Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #217 :: September 19•25

Castle Rock Entertainment

We have a long list of films this week including a Mae West starrer, a classic comedy adapted from a hit Broadway show, more Three Stooges, a third version of a classic story that originally starred Bette Davis, a Miss Marple mystery, the last of the sexy nurses film series, a Best Picture Oscar winner, a dramatized story of a 1950s scandal, a now classic prison movie, a hit adaptation of a YA novel series, and Kevin Smith weirdness. Scroll down to see all the movies that were released this week over the decades and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries!

1924

• September 20 – Wandering Husbands (USA, Regal Pictures)
• September 21 – Captain Blood (USA, Vitagraph Company of America)
• September 21 – Oh, You Tony! (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• September 21 – Roaring Rails (USA, Hunt Stromberg Productions)
• September 21 – The Slanderers (USA, Universal Pictures)
• September 22 – The Alaskan (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

Wandering Husbands is also known as Loves and Lies. Copies of the film are maintained by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Library of Congress. Captain Blood is based on the 1922 novel Captain Blood, His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini. A print of the film was restored by the Library of Congress. Oh, You Tony! is preserved in the Library of Congress.

A complete print of Roaring Rails held by George Eastman House had its restoration funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation in 2010. The restoration was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies in 2011. The Slanderers is considered a lost film. The Alaskan is based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood. The film is considered lost.

1934

• September 21 – Belle of the Nineties (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• September 21 – The Barretts of Wimpole Street (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• September 21 – The Dude Ranger (USA, Sol Lesser Productions)
• September 21 – The Richest Girl in the World (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• September 22 – Blossom Time (AUS, British International Pictures)
• September 22 – Freedom of the Seas (AUS, British International Pictures)
• September 22 – My Song Goes Round the World (UK, British International Pictures)
• September 22 – The Case of the Howling Dog (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• September 24 – Rocky Rhodes (USA, Buck Jones Productions)
• September 24 – Whispering Tongues (UK, Julius Hagen Productions)
• September 25 – Among the Missing (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• September 25 – Inside Information (USA, Consolidated Pictures Corporation)

Blossom Time was released in the US on January 26, 1937 as April Blossoms. Freedom of the Seas first opened in the UK in June 1934, but has no known US theatrical release date. My Song Goes Round the World has no known US theatrical release date.

Belle of the Nineties was the fourth motion picture to star Mae West. It was based on her original story It Ain’t No Sin, which was also the film’s title until censors objected. The film introduced the jazz standard ‘My Old Flame’, performed by West with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Scenes were removed in different markets to comply with local censors, but the entire ending had to be re-filmed to be shown in New York. George Raft was to play the male lead but he refused.

The Barretts of Wimpole Street is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Rudolf Besier. The film was remade in color in 1957. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Norma Shearer).

The Dude Ranger is based on the 1931 novel by Zane Grey. The Richest Girl in the World was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Story. It was remade in 1944 as Bride by Mistake. Blossom Time was based on the opera Blossom Time by Heinrich Berté. Freedom of the Seas was adapted from the West End play of the same name by Walter C. Hackett. My Song Goes Round the World was an English-language version of the 1933 German film A Song Goes Round the World. Both films were directed by Richard Oswald.

The Case of the Howling Dog is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner. It is the first of six Perry Mason films made by Warner Bros. between 1934 and 1937, and the very first screen adaptation of a Perry Mason novel. Warren William starred as Mason for the first four movies, with Richard Cortez appearing in the fifth and Donald Woods in the sixth. Each film featured a different actress as Della Street, except for Claire Dodd who played the character twice.

1944

Warner Bros.-First National Pictures

• September 20 – Frenchman’s Creek (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• September 21 – Cowboy from Lonesome River (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• September 21 – Sweet and Low-Down (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• September 22 – Gangsters of the Frontier (USA, Alexander-Stern Productions)
• September 22 – Gents Without Cents (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)
• September 22 – In the Meantime, Darling (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• September 23 – Arsenic and Old Lace (USA, Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)
• September 23 – Shadow of Suspicion (USA, Monogram Pictures)
• September 24 – The National Barn Dance (USA, Paramount Pictures)

Frenchman’s Creek is adapted from the 1941 novel of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. The film won an Oscar for Art Direction. Sweet and Low-Down is a fictionalized version of life with Benny Goodman (playing himself in the movie), his band and manager while entertaining at military camps.

Gangsters of the Frontier is known as Raiders of the Frontier in the UK. It is the fifteenth of the ‘Texas Rangers’ film series, and the first to feature Tex Ritter, replacing James Newill after fourteen movies.

Gents Without Cents is the 81st Three Stooges short from Columbia Pictures. The ‘Niagra Falls’ scene in the film was originally shot for Good Luck, Mr. Yates, but was cut at the last minute. Instead of wasting the footage, it was used for the short with a new story built around it.

In the Meantime, Darling went into production as I Married a Soldier. It was Jeanne Crain’s first film with top billing, and the debuts of Frank Latimore and Gale Robbins. Future director Blake Edwards has a small, uncredited supporting role. Director Otto Preminger fired actor Eugene Pallette after discovering he was an admirer of Hitler and a racist, refusing to sit next to Black cast member Clarence Muse and using a racial slur to refer to him. Pallette remains in scenes already filmed, but his role was removed from the rest of the script not yet filmed.

Arsenic and Old Lace is based on Joseph Kesselring’s 1941 play of the same name. As stipulated in the contract, the film could not be released until the play ended its Broadway run. The film was originally to be released on September 30, 1942 but the play was so successful the release had to be delayed until 1944. The role of Mortimer was intended for Bob Hope but Paramount would not release him from his contract. Jack Benny was also approached before director Frank Capra learned Cary Grant had accepted the part. The character of Jonathan Brewster is said to look like Boris Karloff in the script. Karloff played the role on Broadway and stayed with the show, as he was a main investor, while the film was in production. He gave his permission for his name to be used in the film and the part was played by Raymond Massey. Josephine Hull, Jean Adair and John Alexander reprised their roles from the stage production. Hull and Adair received an eight-week leave of absence from the play, and the entire film was shot within those eight weeks. The set used for the Brewster home in Arsenic and Old Lace was reused in the 1942 film George Washington Slept Here, with bannisters, rafters and floors knocked out to make it appear like a dilapidated farmhouse.

1954

• September 20 – Devil’s Point (UK, Charles Deane Productions)
• September 20 – Thunder Pass (USA, Lippert Pictures)
• September 25 – The Bounty Hunter (USA, Transcona Enterprises Productions)
• September 25 – Broken Lance (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)

Devil’s Point was released in the US on December 7, 1954 as Devil’s Harbor. The Bounty Hunter was filmed in 3D but released flat as the fad had passed. A 3D print does exist in the Warner Brothers archives.

Broken Lance is a remake of House of Strangers, with a screenplay based on the novel, I’ll Never Go There Any More, by Jerome Weidman. The film won an Oscar for Best Story, and Katy Jurado was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

1964

• September 22 – Murder Ahoy! (USA, Lawrence P. Bachmann Productions)
• September 23 – Night Train to Paris (UK, Jack Parsons Productions)
• September 23 – Of Human Bondage (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios)
• September 23 – The Train (France, Les Films Ariane)
• September 25 – Fanny Hill (West Germany, Central Cinema Company Film)
• September 25 – Guns at Batasi (UK, George H. Brown Productions)

Night Train to Paris was released in the US on December 2, 1964. The Train was released in the US on March 7, 1965. Fanny Hill was released in the US on March 10, 1965. Guns at Batasi was released in the US on November 16, 1964.

Murder Ahoy! is the last of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that starred Margaret Rutherford, however this story was an original and not adapted from an Agatha Christie novel, though it does borrow elements from the 1952 Miss Marple story They Do It With Mirrors.

Of Human Bondage is the third screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s 1915 novel, with Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey in the roles played by Bette Davis and Leslie Howard three decades earlier (Eleanor Parker and Paul Henreid starred in a 1946 remake). Director Henry Hathaway had tried to get the film made four years earlier with Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. Davis was offered a small role that would have taken just two days to shoot but she turned it down. Hathaway quit the film late in production after clashing with Novak. Screenwriter Bryan Forbes took over while the studio sought a replacement, and Ken Hughes took over after four days. When Hughes arrived, Novak failed to report to set, going on a 48-hour shopping spree in London instead. With Hughes rewriting the script she feared she’d have to reshoot scenes already completed and wanted to leave the production — rumors were she was to be replaced with Elizabeth Taylor — but she said she would honor her contract and completed the film.

The Train is loosely based on the non-fiction book Le front de l’art by Rose Valland. Arthur Penn was the film’s original director but was fired by star Burt Lancaster and replaced with John Frankenheimer three days after filming began. The script was then rewritten and the budget doubled. The Allied bombing of a rail yard was accomplished with real dynamite, as the French rail authority needed to enlarge the track gauge. This can be observed by the shockwaves travelling through the ground during the action sequence. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay.

Russ Meyers’ Fanny Hill is an adaptation of the 1748 John Cleland novel of the same name. This is the first film Meyers directed for which he was not also the producer.

Guns at Batasi is based on the 1962 novel The Siege of Battersea by Robert Holles. Britt Ekland left the film three weeks into production because new husband Peter Sellers was paranoid that she was going to have an affair with co-star John Leyton. She was replaced with Mia Farrow. 20th Century Fox sued Ekland for $1.5 million, and Sellers counter-sued for $4 million for ‘mental distress and injury to his health’. This was one of the last films made by Jack Hawkins in which he uses his real voice. Not long after, he underwent surgery for throat cancer which removed his vocal chords (though he continued to act with his voice dubbed by other actors).

1974

• September 19 – Big Bad Mama (USA, Santa Cruz Productions)
• September 20 – Nightmare Honeymoon (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• September 25 – Candy Stripe Nurses (USA, New World Pictures)
• September 25 – Juggernaut (USA, Two Roads Productions)
• September 25 – The Mutations (USA, Cyclone)

Nightmare Honeymoon first opened in West Germany on July 19, 1974. The Mutations began a platform release in the US on May 22, 1974.

Big Bad Mama is a loose follow-up to Bloody Mama, but not a sequel (Mama died in the original) or a remake. The film features nudity from its three principal actors, with Angie Dickinson allowing crew to remain on set during her sex scene with Tom Skerritt. However, William Shatner requested nonessential crew leave the set during his sex scene with Dickinson.

Candy Stripe Nurses was the last in New World Pictures’ popular ‘nurses cycle’ of films that began with The Student Nurses (1970). The title was chosen from a poll taken at a local high school. Sally Kirkland was given a small role in the film as she was friends with Roger Corman’s wife Julie. The film was shot at a hospital in Burbank after Julie Corman gave them an edited screenplay under the title of Angels of Mercy. After actress Candice Rialson was accidentally seen topless in a linen closet by a member of the staff, and an unedited copy of the script was discovered, production was kicked out of the hospital. The new location, a clinic, did not match the hospital footage. The art director created a sign that read ‘This way to the new West Wing’ to justify the completely new look.

Juggernaut was largely shot on location aboard the TS Hamburg in the North Sea. The script was inspired by a real life bomb threat against the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1972. Newspaper ads were placed to seek extras willing to take a lengthy cruise in the North Sea with the knowledge that the ship would seek the worst weather possible as the story demanded seas too rough for the lifeboats to be lowered, trapping the passengers on board. The film marks the screen debut of Simon MacCorkindale.

The Mutations is also known as The Mutation, The Freaks, and The Freakmaker. The film was inspired by Tod Browning’s Freaks.

1984

The Saul Zaentz Company

• September 19 – Amadeus (USA, The Saul Zaentz Company)
• September 20 – Annie’s Coming Out (AUS, Film Australia)
• September 20 – Strikebound (AUS, Ghost Pictures)
• September 21 – All of Me (USA, Kings Road Entertainment)
• September 21 – The Company of Wolves (UK, Palace Pictures)
• September 21 – The Evil That Men Do (USA, Capricorn Company)
• September 21 – Until September (USA, United Artists)
• September 21 – Windy City (USA, limited, CBS Theatrical Films)

Annie’s Coming Out was released in the US on April 12, 1985 as A Test of Love. Strikebound was screened at the New York Film Festival but has no known US theatrical release date. The Company of Wolves was released in the US on April 19, 1985. The Evil That Men Do was first released in France on March 15, 1984.

Amadeus is adapted by Peter Shaffer from his 1979 stage play of the same name, in turn inspired by the 1830 play Mozart and Salieri by Alexander Pushkin. Kenneth Branagh was up for the role of Mozart, but was dropped when director Miloš Forman decided to cast American actors. Mark Hamill, who replaced Tim Curry as Mozart near the end of the Broadway run, read with actresses auditioning for Mozart’s wife Constanze, but Forman opted not to cast Hamill due to his association with the Luke Skywalker character. Meg Tilly was cast in the role, but tore a ligament in her leg the day before shooting started and was replaced with Elizabeth Berridge. Tom Hulce was cast as Mozart and based his performance on the mood swings of John McEnroe. He claimed he did not find Mozart’s signature laugh until he downed a bottle of whiskey. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including two in the Best Actor category for Hulce and F. Murray Abraham, with Abraham winning. The film won a total of eight Oscars including Best Picture and Director. The film earned nine BAFTA nominations, winning four, and six Golden Globe nominations, winning four including Best Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Drama for Abraham, who was once again pitted against Hulce.

Annie’s Coming Out is based on the 1980 book of the same name which was written by Rosemary Crossley, with the assistance of Anne McDonald. Strikebound is based on the Wendy Lowenstein novel Dead Men Don’t Dig Coal. The film was intended to be a 50-minute dramatised documentary titled The Sunbeam Shaft but evolved into a feature film.

All of Me is based on the unpublished novel Me Two by Edwin Davis. The film earned Golden Globe nominations for its stars Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Martin and Victoria Tennant met while making the film and married in 1986, staying together until 1994.

The Company of Wolves was adapted from Angela Carter’s short story of the same name. Carter co-wrote the screenplay with director Neil Jordan. Carter had previously adapted the story for a 1980 radio play. This was only Jordan’s second feature film. The film features the screen debut of Sarah Patterson, who was much younger than what the casting director had been looking for. The script called for a great number of wolves, but for safety concerns the wolves seen in the film are primarily Belgian Shepherd Dogs, whose fur was specially dyed. Particular light angles were used to make the wolves’ and dogs’ eyes glow. The film earned four BAFTA nominations for Costumes, Make-up, Production Design and Visual Effects.

The Evil That Men Do was adapted by R. Lance Hill (under the alias ‘David Lee Henry’) and John M. Crowther from Hill’s 1978 novel of the same title. The film was shot on location in Guadalajara, Mexico. The film’s original director Fielder Cook was replaced with J. Lee Thompson days before filming began because producers realised Cook was not up to the task. Charles Bronson was contracted to work eight hours a day, and with his family with him on set he would not work more hours than stated in his contract. Thompson and Bronson had worked together on four previous films, and Thompson was efficient in getting the shots he needed.

The original title for Windy City was All the Sad Young Men. The film was written by Armyan Bernstein, who also wrote Thank God It’s Friday and One from the Heart. Having been disappointed with how those films turned out, Bernstein decided to direct Windy City himself, in what was his directorial debut.

1994

• September 23 – It Runs in the Family (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• September 23 – Quiz Show (Canada, Hollywood Pictures)
• September 23 – Sleep With Me (USA, August Entertainment)
• September 23 – Terminal Velocity (USA, Hollywood Pictures)
• September 23 – The Shawshank Redemption (USA/Canada, Castle Rock Entertainment)

Quiz Show was released in the US on October 7, 1994. Terminal Velocity first opened in Canada on September 9, 1994.

It Runs in the Family is also known as My Summer Story, and serves as a sequel to A Christmas Story. Both were directed by Bob Clark and based on semi-autobiographical stories of Jean Shepherd. Production delays forced the recasting of all the major actors from the original film, although Tedde Moore returns as Ralphie’s teacher Miss Shields.

Quiz Show dramatizes the Twenty-One quiz show scandals of the 1950s, based on the memoir Remembering America by Richard Goodwin, the U.S. Congressional lawyer who investigated the accusations of game-fixing by show producers. Goodwin and Herb Stempel, the contestant whose loss was rigged, served as technical advisers on the film. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and four Golden Globes including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Redford).

Tom Cruise was originally to star in Terminal Velocity, but previous commitments prevented his participation. Charlie Sheen was cast in the lead role.

The Shawshank Redemption is based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Writer and director Frank Darabont originally purchased the rights to the story in 1987. While set in Maine, the film was shot primarily in Ohio. While the film was critically acclaimed, and has since become a cult classic, it was a box office failure due to competition from Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2015. Morgan Freeman was cast as ‘Red’ despite the novella’s description of him as a white Irishman. Actors considered for the role of Andy Dufresne include Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen. Tim Robbins was cast after Darabont saw his performance in Jacob’s Ladder. Robbins insisted Darabont hire experienced cinematographer Roger Deakins, with whom he had worked on The Hudsucker Proxy. Brad Pitt dropped out of the role of Tommy, and was replaced with newcomer Gil Bellows. The film earned seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and two Golden Globe nominations.

2004

• September 22 – George Bataille’s Story of the Eye (USA, limited, ARM/Cinema 25 Pictures Inc.)
• September 23 – Bondi Tsunami (AUS, Burlesque Productions)
• September 24 – Criminal (USA, Section Eight)
• September 24 – First Daughter (USA/Canada, New Regency Productions)
• September 24 – Hollywood Buddha (USA, YBG Productions)
• September 24 – Spivs (UK, Carnaby International)
• September 24 – The Forgotten (USA/Canada, Revolution Studios)
• September 24 – The Ister (UK, documentary, Black Box Sound and Image)
• September 24 – The Last Shot (USA, limited, Touchstone Pictures)

Bondi Tsunami has no known US theatrical release date. Spivs made its premiere in the US on DVD on December 5, 2006. The Ister had a limited US engagement on February 10, 2006.

George Bataille’s Story of the Eye is an experimental film adaptation of the 1928 novel Story of the Eye by the French writer Georges Bataille. The film began as a video installation before being turned into a feature film.

Criminal is a remake of the Argentine film Nine Queens (2000).

First Daughter languished in development hell for five years. The film features cameos from Vera Wang, Joan and Melissa Rivers and Jay Leno. The opening and closing narration is provided by the film’s director, Forest Whitaker. The original story for the film was written by Jerry O’Connell.

The original poster for Hollywood Buddha featuring star Philippe Caland sitting on the head of a giant Buddha statue, caused a public outcry in Thailand and a request from Thai Buddhist leaders to Thai consul in Los Angeles to lodge a formal protest.

Revolution Studios first purchased the script for The Forgotten in 2001 and lobbied for Nicole Kidman to star, but Julianne Moore was cast in 2003 shortly before production began. When the film was aired on basic cable the accident was changed, with all mentions of ‘plane’ and ‘airport’ dubbed to ‘bus’ and ‘terminal’.

The Ister was inspired by a 1942 lecture course delivered by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, published in 1984 as Hölderlins Hymne ‘Der Ister’.

The plot of The Last Shot is loosely based on the true story of an FBI sting operation code-named Dramex which was run by FBI agent Garland Schweickhardt, who recruited aspiring screenwriters Dan Lewk and Gary Levy to participate unwittingly in a sting operation aimed at ensnaring mobsters and Teamsters union officials in a bribery scheme.

2014

Gotham Group

• September 19 – A Walk Among the Tombstones (USA/Canada/UK, Cross Creek Pictures)
• September 19 – Honeymoon (Canada, Fewlas Entertainment)
• September 19 – Keep On Keepin On (USA, limited, documentary, Absolute Clay Productions)
• September 19 – The Maze Runner (USA/Canada, Gotham Group)
• September 19 – The Scribbler (USA, limited, New Artists Alliance)
• September 19 – This Is Where I Leave You (USA/Canada, 21 Laps Entertainment)
• September 19 – Tusk (USA, SModcast Pictures)

A Walk Among the Tombstones was first released in several international markets on September 18, 2014. Honeymoon made its US debut through VOD services on September 12, 2014. The Maze Runner first opened in Mexico on September 11, 2014. This Is Where I Leave You first opened in the UAE on September 11, 2014.

A Walk Among the Tombstones is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Lawrence Block. Block was beyond happy with the casting of Liam Neeson as main character Matthew Scudder, being a fan since seeing his performance in Michael Collins. Honeymoon was the feature directorial debut of Leigh Janiak.

The Maze Runner, based on James Dashner’s 2009 novel of the same name, was the feature directorial debut of Wes Ball. The film was set up at Fox in 2011 with Catherine Hardwicke originally set to direct. Kaya Scodelario was Ball’s first choice for Teresa as he was a fan of her work in the TV series Skins. Lead actor Dylan O’Brien was initially rejected by Ball … because of his hair. Ball reconsidered after seeing him with a shaved head in The Intership, at first not realizing it was O’Brien. Blake Cooper got the role of Chuck after bugging Ball on Twitter until he was finally told to submit his audition tape.

The Scribbler is based on Daniel Schaffer’s graphic novel of same name. Schaffer also wrote the screenplay. This Is Where I Leave You is based on the 2009 novel of the same title by Jonathan Tropper, who also wrote the film’s screenplay.

Tusk was the first in Kevin Smith’s True North trilogy, followed by Yoga Hosers (2016). The story came from a podcast discussion about a homeowner offering a living situation to anyone willing to dress as a walrus. Listeners voted to have Smith turn the story into a film, and the story was later revealed to be a prank by Chris Parkinson, who was a fan of Smith and wanted to be involved in the film. Smith eventually hired him as an associate producer.