Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #201 :: May 30 to June 5

Paramount Pictures

It’s a very busy week for new releases right on the cusp of summer. Of note this week are a classic 1934 comedy that established its lead actress as a star; a 1954 Joan Crawford classic; a 1964 Hammer horror film, the first animated film based on a TV show, and a sci-fi film that was proven scientifically inaccurate shortly after its release; a 1984 film that went looking for one of its main characters, and a musical set in a world of its own; 2004 took us back to the world of Hogwarts; and 2014 brought a classic animated Disney villain to vibrant life. Learn about these and many more films by scrolling down the list. Tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating anniversaries this week!

1924

May 31 – Broadway After Dark (USA, Harry Rapf Productions)
June 1 – Cupid’s Rustler (USA, Ashton Dearholt Productions)
June 1 – The Good Bad Boy (USA, B.F. Zeidman Productions)
June 1 – The Midnight Express (USA, Columbia Pictures)
June 1 – The New School Teacher (USA, C.C. Burr Productions)
June 1 – The Sixth Commandment (USA, Encore Pictures)
June 2 – Code of the Sea (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
June 3 – Defying the Law (USA, Gotham Pictures)

Broadway After Dark and The Sixth Commandment are considered lost films.

Cupid’s Rustler features an early appearance by future star Janet Gaynor. A print of The Midnight Express is in the film collection of Cineteca Italiana. The New School Teacher was based on short stories by Irvin S. Cobb. Prints of Code of the Sea survive in the Library of Congress collection as well as George Eastman House and UCLA Film and Television Archive.

1934

May 30 – The House of Mystery (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)
May 31 – Flat Number Three (UK, British Lion Film Corporation)
June 1 – Cinesound Varieties (AUS, Cinesound Productions Limited)
June 1 – Half a Sinner (USA, Universal Pictures)
June 1 – Hollywood Party (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
June 1 – Let’s Talk It Over (USA, Universal Pictures)
June 1 – Little Miss Marker (USA, Little Miss Marker)
June 2 – Fog Over Frisco (USA, First National Pictures)
June 2 – Red Ensign (AUS, Gainsborough Pictures)
June 4 – Little Man, What Now? (USA, Universal Pictures)
June 4 – The Silver Spoon (UK, Warner Brothers-First National Productions)
June 5 – The Most Precious Thing in Life (USA, Columbia Pictures)
June – The Girl in the Flat (UK, Paramount British Pictures)

Flat Number Three, Cinesound Varieties, The Silver Spoon and The Girl in the Flat have no known US theatrical release dates. Red Ensign opened in the UK on June 4, 1934, but was not screened in the US until November 24, 1980 at the New York Museum of Modern Art.

The House of Mystery was an adaptation of the play The Ape by Adam Hull Shirk. The film’s working titles were The Ape and Curse of Kali. Flat Number Three, Red Ensign and The Silver Spoon were produced as quota quickies to help bolster the then failing UK film industry. The Silver Spoon is considered lost.

Cinesound Varieties was produced to be the second feature of a double bill with The Silence of Dean Maitland. Only 18 minutes of the film still survive. Half a Sinner was based on the play Alias the Deacon, which was also the basis of 1927 and 1940 films.

Hollywood Party is also known as The Hollywood Revue of 1933 and Star Spangled Banquet. Each sequence featured a different star with a separate scriptwriter and director assigned. The film was intended as a musical revue with top Hollywood stars, but after several rewrites and directors, the film lost its stars and became a farcical comedy with music. The film’s choreographers were competing with MGM’s Dancing Lady to see which could create the most elaborate dance sequence. Many scenes were reshot or edited as they did not play well to British audiences, such as a scene with several stars playing bridge which had not yet become popular in the UK. The original film ran 75 minutes but with the cuts the surviving prints run just 68 minutes. The MGM film includes an appearance by Mickey Mouse, voiced by Walt Disney.

Little Miss Marker is also known as The Girl in Pawn. The film is based on a short story with the same title by Damon Runyon. The film was Shirley Temple’s first starring role and was crucial to establishing her as a major film star. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1998. The film has been remade at least three times: Sorrowful Jones (1949), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) and Little Miss Marker (1980).

Fog Over Frisco was based on the 1932 mystery novel The Five Fragments by George Dyer.

Bette Davis accepted the small role of Arlene in Fog Over Frisco to convince Jack Warner to lend her out to rival studio RKO as she was desperate to portray waitress Mildred in Of Human Bondage. The ploy worked, and when Warner got news of her dynamic performance he elevated her to top billing in Fog Over Frisco. The film was remade as Spy Ship in 1942.

Little Man, What Now? is based on the novel of the same name by Hans Fallada, which had been adapted into a German film a year earlier.

1944

May 31 – Mystery Man (USA, Harry Sherman Productions)
June 1 – Address Unknown (USA, Columbia Pictures)
June 1 – Jungle Woman (USA, Universal Pictures)
June 1 – Meet the People (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
June 1 – Tender Comrade (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
June 2 – This Is the Life (USA, Universal Pictures)
June 3 – Follow the Leader (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
June 3 – Spook Town (USA, Alexander-Stern Productions)

Tender Comrade originally opened on May 30, 1944 in Portugal.

Address Unknown is based on Kressmann Taylor’s novel of the same name. The film earned Oscar nominations for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction.

Jungle Woman was the second film in Universal’s ‘Cheela, the Ape Woman’ series. It was also the last of the series to star Acquanetta as she left Universal prior to production on the next film. The film’s original title was Jungle Queen. The script ran into issues with the Production Code which cited a flavor of bestiality.

Meet the People takes its title from a successful Los Angeles musical revue, which ran on Broadway from December 25, 1940 to May 10, 1941. The film included the original stage stars Spike Jones and his City Slickers, Vaughan Monroe and his orchestra and Virginia O’Brien. Lucille Ball’s singing voice was dubbed by Gloria Grafton. The film introduced the phrase ‘Heavens to Murgatroy’, which became popular in the Snagglepuss cartoons from Hanna-Barbera. The song ‘Say That We’re Sweethearts Again’ was sung by Harley Quinn in the Batman: The Animated Series episode ‘Harlequinade’.

Tender Comrade was used by the House Un-American Activities Committee to prove screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was spreading communist propaganda. Trumbo was blacklisted. The film’s title comes from a line in Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem ‘My Wife’ first published in Songs of Travel and Other Verses.

This Is the Life was one of the film rushed into production with Donald O’Connor and Peggy Ryan before O’Connor was drafted into the Army.

1954

Republic Pictures

June 1 – Hell’s Half Acre (USA, Republic Pictures)
June 3 – Johnny Guitar (UK, Republic Pictures)
June – Black Horse Canyon (USA, Universal International Pictures)
June – Drums Across the River (USA, Universal International Pictures)
June – Jungle Man-Eaters (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
June – Meet Mr. Callaghan (UK, Pinnacle Productions)
June – The Scarlet Web (UK, Fortress Film Productions Ltd.)
June – Sins of Rome (USA, Rialto)

Meet Mr. Callaghan has no known US theatrical release date. The Scarlet Web premiered on television in the US on September 7, 1954. Sins of Rome originally opened in Italy on January 28, 1953 as Spartaco. After limited engagements in Los Angeles (May 5, 1954) and New York City (May 26, 1954), Johnny Guitar opened in general US release on August 23, 1954.

Johnny Guitar was adapted from a novel of the same name by Roy Chanslor. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2008. Joan Crawford and director Nicholas Ray were scheduled to make a film titled Lisbon for Paramount, but the script was deemed unacceptable. Crawford held the rights to Johnny Guitar (the author had dedicated the book to her), brought that script to Republic and insisted the studio hire Ray to direct. Crawford wanted Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck to co-star but the smaller studio could not afford them. Claire Trevor was third choice but she was busy with another film, so Ray brought in Mercedes McCambridge. Most people said Crawford was easy to work with but she and McCambridge had issues — Crawford once dated McCambridge’s husband, Crawford felt Ray was giving McCambridge too much attention, McCambridge was battling alcoholism — but Ray felt their personal issues added to the dramatic conflict between their characters.

Black Horse Canyon is based on the 1950 novel The Wild Horse by Les Savage Jr. Jungle Man-Eaters was the last film in the ‘Jungle Jim’ series after the rights were purchased to make a TV series based on the character, with Johnny Weissmuller continuing in the role on TV.

Meet Mr. Callaghan was based on the 1938 play of the same name, adapted for the stage by Gerald Verner from Peter Cheyney’s 1938 novel The Urgent Hangman.

Sins of Rome was based on the story of Spartacus. The film’s negatives and copies were purchased by the producers of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus to prevent any future release that would harm the commercial success of Kubrick’s film. Because of this, Sins of Rome was not seen for nearly 30 years.

1964

May 30 – A Distant Trumpet (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
May 31 – The Evil of Frankenstein (UK, The Evil of Frankenstein)
June 1 – Gold for the Caesars (USA, Adelphia Compagnia Cinematografica)
June 1 – Saturday Night Out (USA, Compton Films)
June 1 – The Horror of Party Beach (USA, Iselin-Tenney Productions)
June 1 – The New Interns (USA, Robert Cohn Productions)
June 3 – For Those Who Think Young (USA, Aubrey Schenck Productions)
June 3 – Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! (USA, Hanna-Barbera Productions)
June 3 – Honeymoon Hotel (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
June 4 – 633 Squadron (UK, Mirisch Films)
June 4 – Robinson Crusoe on Mars (USA, Aubrey Schenck Productions)
June 4 – The Secret Door (USA, Dorton Productions)

A Distant Trumpet, the last film directed by Raoul Walsh, originally opened in London on March 26, 1964. The Evil of Frankenstein originally opened in the US on May 8, 1964. Gold for the Caesars originally opened in Italy on March 9, 1963 as Oro per i Cesari. Saturday Night Out, credited for its early depiction of Swinging London, originally opened in the UK in April 1964. 633 Squadron was released in the US on June 24, 1964.

The Evil of Frankenstein is the third film of Hammer’s Frankenstein series, breaking continuity from The Revenge of Frankenstein. The film’s continuity is more related to Universal’s Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. The film was a co-production with Universal and is the only Hammer film to feature Monster make-up similar to the original Jack Pierce makeup, and laboratory set resembling the 1931 original. Additional scenes were filmed for the American release. Two additional scenes were added for the NBC Saturday Night at the Movies broadcast on January 2, 1968 which extended the running time to 97 minutes to fill a two hour time slot. The script was originally conceived for an aborted Tales of Frankenstein TV series.

Gold for the Caesars was originally to be an American production but became an Italian-French co-production after the box office failure of King of Kings. Both films starred Jeffrey Hunter. Andre de Toth is credited as director on the US version, while he and Sabatino Ciuffini are credited on the Italian print. Second unit director Riccardo Freda has claimed to have shot the entire film, which actress Mylène Demongeot had confirmed. The story was based on the 1961 Florence A. Seward novel of the same name, but due to the change in production and a much lower budget, the film deviates greatly from the source material.

The Horror of Party Beach was a take off of the ‘Beach Party’ movies of the time, but unlike those films it was shot in black-and-white and set on the East Coast. Chocolate syrup was used for blood during the monster attack scenes.

The New Interns was a sequel to 1962’s The Interns. George Segal won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year — Actor for his performance. Peter Falk was originally offered the role, but he turned it down feeling the large ensemble cast would not allow him to make an impression. Michael Callan, Telly Savalas and Stefanie Powers reprised their roles from the original film. Both movies were adapted into a short-lived 1970 CBS TV series.

For Those Who Think Young was originally titled A Young Man’s Fancy. The film featured extensive product placement from Pepsi, Jax Clothing, Baskin-Robbins, Peter Pan swimwear, Buick and Honda. Ann-Margret was considered for the lead but was replaced with Pamela Tiffin. The film features appearances by Bob Denver and Tina Louise four months before the premiere of Gilligan’s Island.

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! was based on Hanna-Barbera’s syndicated animated television series The Yogi Bear Show. It was the first theatrical film produced by Hanna-Barbera, and the first animated feature film based on a TV program. The film was followed by the epilogue series The New Yogi Bear Show in 1988.

633 Squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in color and Panavision widescreen. Original director John Sturges dropped out of the film to make The Magnificent Seven. Authentic period aircraft were used for most of the aerial footage instead of models and miniatures due to the film’s color and widescreen process which prevented the use of older stock footage. Detailed miniatures, front and rear projection and matte paintings were needed for the film’s final attack scene.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a science fiction retelling of the classic 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Exterior locations were shot mostly at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park, California. Designer Albert Nozaki based the film’s alien spacecraft closely on the Martian war machines he had created for The War of the Worlds. Albert Whitlock provided the film’s matte paintings. A variety of monsters and alien beings were cut from the original script in the name of plausibility and because of the film’s smaller budget. They also detracted from the story of an astronaut stranded alone on Mars. The film, however, does feature Mona the Monkey, a Martian creature. Paul Mantee was cast out of about 70 actors because he was an experienced unknown, and because of his resemblance to Alan Shepard, the first American in space. The film’s original title was Gravity Probe One: Mars, but the studio felt it sounded too much like a documentary. It was discovered shortly after the film’s release that Mars in fact did not have water or an atmosphere that could sustain human life.

1974

May 31 – Peopletoys (USA, Barrister Productions Inc.)
June 5 – 27A (AUS, Smart Street Films)
June – Birds Do It, Bees Do It (USA, documentary, Wolper Pictures)
June – Father Jack-Leg (USA, F.P. Cinematografica)

27A has no known US theatrical release date.

Peopletoys was re-released in 1976 as Devil Times Five (US) and The Horrible House on the Hill (UK). It was also released on video in the UK as Tantrums.

Birds Do It, Bees Do It co-director Nicolas Noxon was a regular crewmember for National Geographic‘s early television specials. The animal copulation scenes initially earned the film an R-rating, but producer David L. Wolper appealed to the MPAA to secure the PG-rating. The film earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Documentary, and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.

Father Jack-Leg originally opened in Italy on December 5, 1972 as Tedeum. Other international titles include Sting of the West and Con Men.

1984

Hill-Gordon-Silver Productions

June 1 – Beyond the Darkness (USA, D.R. Comunicazioni di massa)
June 1 – Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (USA, Paramount Pictures)
June 1 – Streets of Fire (USA/Canada, Hill-Gordon-Silver Productions)
June 1 – The Naked Face (USA, Golan-Globus Productions)
June – Blind Date (USA, Forminx Corporation)
June – The Executioner Part II (USA, 21st Century Film Corporation)

Beyond the Darkness originally opened in Italy on November 15, 1979 as Buio Omega. Blind Date originally opened in the UK on March 15, 1984.

Beyond the Darkness is a remake of 1966’s The Third Eye. It was filmed in two weeks in South Tyrol, Italy. It was re-released in Italy in 1987 as In quella casa Buio omega to associate it with the La casa film series. The special effects for the gore scenes in the film were made by using animal intestines, pig skin and a sheep’s heart which were provided by an abattoir. Director Joe D’Amato stated he made the film to make people throw up.

Leonard Nimoy was the director of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the first cast member to do so (William Shatner directed Star Trek V). Nimoy appears toward the end of the film as Spock, but it took seven actors to portray the rapidly aging Spock from ages 9 to 25, with Frank Welker providing Spock’s screams and Steve Blalock as Nimoy’s double. Original Star Trek TV series actor Grace Lee Whitney makes a cameo appearance, wearing a wig, as ‘Woman in Cafeteria’. Paramount chief Michael Eisner was reluctant to hire Nimoy to direct because he mistakenly believed Nimoy hated Star Trek and had demanded Spock be killed in the previous film. Nimoy had to persuade Eisner that this was not the case. Gene Roddenberry told producer Harve Bennett that he ‘hired a director you can’t fire’. Paramount greenlit the film the day after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan opened. The Romulans were the film’s original villains but Nimoy preferred the more theatrical Klingons. The film had a slightly larger budget than Star Trek II, but since sets and uniforms already existed there was more money for special effects. The model for the Excelsior, a ship that was supposed to appear larger than the Enterprise, was actually 12 inches smaller than the model Enterprise. The Enterprise bridge set was reconfigured for the bridge of the Grissom. An Earth bar and the Klingon medical bay were the redressed Enterprise sickbay. Blinking consoles were rented rather than being fabricated. The Enterprise bridge remained unchanged from the previous film except for the black floor repainted gray for photogenic reasons. Spock’s quarters were also altered from the gray color scheme to include more yellows and oranges, to better reflect the Vulcan lifestyle according to Nimoy.

The decision to make Streets of Fire a musical came from the success of Flashdance. The film was also inspired by the teen hits from John Hughes. The script was initially rejected by Paramount, so it was given to Universal on a Friday and by the end of the weekend it was greenlit, thanks in part to the success of 48 Hrs, which came from the same team. The film’s title came from the Bruce Springsteen song, which was to be used at the end of the film sung by Ellen Aim (Diane Lane). When Springsteen learned the song was going to be re-recorded he withdrew permission for the song to be used. Jim Steinman was brought in to write the opening and closing songs, and ‘Streets of Fire’ was replaced with ‘Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young’. The studio claimed Springsteen’s song was replaced because it was a ‘downer’. Eric Roberts, Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze were considered for the role of Tom Cody. Michael Paré was recommended to director Walter Hill by the same agent who recommended Eddie Murphy for 48 Hrs. Hill thought he was perfect for the role. Daryl Hannah was in negotiations for the role of Ellen Aim but a deal could not be made in time. Hill thought Diane Lane was too young for the role at 18, but after a totally committed audition and her willingness to sell herself as a rock star, she got the role. Hill was so impressed with her work that he wrote additional scenes for her during production. Amy Madigan read for the role of Reva, Cody’s sister, but she told Hill she wanted the role of McCoy, which had been written for an overweight male who was a good soldier. She said she could be tough and strong without having the part rewritten and Hill liked the idea. Willem Dafoe was recommended by director Kathryn Bigelow, who had just made a film with him. Location shooting in Chicago went on for ten days, all at night for exteriors including elevated subway lines and platforms which Hill said were crucial to the world of the film as one of three means of transportation, including cars and motorcycles. On the Universal backlot, two streets were tarped over to film nighttime scenes during the day. The tarp cost $1.2 million to construct. No one in the main cast was over 30 years old.

The Naked Face is based on the novel of the same name by Sidney Sheldon. Blind Date is also known as Deadly Seduction. Despite being titled The Executioner Part II, there is no The Executioner Part I.

1994

May 31 – The Fantastic Four (USA, Constantin Film)
June 3 – Fear of a Black Hat (USA, ITC Entertainment)
June 3 – Renaissance Man (USA, Touchstone Pictures)
June 3 – The Cowboy Way (USA, Imagine Entertainment)
June 3 – The Endless Summer II (USA, Bruce Brown Films)
June 3 – The Princess and the Goblin (USA, Pannonia Film Studio)
June 3 – The Secret Rapture (UK, British Screen Productions)
June 3 – Yvonne’s Perfume (USA, Lambart Productions)

The Princess and the Goblin originally opened in Hungary on December 20, 1991 as A hercegnő és a kobold. The Secret Rapture originally opened in the US on April 29, 1994. Yvonne’s Perfume originally opened in France on March 23, 1994 as Le parfum d’Yvonne.

2004

May 31 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (UK, 1492 Pictures)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban opened in the US and Canada on June 4, 2004.

2014

Walt Disney Pictures

May 30 – A Million Ways to Die in the West (USA, Bluegrass Films)
May 30 – Filth (USA/Canada, limited, Steel Mill Pictures)
May 30 – Maleficent (USA/Canada, Walt Disney Pictures)
May 30 – The Big Ask (USA, limited, Tribeca Films)
May 30 – The Grand Seduction (Canada/USA, limited, Max Films Productions)
June 4 – The Fault in Our Stars (Egypt, Temple Hill Entertainment)
June 5 – 20,000 Days on Earth (Czech Republic, Corniche Media)

Filth originally opened in the UK on October 4, 2013. Maleficent originally opened in the UK on May 28, 2014. The Big Ask originally debut online in the US on May 20, 2014. The Fault in Our Stars opened in the US and Canada on June 6, 2014. After several film festival screenings, 20,000 Days on Earth premiered in the US online.

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