Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #228 :: December 5•11

Really Useful Films

The top half of the century was loaded with new film releases with very few of them having any lasting impact. One 1944 film turned out to be a surprise hit for its comedy team stars, while a 1964 film benefited from unused sets and costumes from another film. A 1974 hit became the inspiration for a long-running TV sitcom, and a 1994 film was a first for a Hollywood movie. 2004 brought a Marvel vampire to life, and transported an iconic Broadway musical to the big screen. The biggest year this week was 1984 which gave Eddie Murphy his signature role, took moviegoers 26 years into the future with a sequel to a classic sci-fi film, and paired Eastwood and Reynolds with less than stellar results. Scroll down to see the films that premiered this week, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1924

• December 5 – Isn’t Life Wonderful (USA, D.W. Griffith Productions)
• December 5 – You Can’t Get Away with It (France, Fox Film Corporation)
• December 6 – Romola (USA, Inspiration Pictures)
• December 7 – Born Rich (USA, Garrick Pictures)
• December 7 – A Cafe in Cairo (USA, Hunt Stromberg Productions)
• December 7 – The Deadwood Coach (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• December 7 – Love and Glory (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 7 – Two Shall Be Born (USA, Twin Pictures)
• December 8 – Black Lightning (USA, Gotham Productions)
• December 8 – Janice Meredith (USA, Cosmopolitan Productions)

You Can’t Get Away with It was first released in the US on December 9, 1923.

Lost films: You Can’t Get Away with It, A Cafe in Cairo, The Deadwood Coach, Love and Glory, Two Shall Be Born.

Isn’t Life Wonderful was also released under the alternate title Dawn. All but one scene, shot in New York, were filmed in Germany and Austria. Prints of the film are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, Cinematek (Brussels, Belgium), Filmoteka Narodowa (Warsaw, Poland), Museum of Modern Art, Arhiva Națională de Filme (Bucharest, Romania), George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, and Danish Film Institute(Copenhagen, Denmark).

Romola was shot on location in Italy, and is based on the 1863 George Eliot novel of the same name. A print of the film survives at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

A copy of Born Rich is maintained at the Deutsche Kinemathekin Berlin. Prints of Black Lightning are preserved at the Russian state film archive Gosfilmofond and in California at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Janice Meredith is also known as The Beautiful Rebel, and is based on the book and play A Colonial Girl written by Paul Leicester Ford and Edward Everett Rose. The one surviving print is the British edition with the alternate title.

1934

• December 5 – ‘Neath the Arizona Skies (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)
• December 7 – Behold My Wife! (USA, B.P. Schulberg Productions)
• December 7 – Lightning Strikes Twice (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• December 8 – Babbitt (USA, First National Pictures)
• December 10 – 365 Nights in Hollywood (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• December 10 – Forbidden Territory (UK, Richard Wainwright Productions)
• December 10 – Fugitive Lady (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• December 10 – Strange Wives (USA, Universal Pictures)
• December 10 – The Church Mouse (UK, Warner Brothers-First National Productions)
• December 10 – The Luck of a Sailor (UK, British International Pictures)
• December 11 – Limehouse Blues (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• December 11 – Night Alarm (USA, Larry Darmour Productions)

Forbidden Territory was released in the US on November 19, 1938. The Church Mouse was released in the US on December 15, 1934. The Luck of a Sailor has no known US theatrical release date.

Behold My Wife! was based on a novel by Sir Gilbert Parker, The Translation of a Savage. The story had previously been filmed in 1920.

A print of Lightning Strikes Twice is held by the Library of Congress. Forbidden Territory was based on the 1933 novel The Forbidden Territory by Dennis Wheatley. Lucille Ball had an uncredited role in Fugitive Lady.

The Church Mouse is based on a 1928 play by Ladislas Fodor which has been turned into films on several occasions including a 1931 German film, Poor as a Church Mouse, and the 1932 American production Beauty and the Boss.

The working title of Limehouse Blues was Limehouse Nights, the title of the book by Thomas Burke. Anna May Wong was brought to Hollywood from England to play an important role. George Raft wore yellowface for his role. An early version of the script is preserved at the library files of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

1944

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

• December 5 – Blonde Fever (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• December 6 – Army Wives (USA, Lindsley Parsons Productions)
• December 6 – Nothing but Trouble (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• December 6 – Rogues’ Gallery (USA, American Productions Inc.)
• December 7 – She’s a Sweetheart (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• December 8 – Guest in the House (USA, Hunt Stromberg Productions)
• December 8 – Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• December 8 – The Falcon in Hollywood (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• December 8 – The Rats of Tobruk (USA, Chamun Productions)
• December 9 – Oath of Vengeance (USA, Sigmund Neufeld Productions)

Blonde Fever was Richard Whorf’s directorial debut, and introduced stage actress Gloria Grahame.

Nothing but Trouble was shelved for seven months following completion of production as MGM was rushing its military-themed films into release. The film was a surprise hit when it was released internationally as moviegoers were anxious for an escapist comedy. It was Laurel & Hardy’s most successful feature film, earning $1.5 million in ticket sales.

Guest in the House was re-released as Satan in Skirts. Director Lewis Milestone collapsed on set when stricken with appendicitis, and John Brahm stepped in to direct uncredited.

The Falcon in Hollywood was the 10th of 16 films in the Falcon detective series. RKO’s studios doubled as the fictional Sunset Studios.

An abridged version of The Rats of Tobruk was released in the US as The Fighting Rats of Tobruk. Oath of Vengeance was one of the films in PRC’s ‘Billy the Kid’ series.

1954

• December 5 – Golden Ivory (UK, Portman Productions)
• December 5 – Port of Hell (USA, William F. Broidy Productions)
• December 8 – The Atomic Kid (USA, Mickey Rooney Productions)
• December 9 – Carrington V.C. (UK, A Remus Production)
• December 9 – The Happiness of Three Women (UK, David Dent Productions)
• December 9 – This Is My Love (USA, Allan Dowling Pictures)
• December 10 – A Race for Life (USA, Hammer Films)

Golden Ivory was released in the US in August 1957 as The White Huntress. Carrington V.C. Was released in the US on August 1, 1955 as Court Martial. The Happiness of Three Women, also known as Wishing Well, has no known US theatrical release date. Race for Life was released in the UK as Mask of Dust.

Golden Ivory was released in color in the US as Outlaw Safari, then later in black-and-white as White Huntress.

1964

• December 10 – Carry On Cleo (UK, Peter Rogers Productions)
• December 10 – Father Goose (USA, Granox Company)
• December 10 – The Golden Head (Hungary, Hunnia Filmstúdió)

Carry On Cleo was released in the US on October 25, 1965. The Golden Head received a limited US theatrical release on September 8, 2009.

Carry On Cleo is the tenth of 31 Carry On films. The sets and costumes were originally intended for Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, before that production was moved to Rome.

Father Goose is based on the story A Place of Dragons by Sanford Barnett. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It was also Golden Globe nominated for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film introduced the song ‘Pass Me By’, which was later recorded by Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra and others.

1974

• December 5 – The Abdication (UK, A Robert Fryer-James Cresson Production)
• December 5 – The Photographer (USA, Intro Media Productions Inc.)
• December 9 – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

The Abdication first opened in the US on October 3, 1974.

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore director Martin Scorsese cameos as a customer in Mel’s Diner, and co-star Diane Ladd’s daughter Laura Dern appears as a little girl eating an ice cream cone. The film is Scorsese’s first Hollywood studio production. The part of Alice was offered to Shirley MacLaine, who turned it down and later regretted her decision. The opening of the film was shot in one day on a set that cost $85,000 to build. The first cut of the film ran three hours and sixteen minutes. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, with Ellen Burstyn winning Best Actress. It also received six BAFTA nominations, winning Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (Ladd) and Best Screenplay. Burstyn and Ladd were also Golden Globe-nominated. The film inspired the TV sitcom Alice, with Vic Tayback the only member of the film cast to reprise his role (Mel). The diner’s location was moved from Tuscon to Phoenix for the series. The film’s Tommy, Alfred Lutter, played Tommy in the pilot but was replaced by Philip McKeon. Ladd, who played Flo in the movie, joined the show later in its run as a different character when the Flo character (played by Polly Holliday) was spun off into her own series.

1984

Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

• December 5 – Beverly Hills Cop (USA, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films)
• December 7 – 2010: The Year We Make Contact (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• December 7 – City Heat (USA, The Malpaso Company)
• December 7 – Death Mask (USA, Art Theatre Guild)

The script for Beverly Hills Cop was pitched under the title Beverly Drive in 1981 as a straight action film. The pitch went nowhere until producer Don Simpson had a hit with Flashdance in 1983. Mickey Rourke was originally offered the role of Axel Foley, but when script revisions took longer than expected, he left to do another movie. Martin Scorsese and David Cronenberg were offered the director’s job but both turned it down. Sylvester Stallone was then offered the role of Foley, and he gave the script a dramatic rewrite which removed most of the humor that had been added to the original script. He also renamed the character Axel Cobretti. Stallone dropped out two weeks before production was to begin to focus on Rhinestone. The bulk of his script revision ideas were incorporated into his 1986 film Cobra. Eddie Murphy was hired two days later, which prompted more script rewrites as he felt it wasn’t funny enough. Other actors considered for the role of Foley include Richard Pryor, Al Pacino, and James Caan. Harrison Ford was offered the role but turned it down. The final draft of the screenplay was not completed until the first day of filming. The film’s budget was about $14 million, with $4 million for Murphy, and came in at around $13 million. Many of the night scenes were filmed in Pasadena, CA as Beverly Hills prohibited filming after 10:30 PM. The screenplay received an Oscar nomination, the score was BAFTA nominated, and the film and Murphy were nominated for Golden Globes.

2010: The Year We Make Contact is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and adapts Arthur C. Clarke’s 1982 novel 2010: Odyssey Two. Keir Dullea returns as astronaut Dave Bowman, and Douglas Rain reprises his role as the voice of HAL 9000. Clarke appears as a man on a park bench feeding pigeons outside the White House, only visible in the widescreen version of the film on home video. Early cropped, pan and scan VHS releases could not fit Clarke onto the screen. In addition, a Time magazine cover about the American–Soviet tension is briefly shown, in which the President of the United States is portrayed by Clarke and the Soviet Premier by Kubrick. Clarke did not want to be bothered with a film sequel to 2001, and Kubrick was not interested in directing, but Peter Hyams was and contacted both for their blessing. If Kubrick said no, the film would not have happened. Hyams in Hollywood communicated with Clarke in Sri Lanka via the pioneering new medium of email using Kaypro II computers and direct-dial modems. FX company Video Image (VIFX), which would become the in-house effects studio for 20th Century Fox, did its first work on the film. The film earned five Oscar nominations in technical categories: Art Direction, COstume Design, Makeup, Sound and Visual Effects.

Blake Edwards wrote the script for City Heat under the title Kansas City Jazz in the 1970s. He wrote it for himself, and wife Julie Andrews convinced him to film it, but Edwards was fired during pre-production and replaced with Richard Benjamin. Edwards was co-credited as a screenwriter under the name Sam O. Brown, a reference to his earlier film S.O.B. His horrible experience with the film even inspired him to write S.O.B. 2, which was never produced. With all the turmoil behind the scenes, stars Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds did not think it would be the film they would make together, and Eastwood was hurt by Edwards’ dismissal. But he was still cast as the lead for a $4 million salary. Reynold got hit in the face with a metal chair on the first day of filming, breaking his jaw and restricting him to a liquid diet, losing 30 lbs during the shoot, with the tabloids speculating he had AIDS. In a later interview, Benjamin disputed Reynolds’ on-set injury story and claimed he had actually fallen out of a makeup chair and his his jaw. Reynolds received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor for this film and Cannonball Run II.

Death Mask is based on an actual case of a boy found dead in a cardboard box in Philadelphia in 1957, a symbol of child abuse at its worst. The boy remained a John Doe until new DNA technology was able to identify him in 2022 as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli.

1994

• December 8 – No Worries (AUS, Palm Beach Pictures)
• December 9 – Disclosure (USA, Baltimore Pictures)
• December 9 – Drop Zone (USA, Nicita/Lloyd Productions)

No Worries was released in the US on April 21, 1995.

Disclosure is based on Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name. Crichton sold the movie rights for $1 million before the novel was published. Miloš Forman was originally attached to direct but left due to creative differences with Crichton. Barry Levinson and Alan J. Pakula were in contention to take over, with Levinson getting the job. Annette Bening was set to play Meredith but had to drop out when she became pregnant. Geena Davis and Michelle Pfieffer were under consideration, but Levinson cast Demi Moore. The character of Mark Lewyn was written specifically for Dennis Miller, slightly modified from the novel to fit Miller’s personality. The film’s visual effects and animation were created by Industrial Light and Magic. The film was marketed as the first Hollywood movie with major stars to address the topic of sexual harassment. The Warner Bros. press kit for the movie was the first to be produced on a floppy disk.

Steven Seagal was originally attached to star in Drop Zone for a rumored $15 million. Wesley Snipes took over the lead role. The film’s insurance policies prevented the cast from actually skydiving, but actor Michael Jeter did perform the tandem jump. The Douglass C-47 Skytrain used for the skydiving scenes is on display at the Valiant Air Command air museum in Titusville, Florida.

2004

Marvel Enterprises

• December 5 – Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again (USA, BC Productions)
• December 8 – Blade: Trinity (USA, Marvel Enterprises)
• December 10 – Ocean’s Twelve (USA, Village Roadshow Pictures)
• December 10 – The Phantom of the Opera (UK, Really Useful Films)

Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again was released direct to DVD in the US. The Phantom of the Opera received a limited release in the US on December 22 for awards consideration, then expanded nationwide on January 21, 2005.

Characters played by Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel in Blade: Trinity were also slated to appear in a spin-off film starring their characters. New Line Cinema suggested wrestler Triple H for the role of Jarko Grimwood, and while director David S. Goyer was sceptical, he was impressed by the wrestler’s comic timing and self-deprecation and expanded the role. The Apple equipment in the film was not product placement. Apple made it available with the option to purchase at 60% off. Wesley Snipes was not happy with the script or Goyer, who replaced Oliver Hirschbiegel (who left to make another film), often refusing to shoot scenes, forcing Goyer to use stand-ins and CGI to add his character to scenes. Snipes did not like Reynolds’ humor for the film, but thought it was perfect for Deadpool and enjoyed working with him on Deadpool & Wolverine.

The Phantom of the Opera is based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical of the same name, which in turn is based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, Le Fantôme de l’Opéra. The film was first announced in 1989, but production did not begin until 2002 due to Lloyd Webber’s and director Joel Schumacher’s busy schedules. Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson and Minnie Driver had singing experience, but Gerard Butler did not and was provided with lessons prior to filming. The performances were well-reviewed, but the film faced criticism for its deviations from the stage version (such as moving the mid-story falling chandelier scene to the film’s climax). Lloyd Webber hired Schumacher to direct because he liked his use of music in The Lost Boys. Original stage stars Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman were to reprise their roles on film when it was set to begin production in 1990. Lloyd Webber and Brightman were married at the time, but production was delayed because of their divorce, Schumacher’s schedule filled up, and the project languished in development hell throughout the 1990s. In 1997, Warner Bros. wanted John Travolta or Antonio Banderas for the lead, with Banderas undergoing vocal preparations and sang the role of the Phantom in the TV special Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration. The project did not restart until 2002 with Lloyd Webber’s company purchasing the film rights back from WB, with the studio given a first-look option for distribution. Hugh Jackman was considered for the lead but had scheduling conflicts with Van Helsing. Schumacher cast Butler based on his performance in Dracula 2000. Katie Holmes was a front-runner for the role of Christine and began to take vocal lessons in 2003, but she was replaced with Anne Hathaway in early 2004. Hathaway had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts with The Princess Diaries 2 and was replaced with Rossum. Broadway actor Ramin Karimloo, who would go on to play the Phantom in the West End, appears as the portrait of Gustave Daaé, Christine’s father. The film received three Oscar nominations for Art Direction, Cinematography and Original Song, and three Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress (Rossum) and Original Song.

2014

• December 5 – Comet (USA, Anonymous Content)
• December 5 – Life Partners (USA, limited, Haven Entertainment)
• December 5 – Murder of a Cat (USA, Seine Pictures)
• December 5 – Take Care (USA, Phase 4 Films)

Life Partners is the feature directorial debut of Susanna Fogel. The film was released to On Demand platforms in November 2014 ahead of its limited theatrical release. Leighton Meester got the role of Sasha after both Kristen Bell and Evan Rachel Wood became pregnant.

Jay Baruchel was cast as the lead in Murder of a Cat but was replaced by Fran Kranz in August 2012.