Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #280 :: December 4•10

Awards season is in full force this week with some major films hitting screens for consideration. Among them is a 1935 film nominated for a category that no longer exists; a 1945 film that features an actor reprising an Oscar-winning role; two 1955 films with seven nominations between them, including a Best Picture nom for one; a 1965 film that had a historic Best Actress nomination; a 1985 film that broke ground for special effects and was rewarded by the Academy; a 1995 film that saw a co-star get a nomination; a 2005 film that was controversial for not winning an Oscar; and a 2015 film that was not nominated at all but brought a horrific spin to the holidays. Scroll down to see all of the movies that premiered this week across the decades, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

1925

• December 5 – Three Weeks in Paris (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
  
• December 6 – Counsel for the Defense (USA, Burton King Productions)
  
• December 6 – His Secretary (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
  
• December 6 – Madame Behave (USA, Christie Film Company)
  
• December 6 – Smilin’ at Trouble (Harry Garson Productions)
  
• December 6 – The Midnight Flyer (USA, Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation)
  
• December 6 – The Splendid Road (USA, Frank Lloyd Productions)
  
• December 6 – Two-Fisted Jones (USA, Blue Streak Western)
  
• December 6 – When the Door Opened (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
  
• December 7 – That Royle Girl (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
  
• December 9 – Fangs of Fate (USA, H.B. Carpenter
  Productions)
  

The survival statuses of Smilin’ at Trouble, The Midnight Flyer, Two-Fisted Jones, and Fangs of Fate are currently unknown, while Three Weeks in Paris, Counsel for the Defense, His Secretary, The Splendid Road, When the Door Opened, and That Royle Girl are all considered lost. Madame Behave survives as an incomplete print at the Library of Congress. For a tornado scene in That Royle Girl, D. W. Griffith used 24 airplane propellers to create the wreckage and ruin. Griffith added W.C. Fields to the film during production for a comedy relief supporting role. The film has been listed as one of the Ten Most Wanted lost films of all time.

1935

• December 6 – Bar 20 Rides Again (USA, Harry Sherman Productions)
  
• December 6 – Kind Lady (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
  
• December 6 – Lawless Riders (USA, Larry Darmour Productions)
  
• December 6 – Show Them No Mercy! (USA, 20th Century Pictures)
  
• December 7 – Broadway Hostess (USA, First National Pictures)
  
• December 9 – It Happened in Paris (UK, Wyndham Productions)
  
• December 9 – Rolling Home (UK, Sound City)
  
• December 9 – The Great Impersonation (USA, Universal Pictures)
  
• December 10 – The Calling of Dan Matthews (USA, Sol Lesser Productions)
  

It Happened in Paris made its US debut on television on March 18, 1949 in New York City. Rolling Home has no known US theatrical release date. Bar 20 Rides Again is the third film in the Hopalong Cassidy series, and the third with George Hayes as sidekick ‘Windy’. Hayes would later be known as ‘Gabby’ Hayes. Doris Lloyd appears in both Kind Lady and its 1951 remake in different roles. The original title of Show Them No Mercy! was Snatched due to its kidnapping storyline, but the production code banned depictions of kidnapping out of fear of glorifying criminals, so the title and plot were revised. Broadway Hostess was Oscar nominated in the short-lived Best Dance Direction category. It Happened in Paris marked the directorial debut, as co-director, for Carol Reed. John Huston also contributed to the screenplay. The Great Impersonation was based on the 1920 novel of the same name, which was also adapted into films in 1921 and 1942.

1945

• December 6 – The Bells of St. Mary’s (New York City, Rainbow Productions)
  
• December 6 – The Rake’s Progress (London, Independent Producers)
  
• December 7 – Appointment in Tokyo (USA, documentary, U.S. Army Pictorial Services)
  
• December 7 – House of Dracula (USA, Universal Pictures)
  
• December 8 – The Enchanted Forest (USA, Jack Schwarz Productions)
  
• December 8 – The Lonesome Trail (USA, Monogram Pictures)
  

The Bells of St. Mary’s opened in general US release on January 11, 1946. The Rake’s Progress entered general UK release on January 7, 1946, and was released in the US on November 1, 1946 as Notorious Gentleman. Bing Crosby reprised his Best Actor Oscar-winning Going My Way role of Father O’Malley in The Bells of St. Mary’s. The film’s title appears on a theater marquee in It’s a Wonderful Life. Henry Travers appeared in both films. In The Godfather, the characters Michael and Kay see The Bells of St. Mary’s at Radio City Music Hall. Appointment in Tokyo has been preserved by the Academy Film Archive. House of Dracula was originally developed under the title Wolf Man vs. Dracula, with Bela Lugosi reprising the role of Count Dracula. The film was put on hold for six months after Boris Karloff returned to Universal for a two-picture deal, and the censorship board posed several questions about the screenplay. A new screenplay, titled Destiny, took elements from the original script and added Frankenstein’s monster. The new script was being written up until the night before production began. Lugosi, apparently, was not offered the role of Dracula in the reworked version of the script. John Carradine reprised the role of the Count from House of Frankenstein. Glenn Strange also returned as Frankenstein’s monster, and Lon Chaney Jr. once again played Larry Talbot/the Wolf Man. The film marked the fifth and final appearance of Lionel Atwill in a Frankenstein movie, dying shortly after completing the film. While Karloff had a contract with Universal which was to include this film and The Climax, everyone involved knew he would never play the Monster, even if it was for a million dollars. Karloff ultimately did appear as the Monster, but only in the dream sequence which reused footage from Bride of Frankenstein, though he was not in the film otherwise. The film also marked the final time that make-up artist Jack Pierce would create the classic monsters make-up, as Universal was facing serious financial issues and many contract actors and behind-the-scenes personnel were released. Pierce was let go in 1947.

1955

• December 4 – Shack Out on 101 (USA, William F. Broidy Productions)
  
• December 7 – Picnic (USA, Columbia Pictures)
  
• December 7 – The Last Frontier (USA, Columbia Pictures)
  
• December 8 – Day the World Ended (USA, Golden State Productions)
  
• December 8 – The Ladykillers (UK, Ealing Studios)
  

The Ladykillers was released in the US on February 20, 1956.
Picnic director Joshua Logan also directed the original Broadway production. William Holden was already cast in the lead role with Logan joined the production. Holden shaved his chest for the shirtless scenes. The film was an early one for ‘blonde bombshell’ Kim Novak, who played her role as a redhead, and it made her a star. Carroll Baker tested for the role but Logan felt she was too young. Rosalind Russell was cast in the role of the school teacher, returning to Hollywood after her Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in Wonderful Town. She received a ‘co-star’ credit. Raymond Bailey, best known as Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, played Mr. Benson without his toupee. Reta Shaw and Arthur O’Connell reprised their Broadway roles. During filming of the picnic scenes in Halstead, Kansas, a tornado swept through the area, forcing the cast and crew to take cover. While the storm spared the set, it destroyed the city of Udall, Kansas, and the film crew drove their trucks and equipment there to help clean up the damage. Because of repeated storms and tornado warnings, the scene was completed on a backlot in Burbank, California. The film earned six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Art Direction – Color and Best Film Editing. It also earned four BAFTA nominations, and it won its sole Golden Globe nominations for Best Director. The Last Frontier has been shown on television as Savage Wilderness. The film’s original title was The Gilded Rooster, the tile of the novel upon which the screenplay was based. Chet Huntley, later to be known as co-anchor of NBC News’ The Huntley-Brinkley Report, was the narrator of Day the World Ended. The film was released as a double feature with The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues. American Releasing Corporation head James H. Nicholson came up with the title, them commissioned a script. It was the fourth feature film to be directed by Roger Corman. Filming took ten days. Paul Blaisdell created the monster and wore the costume made of foam rubber, nearly drowning when the porous costume began soaking up water during the creature’s death scene. The costume was poorly stored and almost entirely rotted away within a couple of years. Alec Guinness is thought to have based his performance in The Ladykillers on Alistair Sim, whom he thought the role was made for. Others believe the character was based on theatre critic Kenneth Tynan, who had written about Guinness and was an assistant on a disastrous production of Hamlet that starred Guinness. Peter Sellers makes his first major film appearance as Harry Robinson. The Ladykillers was the last Technicolor three-strip movie filmed in the UK, although The Feminine Touch was the last film to be released using the process. The film was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and it earned four BAFTA nominations including Best Film from Any Source and Best British Film, winning for Best British Actress (Katie Johnson) and Best British Screenplay.

1965

• December 10 – A Patch of Blue (USA, Pandro S. Berman Productions)
  

A Patch of Blue marks the film debut of Elizabeth Hartman. It was the final screen appearance of actor Wallace Ford. Shelley Winters won her second Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Hartman, at the time, was the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee at age 22, a record she held for ten years. The film received three additional nominations. Scenes of Sidney Poitier kissing Hartman were removed from prints being exhibited in the Southern United States. Poitier was BAFTA nominated for Best Foreign Actor. It also earned six Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture – Drama, winning Most Promising Newcomer – Female for Hartman.

1975

• December 10 – Against a Crooked Sky (USA, Doty-Dayton Productions)
  
• December 10 – Sixpack Annie (USA, United Producers)
  

Billy Barty has an uncredited role in Sixpack Annie.

1985

• December 4 – Young Sherlock Holmes (USA, Amblin Entertainment)
  
• December 5 – Rebel (AUS, J&M Entertainment)
  
• December 5 – Red Matildas (AUS, documentary)
  
• December 6 – Fool for Love (USA, limited, Cinema ‘84)
  
• December 6 – Spies Like Us (USA/Canada, AAR Films)
  

Rebel was released in the US on December 5, 1986. Red Matildas was screened at the Chicago International Film Festival but did not receive a US theatrical release. Young Sherlock Holmes was the first feature-length film to include a fully computer-generated character, and the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. It took George Lucas’ ILM and John Lasseter four months to create the stained glass knight. It was the first CG character to be scanned and painted directly onto film using a RGB laser. The role of Kathy in Rebel was changed from a postal worker, in the original play, to a singer in a female band for the film. Producers hoped to get Olivia Newton-John but Debra Byrne was cast instead. Fool for Love was based on the play by Sam Shepard, who agreed to adapt the script for the film, and took one on of the lead roles, originally played by Ed Harris on stage, at director Robert Altman’s request. Shepard later felt it was a mistake and Harris would have done a better job. Shepard’s partner Jessica Lange was to be in the film as well, but backed out shortly before the start of production, replaced with Kim Basinger. Lange claimed she was just too tired to do the film due to her pregnancy. Altman shot the film in Santa Fe, New Mexico where Shepard lived, so he could go home each night after filming. A motel set constructed for the film was so realistic that tourists and passers-by believed it was a real hotel. Spies Like Us was to star Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi for Universal, but the project went into turnaround following Belushi’s death, later picked up by Warner Bros. with Aykroyd and Chevy Chase starring. The film is an homage to the Big Crosby-Bob Hope Road to… film series, with Hope making a cameo appearance in one scene. Other cameos include directors Terry Gilliam, Sam Raimi, Costa-Gavras, Martin Brest, Frank Oz, and Joel Coen, musician B. B. King, and visual effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen. NBC newscaster Edwin Newman appears as himself.

1995

• December 8 – Father of the Bride Part II (USA/Canada, Sandollar Productions)
  
• December 8 – Georgia (USA, CiBy 2000)
  

Georgia first opened in France on May 19, 1995. Father of the Bride Part II is the sequel to the 1991 film Father of the Bride, and a remake of Father’s Little Dividend, which was the sequel to the original 1950 Father of the Bride. A third film was planned but never materialized. The mother of Georgia star Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barbara Turner, wrote the film’s screenplay. Leigh’s co-star, Mare Winningham, had been Leigh’s camp counselor during their teen years. Winningham received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

2005

• December 8 – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (UK, Walt Disney Pictures-Walden Media)
  
• December 9 – Brokeback Mountain (USA, limited, Focus Features-River Road Entertainment)
  
• December 9 – Syriana (USA, Participant Productions)
  

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first opened in Spain on December 7, 2005, and was released in the US and Canada on December 9. Brokeback Mountain expanded to general US release on January 13, 2006. Syriana first opened in limited release in the US and Canada on November 23, 2005. During production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the voice of Skandar Keynes, who played the third eldest child Edmund, began to change resulting in his sister Soumaya re-looping some of his dialogue. 1,800 children auditioned for the movie, with 400 being workshopped until the four actors were cast. William Moseley, as eldest child Peter, quit school to learn his dialogue. Brian Cox was originally cast as the voice of the lion Aslan, but director Andrew Adamson changed his mind and Liam Neeson was cast instead. While the film was originally set up with Paramount, the intention was to change the setting to the US, but producers did not feel that was the right move. It took the success of the first Harry Potter movie to convince everyone that keeping the story in the UK would be successful. Guillermo del Toro turned down directing as he was preparing Pan’s Labyrinth. The film was shot in near chronological order to allow the children to naturally mature with the story. Georgie Henley and Keynes were not shown the set before their characters entered Narnia in order to record their genuine reaction, and Henley did not see James McAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before filming. The film earned three Oscar nominations in technical categories, winning for Best Makeup. It also received three technical BAFTA nominations, also winning for Best Makeup. The film also earned two Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Alanis Morissette’s ‘Wunderkind’), and two Grammy nominations for the score and a different song, Imogen Heap’s ‘Can’t Take It In’. The studio behind Brokeback Mountain did not want Heath Ledger cast in the film because it was felt he was not masculine enough, but he was sent the script and expressed interest, although he wanted to play Ennis instead of Jack as he felt Ennis was the more complex character. Gyllenhaal read the script and signed on for the role, not wanting to miss an opportunity to work with Ang Lee or his friend Ledger. Lee met with Mark Wahlberg for a role in the film, but he declined because he was ‘creeped out’ by the script. Lee and Gyllenhaal said other actors were approached but were too afraid to take on the roles. Lee auditioned 20 to 30 actresses for the roles of Alma and Lureen. Michelle Williams was one of the first to audition for Alma, and Lee thought she was perfect. Ann Hathaway showed up for an audition during a lunch break while filming The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, still in her ball gown costume with a ‘way over-the-top’ hairpiece. She was focused for the audition and convinced Lee to cast her as Lureen. She also lied about her knowledge of horse riding to get the part. She then spent two months taking riding lessons to prepare. Lee kept his distance from Ledger and Gyllenhaal while filming to allow spontaneity in their performances. Ledger was sometimes thrown off by Gyllenhaal’s tendency to improvise, where Ledger preferred to be extremely prepared. Lee would allow Ledger to watch his performances on playback so he could improve. Williams suffered a knee injury early in production, so most of her scenes had her sitting or standing in place. Ledger injured his hand during a scene in which he punched a wall, and he nearly broke Gyllenhaal’s nose during a kissing scene. The image for the film’s theatrical poster was inspired by the poster for Titanic, depicting two star-crossed lovers. The film earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, winning three for Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. It also received nine BAFTA nominations, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal). The film earned seven Golden Globe nominations in the Drama category, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song (‘A Love That Will Never Grow Old’). The Oscars faced criticism of homophobia after awarding Best Picture to Crash — which many have declared one of the worst Best Picture winners ever. Syriana was shot in 200 locations on five continents, with large parts shot in the Middle East, Washington, D.C., and Africa. Director-Writer Stephen Gaghan found inspiration for the story while working on Traffic, seeing the parallel between drug addiction and America’s dependency on foreign oil. Gaghan convinced Warner Bros. to give him an unlimited research budget and no deadline, and he proceeded to do his own legwork to build a realistic story based on former CIA officer Robert Bear’s memoir, See No Evil. Harrison Ford turned down the role of Bob Barnes, which he later regretted. George Clooney got the role. It was the second role in a Gaghan film that Ford had turned down, the first being Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas. The film earned two Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay, with Clooney winning Best Supporting Actor. Clooney was also nominated for a BAFTA and won the Golden Globe in the same category. Alexandre Desplat’s score was also nominated for the Golden Globe.

2015

• December 4 – Krampus (USA/Canada/UK, Legendary Pictures)
  
• December 4 – Sunset Song (UK, Hurricane Films)
  

Krampus first opened in the Philippines on December 2,
2015. Sunset Song was released in the US and Canada on May 13,
2016. Krampus was originally to be released on November 25, 2015, but was moved to December 4 to be closer to Krampusnacht on December 5.