Polly (USA, Universal Pictures)
• January 16 – Teacher’s Pet (USA, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution)
• January 16 – Torque (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

Along Came Polly debuted at Number 1 at the box office, dethroning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King after a month in the top spot.

Teacher’s Pet serves as the finale of the Teacher’s Pet TV series. A week before the film’s release, Toon Disney aired a four-hour marathon of episodes to catch up viewers on the series.

Torque was the feature directorial debut of Joseph Kahn. Dane Cook, Jesse James, stuntman Scott Waugh and the Peterbilt 281 from the 1971 TV movie Duel make cameo appearances. The film, which has been called ‘The Fast and the Furious on motorcycles’, was meant as a satire of the film which specifically references The Fast and the Furious at one point, taking a line directly from the film. Martin Henderson’s character Ford borrows Vin Diesel’s line, ‘I live my life a quarter-mile at a time.’ To which Shane (Monet Mazur) replies, ‘That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.’ Matt Schulze also appears in both films, and returned for Fast Five.

2014

• January 10 – Cold Comes the Night (USA, Samuel Goldwyn Films)
• January 10 – Dumbbells (USA, GoDigital)
• January 10 – Kiss the Water (UK, documentary)
• January 10 – Raze (USA, IFC Midnight)
• January 10 – Redirected (Lithuania, Cinema Cult Distribution)
• January 10 – The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box (USA/Canada, limited, The Film Arcade)
• January 10 – The Legend of Hercules (USA, Summit Entertainment)
• January 15 – Metamorphosis (UK, direct-to-video)

Cold Comes the Night, also known as Eye of Winter and Cold Quarter, originally opened in the UK on September 20, 2013 through Sony Pictures Releasing. Kiss the Water has no known US theatrical release date, but did screen at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 11, 2013. Redirected opened in the UK on November 13, 2014, but has no known US theatrical release date. The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box was first released in the US online on December 5, 2013. Metamorphosis has no known US theatrical release date.

Dumbbells marked the first film appearance of Nancy Olsen in 17 years, as well as the film debut of Frenchie Davis. A low-quality version of the film on Netflix’s French platform, dubbed in French in South Africa by non-professional actors, was called ‘the worst dubbing in history’ and removed with a redub ordered from the Titrafilm studio.

Raze features a cameo from Rosario Dawson, who was brought onto the set unannounced to surprise stars Zoë Bell and Tracie Thoms, both of whom Dawson had worked on 2007’s Death Proof.

The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box was based on the novel Mariah Mundi by G. P. Taylor. The film was intended to be the first of a franchise featuring the Mundi character.

The Legend of Hercules was released in 3D sixth months before Paramount and MGM’s co-production of Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson. The former film was a box office bomb while the latter was a success. It received six Razzie Awards nominations including Worst Picture, Worst Director (Renny Harlin) and Worst Actor (Kellan Lutz).

Metamorphosis was based on the novel by Franz Kafka and premiered at the Montréal World Film Festival on August 31, 2012.