Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #285 :: January 8•14

It’s January, and that means a lot of the films released this week were entirely unmemorable … or memorable for all the wrong reasons. Of note this week was a 1926 silent film with a Technicolor sequence that gave the cast literal headaches, a 1936 film that continued the adventures of a popular sleuth, a 1946 film with an actor that made history with his salary, a 1956 film that damaged the career of an actress for not taking a role, a 1966 film that introduced an actor and actress who would be married four years later, a 1976 film with three actors who would reunite for a classic TV series, while 1986 had three documentaries with Oscar notice, a 1996 film that is considered one of the worst movies ever (and has a Razzie to show for it), a 2006 film that was planned for one actor but reconceived for another, and a 2016 film with exclusive music from prominent artists. Scroll down to see all of the films released this week — or use the handy guide by year below — and tell us if you remember any of these movies.

1926  •  1936  •  1946  •  1956  •  1966  •  1976  •  1986  •  1996  •  2006  •  2016

1926

January 8- The Fighting Edge (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Kenneth Harlan, Patsy Ruth Miller, David Kirby, Heinie Conklin, Pat Hartigan
• Director: Henry Lehrman
• Trivia: Based on the 1922 novel The Fighting Edge by William MacLeod Raine.

January 10 – Arizona Sweepstakes (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Hoot Gibson, Helen Lynch, Philo McCullough, George Ovey, Emmett King
• Director: Clifford Smith
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

January 10 – Just Suppose (USA, Inspiration Pictures)

• Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Lois Moran, Geoffrey Kerr, Henry Vibart, George Spelvin
• Director: Kenneth Webb
• Trivia: A print of Just Suppose is in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

January 10 – Man Rustlin’ (USA, Bob Custer Productions)

• Cast: Bob Custer, Florence Lee, Jules Cowles, Sam Allen, James Kelly
• Director: Del Andrews
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

January 10 – Rocking Moon (USA, Metropolitan Pictures Corporation of California)

• Cast: Lilyan Tashman, John Bowers, Rockliffe Fellowes, Laska Winter, Luke Cosgrove, Eugene Pallette
• Director: George Melford
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

January 10 – The Palace of Pleasure (USA, Fox Film Corporation)

• Cast: Betty Compson, Edmund Lowe, Henry Kolker, Harvey Clark, Nina Romano
• Director: Emmett J. Flynn
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

January 10 – The Yankee Señor (USA, Fox Film Corporation)

• Cast: Tom Mix, Olive Borden, Tom Kennedy, Francis McDonald, Margaret Livingston
• Director: Emmett J. Flynn
• Trivia: The film had Technicolor sequence involving a Mexican fiesta with Mix and Borden dancing. The high-powered lighting required for the sequence induced eye pain and headaches among the cast. An incomplete print exists.

January 11 – Forbidden Cargoes (UK, Granville)

• Cast: Peggy Hyland, Clifford McLaglen, James Lindsay, Daisy Campbell
• Director: Fred LeRoyy Granville
• Trivia: The film has no known US theatrical release date.

January 11 – Hands Up! (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

• Cast: George A. Billings, Virginia Lee Corbin, Charles K. French, Raymond Griffith, Noble Johnson, Montagu Love
• Director: Clarence G. Badger
• Trivia: The film exists and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2005.

1936

January 8 – The Vandergilt Diamond Mystery (London, Randall Faye Productions)

• Cast: Betty Astell, Bruce Seton, Hilary Pritchard, Charles Paton, Henry B. Longhurst
• Director: Randall Faye
• Trivia: The film entered general UK release on May 18, 1936, but has no known US theatrical release date.

January 10 – A Wife or Two (London, British Lion Film Corporation)

• Cast: Henry Kendall, Nancy Burne, Betty Astell, Fred Duprez, Garry Marsh
• Director: Maclean Rogers
• Trivia: The film entered general UK release on June 22, 1936, but has no known US theatrical release date.

January 10 – Charlie Chan’s Secret (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Warner Oland, Jerry Miley, Henrietta Crosman, Rosina Lawrence, Charles Quigley, Astrid Allwyn
• Director: Gordon Wiles
• Trivia: The tenth film in Fox’s Charlie Chan series featuring Oland as the detective.

January 10 – Rose of the Rancho (USA, Paramount Pictures)

• Cast: John Boles, Gladys Swarthout, Charles Bickford, Grace Bradley, Willie Howard, Herb Williams, H. B. Warner, Charlotte Granville
• Director: Marion Gering
• Trivia: Adapted from the play of the same name by David Belasco and Richard Walton Tully.

January 10 – Three Live Ghosts (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Richard Arlen, Beryl Mercer, Claud Allister, Charles McNaughton, Cecilia Parker, Dudley Digges
• Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
• Trivia: The film is a remake of a 1929 film of the same title, which was based on a 1920 play by Frederic S. Isham inspired by his own 1918 novel.

January 10 – Two in the Dark (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, Alan Hale
• Director: Benjamin Stoloff

January 11 – The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (USA, First National Pictures)

• Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Kay Linaker, John Eldredge, Mary Astor, Joseph Crehan, Frank Reicher
• Director: Frank McDonald
• Trivia: A story by Mignon G. Eberhart was the basis for the film.

1946

January 8 – Danny Boy (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)

• Cast: Robert ‘Buzz’ Henry, Joseph Granby, Charles Bates, Ace the Wonder Dog
• Director: Terry O. Morse
• Trivia: The film was broadcast on television as Adventures of Danny Boy.

January 8 – Night Boat to Dublin (London, Associated British Picture Corporation)

• Cast: Robert Newton, Raymond Lovell, Guy Middleton, Muriel Pavlow, Herbert Lom
• Director: Lawrence Huntington
• Trivia: The film opened in general UK release on April 1, 1946, and made its US debut on television in New York City on March 17, 1954.

January 8- The Voice Within (UK, Grafton Films)

• Cast: Barbara White, Kieron Moore, Shaun Noble, Violet Farebrother, Brefni O’Rorke, George Merritt
• Director: Maurice J. Wilson
• Trivia: The film made its US premiere on television in New York City on July 16, 1949. This was the film debut of Kieron Moore.

January 9- One Way to Love (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Willard Parker, Marguerite Chapman, Chester Morris, Janis Carter, Hugh Herbert
• Director: Ray Enright
• Trivia: The film’s plot has some similarities to Columbia’s 1934 screwball comedy Twentieth Century.

January 10 – Beer Barrel Polecats (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Robert Williams, Eddie Laughton, Joe Palma
• Director: Jules White
• Trivia: The 88th of 190 Three Stooges shorts released by Columbia Pictures.

January 10 – Shock (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, Frank Latimore, Anabel Shaw, Michael Dunne, Reed Hadley
• Director: Alfred L. Werker
• Trivia: Henry Hathaway was originally to direct the movie.

January 10 – Tars and Spars (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Alfred Drake, Janet Blair, Marc Platt, Jeff Donnell, Sid Caesar
• Director: Alfred E. Green

January 11 – Abilene Town (USA, Guild Productions Inc.)

• Cast: Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Edgar Buchanan, Rhonda Fleming, Lloyd Bridges
• Director: Edwin L. Marin
• Trivia: Adapted from Ernest Haycox’s 1941 novel Trail Town.

January 11 – Girl on the Spot (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Lois Collier, Jess Barker, George Dolenz, Fuzzy Knight, Ludwig Stössel
• Director: William Beaudine

January 11 – People Are Funny (USA, Pine-Thomas Productions)

• Cast: Jack Haley, Helen Walker, Rudy Vallee, Ozzie Nelson, Phillip Reed
• Director: Sam White
• Trivia: The film is based on the popular radio show of the same name.

January 12 – Border Bandits (USA, Monogram Pictures)

• Cast: Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Riley Hill, Rosa del Rosario, John Merton
• Director: Lambert Hillyer, Eddie Davis
• Trivia: Nineteenth film in the ‘Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie’ series.

January 14 – Caesar and Cleopatra (London, Gabriel Pascal Productions)

• Cast: Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson, Francis L. Sullivan, Ernest Thesiger
• Director: Gabriel Pascal
• Trivia: The film entered general release in the UK on September 2, 1946, and was released in the US on September 6, 1946. Claude Rains became the first actor in history to earn a $1 million salary with this film.

1956

January 8 – Dig That Uranium (USA, Allied Artists Pictures)

• Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, David Gorcey, Bennie Bartlett, Bernard Gorcey, Raymond Hatton
• Director: Edward Bernds
• Trivia: This was the last appearance by Bennie Bartlett in a Bowery Boys film, and the last for Bernard Gorcey, who died in a car crash on September 11, 1955.

January 8 – There’s Always Tomorrow (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett, William Reynolds, Pat Crowley, Gigi Perreau, Jane Darwell
• Director: Douglas Sirk
• Trivia: This was the fourth film to star Stanwyck and MacMurray.

January 11 – The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Tom Ewell, Sheree North, Rita Moreno, Rick Jason, Les Tremayne
• Director: Frank Tashlin
• Trivia: The film was conceived as a leading vehicle for Sheree North as an alternative to the increasingly difficult Marilyn Monroe. Dorothy Dandridge was to appear in the film but Otto Preminger convinced her not to take a supporting role after her lead actress Oscar nomination two years earlier. The decision contributed to the downfall of her career. Rita Moreno was cast instead.

January 12 – Diane (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Lana Turner, Pedro Armendáriz, Roger Moore, Marisa Pavan, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
• Director: David Miller
• Trivia: This was Lana Turner’s last film under contract to MGM, marking another stage in the decline of the studio star system.

1966

January 10 – The Gentle Rain (USA, Comet Pictures)

• Cast: Christopher George, Lynda Day, Fay Spain, Lon Clark, Barbara Williams
• Director: Burt Balaban
• Trivia: Final film directed by Balaban, who died from cancer on October 14, 1965. It was the first film to feature Christopher George and Lynda Day, who would appear together in film and television roles throughout their careers. They married in 1970.

1976

January 11 – Jim, the World’s Greatest (USA, New Breed Productions)

• Cast: Gregory Harrison, Robbie Wolcott, Rory Guy, Marla Pennington, Reggie Bannister
• Director: Don Coscarelli, Craig Mitchell
• Trivia: The parents of 18-year-old directors Coscarelli and Mitchell financed the film.

January 14 – Killer Force (USA, American International Pictures)

• Cast: Telly Savalas, Peter Fonda, Hugh O’Brian, Christopher Lee, O. J. Simpson, Maud Adams
• Director: Val Guest
• Trivia: Also known as The Diamond Mercenaries.

January 14 – The Adventures of Frontier Fremont (USA, Sunn Classic Pictures)

• Cast: Dan Haggerty, Denver Pyle, Tony Mirrati, Norman Goodman, Teri Hernandez, Don Shanks
• Director: Richard Friedenberg
• Trivia: Released in the UK as Spirit of the Wild. Stars Haggerty, Pyle and Shanks would go on to appear together on the TV series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.

January 14 – The Astrologer (USA, E.J. Helms Productions)

• Cast: Craig Denney, Darrien Earle, Rocky Barbanica, Boyd Hamlyn, Jacqueline Day
• Director: Craig Denney
• Trivia: Denney’s mother Dorothy June Pidgeon, a relation of Walter Pidgeon, wrote the film.

1986

1986 – Evil Laugh (USA, Wildfire Productions)

• Cast: Kim McKamy, Steven Baio, Tony Griffin, Jerold Pearson, Myles O’Brien, Jody Gibson
• Director: Dominick Brascia, Jr.
• Trivia: Author Scott Aaron Stine called the film a ‘waste of celluloid.’

1986 – Prison Ship (USA, Viking International Pictures)

• Cast: Sandy Brooke, Susan Stokey, Marya Gant, Ross Hagen, Johnny Legend, Aldo Ray, John Carradine
• Director: Fred Olen Ray
• Trivia: Also known as Star Slammer, Adventures of Taura, Part 1, Starslammer: The Escape and Prison Ship Star Slammer.

1986 – Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse (USA, documentary, Tennessee State Museum)

• Cast: Red Grooms
• Director: Tom Neff
• Trivia: Oscar-nominated for Documentary Short Subject.

1986 – Sam (USA, documentary, Direct Cinema)

• Cast: Sam Phelps
• Director: Aaron D. Weisblatt
• Trivia: Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Short.

1986 – Women – for America, for the World (USA, Better World Society)

• Cast: Joanne Woodward, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Betty Bumpers, Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro
• Director: Vivienne Verdon-Roe
• Trivia: Oscar-winner for Documentary Short Subject.

January – Forest of Bliss (USA, documentary, Film Study Center)

• Director: Robert Gardner
• Trivia: The doc is about everyday life in Benares, India.

January – Uphill All the Way (USA, Guardian Films-Melroy Productions)

• Cast: Roy Clark,Mel Tillis, Frank Gorshin, Richard Paul, Burl Ives, Glen Campbell, Gailard Sartain, Elaine Joyce, Sheb Wooley, Trish Van Devere
• Director: Frank Q. Dobbs
• Trivia: Burt Reynolds appears uncredited as The Gambler. The film has a small cult following.

January – Vampires (USA, Len Anthony Studios)

• Cast: Orly BenderJohn Bly, Jackie James, Duane Jones, Kit Jones, Robin Michaels
• Director: Len Anthony
• Trivia: Also known as Abandon. Ernest Dickerson, who would work with Spike Lee and direct episodes of The Walking Dead, was the film’s cinematographer.

January 10 – Black Moon Rising (USA, Sequoia Productions)

• Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Hamilton, Robert Vaughn, Richard Jaeckel, Bubba Smith, Dan Shor, Keenan Wynn, Lee Ving
• Director: Harley Cokliss
• Trivia: John Carpenter was one of the credited writers of the screenplay. He has never seen the finished film.

1996

1996 – All Power to the People (USA, Electronic News Group-Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen)

• Cast: Mumia Abu-Jamal, Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, Sofiya Alston Bukhari, Emory Douglas
• Director: Lee Lew-Lee
• Trivia: The film chronicles the history of the Black Panther Party, leadership, and members.

1996 – Alone in the Woods (USA, Concorde Pictures)

• Cast: Daniel McVicar, Laraine Newman, Sarah Bibb, Brady Bluhm, Stephen C. Bradbury
• Director: John Putch

1996- Affliction (USA, documentary, Mark Hejnar)

• Cast: GG Allin, Mike Diana, Full Force Frank, Annie Sprinkle
• Director: Mark Hejnar

January 12 – Bio-Dome (USA/Canada, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Pauly Shore, Stephen Baldwin, William Atherton, Kylie Minogue, Rose McGowan, Taylor Negron, Patricia Hearst, Jeremy Jordan, Tenacious D
• Director: Jason Bloom
• Trivia: This was the first time Jack Black and Kyle Gass performed onscreen at Tenacious D, bringing them global attention even though it is considered one of the worst films ever made. Pauly Shore won the Razzie Award for Worst Actor, tied with Tom Arnold.

January 12 – Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (USA, Ivory Way Productions)

• Cast: Shawn Wayans, Vivica A. Fox, Lahmard Tate, Marlon Wayans, Helen Martin, Antonio Fargas, Bernie Mac, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Omar Epps, Lawanda Page
• Director: Paris Barclay
• Trivia: This was Barclay’s directorial debut. The film parodies 1990s ‘hood films’ like Menace II Society, South Central, Juice and Boyz n the Hood.

January 12 – Dunston Checks In (USA/Canada, Joe Wizan/Todd Black Productions)

• Cast: Sam the Orangutan, Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, Eric Lloyd, Rupert Everett, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens
• Director: Ken Kwapis
• Trivia: The original script was titled Prime Mates, and was the subject of a bidding war between Paramount and 20th Century Fox. The film was one of three active monkey/ape films at the time with Ed and Monkey Trouble also in development.

January 12 – Eye for an Eye (USA, Paramount Pictures)

• Cast: Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris, Joe Mantegna, Beverly D’Angelo, Keith David, Philip Baker Hall, Armin Shimerman, Donal Logue
• Director: John Schlesinger
• Trivia: The story was adapted from Erika Holzer’s novel of the same name.

January 12 – Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (USA/Brazil, August Entertainment-Fuji Eight Company Ltd.)

• Cast: Patrick Bergin, Matt Frewer, Austin O’Brien, Ely Pouget, Kevin Conway, Molly Shannon
• Director: Farhad Mann
• Trivia: The film has also been subtitled Jobe’s War and Mindfire. The film was developed as CyberJob with Jeff Fahey expected to return from the original film, but that story was eventually abandoned. Matt Frewer took over the role of Jobe Smith. Pierce Brosnan was also asked to return as Dr. Lawrence Angelo but he was busy with GoldenEye. Patrick Bergen was cast in the new role of Dr. Benjamin Trace. Original director Brett Leonard was unavailable as he was directing Virtuosity at the time.

January 12 – Two If by Sea (USA, Morgan Creek Entertainment)

• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Denis Leary, Stephen Dillane, Yaphet Kotto, Jonathan Tucker
• Director: Bill Bennett
• Trivia: The film is known as Stolen Hearts in the UK.

2006

January 12 – Lost and Found (Germany, Lost and Found Operations)

• Cast: Ana Ularu, Zsolt Trill, Milena Dravić, Katariina Unt, Anna Broquet, Ines Cule
• Directors: Stefan Arsenijevic, Nadejda Koseva, Mait Laas, Kornél Mundruczó, Cristian Mungiu, Jasmila Zbanic
• Trivia: The film has no known US theatrical release date.

January 12 – Underworld: Evolution (AUS, Screen Gems-Lakeshore Entertainment)

• Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy
• Director: Len Wiseman
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK and USA on January 20, 2006. It is the second film in the Underworld series.

January 13 – Glory Road (USA, Jerry Bruckheimer Films)

• Cast: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Jon Voight, Evan Jones, Mehcad Brooks, Sam Jones III, Emily Deschanel, Tatyana Ali
• Director: James Gartner
• Trivia: Glory Road was nominated for the Humanitas Prize in 2006. It won the 2006 ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie.

January 13 – Hoodwinked! (USA, Kanbar Entertainment-Blue Yonder Films)

• Voice Cast: Anne Hathaway, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Cory Edwards, David Ogden Stiers, Andy Dick, Anthony Anderson, Xzibit, Chazz Palminteri, Ken Marino, Tom Kenny
• Director: Cory Edwards
• Trivia: The film is among the earliest independently produced CGI-animated movies, which gave the filmmakers more control, but restrained them economically. The Weinstein Company did not sign on to distribute until near the end of production.

January 13 – Last Holiday (USA/Canada, ImageMovers-Laurence Mark Productions)

• Cast: Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Giancarlo Esposito, Alicia Witt, Gérard Depardieu, Jane Adams
• Director: Wayne Wang
• Trivia: The film is loosely based on the 1950 British film of the same name by J. B. Priestley. The film was originally to star John Candy with Carl Reiner directing, but after Candy’s death it was redeveloped as a vehicle for Queen Latifah.

January 13 – Tristan and Isolde (USA/Canada, Scott Free Productions-Franchise Pictures)

• Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, David O’Hara, Mark Strong, Henry Cavill
• Director: Kevin Reynolds
• Trivia: This was Franchise Pictures’ last film after the 2004 bankruptcy.

2016

January 8 – Anesthesia (USA, Nicholson International Pictures)

• Cast: Sam Waterston, Tim Blake Nelson, Kristen Stewart, Glenn Close, Gretchen Mol, K. Todd Freeman, Mickey Sumner
• Director: Tim Blake Nelson
• Trivia: The film had its world premiere at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2015.

January 8 – Lamb (USA, limited, The Shot Clock-Silent Helicopter)

• Cast: Ross Partridge, Oona Laurence, Jess Weixler, Tom Bower, Scoot McNairy
• Director: Ross Partridge
• Trivia: The film had its world premiere at the SXSW film festival on March 14, 2015.

January 13 – Ride Along 2 (UAE/Egypt, Will Packer Productions-Cube Vision)

• Cast: Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, Ken Jeong, Benjamin Bratt, Olivia Munn, Carlos Gomez, Bruce McGill, Tika Sumpter, Glen Powell, Sherri Shepherd, Utkarsh Ambudkar
• Director: Tim Story
• Trivia: The film premiered in Miami on January 6, 2016, and was released in the US and Canada on January 15. The movie features exclusive unreleased songs from Pitbull, Wahin, DJ Ricky Luna and Major Lazer.

January 14 – Norm of the North (Portugal, Assemblage Entertainment)

• Cast: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong, Maya Kay, Colm Meaney, Loretta Devine, Gabriel Iglesias, Salome Jens, Bill Nighy
• Director: Trevor Wall
• Trivia: The film opened in Canada and the US on January 15, 2016. Trevor Wall performs the voice of the three main lemmings, but is uncredited.

January 14 – The 5th Wave (AUS, LStar Capital-Material Pictures)

• Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe, Liev Schreiber
• Director: J Blakeson
• Trivia: The film was released in the US, UK and Canada on January 22, 2016. It is based on Rick Yancey’s 2013 novel of the same name.