Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #227 :: November 28 to December 4

Warner Bros. Pictures

More films were released this week in the top half of the century than the bottom, but quantity doesn’t equal quality or memorable films. Of note, a 1924 film features the second appearance of an actor who would go on to become a major star, a 1944 film assembles a collection of horrific characters, 1964 brought a Poe story to the screen, fictionalized the life of a popular singer, and gave us an award-winning film adaptation of a hit Broadway musical. 1974 saw the start of a three-film cycle from Britain’s Amicus Productions, and 2004 gave us a film that was an awards season darling. Scroll down to see all the movies that premiered this week across the deacdes and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1924

• November 29 – The Passing of Wolf MacLean (USA, Ermine Productions)
• November 30 – Flames of Desire (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• November 30 – Forbidden Paradise (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
• November 30 – Gold Heels (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• November 30 – Is Love Everything? (USA, Garsson Enterprises)
• November 30 – On the Stroke of Three (USA, Associated Arts Corporation)
• November 30 – Silk Stocking Sal (USA, Gothic Pictures)
• November 30 – Sundown (USA, First National Pictures)
• November 30 – The Ridin’ Kid from Powder River (USA, Universal Pictures)
• November 30 – The Roughneck (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• November 30 – Troubles of a Bride (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• December – $50,000 Reward (USA, Clifford S. Elfelt Productions)
• December – Border Justice (USA, Independent Pictures)
• December 1 – Battling Brewster (USA, serial, Rayart Pictures Corporation)
• December 1 – On Probation (USA, William Steiner)
• December 1 – One Glorious Night (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• December 1 – The Lighthouse by the Sea (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• December 1 – The Wife of the Centaur (USA, Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation)

Lost films: The Passing of Wolf MacLean, On the Stroke of Three, Silk Stocking Sal, Sundown, The Roughneck, Troubles of a Bride, The Wife of the Centaur

Status unknown: Flames of Desire, $50,000 Reward, Border Justice, Battling Brewster, On Probation

Clark Gable makes his second screen appearance in Forbidden Paradise. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, The Czarina, by Edward Sheldon, who adapted the Hungarian-language book by Melchior Lengyel and Lajos Bíró. Complete prints of the film are located in the George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Cinematek, and EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

Gold Heels is loosely based on legendary racing horse Gold Heels and the novel Checkers: A Hard Luck Story by Henry Martyn Blossom. A print is held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. A fragment of Is Love Everything? exists at the BFI National Film and Television Archive in London. An incomplete print of The Ridin’ Kid from Powder River consisting of 2 reels is preserved in the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. A complete copy of One Glorious Night is located at the Cinematheque Royale du Belgique.

The Lighthouse by the Sea stars Rin Tin Tin, the most famous animal actor of the 1920s. The film is mentioned in Anne Frank’s diary as she was a fan of Rin Tin Tin and saw the movie for her 13th birthday. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress, and in several archives around the world. It was transferred to 16mm film for television broadcasts, and has been released on DVD.

1934

• November 30 – It’s a Gift (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• December – Menace (UK, Sound City)
• December – The Feathered Serpent (UK, George Smith Productions)
• December – Youthful Folly (UK, Sound City)
• December 1 – Flirtation Walk (USA, First National Pictures)
• December 1 – Flirting with Danger (USA, Monogram Pictures)
• December 1 – The Ghost Walks (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)
• December 2 – The Rawhide Terror (USA, Victor Adamson Productions)
• December 3 – Secret of the Chateau (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 3 – Song at Eventide (UK, John Argyle Productions)
• December 3 – The Secret of the Loch (UK, Wyndham Productions)

Menace was released in the US on July 18, 1936. The Feathered Serpent, Youthful Folly and Song at Eventide have no known US theatrical release dates. The Secret of the Loch premiered on TV in the US on April 22, 1949.

It’s a Gift was W.C. Fields’ 16th sound film. The Feathered Serpent is based on the 1927 novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace. Youthful Folly is also known as Intermezzo. Flirtation Walk was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound Recording.

Secret of the Chateau was originally titled Rendezvous at Midnight, but that title was used for an entirely different film released a year later. The Secret of the Loch, inspired by the success of King Kong, is the first film made about the Loch Ness Monster.

1944

Universal Pictures

• November 28 – Dreaming (UK, John Baxter Productions)
• November 30 – Brazil (USA, Republic Pictures)
• November 30 – Don’t Take It to Heart (UK, Two Cities Films)
• November 30 – Faces in the Fog (USA, Republic Pictures)
• December – Lost in a Harem (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• December 1 – Firebrands of Arizona (USA, Republic Pictures)
• December 1 – Harmony Trail (USA, Maddox Productions)
• December 1 – House of Frankenstein (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 1 – Murder in the Blue Room (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 1 – My Gal Loves Music (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 1 – Song of the Range (USA, Monogram Pictures)
• December 4 – One Exciting Night (UK, Columbia British Productions)

Dreaming has no known US theatrical release date. Don’t Take It to Heart was released in the US on December 24, 1948. One Exciting Night was released in the US on July 26, 1945 as You Can’t Do Without Love.

Brazil is also known as Stars and Guitars. Roy Rogers makes a cameo appearance as himself. The film earned three Academy Award nominations for Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Original Song (‘Rio de Janeiro’) and Sound Recording. Harmony Trail was re-released in 1947 under the title White Stallion.

Lost in a Harem was filmed mainly on sets left over from 1944’s Kismet. Abbott & Costello made the film at MGM before In Society for Universal, but it was released afterwards. It was the second of three films the duo made under loan to MGM. The film was banned in Morocco, and had to be edited before it could be shown in Syria.

House of Frankenstein is based on Curt Siodmak’s story ‘The Devil’s Brood’. The film was produced after Universal cancelled another film titled Chamber of Horrors, which would have also included several of the Universal Monsters characters. A sequel, House of Dracula, featuring many of the same characters was released in 1945. The Mummy was included in the original script but was removed before production commenced. Boris Karloff was given the ‘mad scientist’ character after he had refused to play Frankenstein’s Monster any longer. Western star Glenn Strange was given the role, but had no idea he was playing the Monster until he reported to make-up artist Jack Pierce. Strange was not allowed to eat with other Universal stars and personnel in the commissary while wearing the make-up. Universal filmed the movie on sets left over from Green Hell, Pittsburgh, Gung Ho! and Tower of London. Blonde Elena Verdugo had to wear a dark wig because the studio would not accept a blonde gypsy. She choreographed the gypsy dance herself.

Murder in the Blue Room is the second film remake of Secret of the Blue Room (1933) following The Missing Guest (1938). The original American film was itself a remake of the German film Secret of the Blue Room (1932).

1954

• November 29 – The Passing Stranger (UK, Harlequin Productions Ltd.)
• November 29 – To Dorothy a Son (UK, Welbeck Films Ltd.)
• November 30 – The Sea Shall Not Have Them (UK, Alliance Film Studios)
• December – The Bamboo Prison (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• December – The Black Rider (UK, Balblair Productions)
• December – The Steel Cage (USA, Phoenix Films)
• December – Young at Heart (USA, Arwin Productions)
• December 1 – Destry (USA, Universal International Pictures)
• December 1 – Masterson of Kansas (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
• December 1 – Svengali (UK, George Minter Productions)
• December 2 – The Other Woman (US, Hugo Haas Productions)
• December 3 – Trouble in the Glen (USA, Herbert Wilcox Productions)
• December 4 – They Rode West (USA, Columbia Pictures)

The Passing Stranger and The Black Rider have no known US theatrical release dates. To Dorothy a Son was released in the US on August 31, 1956 as Cash on Delivery. The Sea Shall Not Have Them was released in the US in June 1955. Svengali was released in the US on June 24, 1955.

The Sea Shall Not Have Them was based on a 1953 book by John Harris. The working title for The Bamboo Prison was I Was a Prisoner in Korea. The film was falsely accused of Communist sympathies during the Cold War hysteria. Young at Heart was a musical remake of 1938’s Four Daughters.

Destry, the third film to utilize the title character of Max Brand’s novel Destry Rides Again, is an almost shot-for-shot color remake of the 1939 black-and-white film with Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart.

Svengali was based on the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier. Donald Wolfit was a last-minute replacement for actor Robert Newton in the title role, who left three weeks into filming and can still be seen in some long shots.

1964

• November 29 – The Tomb of Ligeia (UK, Alta Vista Productions)
• December – Daylight Robbery (UK, Viewfinder Films Ltd.)
• December – Do You Know This Voice? (UK, Lippert Pictures)
• December – The Nasty Rabbit (USA, Rushmore Productions)
• December – Troubled Waters (UK, Parroch-McCallum)
• December – Your Cheatin’ Heart (USA, Four Leaf Productions)
• December 1 – My Fair Lady (Japan, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• December 3 – Dear Heart (USA, Out of Towners Productions)
• December 3 – King and Country (UK, B.H.E. Productions)
• December 4 – Kisses for My President (Finland, Pearlayne)
• December 4 – Signpost to Murder (West Germany, Marten Pictures)

The Tomb of Ligeia was released in the US on January 20, 1965. Daylight Robbery has no known US theatrical release date. Do You Know This Voice? first opened in the US in June 1964. Troubled Waters has no known US theatrical release date, but it is known in the US as Man With Two Faces. My Fair Lady was released in the US and Canada on December 25, 1964. King and Country was released in the US on November 30, 1965. Kisses for My President first opened in the US on August 21, 1964. Signpost to Murder was released in the US on February 10, 1965.

The Tomb of Ligeia is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, ‘Ligeia’. The screenplay had to be expanded to include Poes themes of mesmerism and necrophilia since the original story was so short. Director Roger Corman did not want to cast Vincent Price in the lead role as he felt the actor was too old to play a character meant to be 25-30 years old. Corman preferred Richard Chamberlain, but Price’s casting was a condition of AIP investing in the film. Corman had Price wear a wig and heavier-than-usual makeup to give him a younger appearance.

The Nasty Rabbit is also known as Spies a-Go-Go. Troubled Waters was the first film written by Tudor Gates.

Your Cheatin’ Heart was a fictionalized account of the life of Hank Williams. Jeff Richards was originally announced for the lead role, then Elvis Presley was considered as a follow-up to Jalhouse Rock, but Colonel Tom Parker refused. Steve McQueen was also considered, and the role was offered to Nick Adams but he turned it down. The film was revised as a quickie drive-in feature to sell some records — MGM owned the Williams songbook — and George Hamilton was cast, but he had to agree to lip sync to Hank Williams Jr’s vocals, as his mother wanted to make him a singing star.

My Fair Lady is adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 stage play Pygmalion. CBS financed the original Broadway production in exchange for the rights to the cast album. When Warner Bros. purchased the film rights, a condition of the deal was that CBS would retain ownership of the film negative seven years following the film’s release. Julie Andrews starred in the stage production but was replaced in the film with Audrey Hepburn because Andrews was not yet a known name to moviegoers. Hepburn’s singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, although Hepbrun’s voice is heard in the song ‘Just You Wait’. Rex Harrison refused to pre-record his songs as he had never performed them the same way twice and could never lip sync to the recordings convincingly. He was equipped with a wireless microphone, a first for a motion picture, and recorded his numbers live. The sound department earned an Oscar for its efforts. With a budget of $17 million, it was the most expensive film produced in the US at the time. The film earned 12 Oscar nominations, winning eight including Best Picture, Director (George Cukor), Actor (Harrison), Art Direction – Color, Cinematography – Color, Costume Design – Color, Scoring of Music and Best Sound. Hepburn did not receive an Oscar nomination, but she was nominated by the Golden Globes.

Dear Heart received a Best Original Song Oscar nomination for its title tune. The film was Geraldine Page’s first as a leading lady. Angela Lansbury took on a supporting role so she could work with Page. Kisses for My President has been cited as the first film to feature a female president, but the 1953 film Project Moon Base did it first.

1974

Amicus Productions

• November 29 – The Land That Time Forgot (UK, Amicus Productions)
• December – Got It Made (UK, Norfolk International Pictures)

The Land That Time Forgot, based upon the 1918 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, was released in the US on August 13, 1975. Got It Made has no known US theatrical release date.

Doug McClure was the studio’s choice for the lead in The Land That Time Forgot but he refused the role, so Stuart Whitman was cast. AIP came on board with the bulk of the budget under the condition that McClure was the lead, so he changed his mind and took the role. The dinosaurs in the film were hand puppets instead of stop motion animation, which gave them more fluid movement. The film was followed by the direct sequel The People That Time Forgot, where McClure does not appear until nearly the end, and At the Earth’s Core, which featured McClure in a different role.

1984

• December – Forbidden (UK, Mark Forstater Productions Ltd.)

Forbidden premiered on TV in the US on March 24, 1985.

1994

• December – The Roly Poly Man (AUS, Rough Nut Productions)
• December 1 – Mary (AUS, documentary, Goalpost Pictures)
• December 2 – Cobb (USA, Alcor Films)
• December 2 – Heaven’s a Drag (USA, TDF)
• December 2 – Tom & Viv (US, limited, British Screen Productions)
• December 2 – Trapped in Paradise (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)

The Roly Poly Man has no known US theatrical release date. Mary, also known as Mary: The Mary MacKillop Story, has no known US theatrical release date. Tom & Viv originally opened in the UK on April 15, 1994.

Heaven’s a Drag was originally titled To Die For, but may have been changed to avoid confusion with the 1995 Nicole Kidman film.

2004

Inside Track 2

• December 3 – Churchill: The Hollywood Years (UK, Little Bird Productions)
• December 3 – Closer (USA, Inside Track 2)

Churchill: The Hollywood Years has no known US theatrical release date.

Cate Blanchett was cast in the role of Anna in Closer, but had to drop out when she became pregnant. She was replaced with Julia Roberts. The film earned Oscar nominations for Supporting Actor and Actress (Clive Owen and Natalie Portman, respectively), three BAFTA nominations, with a win for Owen in the Supporting Actor category, and five Golden Globe nominations, with Owen and Portman both winning in the Supporting categories.

2014

• No new movies were released this week in 2014.