Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
April is a kind of limbo month for new movies. It’s past the winter doldrums, but just before the summer season kicks in (now in May in the modern era … and there really was no summer season for movies until 1975). So there are quite a few movies being released in the earlier part of the decade but fewer as we get closer to the present. Of note, one 1925 film featured a solo appearance by an actor better known for working, briefly, with his famous brothers. 1935 and 1945 had films with the same title and based on the same material (and the title will show up again next month in another decade). A 1955 film introduced a new Tarzan actor, a 1965 film was the last in black-and-white for a Hollywood star, and a 1975 film got tied up in legal issues and was not seen for thirty years. A 1985 true story was filmed in the actual location where it was set, a 1995 movie paired two TV stars and started a new film franchise, a 2005 film inadvertently captured an unexpected sports victory while another film became one of Hollywood’s biggest bombs, and a 2015 film featured the last performance of its star gone too soon. Scroll down to see all the films that were released this week across the decades and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.
1925
- April 4 – On the Go (USA, Actions Pictures)
- April 5 – Gold and the Girl (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
- April 5 – Percy (USA, Thomas H. Ince Corporation)
- April 5 – School for Wives (USA, Victory Pictures)
- April 5 – Straight Through (Universal Pictures)
- April 5 – That Devil Quemado (USA, Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation)
- April 5 – The Sky Raider (USA, Encore Pictures)
- April 6 – A Kiss in the Dark (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
- April 6 – Code of the West (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
- April 6 – The Awful Truth (USA, Elmer Harris Productions)
- April 7 – Dangerous Odds (USA, Independent Pictures)
- April 7 – Wasted Lives (USA, Banner Productions)
Dangerous Odds was released in the UK on November 8, 1926.
Lost films: Percy, School for Wives, The Sky Raider, Code of the West
Status unknown: On the Go, Gold and the Girl, Straight Through, That Devil Quemado, Dangerous Odds, Wasted Lives
School for Wives featured an early role for future star Brian Donlevy. The Sky Raider starred Charles Nungesser, a real French flying ace and World War I war hero. Nungesser would fly over theaters where the film was being shown and make personal appearances. The film was shown extensively between 1927 and 1929 after Nungesser on May 8, 1927 disappeared while attempting a transatlantic flight.
A Kiss in the Dark was considered lost for decades until two of its six reels were discovered by a private collector. The film is notable for the appearance of Zeppo Marx, credited under his birth name Herbert. It was the only film in which he starred without his famous brothers. (Harpo had made his solo film debut three months earlier in Too Many Kisses.) Neither of the recovered reels feature Marx.
The Awful Truth was remade in 1937 with sound. A print survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
1935
- April 3 – Million Dollar Haul (USA, Weiss Brothers Artclass Pictures)
- April 3 – The Drunkard (USA, Weiss Brothers Artclass Pictures)
- April 4 – The Pecos Kid (USA, William Berke Productions Inc.)
- April 5 – Brewster’s Millions (USA, Herbert Wilcox Productions)
- April 8 – My Heart is Calling (UK, Cine-Allianz Tonfilmproduktions GmbH)
- April 9 – Wagon Trail (USA, William Berke Productions Inc.)
The Drunkard is based on the 1844 stage melodrama of the same name by William H. Smith. Brewster’s Millions is based on the 1902 novel and subsequent 1906 play, with the action relocated from the United States to Britain. My Heart is Calling is the English-language version of the German film My Heart Calls You and the French film Mon cœur t’appelle.
1945
King Brothers Productions
- April 5 – Earl Carroll Vanities (USA, Republic Pictures)
- April 5 – Escape in the Fog (USA, Columbia Pictures)
- April 6 – Dillinger (USA, King Brothers Productions)
- April 6 – G.I. Honeymoon (USA, Lindsley Parsons Productions)
- April 7 – Brewster’s Millions (USA, Edward Small Productions)
- April 7 – God Is My Co-Pilot (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Earl Carroll Vanities refers to the real-life revue The Earl Carroll Vanities, but the film is not related to Earl Carroll Sketchbook, a film that would be released the following year.
Dillinger was the first major film to star Lawrence Tierney. The film features a smoke-bomb bank robbery edited into the film from the 1937 Fritz Lang film You Only Live Once. At the time, all of the major studios had agreed to not make movies glorifying gangsters by name, but Monogram was not part of the group. Louis B. Mayer asked producer Frank King to destroy the negative, but he refused when Mayer offered no compensation. This information is dubious, however, as 20th Century Fox released real life gangster film Roger Touhy, Gangster a month before Monogram announced Dillinger. The Hays Office did enact a prohibition on real life gangster films in August 1945 after the Touhy and Dillinger projects to prevent a new cycle of gangster films building on the popularity of the previous films. The film earned an Oscar nomination for its Original Screenplay, a first for Monogram.
G.I. Honeymoon received an Oscar nominations for its Original Score. Brewster’s Millions, another adaptations of the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon and the subsequent smash-hit play adaptation by Byron Ongley and Winchell Smith, was also Oscar nominated for its Original Score. Garry Moore was originally cast as Michael Michaelovich but was replaced after one day with Mischa Auer. God Is My Co-Pilot was filmed with the cooperation of the US Army Air Force.
1955
- April 4 – Man Without a Star (UK, Universal International Pictures)
- April 7 – Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (USA, Sol Lesser Productions)
- April 8 – Vom Himmel gefallen (West Germany, Trans-Rhein Film)
- April 9 – Escape to Burma (USA, Filmcrest Productions)
Man Without a Star was released in the US on April 27, 1955. Vom Himmel gefallen was released in the US in September 1955 as Special Delivery.
Man Without a Star was remade as a 1968 TV movie titled A Man Called Gannon. In the scenes where Kirk Douglas’s character is standing next to the cattle train, the car’s identification marks state it was built in December 1923 (BLT 12-23) which was well after the film’s late 1800s time period.
Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle featured Gordon Scott in his first appearance as Tarzan. It was the last of twelve Tarzan movies released by RKO before the rights reverted back to MGM, and it was the eighteenth Tarzan film overall. Vom Himmel gefallen was filmed simultaneously in English and German versions.
1965
- April 3 – The Man from Button Willow (USA, Eagle Animation Studios)
- April 6 – In Harm’s Way (USA, Otto Preminger Films)
- April 6 – Mara of the Wilderness (USA, Unicorn Films)
- April 8 – Indian Paint (USA, Eagle American)
Dale Robertson provided the original story for The Man from Button Willow, voices the lead character Justin Eagle, and appears in a live-action prologue as himself. He also financed the film.
In Harm’s Way was one of the last black-and-white World War II epics, and John Wayne’s last black-and-white film. Wayne’s low-key performance has been speculated to be due to his illness with lung cancer, which was diagnosed shortly after filming, undergoing surgery a month later to remove his left lung and two ribs. Many of the non-military costumes and hairstyles worn by the women throughout the film were contemporary to the mid-1960s period during which the film was made, rather than of the early 1940s. The film’s cinematography earned an Oscar nomination. Patricia Neal received a 1966 BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress.
1975
- April 9 – The Passenger (USA, Compagnia Cinematografica Champion)
The Passenger, the last film of Michelangelo Antonioni’s three-picture deal with Carlo Ponti and MGM, was originally released through United Artists in the US, but in a dispute settlement over another project, star Jack Nicholson received the film rights and kept it out of circulation until Sony Pictures Classics offered to remaster and re-release the film in 2005.
1985
- April 3 – Alamo Bay (USA, Delphi IV Productions)
Alamo Bay is about a Vietnam veteran who clashes with Vietnamese immigrants who move to his Texas bay hometown. The movie was filmed on location in Rockport-Fulton Beach, Texas where the actual violent incidents had taken place.
1995
- April 7 – 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (USA, Sheen Productions)
- April 7 – A Goofy Movie (USA, Walt Disney Pictures)
- April 7 – An Awfully Big Adventure (UK/Finland, BBC Film)
- April 7 – Bad Boys (USA, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films)
- April 7 – Don Juan DeMarco (USA, American Zoetrope)
An Awfully Big Adventure was released in the US on July 21, 1995.
3 Ninjas Knuckle Up director Simon Sheen was a pseudonym for Shin Sang-ok. The film was shot in 1992, the same year 3 Ninjas was released, but did not open in the US until 1995.
A Goofy Movie is based on the TV series Goof Troop, taking place three years after the events of the series. Tevin Campbell and Pauly Shore have uncredited voice cameos. Character actor Pat Buttram, best known for his role on Green Acres, is featured in his final film role as the emcee at Lester’s Possum Park. Wayne Allwine, the third official voice of Mickey Mouse, also has a cameo while his screen partner Donald Duck remains silent. The movie was the feature film directorial debut for Disney story artist and animator Kevin Lima, who went on to direct the Disney films Tarzan (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000) and Enchanted (2007).
Bad Boys was the feature directorial debut for Michael Bay. New York was the film’s original setting but it was changed to Miami. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer originally envisioned Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz in the lead roles, the project was set up at Disney’s Touchstone Pictures and the title was Bulletproof Hearts. Disney put the project into turnaround and sold it to Columbia Pictures. Arsenio Hall was approached for the role of Lowrey, and later said turning down was the worst mistake he’d ever made. Will Smith eventually got the role. Both Smith and co-star Martin Lawrence were starring in their own hit TV shows at the time, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin, respectively, and filming had to go relatively quickly during their production hiatuses so they could get back to work on time. Bay did not like the script and encouraged Smith and Lawrence to improvise to make a scene better. At the end of the film, Smith was supposed to say ‘I love you, man’ to Lawrence to sum up the characters’ friendship but he refused, leading to an argument between Smith and Bay that lasted half of the production day. With the crew ready to pack up and leave, Bay told Smith to do whatever he wanted and Smith had a change of heart and said the line.
Don Juan DeMarco‘s theme song, ‘Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?’, performed by Bryan Adams, was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award for Best Original Song.
2005
J.K. Livin Productions
- April 6 – Yasmin (France, Parallax Independent)
- April 8 – Bullet Boy (UK, BBC Film)
- April 8 – Fever Pitch (USA, Flower Films)
- April 8 – I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (AUS, documentary, Hatchling Productions)
- April 8 – Millions (Italy, Mission Pictures)
- April 8 – Sahara (USA, J.K. Livin Productions)
- April 9 – Chrystal (USA, limited, Chrystal Productions)
Yasmin was screened in the US at the Seattle International Film Festival, but did not receive a theatrical release. Bullet Boy premiered on DVD in the US on August 8, 2006. I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan has no known US theatrical release date. After receiving a limited US theatrical release on March 11, 2005, Millions expanded on April 29.
Fever Pitch was released as The Perfect Catch outside North America. It is a remake of the 1997 British film Fever Pitch, adapted from the 1992 book by Nick Hornby which was about soccer, not baseball. Both films feature real-life, dramatic sporting victories, with the American film including the unexpected 2004 World Series Championship win by the Boston Red Sox, which occurred while the film was in production. The original plot assumed the Red Sox would lose in the playoffs, forcing the rewriting of the film’s ending. Stars Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore were brought to the stadium in character for Game 4 of the series when the Red Sox were on the verge of a sweep. When the final out was made and the game was won, live Fox TV cameras caught the actors running onto the field as Lindsay and Ben, kissing to celebrate. Gwyneth Paltrow was originally attached to play Lindsay, but she felt the script was mediocre and dropped out.
Director Danny Boyle had wanted to make Millions as a musical, with Noel Gallagher writing songs for the movie, but was not confident enough to move forward with that idea.
Sahara ended up being more well-known for its production issues which doubled the budget from $80 million to $160 million (not including an additional $61 million for distribution expenses), and a series of lawsuits. Star Matthew McConaughey was paid $8 million, while Penélope Cruz earned $1.5 million, and Rainn Wilson was paid just $45,000. One 46-second action sequence cost $2 million to film but ended up not making the final cut. Ten screenwriters polished the script and four received credit, adding $3.8 million to the budget. Uncredited writer David S. Ward earned $500,000 for his work. Lawsuits involved some shady accounting which showed some items in the budget were bribes to the Moroccan government which were legally questionable under American law. McConaughey drove his own Airstream trailer, painted with the Sahara movie poster on both sides, across the country with stops at military bases and events like the Daytona 500 to promote the film. The film was intended to be the first of a series based on Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels. The film has been regarded as one of the biggest bombs in Hollywood history.
2015
Original Film
- April 3 – Furious 7 (USA, Original Film)
- April 3 – That Guy Dick Miller (USA, documentary, Autumn Rose Productions)
- April 8 – Dark Places (France, Exclusive Media Group)
Furious 7 was first released in Croatia on March 26, 2015. That Guy Dick Miller first opened in Canada on March 27, 2015. Dark Places received a digital release in the US on June 18, 2015.
Furious 7 was the last film in the franchise to feature Paul Walker, who died in a car crash off set during production of the film in November 2013. Production was suspended indefinitely so cast and crew could deal with the tragedy and the story be reconfigured, and did not resume until April 2014 with Walker’s brothers Caleb and Cody standing in to complete his remaining scenes. The accident and shutdown caused the film’s release to be delayed. The film was to have originally been shot simultaneously with Fast & Furious 6, but Furious 7 did not begin production until after 6 was completed due to weather issues at the locations. Justin Lin was to have directed both films but dropped out because he would have had to start production on 7 while still doing post-production on 6 and did not want the quality of the first film to suffer. Later interviews with Lin suggested the sixth film was always meant to be his last with the franchise. James Wan was hired to direct Furious 7. Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop was hired to recreate Paul Walker’s likeness, but the quality of the material that existed of Walker’s likeness made the job difficult. Once his brothers came on board, their similarities to him made it easier to create full body scans of them rather than recreating Walker’s body from scratch. 350 visual effects shots show his face superimposed over his brothers or actor John Brotherton. 260 of those used a CGI face, and 90 reused actual footage of his face from outtakes or older footage. The film received a Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for the original song ‘See You Again’.
Funding for documentary That Guy Dick Miller was raised through a Kickstarter campaign. While Dark Places received mostly negative reviews, Gillian Flynn, who wrote the novel upon which the film is based, announced in January 2024 that a limited series based on the novel was in development for HBO.