Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #254 :: June 5•11

A few notable films were released in various decades this week over the last century, beginning with a 1935 Alfred Hitchcock classic. 1954 produced a wartime documentary that gave audiences the opportunity to see a key event in color for the first time. 1965 had an action-fantasy film with a star whose voice had to be completely dubbed. 1975 produced one of a popular director’s favorite films, depite the hardships that came with making it, while another film put a young, up-and-coming starlet in a questionable position. 1985 had a so-bad-it’s-good movie that capitalized on the 80s fitness craze, and a family adventure film that has become a cult classic. 1995 marked the moment a movie premiered on the internet for the first time, 2005 had one animated movie with a message, and an action film that brought two stars together in real life, while 2015 took a horror franchise in a new direction, turned an action star into an unlikely comic genius, and documented the rise and fall of a recording star who burned too bright. Scroll down to see all the films that premiered this week and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1925

• June 7 – Every Man’s Wife (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• June 7 – Hearts and Spurs (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
• June 7 – I’ll Show You the Town (USA, Universal Pictures)
• June 7 – The Man Without a Conscience (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
• June 7 – The White Monkey (USA, Associated Pictures Productions)
• June 7 – Wildfire (USA, Distinctive Pictures)
• June 8 – Getting ‘Em Right (New York City, Rayart Pictures Corporation)

Unknown status: Every Man’s Wife, Hearts and Spurs, The Man Without a Conscience, Getting ‘Em Right

I’ll Show You the Town is preserved at the Cinematheque Royale de Belgique, Brussels.

An incomplete print of The White Monkey is located at the Library of Congress and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. The surviving material comprises reels 1–2 and 4–7, with the third reel missing.

Wildfire survives in the Library of Congress collection and at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

1935

• June 5 – Border Vengeance (USA, Willis Kent Productions)
• June 6 – The 39 Steps (London, Gaumont British Picture Corporation)
• June 7 – Adventurous Knights (USA, William Berke Productions Inc.)
• June 7 – The Nitwits (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)
• June 8 – Oil for the Lamps of China (USA, Cosmopolitan Productions)
• June 8 – Code of the Mounted (USA, Conn Pictures Corporation)
• June 10 – Doubting Thomas (USA, Fox Film Corporation)

The 39 Steps was released in the US on July 31, 1935, and went into general release in the UK on November 18, 1935. The story is loosely based on the 1915 novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. Casting British actors Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll was crucial to the film’s success as they had made pictures in Hollywood by this time and were fairly well known. Alfred Hitchcock’s signature cameo comes at about the seven minute mark where he and the screenwriter Charles Bennett can be seen walking past a bus that Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim board outside the music hall. Hitchcock can also be seen as a member of the music hall audience scrambling to leave after the shot is fired in the opening scene. In an unusual moment, the lead character apparently dies in the middle of the film, anticipating Hitchcock’s Psycho. The character however is not dead. Madeleine Carroll established the template for Hitchcock’s icy blonde female leads.

Adventurous Knights was a parody of The Prisoner of Zenda, and was intended to be the first of six films featuring former Our Gang actors, but was only the first of two films that were made.

The original title of The Nitwits was Mellodicks, which producer Lee Marcus found repugnant. He offered $50 to anyone who could come up with a better title, and while many suggestions were submitted, he settled on the final title which had been a generic title floating around the RKO lot for years.

Oil for the Lamps of China was loosely remade in 1941 as Law of the Tropics.

1945

• June 7 – 6th Marine Division on Okinawa (USA, documentary, United States Marine Corps)
• June 7 – Dangerous Partners (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• June 7 – Ten Cents a Dance (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• June 7 – To the Shores of Iwo Jima (USA, U.S. Government Office of War Information)
• June 8 – I’ll Tell the World (USA, Universal Pictures)
• June 8 – Wonder Man (USA, The Samuel Goldwyn Company)
• June 9 – Pillow to Post (USA, Warner Bros.-First National Pictures)

To the Shores of Iwo Jima featured the first color footage of the famous flag raising on Iwo Jima. Four cameramen were killed in action during production, and ten others were wounded. The film was Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Short.

Wonder Man was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song, Best Musical Score and Best Sound Recording, and won the Oscar for Best Special Effects.

1955

• June 5 – The Big Bluff (USA, Planet Filmplays)
• June 6 – Track the Man Down (UK, William N. Boyle Productions)
• June 9 – Adventures of Captain Africa, Mighty Jungle Avenger! (USA, serial, Sam Katzman Productions)

Track the Man Down was released in the US on January 27, 1956. It was the second film produced by Republic Pictures’ British division.

Adventures of Captain Africa, Mighty Jungle Avenger! was intended to be a sequel to The Phantom, but well into production the studio learned the rights to the comic strip had expired. King Features wanted more money than producers were willing to spend and negotiations broke down, so the script was rewritten and the Phantom costume was amended, with the character renamed Captain Africa, though still bearing a resemblance to The Phantom. The film consisted mostly of stock footage, and footage from The Phantom was reduced when it was no longer a sequel. Each of the 15 chapters uses only a few minutes of new footage. Serials were economized by a ‘cheater’ chapter which consisted of flashbacks to earlier chapters. The Adventures of Captain Africa uses four cheater chapters, likely necessitated by the hasty rewrites during production. It was Columbia’s last jungle serial.

1965

• June 5 – She (USA, Hammer Films)
• June 9 – Up from the Beach (USA, Panoramic Productions)
• June 10 – Repulsion (UK, Compton Films)

She first opened in the UK on April 18, 1965. Up from the Beach first opened in France on May 26, 1965. Repulsion was released in the US on October 3, 1965.

She was the first Hammer film built around a female star. Hammer pitched the project to Disney, which turned it down. It was then turned down by Universal, Joseph E. Levine and American International Pictures. A rewrite of the script helped secure financing through MGM, with triple the usual budget for a Hammer film. While the studio was pleased with the look of star Ursula Andress, they found her accent off-putting and had her entire role redubbed by Nikki van der Zyl, who had also dubbed Andress in Dr. No.

American soldiers in Up from the Beach were played by French soldiers as the US Department of Defense did not cooperate with the film. Darryl F. Zanuck was said to want the film to be made to use unused footage from The Longest Day, and then market the film as a sequel. The film featured Longest Day cast members Irina Demick (Zanuck’s girlfriend), Red Buttons and Fernand Ledoux.

Repulsion was director Roman Polanski’s first feature film in English, and only his second feature after Knife in the Water. Filming in London was a challenge for Polanski and star Catherine Deneuve as they were unfamiliar with the location and not fluent in English. Polanski was also a meticulous filmmaker, shooting a simple frame of Deneuve’s hand 27 times, contributing to the film running over budget by about £30,000. Polanski clashed with actress Yvonne Furneaux, and when confronted he stated it was because she was too nice and had to play a bitch, so he had to make her a bitch every day. Actor Ian Hendry would come back to the set drunk after lunch making him difficult to direct.

1975

• June 10 – Love and Death (USA, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions)
• June 11 – Night Moves (USA, Robert M. Sherman Productions)

Woody Allen’s experience shooting Love and Death outside of the US in France and Hungary forced him to contend with bad weather, ruined negatives, food poisoning, injuries and communication difficulties. He vowed to never shoot outside of the US again, but did start shooting films abroad starting with 1996’s Everyone Says I Love You.

Melanie Griffith was 16-years-old when she filmed her underwater nude scenes in 1973 for Night Moves, so the film’s release was delayed until 1975 (not that it made her any older when she filmed the scenes). Faye Dunaway turned down the role of Ellen to make Chinatown. Susan Clark was cast in her place. The film’s original title was Dark Tower, but was changed to avoid confusion with The Towering Inferno. Star Gene Hackman was BAFTA nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (shared with his performance in French Connection II).

1985

• June 7 – Perfect (USA, Delphi III Productions)
• June 7 – The Goonies (USA/Canada, Amblin Entertainment)

Perfect first opened in France on May 15, 1985. It received three Razzie Awards nominations: Worst Actor (John Travolta), Worst Supporting Actress (Marilu Henner) and Worst Screenplay.

The Goonies marked the film debuts of Josh Brolin and Kerri Green, and was the only feature made by Jeff Cohen. Principal photography on the film lasted for five months. Director Richard Donner enjoyed working with the child actors but also found them unruly when they were all together. To capture genuine surprise from the kids, Donner did not let them see One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship, which was a full-size set, until filming so their reactions were genuine. The shot in the film, however, was the second take because they were so overwhelmed by the sight it had to be reshot. The entire set was scrapped after filming as they could not find anyone who wanted it. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2017. A sequel has been confirmed to be in the works.

1995

• June 9 – Congo (USA/Canada, The Kennedy/Marshall Company)
• June 9 – Jack and Sarah (UK, Granada Film Productions)
• June 9 – Party Girl (USA, Party Productions)
• June 9 – Smoke (USA, NDF/Euro Space Productions)
• June 9 – Wigstock: The Movie (USA, The Samuel Goldwyn Company)

Jack and Sarah was released in the US on March 22, 1996.

Michael Crichton pitched the idea for Congo to 20th Century Fox in 1979 without a fleshed out story. He left the project when he learned a real gorilla could not be used to portray Amy. Stan Winston’s company created the gorilla suits and a hippo puppet. Frank Marshall eventually signed to direct. Delroy Lindo was supposed to shoot his scenes in the Dominican Republic, but ended up shooting in Pasadena, California. The film earned seven Razzie nominations with two for Amy the Gorilla (Worst New Star, Worst Supporting Actress). Tim Curry was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor, Marshall was nominated for Worst Director, and the movie was nominated for Worst Picture.

Party Girl was the first film to premiere on the internet, with the early transmission of the film limited to black-and-white. Star Parker Posey introduced the film live from the Point of Presence Company office. A TV series based on the film starring Christine Taylor and Swoosie Kurtz aired four of its six episodes in 1996 before being quickly cancelled.

The title sequence of Wigstock: The Movie was taken from a 20-minute 1987 documentary of the same title.

2005

• June 9 – Peaches (AUS, Peach Films Pty. Ltd.)
• June 10 – Howl’s Moving Castle (USA/Canada, limited, Howl’s Moving Castle Production Committee)
• June 10 – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (USA, New Regency Productions)
• June 10 – The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (USA/Canada, Troublemaker Studios)
• June 10 – The Honeymooners (USA, Deep River Productions)

Peaches has no known US theatrical release date. Howl’s Moving Castle first opened in Japan on November 20, 2004 as Hauru no ugoku shiro, and expanded to wide release in the US and Canada on June 17, 2005. Mr. & Mrs. Smith first opened in Kuwait on June 7, 2005. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D first opened in Algeria on June 3, 2005.

Howl’s Moving Castle was Hayao Miyazaki’s response in opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, and he felt the film would be poorly received in the US. Instead, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature film at the 78th Academy Awards, but lost to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The film was produced digitally, but the original backgrounds were drawn by hand and painted before being digitized, and the characters were also drawn by hand before scanning them into the computer.

Nicole Kidman was originally to star opposite Brad Pitt in Mr. & Mrs. Smith but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with The Stepford Wives, which also led to Pitt dropping out. Will Smith and Johnny Depp were considered as replacement for Pitt, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gwen Stefani were considered for Kidman’s replacement before Angelina Jolie signed, which also brought Pitt back to the project. John Leguizamo turned down the role of Eddie because the salary was just scale, a decision he later regretted. Vince Vaughn got the role. Parker Posey auditioned for the role of Jasmine, but Kerry Washington was cast.

Despite the prevalence of 3D technology at the time, director Robert Rodriguez chose to use the anaglyph (red/blue) process for The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, resulting in negative critical and audience reactions. Many of the concepts and much of the story were conceived by Rodriguez’s children. Miley Cyrus auditioned for a role with Taylor Lautner but began production on Hannah Montana and the role went to another actress.

The Honeymooners was an updated version of the 1950s television series, with a predominantly African-American cast. Roger Ebert was one of the few critics to give the film a positive review.

2015

• June 5 – Insidious: Chapter 3 (USA/Canada, Blumhouse Productions)
• June 5 – Love & Mercy (USA/Canada, limited, River Road Entertainment)
• June 5 – Spy (USA/Canada, Chernin Entertainment)
• June 10 – Test (France, Igor Tolstunov Production Company)
• June 11 – Amy (Netherlands, documentary, Film4)

Insidious: Chapter 3 first opened in Denmark on May 28, 2015. Love & Mercy first opened in Brazil on November 19, 2014, and expanded to a wide release in the US on June 19, 2015. Spy first opened in Indonesia on May 20, 2015. Amy was released in the US on July 10, 2015 following a limited release on July 3.

Insidious: Chapter 3 was the directorial debut of Leigh Wannell. Production on the film took place under the title Into the Further. While it was the third film in the series, it was centered around a different family and did not connect to the last scene in the second film.

Another film based on the life of Brian Wilson titled Love & Mercy was first proposed in 1988 with William Hurt as Wilson, and Richard Dreyfuss as Dr. Eugene Landy, who treated Wilson’s mental illness during the 1960s and 1980s. The project languished in development hell until two TV movies about the Beach Boys were aired and heavily criticized for their historical inaccuracies. A Wilson biopic was pitched again in 2006, but went nowhere. Director Bill Pohlad was obsessed with the 1997 box set The Pet Sounds Sessions, and financed the project with his own money, announcing production on June 23, 2011. The story covered three eras of Wilson’s life with Paul Dano, who learned to play piano for the role, as young Wilson. John Cusack played the older Wilson. The decision to cast two actors came from the notion that the older Wilson is a completely different person from his younger self. Cinematographer Robert Yeoman felt that the film should not be shot in Louisiana for tax purposes, and should not be captured digitally since the film is set in an ‘analog time’. Every scene in the 1960s was shot on Super 16 film with a warm, romantic look. The 1980s scenes were given a cold white and blue cast. The scenes of the Pet Sounds recording sessions were filmed documentary style with real musicians to play the session musicians in the actual studios where the Beach Boys recorded their music. Wilson performed at the film’s wrap party. Dano received a Golden Globe nomination for Supporting Actor, and Wilson was nominated for Best Original Song.

Zooey Deschanel was originally cast in Spy as Elaine Crocker but left the project. Allison Janney was the replacement. Nia Long was also cast but did not appear in the film. A prosthetic was used for the shot in which Julian Miller’s Nicola exposes himself. The production team had to present the prosthetics to the MPAA before the film was assigned a rating. The film earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Melissa McCarthy.

Test contains no dialogue. Amy received Best Documentary nominations from the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs.