Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #213 :: August 22•28

New Regency Productions

As Summer winds down, the number of memorable films decreases even though many films were released this week. Of the films released this week, one was an unintentional prequel to The Ten Commandments, one was notable for its male nudity, Rob Lowe got his first lead and Alyssa Milano made her debut, one was the last for John Candy, one was the end of a comedy franchise that got less funny as they went along, two films featured Andy Williams, and two were written (one without credit) by Quentin Tarantino. Scroll down to see all the films released this week, learn a little more about them, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries this week!

1924

• August 23 – Joe (AUS, Beaumont Smith’s Productions)
• August 24 – American Manners (USA, Richard Talmadge Productions)
• August 24 – Fighting Fury (USA, Universal Pictures)
• August 24 – Lily of the Dust (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
• August 24 – The Desert Outlaw (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• August 24 – The Last of the Duanes (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• August 24 – Welcome Stranger (USA, Belasco Productions)
• August 25 – Little Robinson Crusoe (USA, Jackie Coogan Productions)
• August 25 – The Cowboy and the Flapper (USA, Phil Goldstone Productions)
• August 25 – The Enemy Sex (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
• August 25 – The Tenth Woman (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

Joe has no known US theatrical release date. The film is based on the stories of Henry Lawson about the character Joe Wilson. Working titles were When the World Was Wide and Plain Joe. It is believed to be a lost film.

American Manners is preserved in the Library of Congress. A fragment of Fighting Fury is also held in the Library of Congress.

Lily of the Dust was based on the 1908 novel The Song of Songs by Hermann Sudermann and the 1914 Broadway play The Song of Songs by Edward Sheldon. The film is believed to be lost.

Prints of The Desert Outlaw survive in the Czech Film Archive.

The Last of the Duanes is based on the 1914 Zane Grey novel of the same title. This was the second of four films based on the novel including adaptations in 1919, 1930 and 1941. A print of the film was discovered in a chicken farm in the Czech Republic.

Welcome Stranger is a lost film. A copy of Little Robinson Crusoe is housed at the Gosfilmofond in Moscow.

The Enemy Sex is adapted from the 1914 novel The Salamander by Owen Johnson. The film and the novel were banned in Worcester, Massachusetts. A print is preserved at the Library of Congress.

The Tenth Woman is based on the novel by Harriet T. Comstock. It is considered a lost film.

1934

• August 22 – Fugitive Road (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)
• August 22 – She Was a Lady (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• August 22 – Springtime for Henry (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• August 23 – Once to Every Bachelor (USA, Liberty Pictures)
• August 23 – Unfinished Symphony (UK, Gaumont British Picture Corporation)
• August 24 – Hide-Out (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• August 24 – Pursued (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• August 24 – The Affairs of Cellini (USA, 20th Century Pictures)
• August 25 – The Dragon Murder Case (USA, First National Pictures)
• August 27 – Hat, Coat, and Glove (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• August 27 – I Spy (USA, British International Pictures)
• August 27 – Master and Man (UK, British International Pictures)

Unfinished Symphony was released in the US on May 30, 1955.

She Was a Lady is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Elisabeth Cobb. Springtime for Henry was based on a play of the same name by the British writer Benn W. Levy. Once to Every Bachelor was based on Search for the Spring by Eleanor Gates.

An alternate German-language version of Unfinished Symphony was produced simultaneously and released as Gently My Songs Entreat.

Hide-Out featured a young Mickey Rooney. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing – Original Story. It was re-made in 1941 as I’ll Wait for You.

Pursued is based on a story from the Saturday Evening Post, ‘The Painted Lady’, by Larry Evans, which had previously been filmed as a silent in 1917, When a Man Sees Red.

The Affairs of Cellini is adapted from the play The Firebrand of Florence by Edwin Justus Mayer. The Dragon Murder Case is adapted from the novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. Hat, Coat, and Glove was adapted from the play by Wilhelm Speyer. It was filmed again in 1944 as A Night of Adventure.

1944

• August 23 – Marriage Is a Private Affair (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• August 24 – Kansas City Kitty (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• August 26 – Haunted Harbor (USA, serial, Republic Pictures)
• August 26 – Leave It to the Irish (USA, Lindsley Parsons Productions)
• August 26 – The Utah Kid (USA, Monogram Pictures)
• August 28 – It Happened One Sunday (UK, Associated British Picture Corporation)

It Happened One Sunday premiered on TV in the US on April 1, 1949.

Marriage Is a Private Affair is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Judith Kelly. Kansas City Kitty features the singing Williams Brothers, including the youngest of the quartet, Andy Williams.

Haunted Harbor was based on the novel by Ewart Adamson. It Happened One Sunday was based on the play She Met Him One Sunday by Victor Skutezky.

1954

20th Century-Fox

• August 22 – Killer Leopard (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)
• August 24 – The Egyptian (USA, 20th Century-Fox)
• August 24 – The Golden Link (UK, Kenilworth Film Productions)
• August 24 – The Young Lovers (UK, Group Film Productions Limited)
• August 25 – Roogie’s Bump (USA, John Bash Productions)
• August 25 – The Green Scarf (UK, B & A Productions)
• August 26 – The Black Knight (UK, Warwick Film Productions)
• August 27 – Dawn at Socorro (USA, Universal International Pictures)
• August 28 – Stella Dell’India (Italy, Titanus)

The Golden Link has no known US theatrical release date. The Young Lovers was released in the US on April 19, 1955 as Chance Meeting. The Green Scarf was released in the US on January 14, 1955. The Black Knight was released in the US on October 28, 1954. Stella Dell’India was released in the US on April 27, 1956 as Star of India.

Killer Leopard was the eleventh in the twelve-film Bomba, the Jungle Boy series.

The Egyptian is based on Mika Waltari’s 1945 novel of the same name. The film earned an Oscar nomination for cinematography. Some sets and costumes were reused from The Ten Commandments, which takes place 70 years after The Egyptian, creating an unintended sense of continuity. Mimi Gibson, Michael Ansara, John Carradine and a handful of extras appear in both films. Marlon Brando was set to star but quit a week before production was to start, causing a delay. Several actors including Dirk Bogarde, John Cassavetes, Cameron Mitchell, Farley Granger, and John Derek were considered before Edmund Purdom was borrowed from MGM.

The Young Lovers won BAFTAs for Best Screenplay and Most Promising Newcomer to Film for David Kossoff. Roogie’s Bump was remade in 1993 as Rookie of the Year. The Green Scarf was based on the 1951 Guy des Cars novel The Brute.

The Black Knight was the last of three films Alan Ladd made for Warwick Films, and the fourth film he made outside the US in order to qualify for a tax exemption. Twelve of Ávila, Spain’s 2,000 old castles were used in the film. Due to Ladd’s short stature, he had to stand on boxes when stationary or the other actors had to stand with bended knees and walk in specially dug trenches.

A spoken introduction in Dawn at Socorro states the film is based on an actual shootout in the town of Lordsburg, New Mexico in 1871, though no such incident occurred. The film is actually a thinly veiled account of the 1881 shootout near the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

1964

• August 26 – I’d Rather Be Rich (USA, Ross Hunter Productions)

I’d Rather Be Rich is a remake of 1941’s It Started with Eve, with the genders reversed. The film’s original title was The Richest Girl in Town. It was Andy Williams’ first film as an actor.

1974

Black Creek Billie

• August 22 – The Girl from Petrovka (USA, KMA)
• August 23 – Buster and Billie (USA, Black Creek Billie)

The Girl from Petrovka was based on the novel by George Feifer. Some filming was to take place in Yugoslavia but was cancelled by Inex Films two weeks before production for unknown reasons. Production moved to Vienna.

Buster and Billie featured the film debut of Robert Englund. It is one of the earliest American films to feature full frontal male nudity.

1984

• August 23 – Fast Talking (AUS, Filmtrex)
• August 23 – Paris, Texas (UK, Road Movies Filmproduktion)
• August 24 – Cal (USA, Enigma Productions)
• August 24 – Love Streams (USA, Cannon Films)
• August 24 – Old Enough (USA, limited, Silver Films)
• August 24 – Oxford Blues (USA, Winkast Film Productions)

Fast Talking was released in the US on April 23, 1986. Paris, Texas opened in limited release in the US on October 14, 1984. Love Streams first opened in Italy on April 27, 1984.

Fast Talking writer and director Ken Cameron taught drama classes for three month in order to find actors for the film.

Though Paris, Texas is a co-production between companies in France and West Germany, it is English-spoken and was filmed primarily in West Texas. The film has no scenes set in its titular town. It won the Palme d’Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Dean Stockwell was on the verge of retiring from acting and considering a career in real estate because he could find no desirable roles until director Wim Wenders cast him. Co-screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson’s son Hunter agreed to act in the film, with his mother Karen Black helping him memorize his lines. Filmmaker Allison Anders was a production assistant, and Claire Denis was an assistant director. It was the first film in which Wenders avoided storyboards, going straight from rehearsals to location shooting. The screenplay was incomplete when production began, with the intention to shoot the film in chronological order and basing the last half of the story on the actual experiences of the actors during filming. The film received four BAFTA nominations, winning Best Director. It was also Golden Globe nominated for Best Foreign Film.

Cal was based on the novella of the same name by Bernard MacLaverty, who also wrote the screenplay. Helen Mirren won Best Actress at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.

Love Streams, based on the 1980 play of the same name by Ted Allan, was the final independent film directed by John Cassavetes, and his penultimate film project. The film won the Golden Bear at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. The film, shot mainly in Cassavetes’ home, eschews his usual hand-held camera style.

Old Enough won first prize at the 1984 Sundance Film Festival, and marks the feature film debut of Alyssa Milano.

Oxford Blues is a remake of MGM’s 1938 film A Yank at Oxford. It marked Rob Lowe’s first starring role in a film. Lowe wanted Princess Stephanie of Monaco as his co-star because he had a crush on her. Inquiries were made but no response was received.

1994

• August 24 – Suture (France, Kino Korsakoff)
• August 24 – The Advocate (USA, BBC Film)
• August 26 – Camp Nowhere (USA, Hollywood Pictures)
• August 26 – Corrina, Corrina (USA, New Line Cinema)
• August 26 – It’s Pat (USA, Touchstone Pictures)
• August 26 – Natural Born Killers (USA/Canada, New Regency Productions)
• August 26 – Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• August 26 – Wagons East! (USA, Carolco Pictures)

Suture first opened in limited release in the US on March 18, 1994. The Advocate first opened in the UK on January 21, 1994 as The Hour of the Pig. Police Academy: Mission to Moscow first opened in Sweden on June 10, 1994.

Suture was influenced by mid-1960s Japanese films and Hollywood films like North by Northwest, also employing the widescreen black-and-white look of films like The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds. The cinematography won an award at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival.

The US version of The Advocate was edited to remove a sex scene in order to avoid an NC-17 rating. Other changes from the UK version include an opening title segment, changes in music and voices, a shortened speech from Donald Pleasance and a change in the voice-over at the end of the film. Actress Sophie Dix was one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of unwanted sexual advances. It’s been suggested that her scenes, including the sex scene and the end voice-over, were cut in retribution for rejecting his advances.

Camp Nowhere includes the film debut of Jonathan Jackson. Corrina, Corrina marked the feature directorial debut of Jessie Nelson. It was Don Ameche’s final film.

It’s Pat was based on the Saturday Night Live character created by star Julia Sweeney. The film was only released in 33 theaters in three cities. Quentin Tarantino was an uncredited writer on the script.

Quentin Tarantino’s original screenplay for Natural Born Killers was heavily revised by director Oliver Stone. He subsequently disowned the film, though he received a story credit. Stone allowed Rodney Dangerfield to rewrite all of his character’s lines. For a scene in which Juliette Lewis drives past a burning building, the flames were projected onto the building’s facade. The Coca-Cola polar bear ad was used with permission but without the company fully understanding the film’s premise. When Coke execs saw the film they were furious. Stone had to cut about four minutes of violence to avoid an NC-17 rating, but a director’s cut was eventually released to home video. The film was initially banned in Ireland, including screenings for cinema clubs. The release was delayed in the UK because of reports of copycat killings influenced by the film in the US and France.

Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, the seventh and final film in the series, featured George Gaynes, Michael Winslow and David Graf, the only actors to appear in all seven Police Academy film. The film marks the feature debut of Claire Forlani. The film was shot in Russia in the Fall of 1993.

Wagons East! star John Candy died of a heart attack during the final days of filming. Script rewrites, a stand-in and special effects were used to complete his scenes. It would be Candy’s penultimate performance and the film was dedicated to his memory. The film scored a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Candy only made the film as part of his contractual obligation to Carolco Pictures.

2004

• August 25 – Exils (France, Princes Films)
• August 27 – Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (USA/Canada, Screen Gems)
• August 27 – Suspect Zero (USA, Intermedia Films)

Exils has no known US theatrical release date. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid first opened in Hong Kong on August 26, 2004.

Exils director Tony Gatlif won Best Director at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is a stand-alone sequel to Anaconda. It is the last film in the series to receive a theatrical release. The film earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Remake or Sequel, losing to Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Suspect Zero was a box office bomb, grossing less than half of its $27 million budget. To date, it is the last theatrical film directed by E. Elias Merhige. The film was originally to go into production in 1997 with Sylvester Stallone but the deal fell through and the project was put on the back burner at Cruise/Wagner Productions. Tom Cruise had intended to star but did Eyes Wide Shut instead. Ben Affleck was attached in 1999 but left due to creative differences. Christian Duguay was signed to direct but was replaced with Merhige in 2001.

2014

Aldamisa Entertainment

• August 22 – God Help the Girl (UK, Barry Mendel Productions)
• August 22 – If I Stay (USA, DiNovi Pictures)
• August 22 – Leprechaun: Origins (USA, limited, WWE Studios)
• August 22 – Love Is Strange (USA, limited, Faliro House Productions)
• August 22 – Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (USA/Canada, Aldamisa Entertainment)
• August 22 – The One I Love (USA/Canada, limited, Duplass Brothers Productions)
• August 22 – The Prince (USA, Emmett/Furla Oasis Films)
• August 22 – When the Game Stands Tall (USA/Canada, Affirm Films)
• August 25 – The Paddy Lincoln Gang (UK, Belief Films)
• August 28 – Felony (AUS, Benaroya Pictures)

God Help the Girl was released in the US on September 5, 2014. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For first opened in several international markets on August 21, 2014. The Paddy Lincoln Gang has no known US theatrical release date. Felony received a limited US and Canadian release on October 17, 2014.

God Help the Girl was written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of the band Belle and Sebastian. The film’s ensemble cast won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

If I Stay is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Gayle Forman. Catherine Hardwick was originally attached to direct in 2010 but was replaced by Heitor Dhalia, who also left the film and was replaced with R.J. Cutler. Chloë Grace Moretz won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress, and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Drama. The film was also nominated by both organizations, also winning the Teen Choice Award in the Drama category.

Leprechaun: Origins was directed by Dylan Postl, who is better known by his wresting name Hornswoggle. The film is a reboot of Leprechaun, and the seventh film in the series. The film holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a follow-up to 2005’s Sin City. The film is primarily based on the second book in Frank Miller’s Sin City series, A Dame to Kill For, with one of the smaller plots based on the short story ‘Just Another Saturday Night’ from the sixth book, Booze, Broads, & Bullets. Two original stories, ‘The Long Bad Night’ and ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’, were created for the film. Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, and Powers Boothe return from the original and it would be Boothe’s final film role. Angelina Jolie was director Robert Rodriguez’s first choice for the role of Ava, but other actresses considered were Salma Hayek, Rose McGowan and Rachel Weisz. Eva Green was eventually cast. Jamie Chung took over the role of Miho due to Devon Aoki’s pregnancy. Dennis Haysbert replaced Michael Clarke Duncan, who died before production began, as Manute.

Filming for The One I Love lasted for 15 days at the home of Ted Danson, who starred, and Mary Steenburgen, who provided the voice of Mark Duplass’ character’s mother. When the Game Stands Tall is adapted from the 2003 book of the same name by Neil Hayes.

The Paddy Lincoln Gang is adapted from a short film entitled A Night at Robert McAlister’s. The film incorporates new footage into the short to bring it to feature length. Felony was written and produced by Joel Edgerton, who also starred.