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EMI Films
With a long list of new films premiering this week, there are surprisingly few that have become classics or are fondly remembered, and even fewer that got any awards recognition … not even Razzies! A 1925 silent is better remembered as a 1942 remake. 1935 produced a film based on an unfinished novel, and featured one of the last performances from its leading actor. 1945 and 1955 had films from a popular comedy duo, while 1965 had the final performance from an actor perhaps better known at the time for a TV sitcom. A 1975 film introduced an actor who would go on to great acclaim and fame, while a 1985 film was the last from an acclaimed director. 1995 saw John Carpenter venture into Lovecraftian territory, 2005 gave Jet Li a well-reviewed action film, and 2015 had a film that included footage of a tragic real-life incident, much to the producer’s surprise. Scroll down to see the films released this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.
1925
- January 30 – On Thin Ice (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 31 – The Mad Marriage (USA, Rosemary Films)
- February – A Daughter of Love (UK, Stoll Picture Productions)
- February – Money Isn’t Everything (UK, Stoll Picture Productions)
- February – We Women (UK, Stoll Picture Productions)
- February 1 – Dick Turpin (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
- February 1 – Fair Play (USA, William Steiner)
- February 1 – Pampered Youth (USA, Vitagraph Company of America)
- February 1 – The Fearless Lover (USA, Perfection Pictures)
- February 1 – The Greatest Love of All (USA, George Beban Productions)
- February 1 – The Night Ship (USA, Gotham Productions)
- February 1 – Who Cares (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- February 2 – Forty Winks (USA, Famous Players–Lasky Corporation)
- February 2 – The Devil’s Cargo (USA, Famous Players–Lasky Corporation)
- February 5 – The Reckless Sex (USA, Phil Goldstone Productions)
A Daughter of Love, Money Isn’t Everything and We Women have no known US theatrical release dates.
Lost films: On Thin Ice, The Mad Marriage, Pampered Youth, The Fearless Lover, The Night Ship, Forty Winks
Status unknown: A Daughter of Love, Money Isn’t Everything, We Women, Fair Play, The Greatest Love of All, The Devil’s Cargo
The screenplay for On Thin Ice survives at the Library of the University of Southern California.
A young Carole Lombard filmed several scenes for Dick Turpin, which ended up on the cutting room floor. Prints of the film survive at the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection, Cinemateket-Svenska filminstitutet (Stockholm), and two different versions in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Pampered Youth is an adaptation of the 1918 novel The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. It was one of the final films produced by Vitagraph Studios before the firm was absorbed into Warner Bros. Though the full feature is lost, a 28-minute abridgement survives and it was included on the Criterion edition of The Magnificent Ambersons Blu-Ray release.
A print of Who Cares is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.
1935
- January 30 – Sweepstake Annie (USA, Liberty Pictures)
- February – Breakers Ahead (UK, Anglo-Cosmopolitan Productions)
- February – Outlaw Rule (USA, Willis Kent Productions)
- February – The Morals of Marcus (UK, Julius Hagen Productions)
- February 1 – A Shot in the Dark (USA, Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation)
- February 1 – Arizona Bad Man (USA, Willis Kent Productions)
- February 1 – Coyote Trails (USA, Reliable Pictures Corporation)
- February 1 – Enchanted April (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
- February 1 – Home on the Range (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- February 1 – North of Arizona (USA, Reliable Pictures Corporation)
- February 1 – Northern Frontier (USA, Conn Pictures Corporation)
- February 1 – Six Gun Justice (USA, Ray Kirkwood Productions)
- February 1 – Texas Terror (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)
- February 1 – The Dictator (France, Toeplitz Productions Ltd.)
- February 1 – Wings in the Dark (USA, Paramount Pictures)
- February 1 – Women Must Dress (USA, Mrs. Wallace Reid Productions)
- February 2 – Red Hot Tires (USA, First National Pictures)
- February 2 – Under Pressure (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
- February 2 – Wolf Riders (USA, Reliable Pictures Corporation)
- February 3 – Blazing Guns (USA, Willis Kent Productions)
- February 4 – The Mystery of Edwin Drood (USA, Universal Pictures)
- February 5 – Lottery Lover (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
Breakers Ahead has no known US theatrical release date. The Morals of Marcus did not receive a US theatrical release, but was screened at the Berkeley Art Museum on June 30, 1985. The Dictator was released in the US on May 31, 1935 as Loves of a Dictator.
Breakers Ahead was filmed as a quota quickie, and is also known as The Lady of Pendower. Enchanted April was based on the 1922 novel The Enchanted April, and was filmed again in 1991. Amelia Earhart was a consultant on Wings in the Dark, which was notable for its aerial photography. A print of Red Hot Tires is preserved at the Library of Congress. Under Pressure is also known as East River and Man Lock.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is based on the unfinished 1870 novel by Charles Dickens. It was one of the last films to feature leading man David Manners before he quit acting.
1945
- January 31 – Roughly Speaking (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- January 31 – The Suspect (USA, Universal Pictures)
- February – High Powered (USA, Pine-Thomas Productions)
- February 1 – Sagebrush Heroes (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- February 2 – Here Come the Co-Eds (USA, Universal Pictures)
- February 3 – His Brother’s Ghost (USA, Sigmund Neufeld Productions)
- February 3 – What a Blonde (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
- February 5 – Meet Sexton Blake! (UK, Strand Film Company)
Meet Sexton Blake! made its US debut on television on August 28, 1951.
High Powered was originally titled High Man. Lou Costello was a real-life basketball star in high school, and performed many of the trick shots in Here Come the Co-Eds himself, without special effects. His Brother’s Ghost is the 22nd film in the ‘Billy the Kid’ series starring Buster Crabbe.
1955
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Universal International Pictures
- January 31 – Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (USA, Universal International Pictures)
- February – Children Galore (UK, Grendon Films)
- February – The Gilded Cage (UK, Tempean Films)
- February – The Love Match (USA, Beaconsfield Productions)
- February – Windfall (UK, Mid Century Film Productions)
- February – Women’s Prison (USA, Bryan Foy Productions)
- February 1 – Ten Wanted Men (USA, Scott-Brown Productions)
- February 2 – Sabaka (USA, Frank Ferrin Productions)
- February 4 – Many Rivers to Cross (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
- February 4 – The Racers (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
Sabaka first opened in Finland on October 8, 1954. The Gilded Cage, The Love Match, and Windfall (aka Dangerous Money) have no known US theatrical release dates.
Universal wanted to change the title of Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops to Abbott and Costello in the Stunt Men because the studio felt the Keystone Kops were no longer relevant, but relented in October 1954. Lou Costello’s daughter Carole has a cameo appearance as a theater cashier, as do original Keystone Kops director Mack Sennett and three of the original actors.
1965
- February 1 – Young Fury (USA, limited, A.C. Lyles Productions)
Young Fury featured the final role of William Bendix, who died two months before the film was released.
1975
- January 30 – Akenfield (UK, Angle Films Limited)
- January 31 – The Spiral Staircase (UK, Raven Films)
- February – Country Blue (USA, Millstone Productions)
- February 1 – Le Orme (Italy, Cinemarte)
- February 2 – Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (USA, Gruskoff-Venture-Linson)
- February 5 – Report to the Commissioner (USA, Frankovich Productions)
Akenfield and The Spiral Staircase have no known US theatrical release dates. Le Orme is known in English as Footprints on the Moon and Primal Impulse, but has no known US theatrical release date.
The Spiral Staircase is a remake of the 1946 film of the same name, which was adapted from Ethel Lina White’s 1933 British novel Some Must Watch.
Jeff Bridges and Robert Blake were in talks to play the lead in Country Blue, but neither accepted due to budget limitations. Director Jack Conrad was faced with cancelling production altogether or playing the role himself, so he took the role. Dub Taylor improvised most of his comedy bits because he was having a good time and rarely got so much screen time.
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins was the second credited film for associate producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Report to the Commissioner marks the film debut of Richard Gere.
1985
- February – The Shooting Party (UK, Edenflow)
- February 1 – A Passage to India (UK, EMI Films)
The Shooting Party was released in the US on May 24, 1985. Paul Scofield was to play Sir Randolph Nettleby, but was seriously injured during the first day of filming. As the story takes place in October, filmmakers had to make a choice to delay production by a year or recast the role. James Mason had just completed Doctor Fischer of Geneva which allowed him to accept the role six weeks later.
A Passage to India was the final film of director David Lean, which was his first film in 14 years. The film earned 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Director and Actress (Judy Davis). It won Best Supporting Actress for Peggy Ashcroft, who at 77 was the oldest winner in the category at the time. Maurice Jarre also won his third Oscar in the Best Original Score category.
1995
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New Line Cinema
- February – A Man of No Importance (USA, A Little Bird Production)
- February 1 – Roses Are Red (AUS, short, Australian Film Television and Radio School)
- February 3 – Boys on the Side (USA, Alcor Films)
- February 3 – In the Mouth of Madness (USA/Canada, New Line Cinema)
- February 3 – The Jerky Boys: The Movie (USA, Caravan Pictures)
- February 3 – The Secret of Roan Inish (USA/Canada, Jones Entertainment Group)
Roses Are Red has no known US theatrical release date. Boys on the Side was director Herbert Ross’ final film.
In the Mouth of Madness is the third in what director John Carpenter calls his ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’ after The Thing and Prince of Darkness. Carpenter had originally passed on the project when it was offered to him in the late 1980s. Mary Lambert was attached to direct after New Line announced the project in 1989. Carpenter finally signed on in December 1992.
The UCLA Film and Television Archives digitally restored The Secret of Roan Inish in 2020.
2005
- February 2 – The Magic Roundabout (France, Action Synthese)
- February 2 – Unleashed (France, EuropaCorp)
- February 4 – Boogeyman (USA, Screen Gems)
- February 4 – The Wedding Date (USA, Gold Circle Films)
The Magic Roundabout was released in the US on March 24, 2006 as Doogal. Unleashed was released in the US and Canada on May 13, 2005.
The Magic Roundabout was based on a stop-motion animated TV series, but the film used CGI animation. For the US release the film was redubbed from the UK release with only Ian McKellan’s performance retained. Kylie Minogue redubbed her part for the US version.
2015
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Insurge Pictures
- January 30 – Black or White (USA/Canada, BlackWhite)
- January 30 – Project Almanac (USA/Canada, Insurge Pictures)
- January 30 – The Loft (USA, De Vijver Media)
- January 30 – Wild Card (USA/Canada, limited, Current Entertainment)
The Loft first opened in Belgium on October 15, 2014. Wild Card first opened in Belgium on January 14, 2015.
Project Almanac was the directorial debut of Dean Israelite. The final edit featured two seconds of a real plane crash, which Paramount claimed was footage of a 2009 crash while the Air Force Times said it was nearly identical to a 1994 incident at Fairchild Air Force Base, which two of the victims’ families corroborated. Michael Bay apologized and stated he thought it was a special effects shot and asked the studio to remove the footage from the film.
The Loft is a remake of the 2008 Dutch-language Belgian film Loft. Both versions were directed by Erik Van Looy, with Matthias Schoenaerts appearing in the same role in both films.
Wild Card is based on the 1985 novel Heat by William Goldman, and is a remake of the 1986 adaptation that starred Burt Reynolds.