Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #192 :: March 28 to April 3

Twentieth Century Fox

Going into the first week of the month, we have a lot of new films having premieres. Unfortunately, not a whole lot of them were very memorable. Of note this week, we have three films directed by William Castle with one in 3D and one the first in a long-running series. All but two of the 1924 films still exist. One film this week featured the first leading film role for Don Knotts, while another became the object of ridicule on MST3K. 1974 saw Steven Spielberg make his theatrical film debut, while another nearly made its star retire. 1984 saw another actress make her screen debut … with someone else’s voice. 1994 saw a 40-year-old actor play a 10-year-old boy, 2004 brought a comic book character to life, and 2014 produced a biopic that strove to be historically accurate. Read more about these films and others below and tell us if your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries this week!

1924

• March 30 – Beau Brummel (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• March 30 – Family Life (USA, short, Mermaid Comedies)
• March 30 – Shanghaied Lovers (USA, short, Mack Sennett Comedies)
• March 30 – The Fighting Coward (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
• March 30 – The Goldfish (USA, Constance Talmadge Film Company)
• March 30 – The Plunderer (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• March 31 – The Beloved Vagabond (UK, Carlyle Blackwell Productions)
• March 31 – The Galloping Ace (USA, Universal Pictures)
• March 31 – The Shooting of Dan McGrew (USA, Metro-Sawyer-Lubin)
• March 31 – Yankee Madness (USA, Charles R. Seeling Productions)
• April – Ace of Cactus Range (USA, Art Mix Productions)
• April – The Right of the Strongest (USA, Zenith Pictures)
• April 1 – A Rodeo Mixup (USA, Ashton Dearholt Productions)
• April 1 – Alice’s Spooky Adventure (USA, short, Walt Disney Productions)
• April 1 – Pioneer’s Gold (USA, Sanford Productions)

The Beloved Vagabond was released in the US on April 21, 1924. Beau Brummel exists and is in the public domain. The Fighting Coward survives in the Library of Congress, George Eastman House, and in the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow. The Goldfish exists in an incomplete form in the Library of Congress. A print of The Shooting of Dan McGrew is located in the collection at Gosfilmofond in Moscow.

The Plunderer and The Right of the Strongest are considered lost films.

1934

• March 29 – Looking for Trouble (USA, 20th Century Pictures)
• March 30 – No Greater Glory (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• March 30 – Riptide (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• March 30 – Spitfire (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• March 30 – Tiger Bay (Netherlands, Wyndham Productions)
• March 31 – Gambling Lady (USA, Warner Bros. Vitaphone Pictures)
• April – Evergreen (UK, Gaumont British Picture Corporation)
• April – The Secret of the Skies (AUS, A.R. Harwood Talkie Production)
• April – Two Hearts in Waltz Time (UK, Reginald Fogwell Productions)
• April 1 – Badge of Honor (USA, Lester F. Scott Productions)
• April 1 – Dick Turpin (UK, John Stafford Productions)
• April 1 – High School Girl (USA, Bryan Foy Productions)
• April 1 – I Like It That Way (USA, Universal Pictures)
• April 1 – Rawhide Romance (USA, Victor Adamson Productions)
• April 1 – The Border Menace (USA, Aywon Film)
• April 2 – Jack Ahoy (UK, Gainsborough Pictures)

Tiger Bay premiered on television in the US on May 28, 1949. Evergreen opened in the US on December 31, 1934. The Secret of the Skies, Two Hearts in Waltz Time, and Dick Turpin have no known US theatrical release dates. Jack Ahoy was released in the US on February 8, 1935.

Looking for Trouble contains actual stock footage from an earthquake. The cast of No Greater Glory is made of mostly of children, with adults appearing in the opening scenes and rarely thereafter. Spitfire is based on the play Trigger by Lula Vollmer. Buster Crabbe was loaned out from Paramount for Badge of Honor.

1944

Larry Darmour Productions

• March 28 – My Best Gal (USA, Republic Pictures)
• March 28 – Partners of the Trail (USA, Monogram Pictures)
• March 30 – Her Primitive Man (USA, Universal Pictures)
• March 30 – The Whistler (USA, Larry Darmour Productions)
• March 31 – Guns of the Law (USA, Alexander-Stern Productions)
• April – Buffalo Bill (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• April – Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• April 1 – Moon Over Las Vegas (USA, Universal Pictures)
• April 1 – Tunisian Victory (USA, documentary, U.S. Army Signal Corps)
• April 2 – Hidden Valley Outlaws (USA, Republic Pictures)
• April 3 – The Hundred Pound Window (UK, Warner Brothers-First National Productions)
• April 3 – The Laramie Trail (USA, Republic Pictures)

The Hundred Pound Window has no known US theatrical release date. Partners of the Trail is the seventh film in the ‘Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie’ series.

The Whistler was directed by William Castle, based on the radio drama of the same name, and was the first of eight ‘Whistler’ films starring Richard Dix. Castle ordered Dix to lose weight and give up smoking, then kept him waiting on set and forced him to do retakes, in order to make him more irritable to increase the sense that his character was haunted.

Tunisian Victory involved no less than five directors including Frank Capra, John Huston, Anthony Veiller, Hugh Stewart and Roy Boulting.

1954

• March 28 – Loophole (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)
• March 29 – Born in Freedom: The Story of Colonel Drake (USA, documentary short, Film Counselors)
• March 29 – Double Exposure (UK, Kenilworth Film Productions)
• March 30 – Conflict of Wings (UK, Group 3 Films)
• March 30 – Saskatchewan (USA, Universal International Pictures)
• April – The Iron Glove (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
• April – The Rocket Man (USA, Panoramic Productions)
• April 1 – Riding Shotgun (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• April 1 – Southwest Passage (USA, Edward Small Productions)
• April 1 – Untamed Heiress (USA, Republic Pictures)
• April 2 – Fangs of the Wild (USA, Lippert Pictures)
• April 2 – Gypsy Colt (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• April 2 – Jesse James vs. the Daltons (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)

Double Exposure made its US premiere on television on November 23, 1956. Conflict of Wings, originally titled The Norfolk Story, was released in the US on December 26, 1954 as Fuss Over Feathers.

Saskatchewan was released in the UK as O’Rourke of the Royal Mounted. It was Alan Ladd’s second starring film for Universal. The film was originally announced with Glenn Ford as the star. Shelley Winters contracted an eye infection when arriving on location in Canada, but was able to complete filming.

The Iron Glove was originally titled The Kiss and the Sword and was directed by William Castle. Cornel Wilde was intended to star but the lead eventually went to Robert Stack. Comedian Lenny Bruce was a screenwriter on The Rocket Man but the script contains little of his trademark humor.

Southwest Passage, with the working title of Camel Corps, was originally released in 3D. The original 3D film elements were thought to be lost until four missing reels were located in the UK in 2018. Navajo Indians played Apaches in the film. Stars John Ireland and Joanne Dru were married at the time of filming.

The plot of Gypsy Colt was borrowed from Lassie Come Home, with a horse replacing the dog. Jesse James vs. the Daltons was directed by William Castle and shot in 3D.

1964

• March 28 – Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (USA, short, Warner Bros. Animation)
• March 28 – The Incredible Mr. Limpet (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• March 29 – Strictly for the Birds (UK, Independent Artists)
• April – The Day the Earth Froze (USA, Suomi-Filmi)
• April – Goliath and the Vampires (USA, Ambrosiana Cinematografica)
• April – Hercules in the Haunted World (USA, SpA Cinematografica)
• April – Saturday Night Out (UK, Compton Films)
• April – Unearthly Stranger (USA, Independent Artists)
• April 1 – Gunfighters of Casa Grande (USA, Gregor Production)
• April 1 – The Quick Gun (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• April 1 – The Strangler (USA, Bischoff-Diamond Corporation)
• April 1 – Torpedo Bay (USA,Galatea Film)
• April 1 – Vengeance (USA, Bad-Axe Productions)

Strictly for the Birds has no known US theatrical release date. Saturday Night Out was released in the US in June 1964. Goliath and the Vampires originally opened in Italy on August 24, 1961 as Maciste contro il vampiro (Maciste against the vampire). Hercules in the Haunted World originally opened in Italy on November 16, 1961 as Ercole al centro della Terra (Hercules at the Center of the Earth). The Day the Earth Froze was originally released in the Soviet Union on August 24, 1959 as Sampo. Torpedo Bay originally opened in France on June 30, 1963 as Beta Som. Unearthly Stranger originally opened in the UK on September 12, 1963.

Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare was the final pairing of Bugs Bunny and the Tazmanian Devil, as well as the final appearance of Taz in the Golden Age of American animation. It was Bugs’ finally cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, and the only cartoon in which both Bugs and Taz lose in the end.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet was a live action/animation hybrid, the last film by Warner Bros. Cartoons before its closure in May 1963. Featured actors Larry Keating and Charles Meredith died not long after completing the film. The film was the first for Don Knotts in a leading role, made during The Andy Griffth Show hiatus.

The Day the Earth Froze was featured on a 1993 episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Each scene in the film was shot four times using two cameras in both Russian and Finnish and standard and anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios. It was the first Finnish film to feature stereophonic sound.

Hercules in the Haunted World was directed by Mario Bava and starred Reg Park and Christopher Lee. Some of the same sets from Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis, also starring Park, were reused. Lee’s voice was dubbed by another actor for English-language versions of the film.

The trailer for Gunfighters of Casa Grande was the first credited voice-over work for Don LaFontaine, who would become famous for his ‘In a world’ trailer narration.

The Strangler was based on the Boston Strangler, and was in production while police were still trying to solve his crimes. The film was originally to be titled The Boston Strangler, but the setting was later changed to an unnamed city. The film did have its premiere in Boston.

1974

Paramount Pictures

• March 29 – The Great Gatsby (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• March 31 – The Sugarland Express (USA, Zanuck/Brown Productions)
• April – The Beast Must Die (USA, Amicus Productions)
• April – The Blood Spattered Bride (USA, Morgana Films)
• April – The Brutal Boxer (USA, Far East Motion Picture Company)
• April – Her Family Jewels (USA, LMG)
• April – Horror Hospital (USA, Noteworthy Films)
• April – Legacy of Satan (USA, Gerard Damiano Film Productions)
• April – The Mean Machine (USA, B.R.C. Produzione S.r.l.)
• April 3 – The Night Porter (France, Lotar Film Productions)

Horror Hospital, also known as Computer Killers, originally opened in the UK in May 1973. The Mean Machine originally opened in Italy on August 27, 1973 as Ricco. The Blood Spattered Bride originally opened in Spain on September 30, 1972 as La novia ensangrentada (The bloody bride). The Brutal Boxer, aka Blood Fingers, originally opened in Hong Kong on October 4, 1972 as Tang ran ke. Her Family Jewels originally opened in the UK in July 1973 as The Sex Thief. The Night Porter opened in the US on October 1, 1974.

Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for The Great Gatsby, based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but he stated the film deviated from what he wrote. Truman Capote was the original screenwriter. Coppola needed the money, and was recommened by Robert Redford, who liked his rewrites on The Way We Were. Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson were offered the role of Gatsby opposite Ali MacGraw, but neither actor wanted to work with her. Marlon Brando, who became a superstar in 1973, was approached for the role even though he was ten years older than the character. Brando was upset about surrendering his profit participation in The Godfather for a $100,000 salary, and personally negotiated a $4 million salary for Gatsby to make up the loss. Both films were made by Paramount, and the studio head refused to make a deal since the films were separate projects. Brando then refused to appear in The Godfather Part II. Redford campaigned for the role, but producer Robert Evans rebuffed him because he incorrectly believed Gatsby in the novel had dark hair. Director Jack Clayton lambasted Evans and convinced him to cast Redford, also suggesting Evans actually read the book. MacGraw lost the role of Daisy after she dumped Evans for Steve McQueen, and the pair offered themselves as a package deal for the film but Redford had already been cast. Candice Bergen and Katharine Ross were offered the role, and Faye Dunaway wanted it so bad she offered to do a screen test, but after Mia Farrow asked Evans to consider her for the role, Clayton was on board.

The Sugarland Express was the first theatrical film for Steve Spielberg following the TV movie Duel. It was the first collaboration between Spielberg and composer John Williams. It’s the only Williams score that has not been released as an album. It was the first movie to use the Panavision Panaflex camera.

The Blood Spattered Bride, based on the 1872 vampire novella Carmilla, was first released in the US in an edited form under the title Till Death Do Us Part, then released uncut on DVD as The Blood Spattered Bride. The original DVD release only contained an English-language track. A 2017 Blu-ray release included English and Spanish tracks, deleted scenes and an alternate ending.

The Brutal Boxer was the first Jackie Chan movie to be set in the present day, a rarity for Chinese kung fu movies. The screenplay for Her Family Jewels (The Sex Thief) was written by Tudor Gate and Michael Armstrong under the name Edward Hyde, the name of Dr. Henry Jekyll’s alter ego. Legacy of Satan was originally conceived as a hardcore film, but writer-director Gerard Damiano decided to rewrite it as a psychological horror film. The working title was Muldavo.

Funding for The Night Porter ran out just before the end of production. A rough cut of the film’s best scenes was prepared and presented to the French arm of United Artists, which then agreed to cover the cost of completion in exchange for French distribution rights. Romy Schneider turned down the role of Lucia. Mia Farrow and Dominique Sanda were considered before Charlotte Rampling was cast. She and Dirk Bogarde re-wrote and ad-libbed most of their scenes together. The experience of making the film was so draining for Bogarde that he considered retiring from acting.

1984

• March 30 – Antarctica (USA, Kurahara Productions)
• March 30 – Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (USA/Canada, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.)
• March 30 – Misunderstood (USA, ACCENT Films)
• March 30 – Purple Hearts (USA, The Ladd Company)
• March 30 – Romancing the Stone (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• March 30 – Bloodbath at the House of Death (USA, Wildwood Productions)
• April – Big Meat Eater (USA, B.C.D. Entertainment Corporation)
• April – Reflections (UK, Court House)
• April – Violence in a Women’s Prison (USA, Beatrice Film)
• April 1 – El último kamikaze (Spain, Acónito Films)
• April 1 – They’re Playing with Fire (USA, limited, Hickmar Productions)

Antarctica originally opened in Japan in 1983 as Nankyoku monogatari (Antarctica Story). Violence in a Women’s Prison, the seventh film in the ‘Black Emmanuelle’ series, originally opened in Germany on September 9, 1982. Big Meat Eater originally opened in Canada on April 30, 1982. El último kamikaze (The Last Kamikaze) has no known US theatrical release date.

Antarctica took over three years to make, with some footage actually shot in Antarctica. The film’s score was composed by Vangelis, who had recently composed scores for Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner.

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes stars Christopher Lambert as Tarzan, although the name is never used in the film. Julian Sands and Viggo Mortensen were also considered for the role. Ralph Richardson received a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor (the film was dedicated to his memory), with the film also nominated for Adapted Screenplay and Makeup, the first Tarzan film to be recognized by the Academy. Disney’s animated Tarzan because the first to win an Oscar. Andie MacDowell made her debut in the film, but her voice was dubbed by Glenn Close because of MacDowell’s thick Southern accent. Vangelis was contracted to provide the film’s score but he got writer’s block. John Scott took over with a very limited span of time.

Robert Zemeckis was developing Cocoon for Fox and liked the script for Romancing the Stone, offering to direct. The studio declined because of the box office failures of his two previous films, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars. He eventually got the job, but was dismissed from Cocoon after a test screening of Romancing the Stone failed to impress studio execs. The film went on to earn over $115 million worldwide ($343.5 million today). Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman and Christopher Reeve were all considered for the role of Jack Colton, and Debra Winger was considered for Joan Wilder. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner won the roles. Turner recalled clashing with Zemeckis over her acting style and his directorial style, but the two worked together again on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Turner won the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy, and the film won Best Picture in the same category. It also earned an Oscar nomination for editing.

1994

• March 30 – Jimmy Hollywood (USA/Canada, Baltimore Pictures)
• March 30 – Major League II (USA, Morgan Creek Productions)
• March 30 – Thumbelina (USA/Canada, Don Bluth Ireland)
• March 30 – Zero Patience (USA, limited, Zero Patience Productions)
• April 1 – Africa: The Serengeti (USA, Graphic Films)
• April 1 – Backbeat (UK, Channel Four Films)
• April 1 – Clifford (USA, Orion Pictures)
• April 1 – The House of the Spirits (USA, Constantin Film)
• April 1 – It’s Happening Tomorrow (USA, Sacher Film)
• April 1 – Midnight Edition (USA, Midnight Edition Productions)

The House of the Spirits originally opened in Germany on October 21, 1993. Backbeat was released in the US on April 15, 1994. It’s Happening Tomorrow was originally released in Italy on March 18, 1988 as Domani accadrà (Tomorrow it will happen).

Most of the cast of Major League returned for Major League II except for Wesley Snipes, who had become a major star by 1994. Omar Epps took over the role of Willie Mays Hayes.

Zero Patience sought to refute the urban legend of Gaëtan Dugas, aka Patient Zero, as the individual responsible for introducing AIDS into the US, which was partly due to the 1980s documentary And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts although Shilts himself never claimed Dugas was the first.

Africa: The Serengeti was filmed in 70mm and released to IMAX theaters.

Clifford was filmed in 1990 for a 1991 release but was shelved due to Orion Pictures dire financial situation. The film was intended to be a comedic version of The Bad Seed, but with Problem Child on the horizon, production on Clifford was halted. To differentiate the films, it was decided that the child would be played by Martin Short, and after Orion approved the test footage production was allowed to continue.

2004

Lawrence Gordon Productions

• March 31 – L’incruste (France, Fechner Audiovisuel)
• March 31 – Agents secrets (France, La Chauve Souris)
• April 1 – Love’s Brother (AUS, Great Scott Productions Pty. Ltd.)
• April 2 – 17 sui de tian kong (Taiwan, Three Dots Entertainment Company)
• April 2 – Hellboy (USA/Canada, Lawrence Gordon Productions)
• April 2 – Home on the Range (USA/Canada, Walt Disney Pictures)
• April 2 – Kärlekens språk (Sweden, Oak Hill Productions AB)
• April 2 – The Prince & Me (USA/Canada, Lionsgate Films)
• April 2 – Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (USA, limited, Korea Pictures)
• April 2 – The United States of Leland (USA, limited, MDP Worldwide)
• April 2 – Walking Tall (USA, Hyde Park Entertainment)

L’incruste (The Encrustation) and Agents secrets (Secret Agents, Spy Bound) have no known US theatrical release dates. Love’s Brother was screened in the US at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and WorldFest Houston, but did not receive a theatrical release. 17 sui de tian kong played several LGBTQ film festivals in the US as Formula 17, and received a limited theatrical release on August 26, 2005. Kärlekens språk (Language of Love 2000) has no known US theatrical release date. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring originally opened in South Korea on September 19, 2003 as Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom.

17 sui de tian kong was banned in Singapore because it ‘portrayed homosexuality as normal, and a natural progression of society’.

David Hyde Pierce voiced the character Abe Sapien in Hellboy, but refused credit and did not attend the film’s premiere because he felt the character was solely the creation of Doug Jones, who physically portrayed Abe in the film. Guillermo del Toro envisioned the film as a Ray Harryhausen film, and invited Harryhausen to teach the film’s animators what made his stop motion techniques unique. Harryhausen declined, feeling modern films were too violent. Various studios rejected the film for years disliking the title, script and Ron Perlman as the title character. Vin Diesel was linked to the role when the project was at Universal, and Jeremy Renner turned down an offer because he had no attachment to the source material.

The Prince & Me spawned three direct-to-video sequels with different writers, a new director and Kam Heskin replacing Julia Stiles as Paige Morgan.

The hermitage seen in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring was a set constructed to float on Jasanji Pond in South Korea. Negotiations with the Ministry of Environment to build the set took six months.

2014

• March 28 – Cesar Chavez (USA, Canana Films)
• March 28 – Sabotage (USA, QED International)
• March 28 – Boys of Abu Ghraib (USA, Rebel One Pictures)
• April 2 – The Unknown Known (USA/Canada, limited, History Films)

The Unknown Known, also known as The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, originally opened in Italy on January 16, 2014.

Cesar Chavez was directed by Diego Luna, his second film, and the first whose primary language is English. Luna had to direct in English for the main cast and Spanish for the extras, which was a struggle for him. America Ferrera was able to meet with Chavez’s widow to learn more about her role in the farmworker movement while raising eight children. Rosario Dawson was also able to meet with Dolores Huerta to research the role. The film was shot in Mexico where many rural and urban areas still resembled 1960s California. To maintain accuracy, actors were taught to speak in a Chicano dialect of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is different from the Spanish and Spanish-inflected English spoken by many Mexican-Americans in California today.