Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #195 :: April 18•24

Revolution Studios

Multiple films were released this week in every decade but very few of them have gone on to be remembered. There are films of note, however, such as the 1924 silent comedy featuring a popular star in a film that featured story over gags. 1934 had the third in a series of detective films with Ralph Bellamy, and 1944 had a Bugs Bunny cartoon that has become controversial over the years and rarely seen, while another cartoon presented a new look for its lead character. 1954 had a BAFTA winning Best Picture, and a star vehicle for Elizabeth Taylor. 1964 had one documentary that was worthy of preservation, and another that earned an Oscar nomination. 1974 saw the directorial debut of a man who would later go on to win an Oscar, and 1984 gave us an Aussie thriller that’s better than it ought to be. 1994 produced what was supposed to be a feminist Western, while 2004 had Jennifer Garner playing a child trapped in the body of an adult. 2014 had the most movies of the week, but the most well-known are a nature documentary from Disney, and Paul Walker’s next to last film. Scroll down the list to learn more about this week’s films and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1924

• April 20 – The Confidence Man (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
• April 20 – Girl Shy (USA, The Harold Lloyd Corporation)
• April 20 – The Woman on the Jury (USA, Associated First National Pictures)
• April 20 – True as Steel (USA, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation)
• April 20 – When a Girl Loves (USA, Victor Halperin Productions)
• April 21 – 40-Horse Hawkins (USA, Universal Pictures)
• April 21 – The Silent Stranger (USA, Harry J. Brown Productions)

The Confidence Man and 40-Horse Hawkins are considered lost films. A fragment of True as Steel is preserved in the George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection. When a Girl Loves survives in the Cineteca Italiana film archive in Italy.

Girl Shy entered the public domain in 2020. The film was Harold Lloyd’s first independent production after splitting with Hal Roach. It’s notable for featuring more story than gags, but the finale is a non-stop action sequence.

The Woman on the Jury is based on a Broadway stage play of the same name. It was remade as an early talkie in 1929 as The Love Racket. The film was shot primarily at night so the cast and crew could work on other films during the day. Unfortunately, the film is considered lost.

1934

• April 20 – Sing and Like It (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• April 20 – The Crime of Helen Stanley (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• April 21 – I’ll Tell the World (USA, Universal Pictures)
• April 23 – Crime on the Hill (UK, British International Pictures)
• April 23 – Love, Life and Laughter (UK, Associated British Film Distributors)
• April 24 – Picture Brides (USA, M.H. Hoffman Inc.)

Crime on the Hill has no known US theatrical release date. Sing and Like It is based on the unpublished short story ‘So You Won’t Sing, Eh?’ by Aben Kandel.

The Crime of Helen Stanley is also known as Murder in the Studio, and is the third in a series of four films starring Ralph Bellamy as Inspector Trent of the NYPD.

1944

• April 20 – Adventure in Music (USA, documentary, Artists Films)
• April 20 – Girl in the Case (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• April 20 – Wyoming Hurricane (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• April 22 – Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (USA, short, Leon Schlesinger Studios)
• April 22 – Shake Hands with Murder (USA, American Productions Inc.)
• April 22 – Sportsman’s Memories (USA, short, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• April 22 – The Barber of Seville (USA, short, Walter Lantz Productions)
• April 22 – Uncertain Glory (USA, Warner Bros.-First National)
• April 24 – Trocadero (USA, Walter Colmes Productions)

Adventure in Music was billed as the ‘first concert in film’. Girl in the Case was originally directed by William Berke, who was fired and replaced by an uncredited Budd Boetticher.

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips has garnered controversy because of its racial stereotypes, but was not one of the ‘Censored Eleven’ and was occasionally shown on television. A Looney Tunes laserdisc release went unnoticed but when the collection came to VHS, Japanese groups protested the release. The studio initially refused to withdraw the short, but both the laserdisc and VHS sets were withdrawn and the short was replaced with Racketeer Rabbit. The short was also pulled from TV broadcasts.

The Barber of Seville is the tenth Woody Woodpecker animated short, and the first to feature a more streamlined Woody, eliminating his buck teeth, receding chin and thick, stubby legs. The new design was inspired by the standards used by Disney and Warner Bros. at the time. It was the first in the series to use the standardized title card of Woody popping out of a log. The short’s co-writer, Ben Hardaway, voiced Woody for the first time and became the sole voice throughout the 1940s.

Uncertain Glory was the first film under a new contract between Warner Bros. and Errol Flynn, giving him a say in the films he made, setting up his own company, Thomson Productions, to make the films.

1954

London Film Productions

• April 19 – Hobson’s Choice (UK, London Film Productions)
• April 20 – John Wesley (USA, G.H.W. Productions Ltd.)
• April 21 – Elephant Walk (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• April 21 – Playgirl (USA, Universal Pictures)
• April 23 – Drums of Tahiti (USA, Columbia Pictures)

Hobson’s Choice originally opened in Canada on February 19, 1954, and was released in the US on June 14, 1954. It is based on the 1916 play of the same name by Harold Brighouse. The film won the BAFTA for Best British Film 1954. Robert Donat was originally cast in the role of Will Mossop but had to pull out due to his asthma.

Elephant Walk is based upon the 1948 novel of the same name by ‘Robert Standish’, the pseudonym of the English novelist Digby George Gerahty. The film was intended to star Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, but Leigh had to withdraw after production began because of her bipolar disorder. Olivier was already committed to The Beggar’s Opera and was replaced with Peter Finch. Leigh was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor, borrowed from MGM, but some long shots featuring Leigh remain in the film.

Drums of Tahiti was one of three 3D films made by director William Castle.

1964

• April 19 – Nightmare (UK, Hammer Films)
• April 20 – The Cool World (USA, Wiseman Film Productions)
• April 21 – The Grand Olympics (USA, documentary, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano)
• April 22 – The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (USA, limited, Falcon International Corp.)

Nightmare originally opened in West Germany on February 28, 1964, and was released in the US on June 17, 1964. The Grand Olympics originally opened in Italy on January 19, 1961 as La grande olimpiade.

Julie Christie was originally cast in Nightmare, working title Here’s the Knife Dear: Now Use It, but dropped out at the last minute to do Billy Liar. She was replaced by Jennie Linden in the role of Janet.

The Cool World was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1994. The semi-documentary was based on the 1959 novel The Cool World by Warren Miller. Producer Frederick Wiseman holds the rights to the film and has been unwilling to authorize a home video release.

The Grand Olympics was Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 1961.

The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald is the first speculative trial drama about Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and murderer of Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit. The film imagines a trial if Oswald had not been murdered, with the judge and attorneys address the audience directly, which acts as the jury.

1974

• April 19 – Caged Heat (USA, Renegade Women Company)
• April 19 – Django the Bastard (USA, Società Europea Produzioni Associate Cinematografiche)
• April 19 – House of Whipcord (UK, Pete Walker Film Productions)
• April 19 – Son of Dracula (USA, platform release, Apple Films)
• April 19 – Who? (UK, Hemisphere Productions)
• April 22 – Claudine (USA, Third World Cinema Corporation)
• April 22 – The Beast Must Die (UK, Amicus Productions)
• April 24 – Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (Japan, Katsu)

Django the Bastard was originally released in Italy on November 8, 1969 as Django il bastardo. House of Whipcord was released in the US in March 1975. Who? was released in the US in August 1975.

Caged Heat is also known as Renegade Girls, and was the directorial debut of Jonathan Demme, who also wrote the screenplay. Roger Corman did not want to fund the film, feeling the women in prison cycle had passed so Demme raised the financing and Corman agreed to distribute through New World Pictures. The film’s title is probably a reference to earlier prison films Caged and White Heat.

An edited version of Django the Bastard was released in the US as The Stranger’s Gundown.

House of Whipcord was re-released in the US in 1975 as The Photographer’s Model on a double bill with Hooker’s Revenge, which was a retitled Thriller — A Cruel Picture. The film marked the horror debut of Sheila Keith.

The original title of Son of Dracula was Count Downe, the name of the vampire character played by musician Harry Nilsson. Ringo Starr, who had played drums on Nilsson’s Son of Schmilsson album, was unaware that the album spoofed horror movie motifs when he approached Nilsson to star in the film (Nilsson originally assumed the idea for the film came from his album). Director Freddie Francis became ill and told Starr to edit the film himself, which he did with several of his friends. Francis commented about the finished product, ‘The less said the better’. The soundtrack album includes previously released songs from the albums Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson, and included one new song, ‘Daybreak’.

Who?, also known as The Man in the Steel Mask, Roboman, Robo Man and Prisoner of the Skull, is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by Algis Budrys.

Diana Sands was originally cast in the title role in Claudine, but fell ill after a week of production and could not continue. Shortly before her death, she contacted Diahann Carroll and insisted she take the role in her place. Cicely Tyson was approached but turned it down. Curtis Mayfield produced the film’s score, with vocals performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips. Actor Ivan Dixon (Hogan’s Heroes) can be seen toward the end of the film in the crowd that follows Claudine as she hops into the police truck. He was a longtime friend of both Carroll and James Earl Jones.

The Beast Must Die was based on the short story ‘There Shall Be No Darkness’ by James Blish, which was originally published in Thrilling Wonder Stories.

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell is the final entry in a series of six Japanese martial arts films based on the long-running Lone Wolf and Cub manga series, although it does not end the story or conclude the series.

1984

• April 19 – Razorback (AUS, McElroy & McElroy)
• April 20 – Champions (USA, Archerwest)

Razorback was released in the US on November 6, 1984. Six razorback boar animatronics were constructed by for the film, with one specifically designed for ramming vehicles. The production was one of the first to use a new fast film stock from Kodak that produced high resolution shots. Jeff Bridges was considered for the lead role, but producers believed he did not have enough international appeal, so the role of Carl went to Gregory Harrison.

Champions director John Irvin was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.

1994

The Ruddy Morgan Organization

• April 22 – Bad Girls (USA, The Ruddy Morgan Organization)
• April 22 – Beyond Bedlam (UK, Bedlam Films)
• April 22 – Brainscan (USA, Admire Productions Ltd)
• April 22 – Chasers (USA, Morgan Creek Productions)

Beyond Bedlam has no known US theatrical release date.

Tamra Davis was the original director of Bad Girls when it was conceived as a feminist Western, but was replaced by Jonathan Kaplan shortly into production when the film was reconceptualized as more of an action film. The actresses reportedly received just one day of weapons training and minimal rehearsal time. The film’s original ending, which had the women getting their money and going their separate ways, was reshot after negative test screenings.

Chasers was directed by Dennis Hopper, the last feature-length film he helmed.

2004

• April 22 – Big Men, Bigger Dreams: Australian Wrestlers (AUS, documentary)
• April 22 – Strange Bedfellows (AUS, Instinct Entertainment)
• April 23 – 13 Going on 30 (USA, Revolution Studios)
• April 23 – Close Your Eyes (USA, limited, Kismet Film Company)
• April 23 – Man on Fire (USA/Canada, Fox 2000 Pictures)
• April 23 – Rhinoceros Eyes (USA, limited, Eggplant Picture & Sound)
• April 23 – The Agronomist (USA, limited, documentary, Clinica Estetico)
• April 23 – The Twilight Samurai (USA, limited, Eisei Gekijo)
• April 23 – Wondrous Oblivion (UK, APT Films)

Wondrous Oblivion opened in the US in a limited capacity in September 2006. Strange Bedfellows has no known US theatrical release date. Close Your Eyes, also known as Doctor Sleep, originally opened in Israel on August 16, 2002. The Agronomist originally opened in France on March 31, 2004. The Twilight Samurai originally opened in Japan on November 2, 2002 as Tasogare Seibei.

Producers of Strange Bedfellows filed a suit against Universal Pictures alleging I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was a clone of their film. The suit was dropped after an early draft of Chuck and Larry was presented which predated Strange Bedfellows, proving the film had not been plagiarized.

13 Going on 30 was released as Suddenly 30 in some countries. Jennifer Garner shot the film while on break from her TV series Alias. Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, and Renée Zellweger were all considered for the lead role. 13-year-old Christa B. Allen portrayed the younger version of Jennifer Garner in this film and in 2009’s Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. A Broadway musical adaptation was announced in 2017 but it never moved forward.

Man on Fire is based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell, which had previously been adapted in 1987. The original setting of the novel and first film was Italy, which was then a major center of kidnapping. Director Tony Scott moved the setting to Mexico City, then the current center of kidnapping, saying the film would be a period piece if set in Italy as kidnappings had become rare. As a result, the novel’s Italian characters were renamed with Hispanic names. Robert De Niro and Gene Hackman were considered for the lead role, but Scott ultimately cast Denzel Washington. Marlon Brando was the original choice for Rayburn, but the role went to Christopher Walken.

The Twilight Samurai was inspired by the short story ‘The Bamboo Sword’ by Shuhei Fujisawa. The film won a record 12 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Picture. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

2014

Disneynature

• April 18 – 2 States (UK/USA, Dharma Productions)
• April 18 – A Haunted House 2 (USA, Wayans Bros. Entertainment)
• April 18 – A Promise (USA, limited, Fidélité Films)
• April 18 – Authors Anonymous (USA, Bull Market Entertainment)
• April 18 – Bears (USA/Canada, Disneynature)
• April 18 – Fading Gigolo (USA, limited, Antidote Films)
• April 18 – Kid Cannabis (USA, CRUSH FILMS)
• April 18 – Make Your Move (USA, limited, CJ Entertainment)
• April 18 – Short Peace (USA, Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• April 18 – Small Time (USA, Asylum Entertainment)
• April 18 – Tasting Menu (USA, limited, Eurimages)
• April 18 – That Demon Within (USA/Canada, limited, Film Fireworks)
• April 18 – The Final Member (USA documentary)
• April 22 – Super Duper Alice Cooper (UK, documentary, Banger Films)
• April 22 – The Bachelor Weekend (Italy, Treasure Entertainment)
• April 23 – Brick Mansions (France, Relativity Media)
• April 23 – Night Moves (France, RT Features)

A Promise originally opened in France on April 16, 2014. Fading Gigolo originally opened in France on April 9, 2014. Make Your Move originally opened in Norway on July 12, 2013. Short Peace originally opened in Japan on July 20, 2013, and had a limited US release on March 3, 2014 ahead of its general release.

Tasting Menu originally opened in Spain on June 14, 2013. In Your Eyes has no known US theatrical release date outside of a Tribeca Film Festival screening. Night Moves received a limited US theatrical release on May 30, 2014.

The Bachelor Weekend originally opened in the UK on March 7, 2014 as The Stag; there is no known US theatrical release date outside of festival screenings. Brick Mansions opened in the US and Canada on April 5, 2014.

2 States is based on Chetan Bhagat’s 2009 novel of the same name. A Promise is based on Stefan Zweig’s 1929 novel (translated into English as Journey into the Past). Authors Anonymous features one of Dennis Farina’s final performances.

Bears was released on April 18 to celebrate Earth Day. It is the fifth film in the Disneynature series.

Some scenes in Kid Cannabis were shot in a marijuana-growing facility in Canada, to which the crew was driven in a van with blacked-out windows.

Make Your Move, also known as Make Your Move 3D, was originally known as Cobu 3D. Derek Hough took off from Season 12 of Dancing With the Stars to make the movie. The film’s choreographers included Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo.

The Bachelor Weekend (The Stag) was the feature directorial debut of John Butler.

Brick Mansions is a remake of the 2004 French film District 13. David Belle starred in both films. The film was released 5 months after the death of Paul Walker, his penultimate film followed by Furious 7.