Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #266 :: August 28 to September 3

The Summer season wraps up with a large burst of films in the early part of the century, and fewer releases in the second half. There were also few films that attracted awards attention, and several that featured first-timers in front of and behind the camera. The survival status of teh majority of the 1925 films is unknown, with at least one that is confirmed lost. 1935 gave us another pairing of a popular on-screen dance team, 1945 produced the only movie musical by a popular Broadway musical team, 1955 saw the MGM musical era begin to wane, 1965 brought an Agatha Christie mystery to the screen for the second time, 1975 saw the screen debut of a now beloved actor best-known for his classic sci-fi TV series, 1985 produced a cult classic fantasy film, 1995 had a film featuring the debuts of its director, writer and several now well-known actors, 2005 had a film hampered by budget woes, and 2015 had a single faith-based film that became a sleeper hit. 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

• August 28 – The Police Patrol (USA, Gotham Productions)
• August 30 – Graustark (USA, Joseph M. Schenck Productions)
• August 30 – Let’s Go, Gallagher (USA, Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation)
• August 30 – North of Nome (USA, Great Northern Film Company)
• August 30 – Pursued (USA, W.T. Lackey Productions)
• August 30 – The Love Hour (USA, Vitagraph Company of America)
• August 30 – The Lucky Horseshoe (USA, J. G. Blystone Productions)
• August 31 – Seven Days (New York City, Christie Film Company)
• September – After Marriage (USA, Sun Motion Pictures)
• September – Big Pal (USA, William Russell Productions Inc.)
• September – Cyclone Cavalier (USA, Harry J. Brown Productions)
• September – Sons of the Sea (UK, British Instructional Films)
• September – The Fear Fighter (USA, Harry J. Brown Productions)
• September – The Part Time Wife (USA, Gotham Productions)
• September – Three in Exile (USA, Phil Goldstone Productions)
• September 1 – The Knockout Kid (USA, Harry Webb Productions)
• September 1 – The New Champion (USA, Perfection Pictures)
• September 2 – Starlight, the Untamed (USA, Harry Webb Productions)

Seven Days entered general release in the US on September 20, 1925. Sons of the Sea has no known US theatrical release date.

The survival status of The Police Patrol, Let’s Go, Gallagher, North of Nome, Pursued, The Love Hour, Seven Days, After Marriage, Cyclone Cavalier, Sons of the Sea, The Fear Fighter, The Part Time Wife, The Knockout Kid, and Starlight, the Untamed is unknown. Three in Exile is considered a lost film.

An incomplete print of Graustark is held by the Library of Congress. A print of The Lucky Horseshoe is preserved at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. A restored copy of Big Pal exists at the Library of Congress. Sons of the Sea was the first film shot on location in Malta. A complete copy of The New Champion is held at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

1935

• August 29 – The Crouching Beast (London, John Stafford Productions)
• August 29 – Peg of Old Drury (London, Herbert Wilcox Productions)
• August 29 – Top Hat (New York City, RKO Radio Pictures)
• August 30 – Anna Karenina (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• August 30 – Here Comes the Band (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• August 30 – Redheads on Parade (New York City, Fox Film Corporation)
• September – Courage of the North (USA, Empire Pictures)
• September – Off the Dole (UK, Mancunian Film)
• September – Rough Riding Ranger (USA, Weiss Brothers Artclass Pictures)
• September – The Deputy Drummer (UK, St. George’s Pictures)
• September – The Private Secretary (UK, Julius Hagen Productions)
• September 1 – The Affair of Susan (USA, Universal Pictures)
• September 2 – Diamond Jim (USA, Universal Pictures)
• September 2 – Handle with Care (UK, George King Productions)
• September 2 – While Parents Sleep (London, British & Dominions Film Corporation)

Peg of Old Drury was released in the UK on February 3, 1926, and in the US on April 11, 1936. The Crouching Beast was released in the UK on January 6, 1936, and in the US on August 21, 1936. Top Hat opened in wide release in the US on September 6, 1935. Redheads on Parade entered wide release in the US on September 7, 1935. Off the Dole, The Deputy Drummer, The Private Secretary, Handle with Care and While Parents Sleep have no known US theatrical release dates. While Parents Sleep was released in the UK on February 17, 1936.

The Crouching Beast was a quota quickie distributed by RKO Pictures in the UK.

Top Hat was the third of nine films with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and was the most successful of the partnership (and Astaire’s second most successful film after Easter Parade). It was also RKO’s most profitable film of the 1930s. The film was one of six Astaire films featuring the music of Irving Berlin, more than any other composer contributing to an Astaire film. Lucille Ball has an uncredited role as a Flower Clerk. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1990.

Greta Garbo starred in both 1935’s Anna Karenina, and a 1927 version titled Love. Off the Dole cost £3,000 to make, and earned £80,000 at the box office. The Deputy Drummer was produced as a quota quickie for Columbia Pictures. The Affair of Susan was a sound remake of the 1928 silent film Lonesome.

Edward Arnold starred as the titular Diamond Jim, and would play Diamond Jim Brady again five years later in Lillian Russell. Arnold had actually met Brady twice before his death in 1917. This was the first, but certainly not the last, film written by Preston Sturges to feature William Demarest. Demarest would appear in nine additional Sturges films. Though uncredited, Ferde Grofe wrote a large amount of the film’s score.

While Parents Sleep was produced as a quota quickie, and is one of the few films directed by Adrian Brunel that survives.

1945

• August 30 – If a Body Meets a Body (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)
• August 30 – State Fair (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)
• August 31 – The Hidden Eye (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• September 1 – Frontier Fugitives (USA, Alexander-Stern Productions)
• September 1 – Swingin’ on a Rainbow (USA, Republic Pictures)
• September 2 – Rustlers’ Hideout (USA, Sigmund Neufeld Productions)
• September 3 – I Live in Grosvenor Square (UK, Herbert Wilcox Productions)
• September 3 – The Agitator (UK, British National Films)

I Live in Grosvenor Square first opened in London on May 15, 1945, and was released in edited form in the US on March 3, 1946 as A Yank in London. The Agitator was released in the US on August 18, 1949.

If a Body Meets a Body is the 86th of 190 Three Stooges shorts made by Columbia Pictures. The short is a remake of The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930), which also features actor Fred Kelsey as a detective. The short was the first produced after Curly Howard suffered a mild stroke, which is evident in his performance that is marred by slurred speech and slower timing.

State Fair is a musical remake of the 1933 film of the same name, with music by Rodgers & Hammerstein. The musical was remade in 1962 with Pat Boone and Ann-Margret. It is the only Rodgers & Hammerstein musical written directly for film, and it was adapted for the stage in 1969, and again for Broadway in 1996. The song ‘It Might as Well be Spring’ won the Oscar for Best Original Song. For the film, Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine, well-known big band singers, did their own singing, while Jeanne Crain’s and Dana Andrews’ singing voices were dubbed.

The Hidden Eye is a sequel to 1942’s Eyes in the Night. Frontier Fugitives was the 21st of 22 ‘Texas Rangers’ films from PRC. Swingin’ on a Rainbow features the final performance of Harry Langdon.

Rustlers’ Hideout was the 19th of 36 ‘Billy the Kid’ films starring Buster Crabbe. Crabbe had taken over the role from Bob Steele in 1940, and after 19 films the character’s name was changed to Billy Carson, with no other significant changes made to the series, including the participation of Al St. John as sidekick Fuzzy Jones.

The Agitator starred Billy Hartnell, who would later be better known as William Hartnell, the first Doctor Who.

1955

• August 29 – The Glass Tomb (UK, Hammer Films)
• August 31 – The Man from Laramie (USA, Columbia Pictures)
• September – One Way Out (UK, Major Pictures)
• September – The Girl Rush (USA, Paramount Pictures)
• September 1 – The Gun That Won the West (USA, Sam Katzman Productions)
• September 2 – Geordie (UK, Individual Pictures)
• September 2 – It’s Always Fair Weather (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• September 2 – One Desire (USA, Universal International Pictures)
• September 2 – The Left Hand of God (USA, Twentieth Century Fox)

The Glass Tomb first opened in the US on April 15, 1955 as The Glass Cage. One Way Out has no known US theatrical release date. Geordie was released in the US on October 7, 1956 as Wee Geordie.

The working title for The Glass Tomb was The Outsiders, but was changed to The Glass Cage ahead of its UK release.

The Man from Laramie, adapted from a serial published in the Saturday Evening Post, was one of the first Westerns filmed in color and CinemaScope to capture the vastness of the scenery. It was the fifth and final Western collaboration between director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart, although their final film together was Strategic Air Command. The two were to make a sixth Western, Night Passage, but a disagreement over the casting of Audie Murphy and Mann calling the film ‘trash’ led to Mann quitting the film, replaced by James Neilson. Mann later said Stewart only made the film so he could play his accordion, which angered Stewart so much they never spoke again.

The Gun That Won the West features a large amount of stock footage from 1944’s Buffalo Bill.

It’s Always Fair Weather features dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role. The film was not a commercial success, and was one of the last major dance-oriented MGM musicals, attributed to its unusually downbeat theme. It has been re-evaluated as a seminal film due to the inventive dance routines. The film was conceived as a sequel to On the Town, with the intention to reunite Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin for a Broadway show. Kelly liked the idea but persuaded Betty Comden and Adolph Green to rework it into a movie musical. MGM studio head Dore Schary, however, refused to hire Sinatra and Munshin mainly because Munshin’s popularity had declined, and Sinatra had a reputation for being difficult. It was also suggested that Sinatra declined to return wearing a sailor suit after recently winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for From Here to Eternity. As a result, the three main characters were rewritten as G.I. soldiers. Ultimately, Kelly chose fellow dancers Dan Dailey and Kidd. Kelly asked his frequent collaborator Stanley Donen to direct the film with him, which Donen was not keen on doing after his experience with Kelly on Brigadoon, suggesting Kelly was difficult to work with. Kelly also was not interested in filming in CinemaScope, which he felt was not suitable to screen dancing but Donen came up with an idea to use a three-way split screen for one scene to show the separate careers of the three leads. That required three cameras to move at the exact same speed so the actors would not be jumping across the frame. The film earned two Oscar nominations for Best Story and Screenplay and Best Scoring of a Motion Picture.

One Desire features a song performed by Gene Boyd backed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra that was written by an uncredited Henry Mancini.

1965

• September – Devils of Darkness (UK, Planet Film Productions)
• September – Gonks Go Beat (UK, Titan Film Productions)
• September – One Way Wahine (USA, Continental Pictures)
• September – Ten Little Indians (Austria, Tenlit Films Ltd.)
• September 1 – Billie (USA, Chrislaw Productions)
• September 1 – The Great Sioux Massacre (USA, Leon Fromkess-Sam Firks Productions)

Devils of Darkness first opened in the US on March 31, 1965. Gonks Go Beat has no known US theatrical release date. Ten Little Indians was released in the US on February 9, 1966.

Devils of Darkness was the last feature film directed by Lance Comfort. Gonks Go Beat has been described as ‘the Plan 9 from Outer Space of film musicals.’

Ten Little Indians is the second film version of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, and the first to show the murders on screen. Christopher Lee (uncredited) provided the pre-recorded gramophone voice of ‘Mr UN Owen’.

The Great Sioux Massacre, directed by Sidney Salkow, re-uses action sequences from Salkow’s 1954 Western, Sitting Bull, although the locations used in the film do not match the re-used footage. Faux Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody portrayed Crazy Horse, a role he also played in 1936’s Custer’s Last Stand. He was also the technical adviser on the film.

1975

• August 28 – Down the Wind (AUS, Chrysalis Films)
• August 29 – 92 in the Shade (USA, ITC)
• August 29 – Hennessy (UK, American International Pictures)
• September – Gone with the West (USA, Cougar Productions)
• September 1 – The Hostages (UK, Eady-Barnes Productions)

Down the Wind and The Hostages have no known US theatrical release dates. Hennessy first opened in the US on July 31, 1975.

Down the Wind was the directorial debut of Scott Hicks, making the film shortly after graduating from university.

92 in the Shade director and writer Thomas McGuane was married to one of the film’s female stars, and had a scandalous affair with the other. Two versions of the film exist with two different endings. According to Peter Fonda, there was a third ending filmed but never included in any version.

Hennessy marks the film debuts of Patrick Stewart and Patsy Kensit. John Guillermin was to direct, but received an offer to direct The Towering Inferno, which he accepted leaving the project without a director for two months until Don Sharp was hired. Buckingham Palace consented to the use of news footage of Queen Elizabeth II speaking at the State Opening of Parliament in 1970, but later said there was a misunderstanding as to how the clips would be used and would not give consent for any future projects.

Gone with the West was filmed in 1969 under the title Man Without Mercy, but did not find a cinema release. It is known as Little Moon & Jud McGraw in Australia, and was re-issued in the US with that title, replacing the ampersand with the word ‘and’.

1985

• August 28 – Legend (France, Legend Production Company)
• August 30 – American Ninja (USA, Golan-Globus Productions)
• August 30 – Compromising Positions (USA, Blackhawk Productions)
• August 30 – Flesh+Blood (USA, limited, Riverside Pictures)
• Auugst 28 – Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (France, Hemdale)
• September 1 – City Limits (USA, Sho Films-Videoform Pictures)

Legend was released in the US and Canada on April 18, 1986. Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf was released in the US on December 25, 1985.

There are three different endings for the US theatrical release, the European release and the Director’s Cut of Legend. Alice Playten, who plays Blix, leader of Darkness’ goblins, dubbed the voice of elf Gump because a studio executive felt actor David Bennent sounded too German. Ridley Scott got inspiration for the look of the film from early Disney animation. He even offered the film to Disney, but was turned down due to the film’s dark tone at a time when the studio was focused on family-friendly material. Scott did not want to limit major roles to smaller people who could act, and at one point considered casting Mickey Rooney as one of the major characters, but he did not look small enough next to Tom Cruise. Reducing the size of actors was considered for post-production but it was deemed too expensive, so Scott had to find an ensemble of small actors. The forest set, inspired by California’s Redwood Forest, was built on Pinewood Studios’ 007 Stage over 14 weeks, considered realistic enough to film only days before production began. Johnny Depp, Jim Carrey and Robert Downey Jr. were considered for the role of Jack. Richard O’Brien was considered for the role of Meg Mucklebones, and while re-watching his scenes in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Scott saw Tim Curry and felt he’d be perfect for the role of Darkness because of his film and theatrical experience. Curry’s make-up sessions took five-and-a-half hours due to having full body prosthetics. The fiberglass horns were supported by a harness under the make-up, but still placed a strain on Curry’s neck because they extended forward and not straight up. Over time, make-up artist Rob Bottin was able to reduce the weight of the horns. Curry spent an hour at the end of each day in a bath to liquefy the soluble spirit gum, but at one point he became claustrophobic and impatient, and pulled off the make-up too quickly, tearing off his own skin in the process. Scott had to shoot around him for a week as a result. Filming began on the 007 Stage on March 26, 1984, and on June 27, with ten days left to film, the entire set burned down during a lunch break. Scott made adjustments to the schedule and moved to another stage while the crew rebuilt the section of the forest set that was needed for filming. In the end, Scott lost just three days. The underwater scenes were filmed in Silver Springs, Florida for the ‘purity’ of the water, with Tom Cruise doing his own diving and swimming in waters that had real alligators just 25 feet away. Scott’s original cut of the film ran 125 minutes, but he cut it to 113 minutes and showed it to test audiences. It was decided the audience had to work too hard to be entertained, so another 20 minutes was cut, with a 95-minute version released in Great Britain, and an even shorter 89-minute version released in the US. The US version was also delayed so Scott could replace Jerry Goldsmith’s score, which remained on the European version, with a score by Tangerine Dream, Jon Anderson and Bryan Ferry. Goldsmith had spent six months creating music and songs for the film. The 113-minute preview cut was discovered by Universal in 2000, with Goldsmith’s score intact. Some damaged segments of the film were corrected digitally or replaced with footage from the 89-minute version. This is Scott’s preferred ‘Director’s Cut’. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Make-up, and BAFTA nominations for Costume Design, Make-up Artist, and Special Visual Effects.

Chuck Norris was courted to star in American Ninja, but some sources said he didn’t want to have to cover his face. Michael Dudikoff was cast, though he had no martial arts experience. The film’s working title was American Warrior, and was released in the UK under that title. The trailer, included on the DVD, still has the original title. In Germany, it was released as American Fighter.

The script for Flesh+Blood is partly based on unused material from the Dutch TV series Floris, which was the debut for the film’s director, Paul Verhoeven, the film’s writer, Gerard Soeteman, and the film’s star, Rutger Hauer. It was Verhoeven’s first English-language film, and was also known as God’s Own Butchers, while early VHS releases show the title as The Rose and the Sword. The studio was happy with Hauer in the lead role, but wanted Nastassja Kinski or Rebecca de Mornay as Agnes. De Mornay would only accept the role if then-boyfriend Tom Cruise was cast as Steven. Verhoeven cast Jennifer Jason Leigh as Agnes, and Tom Burlinson, marking his first international film, as Steve. A bitter rift formed between Verhoeven and Hauer during filming over the portrayal of Hauer’s character, and the two did not work together again. A rape scene in the film was censored, which upset Leigh who was against censorship, stating it was an ugly scene but the film was extraordinary.

Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf is also known as Howling II and Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch. Gary Brandner, author of The Howling novels, co-wrote the screenplay but the film is largely unrelated to the 1979 novel The Howling II. Brandner had to rewrite the script several time due to the numerous times production was forced to change locations because of Hemdale’s precarious financial standing. Effects artist Steve Johnson also blamed the financial situation for the poor quality of the effects work, many of which were added months after filming had wrapped. This is the only Howling sequel to directly follow the events of the original film. Director Philippe Mora revealed that actors Reb Brown and Annie McEnroe were so bad Christopher Lee seemed to be trying to wish himself away off-set. Lee and Brown previously appeared in the made-for-TV movie Captain American II: Death Too Soon (1979).

City Limits was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which Kim Cattrall happened to come across while in a hotel room. She heard the character Crow T. Robot singing a song in tribute to her and arranged for flowers to be sent to Crow’s operator, Trace Beaulieu (though the flowers were address to Crow). Cattrall recounted the story while appearing at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 ConventionCon ExpoFest-A-Rama: Electric Bugaloo convention in Minneapolis in 1996 (attended by yours truly who heard the story in person).

1995

• August 30 – Magic in the Water (USA, Oxford Film Company)
• August 30 – Rough Magic (France, UGC Images Productions)
• September 1 – Kids (USA, Guys Upstairs)
• September 1 – The Prophecy (USA, NEO Motion Pictures)
• September 2 – Stonewall (Italy, Killer Films)

Rough Magic was released in the US on May 30, 1997. The Prophecy first opened in Spain on August 5, 1995. Stonewall was released in the US on September 3, 1996.

Kids marked the directorial debut of Larry Clark, the writing debut of Harmony Korine, and the film debuts of Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny. The film received an NC-17 rating because of its subject matter involving teens, but the film was ultimately released unrated. Sevigny was originally cast in a small role, but was given the leading role of Jennie after it was felt originally cast actress Mia Kirshner was not the right fit to work with first-time actors. Korine wrote the script in 1992 at age 19, and has stated that while the film has a documentary feel, it was entirely scripted except for a scene at the end which was improvised. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. The film was nominated by both the Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature) and the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (Worst Picture). Justin Pierce won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.

The Prophecy marked the feature directorial debut of Gregory Widen, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was known as Daemons and God’s Army during development. Widen wrote the role of Gabriel with Christopher Walken in mind, and Walken was the first actor to sign on to the project. The film spawned four direct-to-video sequels.

Stonewall was the final film directed by Nigel Finch before his AIDS-related death shortly after filming ended.

2005

• August 31 – The Constant Gardener (USA/Canada, Potboiler Productions)
• September 2 – A Sound of Thunder (USA, Franchise Pictures)
• September 2 – On a Clear Day (UK, Baker Street)
• September 2 – The Business (UK, Vertigo Films)
• September 2 – Transporter 2 (USA/Canada, EuropaCorp)
• September 2 – Underclassmen (USA, Underclassman Films Ltd.)

A Sound of Thunder first opened in Spain on August 26, 2005. On a Clear Day first opened in Israel on August 18, 2005, and received a limited US release on April 7, 2006. The Business has no known US theatrical release date. Transporter 2 first opened in France on August 3, 2005.

Filming The Constant Gardener on location in Loiyangalani and the slums of Kibera, a section of Nairobi, Kenya affected the cast and crew so much that they set up the Constant Gardener Trust in order to provide basic education for these villages. Kate Winslet was considered for the female lead before Rachel Weisz was cast. Weisz would go on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The film earned three additional nominations. Lupita Nyong’o worked as a production assistant on the film.

A Sound of Thunder was originally to have been directed by Renny Harlin, with Pierce Brosnan in the main role, shot in Montreal with a budget of $55 million and production to begin on April 16, 2001. Brosnan wanted a script re-write but there wasn’t enough time due to an impending strike by the writers and actors unions. The death of producer Nicholas Claremont in April 2001 complicated matters further. Harlin left the project in November 2001, replaced by Peter Hyams. Brosnan also departed, replaced with Edward Burns. The post-production budget was $80 million to create the special effects, but the independent studio producing the film, Franchise Pictures, went bankrupt and the remaining backers provided just $30 million to work with.

2015

August 28 – War Room (USA, FaithStep Films)

War Room first opened in Australia on August 27, 2015. The faith-based film was originally conceived with a white cast, but director and co-writer Alex Kendrick had a dream about a predominantly African-American cast, believing it was a message from God. Sony, which was distributing the film, expressed concerns about a film with a mostly Black cast being led by a predominantly white production company, but Alex and his brother Stephen stuck to their premise to keep it in line with Alex’s dream.