Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #242 :: March 13•19

Walt Disney Pictures

Many notable films made their debuts this week across the decades, including a 1925 film with an early Technicolor sequence, a 1935 Busby Berkeley musical, a 1945 sequel about a horse, a 1955 horror anthology, a 1965 answer to the James Bond films, a 1975 musical sequel with a reluctant leading lady, and a second musical based on a rock album, a 1985 comedy with a star who only wanted to direct, a 1995 horror sequel that was meant to be a prequel, a 2005 movie set on the ice, and a 2015 Disney fairy tale come to life. Scroll down to see all the films that premiered this week, and tell us if any of your favorites are on the list!

1925

March 15 – Fast Fightin’ (USA, Action Pictures)
March 15 – Heart of a Siren (USA, Associated Pictures Productions)
March 15 – Introduce Me (USA, Douglas MacLean Productions)
March 15 – One Year to Live (USA, First National Pictures)
March 15 – Riders of the Purple Sage (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
March 15 – Seven Chances (USA, Buster Keaton Productions)
March 15 – The Price of Pleasure (USA, Universal Pictures)
March 16 – Friendly Enemies (USA, Belasco Productions)
March 16 – The Air Mail (USA, Famous Players–Lasky Corporation)
March 16 – The Monster (USA, Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation)

Lost films: One Year to Live, The Price of Pleasure, Friendly Enemies

Survival status unknown: Fast Fightin’

Heart of a Siren, based on the Broadway play Hail and Farewell, is also known as Heart of a Temptress. It was one of star Barbara La Marr’s last movies. Prints are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, and Pacific Film Archive.

An incomplete print of Introduce Me survives with another print at Gosfilmofond. Riders of the Purple Sage has been preserved. Only one-half (four of eight reels) of a single print of The Air Mail exists today, stored at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The opening of Seven Chances were shot in early Technicolor. The film was based on the play of the same name by Roi Cooper Megrue. Star and director Buster Keaton hated the play but owed money to the producer and made the film to settle the debt. The film features the famous avalanche sequence, which Keaton felt saved the film.

The Monster is known for being an early prototype for the ‘old dark house’ movie, and sets a precedent for films with mad scientists and imbecilic assistants. The film has been broadcast on TCM.

1935

First National Pictures

March 13 – The Perfect Clue (USA, Larry Darmour Productions)
March 15 – Gold Diggers of 1935 (USA, First National Pictures)
March 15 – Public Opinion (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)
March 15 – Rainbow Valley (USA, Paul Malvern Productions)
March 15 – The Casino Murder Case (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
March 15 – The Cyclone Ranger (USA, Ray Kirkwood Productions)
March 15 – The Devil is a Woman (USA, Paramount Pictures)
March 15 – The Outlaw Tamer (USA, Empire Pictures)
March 16 – Let’s Live Tonight (USA, Columbia Pictures)
March 18 – It Happened in New York (USA, Universal Pictures)
March 18 – The Revenge Rider (USA, Columbia Pictures)

Gold Diggers of 1935 was the feature directorial debut of Busby Berkeley, who also choreographed. The film is best known for its famous ‘Lullaby of Broadway’ production number. The song was nominated for an Oscar, and Berkeley was nominated in the short-lived Best Dance Direction category. It was the fourth film in the ‘Gold Diggers’ series, and the first based on an original story.

The Casino Murder Case is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine, and was the ninth film in the ‘Philo Vance’ film series. The film marks the fifth screen role for Rosalind Russell, who considered the film and her performance ‘so bad’ and stated MGM forced her to do the movie. She related that her maid would tell her, ‘If you don’t behave … I’m going to tell people about that Casino Murder Case.’ William Powell and Myrna Loy were to have starred in the film but Powell was tired of playing Vance after four previous films and a short skit in Paramount on Parade.

The Devil is a Woman was the last Josef von Sternberg-Marlene Dietrich film collaboration for Paramount Pictures, as Sternberg’s contract was not renewed following production of the film. The studio’s new production manager, Ernst Lubitch, had seventeen minutes of footage, including a musical number with Dietrich singing ‘If It Isn’t Pain (It Isn’t Love)’, cut from the film, reducing the running time to 79 minutes. Upon the film’s release, the Spanish Embassy and US Department of State pressured Paramount to withdraw the film from circulation and stage a private burning of a ‘master print’ for the Spanish Ambassador in Washington D.C., but prints survived and continued to be screened. In October 1935 Spain formally requested Paramount cease international distribution of the film for a scene showing a Civil Guard drinking alcohol in a public cafe, and for depicting the national police as buffoons. The studio recalled prints in November 1935, and the movie was outlawed in Francoist Spain. The film was presumed lost for a time, but Sternberg provided a copy for a 1959 screening at the Venice Film Festival, and it then received a limited re-release in 1961.

Let’s Live Tonight was produced as part of an unsuccessful attempt to make British-German actress Lilian Harvey a major Hollywood star. She returned to Europe after making the film.

1945

March 14 – Rough Ridin’ Justice (USA, Columbia Pictures)
March 15 – The Man Who Walked Alone (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)
March 15 – Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
March 16 – The House of Fear (USA, Universal Pictures)
March 17 – Booby Dupes (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)
March 17 – Manhunt of Mystery Island (USA, serial, Republic Pictures)

The Man Who Walked Alone received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score (Karl Hajos).

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka is a sequel to 1943’s My Friend Flicka, and was adapted from the novel Thunderhead by Mary O’Hara, the second in a trilogy between My Friend Flicka and Green Grass of Wyoming. It was the first ‘Color by Technicolor’ feature to be shot entirely on 35mm film. Earlier Technicolor features used black and white negative film photographed behind color filters.

The House of Fear is a Sherlock Holmes horror film based on the 1891 short story ‘The Five Orange Pips’ by Arthur Conan Doyle. It is the tenth Holmes film with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

Booby Dupes is the 84th Three Stooges short from Columbia Pictures. It is a partial remake of the 1932 Laurel and Hardy short film Towed in a Hole. It is the final short of the Curly era directed by Del Lord.

Manhunt of Mystery Island was the 36th serial produced by Republic Pictures, and the penultimate 15-chapter serial released by the studio. The serial was re-edited into the 1966 feature film Captain Mephisto and the Transformation Machine. Three of the serial’s cliffhanger gags and set pieces are copied in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The serial’s working titles were Mystery Island and Manhunt.

1955

March 13 – Dial Red O (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)
March 15 – Contraband Spain (UK, Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas)
March 15 – Three Cases of Murder (USA, Wessex Film Productions)
March 18 – A Life at Stake (USA, Hank McCune Productions)
March 19 – Tight Spot (USA, Columbia Pictures)

Contraband Spain (known as Contrabando in Spain) was released in the US on April 10, 1958. Three Cases of Murder first opened in Montreal, Canada on December 3, 1954.

Three Cases of Murder is a horror omnibus film with three stories: ‘In the Picture’, ‘You Killed Elizabeth’ and ‘Lord Mountdrago’. Alan Badel appears in all three segments, and Eamonn Andrews introduces each. Though he gets top billing, Orson Welles did not appear until the third segment of the film, but his casting in the film meant it was released in the US before the UK. Welles began giving segment director George More O’Ferrall suggestions from the first day of filming, and by the third day he had taken over though he does not receive a director’s credit.

Tight Spot was originally titled Dead Pigeon, and was based on the play of the same name. The play featured just three characters, but characters mentioned in the play were added to the film. Ginger Rogers played against type as a ‘tough, street-smart gangster’s moll.’ The Academy Film Archive preserved Tight Spot in 1997.

1965

March 15 – The High Bright Sun (UK, The Rank Organisation)
March 15 – Major Dundee (Denmark, Jerry Bresler Productions)
March 18 – The Ipcress File (UK, Lowndes Productions Limited)
March 19 – Coast of Skeletons (South Africa, Towers of London Productions)

The High Bright Sun was released in the US in July 1966 as McGuire, Go Home! Major Dundee was released in the US on April 7, 1965. The Ipcress File was released in the US on August 2, 1965. Coast of Skeletons was released in the US on November 10, 1965.

Just before filming began on Major Dundee, new studio management at Columbia Pictures cut the bedget from $4.5 million to $3 million and removed 15 shooting days from the schedule. Director Sam Peckinpah was often drunk on the set and was said to be so abusive toward the cast that Charlton Heston had to threaten him with a cavalry saber to calm him down. Peckinpah also fired a large number of crew members for very trivial reasons throughout the shoot. Richard Harris clashed with Heston, and Harris collapse on set during the shoot due to his heavy drinking. Things became so dire that Heston worried Peckinpah would be fired, and he offered his salary in exchange for Peckinpah keeping his job and completing the film. The studio initially refused, but ultimately took Heston up on his offer. When the film was finished, it had gone $1.5 million over budget, which meant it cost as much as it was originally budgeted. The rough cut of the film was said to run more than four-and-a-half hours, and was initially edited down to 156 minutes, which was cut further to 123 minutes for the theatrical release. Slow motion battle scenes inspired by Seven Samurai were cut, as were scenes of explicit blood and gore, while a bombastic musical score was added over the protests of Peckinpah, as was the song ‘The Major Dundee March’ by Mitch Miller and His Sing-Along Gang. A ‘restored’ version was released in April 2005, which was actually the 136 minute producer’s cut, with a new musical score by Christopher Caliendo with a small studio orchestra to authentically sound the way Peckinpah may have approved if he was alive at the time.

The Ipcress File was intended to be a downbeat alternative to the James Bond films, and was the first of the ‘Harry Palmer’ series. Bond production designer Ken Adam also worked on the film, and Bond composer John Barry also composed the score. The film earned five BAFTA nominations, winning three: Best British Film, Best British Cinematography (Colour) and Best British Art Direction (Colour). The film was followed by two theatrical sequels in 1966 and 1967, and two made-for-television movies in 1995 and 1996, all with Michael Caine in the role of Harry Palmer. A new TV adaptation was broadcast on ITV in 2022 with Joe Cole as Palmer.

Coast of Skeletons is a sequel to 1963’s Death Drums Along the River. It uses the characters from Edgar Wallace’s 1911 novel Sanders of the River and Zoltán Korda’s 1935 film based on the novel, but placed in a totally different story.

1975

Rastar Pictures

March 13 – Shampoo (US, Persky-Bright / Vista)
March 13 – The Great Waldo Pepper (USA, Jennings Lang)
March 14 – Rancho Deluxe (USA, Elliott Kastner Productions)
March 14 – The Prisoner of Second Avenue (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
March 15 – Funny Lady (USA, Rastar Pictures)
March 15 – Mekagojira no gyakushû (Japan, Toho)
March 17 – In Celebration (USA, The American Film Theatre)
March 19 – The Yakuza (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
March 19 – Tommy (UK, Robert Stigwood Organisation Ltd.)

Mekagojira no gyakushû opened in the US in March 1978 as The Terror of Godzilla. The Yakuza first opened in Japan on December 21, 1974.

Shampoo marked the film debut of Carrie Fisher. The film earned four Oscar nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress for Lee Grant. It also received one BAFTA and five Golden Globe nominations.

During pre-production on The Great Waldo Pepper, director George Roy Hill and screenwriter William Goldman had a huge falling out in the middle of Goldman’s writing of the screenplay but they managed to complete the project. Frank Tallman flew the actual aircraft in the film. No models were used. Hill did not allow stars Robert Redford or Bo Svneson to use parachutes or safety harnesses during their flying scenes in order to have them feel what it was like to fly a vintage aircraft. Luckily no one was harmed.

During production of Rancho Deluxe in Livingston and Paradise Valley, Montana, Jeff Bridges met his future wife, Susan Geston, who was working as a waitress at a ranch. The Prisoner of Second Avenue was based on Neil Simon’s play of the same name which starred Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Vincent Gardenia. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft and Gene Saks. Sylvester Stallone appears in a brief role as a suspected mugger of Jack Lemmon’s character.

Funny Lady is a sequel to 1968’s Funny Girl, with Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif reprising their roles as Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein. Herbert Ross, who directed the musical sequences of the first film, directed. The film is a highly fictionalized account of Brice’s marriage to Billy Rose. Streisand originally balked at doing the film, even though she was under contract, and insisted it would take litigation to make her do it. However, she liked the script and agreed to do it without further coercion. Robert Blake, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were all considered for the role of Billy Rose, but Streisand said it came down to who the audience wanted to see her kiss, so James Caan got the part. Producer Ray Stark was unhappy with Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography, so he lured an ailing James Wong Howe out of retirement to complete the film. It proved to be his final project, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination. Columbia Pictures forced Ross to trim the film to 136 minutes before release, losing much of Ben Vereen’s performance, a recreation of Brice’s Baby Snooks radio show, and dramtic scenes with Brice and her daughter. The film earned a total of five Oscar and six Golden Globe nominations.

Mekagojira no gyakushû is the fifteenth film in the Godzilla franchise. The film was released in the UK under the title Monsters from an Unknown Planet. It is the least financially successful film of the series to this day. Toho prepared an English version of the film titled Terror of Mechagodzilla, which was dubbed into English but the ‘international version’ was never widely released in the US. When it was released as The Terror of Godzilla, it was heavily edited to obtain a G-rating. The uncut international version was shown on US television in 1978, with a new 10-minute prologue serving as a brief history of Godzilla. The television version was replaced with the theatrical edit in the mid-1980s, but carried the Terror of Mechagodzilla title. The film was released on VHS in 1994 with a run time that suggested it was the longer version, however it was the shorter, edited version. The longer version made its way to DVD in the mid-200s (and was shown on Monsters HD), with the TV prologue cropped for widescreen, and the TV version’s audio synced to the Japanese print.

Robert Aldrich wanted to direct The Yakuza, and while he thought the story idea was sensational, he felt the script was terrible and wanted a major rewrite. Writer Paul Schrader felt differently, but Aldrich thought if his choice of star, Lee Marvin, was cast he may have prevailed. Marvin and the studio disagreed over his fee so Robert Mitchum was cast instead. Aldrich had worked with Mitchum on The Angry Hills and felt the two were friends, but Mitchum did not want to work with Aldrich and he was dismissed. Sydney Pollack was then attached to direct, and he also wanted rewrites to soften the main character, but Schrader was unable to write what Pollack wanted and he was dismissed from the film, with Robert Towne taking over the rewrites.

Tommy director Ken Russell specifically requested The Who’s Roger Daltry play the lead in the film, over the wishes of Daltry’s own management. Ann-Margret was cast as Tommy’s mother because Russell wanted a ‘superb singer’. Mick Jagger was reportedly cast as The Acid Queen, but he wanted to sing three of his own songs so Tina Turner was cast instead. Pete Townshend wanted Tiny Tim to play the Pinball Wizard, but he was overruled by Russell. Elton John turned down the role, but producer Robert Stigwood held out until John agreed, on the condition that he could keep the gigantic Dr. Martens boots he wears in the scene. John later wore the boots in his music video for Nikita, which was directed by Russell. During the filming of a scene of Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed dancing inside the Gaiety Theatre on South Parade Pier, the pier caught on fire and smoke can be seen drifting in front of the camera in several shots. Russell used footage of the building fully ablaze during the scenes of the destruction of Tommy’s Holiday Camp by his disillusioned followers. The famous scene in which Ann-Margret’s character hallucinates that she is cavorting in detergent foam, baked beans, and chocolate reportedly took three days to shoot. Ann-Margret’s husband, Roger Smith, strongly objected to the scene in which she slithers around in melted chocolate. Ann-Margret received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, winning the Globe. Townshend was also Oscar nominated for Best Scoring. The film was nominated for the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Golden Globe, as well as the Globe for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture – Male for Daltry.

1985

March 15 – Lost in America (USA, The Geffen Company)
March 15 – Sylvester (USA, Rastar Pictures)
March 15 – The Aviator (USA, Mace Neufeld Productions)

Albert Brooks directed and starred in Lost in America, but he originally wanted Bill Murray for his role of David Howard.

1995

March 15 – Circle of Friends (USA, Price Entertainment)
March 17 – Bye Bye Love (USA, Ubu Productions)
March 17 – Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (USA, Polygram Filmed Entertainment)
March 17 – Losing Isaiah (USA, Paramount Pictures)

Circle of Friends was based on the 1990 novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy. Bye Bye Love‘s production costs were heavily underwritten by McDonald’s product placement. It was the last movie role for Ed Flanders.

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh was the second film in the Candyman franchise. Tony Todd reprised the title role, although the original concept was that the film was a prequel, and Candyman was presented as a sort of African American Dracula. The story would have had Candyman and Helen (Virginia Madsen) fall in love, but the studio didn’t want to make an interracial love story.

2005

Bridget Johnson Films

March 17 – Hating Alison Ashley (AUS, HAA Films)
March 18 – Eating Out (USA, limited, Ariztical Entertainment)
March 18 – Ice Princess (USA, Bridget Johnson Films)
March 18 – The Rider Named Death (USA, limited, Mosfilm)
March 18 – The Ring Two (USA, Dreamworks Pictures)

Hating Alison Ashley has no known US theatrical release date.

Hayden Panettiere did much of her own skating in Ice Princess, including a fast spin seen at the end of the regionals short program. Michelle Trachtenberg trained for eight months, and worked 20-hour days. She was on the ice longer than most of the other actors, but she had stunt doubles to perform the falls and some of the complex moves. One specific move had to be done by Trachtenberg due to the differences in build of her stunt double.

The Ring Two marks the debut of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, playing the younger version of Sissy Spacek’s character.

2015

March 13 – Cinderella (USA, Walt Disney Pictures)
March 13 – Cymbeline (USA, Benaroya Pictures)
March 13 – Home Sweet Hell (USA/Canada, limited, Darko Entertainment)
March 13 – It Follows (USA, Animal Kingdom)
March 13 – Muck (USA, limited, WithAnO Productions)
March 13 – Run All Night (USA, Vertigo Entertainment)
March 13 – Suite Française (UK, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels)
March 13 – The Cobbler (USA, Next Wednesday Productions)
March 13 – X/Y (UK, Origin Pictures)

Home Sweet Hell first premiered on the internet in the US on February 3, 2015. Suite Française first opened in Italy on March 12, 2015, and premiered on the Lifetime cable network in the US on May 22, 2017, earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition.

Cate Blanchett was the first actor to sign on to Cinderella. Emma Watson had entered negotiations for the title role but a deal fell through as the character did not resonate with her (Watson later went on to play Belle in Beauty and the Beast). Margot Robbie also tested for the role, which ultimately went to Lily James (who originally auditioned for the role of Anastasia). As with Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter was the first and only choice for the Fairy Godmother. Nine versions of Cinderalla’s ball gown were made, each with more than 270 yards of fabric and 10,000 crystals. It took 18 tailors and 500 hours to make each dress. The wedding dress was made of silk-organza and was hand-painted. While James was being photographed in the dress, she stood too close to an electric heater and the dress caught fire. The top later had to be redone because only one dress had been created due to time and budget constraints. The glass slipper was made of crystal since glass doesn’t sparkle, with eight pairs made by Swarovski, though none were actually wearable. James’ leather shoes were digitally altered to look like crystal. Swarovski also provided more than 7 million crystals that were used in costumes and 100 tiaras for the ball scene. The costume design was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA.

Cymbeline is also known as Anarchy. Home Sweet Hell was originally titled North of Hell. The film received a Razzie nominations for Katherine Heigl as Worst Actress.

Muck was the directorial debut of Steve Wolsh. Funding was partially raised through a Kickstarter campaign. The film had its premiere at The Playboy Mansion (2012 Playmate of the Year Jaclyn Swedberg appears in the film).

Run All Night was originally titled The All-Nighter, but when director Jaume Collet-Serra became attached the title was changed. It was the third collaboration between Collet-Serra and star Liam Neeson.

The Cobbler was nominated for two Razzie Awards — Worst Actor (Adam Sandler), and Worst Screen Combo (Sandler and any pair of shoes).