Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #290 :: February 12•18

While there were a lot of new movies released this week, it was still a middling collection with a handful of more notable titles. Among them are a 1926 silent featuring a horror icon in dual roles, a 1939 comedy with a popular duo and a final role for a popular silent star, a 1946 film with a jungle swinger, a 1956 musical that was nearly filmed twice, a 1966 spy spoof, a controversial 1976 film with an X-rating, a 1986 film so bad it’s good, a 1996 comedy that made a game show host a movie star, a 2006 film that traumatized audiences, and a 2016 martial arts sequel. Scroll down to see all of the films released this week, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

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

1926

February – The Red Kimono (USA, Mrs. Wallace Reid Productions)

• Cast: Priscilla Bonner, Nellie Bly Baker, Carl Miller, Mary Carr, Virginia Pearson, Tyrone Power, Sr.
• Director: Walter Lang
• Trivia: The title was spelled The Red Kimona in the opening credits. Debut of film director Walter Lang. Dorothy Davenport (aka Mrs. Wallace Reid) served as an uncredited co-director, and was the unbilled narrator. A copy of the film is preserved in the Library of Congress.

February – The Million Dollar Handicap (USA, Metropolitan Pictures Corporation of California)

• Cast: Edmund Burns, Ralph Lewis, Ward Crane, Tom Wilson, Clarence Burton
• Director: Scott Sidney
• Trivia: Released in the UK as The Pride of the Paddock. The film’s survival status is unknown.

February 13 – Her Sacrifice (USA, Sanford Productions)

• Cast: Gaston Glass, Bryant Washburn, Herbert Rawlinson, Gladys Brockwell, Wilfred Lucas
• Director: Wilfred Lucas
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

February 13 – The Blackbird (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Lon Chaney, Owen Moore, Renée Adorée, Doris Lloyd
• Director: Tod Browning
• Trivia: Lon Chaney plays dual roles in the film. The film does exist and has been released on DVD.

February 13 – The Love Toy (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Lowell Sherman, Jane Winton, Willard Louis, Gayne Whitman, Ethel Grey Terry, Helene Costello
• Director: Erle C. Kenton
• Trivia: Myrna Loy appears in a small uncredited role. The film is considered lost.

February 14 – Made for Love (USA, DeMille Pictures Corporation)

• Cast: Leatrice Joy, Edmund Burns, Ethel Wales, Bertram Grassby, Brandon Hurst
• Director: Paul Sloane
• Trivia: A copy of the film is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

February 14 – The Far Cry (USA, First National Pictures)

• Cast: Blanche Sweet, Jack Mulhall, Myrtle Stedman, Hobart Bosworth, Leo White
• Director: Silvano Balboni
• Trivia: The elaborate Roman banquet near the end of the movie was filmed in Technicolor. The film is considered lost.

February 14 – The Skyrocket (USA, Celebrity Pictures)

• Cast: Peggy Hopkins Joyce, Owen Moore, Gladys Hulette, Paulette Duval, Lilyan Tashman, Earle Williams
• Director: Marshall Neilan
• Trivia: Peggy Joyce Hopkins’ feature debut, with the film intended to launch her career after being known largely for her colorful personal life. The film was not a success and Hopkins appeared in just one more film. The film is considered lost.

February 15 – Broken Homes (USA, MacFadden True Story Pictures)

• Cast: Gaston Glass, Alice Lake, J. Barney Sherry, Jane Jennings, Ruth Stonehouse
• Director: Hugh Dierker
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

February 15 – Partners Again (USA, Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

• Cast: George Sidney, Alexander Carr, Betty Jewel, Allan Forrest, Robert Schable, Lillian Elliott
• Director: Henry King
• Trivia: Based on the Broadway play of the same name, which was a sequel to the 1913 play Potash and Perlmutter, which was adapted for film in 1923. Carr reprises the role of Perlmutter, while Potash replaces the late Barney Bernard as Potash. An 8mm print of the film is said to exist at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

February 15 – The Devil’s Circus (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Norma Shearer, Charles Emmett Mack, Carmel Myers, John Miljan, Claire McDowell, Joyce Coad
• Director: Benjamin Christiansen
• Trivia: The first of seven films Christiansen directed in the US, and one of four that still exist. The film was thought lost, but a print was discovered and preserved by the George Eastman House.

1936

February 12 – Don’t Get Personal (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: James Dunn, Sally Eilers, Pinky Tomlin, Spencer Charters, Doris Lloyd
• Director: William Nigh

February 12 – Soft Lights and Sweet Music (London, British Lion)

• Cast: Bert Ambrose, Evelyn Dall, Western Brothers, Harry Tate, Billy Bennett, Turner Layton
• Director: Herbert Smith
• Trivia: The film entered general UK release on July 20, 1936, and has no known US theatrical release date. The film, a musical revue, takes its name from the BBC radio show.

February 14 – Drift Fence (USA, Paramount Pictures)

• Cast: Buster Crabbe, Katherine DeMille, Tom Keene, Benny Baker, Leif Erickson
• Director: Otho Lovering
• Trivia: The film was reissued as Texas Desperados.

February 14 – It Had to Happen (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: George Raft, Rosalind Russell, Leo Carrillo, Arline Judge, Alan Dinehart, Arthur Hohl
• Director: Roy Del Ruth
• Trivia: Leo Carrillo was borrowed from Columbia Pictures.

February 14 – Muss ‘Em Up (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Preston Foster, Margaret Callahan, Alan Mowbray, Ralph Morgan, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Maxie Rosenbloom
• Director: Charles Vidor
• Trivia: Ward Bond appears in a small role as a gangster.

February 14 – Tango (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)

• Cast: Marian Nixon, Chick Chandler, Marie Prevost, Matty Kemp, Warren Hymer, Herman Bing, George Meeker, Franklin Pangborn
• Director: Phil Rosen

February 14 – The Bohemian Girl (USA, Hal Roach Studios)

• Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jacqueline Wells, Darla Hood, Mae Busch, Antonio Moreno, William P. Carleton, James Finlayson
• Directors: James W. Horne, Charles Rogers
• Trivia: The film features Thelma Todd in her final role. Todd was to have had a larger role, but she died during production. Paulette Goddard has a small uncredited role as a Gypsy. The film was banned in Nazi Germany due to its positive depiction of gypsies, and in Malaysia because of Roma themes.

February 15 – Darkest Africa (USA, serial, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: Clyde Beatty, Manuel King, Elaine Shapard, Lucien Prival, Ray ‘Crash’Corrigan, Wheeler Oakman
• Directors: B. Reeves Eason, Joseph Kane
• Trivia: First serial produced by Republic Pictures, and is a loose sequel to Mascot Pictures’ The Lost Jungle. Both starred Clyde Beatty. The serial includes the first use of flying special effects which Republic would use in future serials, and also showcased the studio’s model work.

February 15 – Ghost Town (USA, William Berke Productions Inc.)

• Cast: Harry Carey, David Sharpe, Ruth Findlay, Jane Novak, Lee Shumway
• Director: Harry L. Fraser

February 15 – Man Hunt (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Marguerite Churchill, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, William Gargan, Dick Purcell, Olin Howland
• Director: William Clemens

February 15 – Ring Around the Moon (USA, Chesterfield Pictures)

• Cast: Donald Cook, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Ann Doran, Alan Edwards, Douglas Fowley, John Qualen, Barbara Bedford
• Director: Charles Lamont
• Trivia: Chesterfield Pictures was taken over by Republic Pictures shortly after production and distribution of the film.

February 15 – Taming the Wild (USA, Victory Pictures)

• Cast: Rod La Rocque, Maxine Doyle, Bryant Washburn, Barbara Pepper
• Director: Bob Hill
• Trivia: Also known as Madcap.

February 15 – The Bridge of Sighs (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)

• Cast: Onslow Stevens, Dorothy Tree, Jack La Rue, Mary Doran, Walter Byron, Oscar Apfel, Maidel Turner
• Director: Phil Rosen

February 15 – The Lawless Nineties (USA, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: John Wayne, Ann Rutherford, Harry Woods, George Hayes, Al Bridge
• Director: Joseph Kane
• Trivia: Ann Rutherford was 19 years old at the time of production.

February 15 – The Voice of Bugle Ann (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O’Sullivan, Eric Linden, Dudley Digges, Spring Byington, Charley Grapewin
• Director: Richard Thorpe

February 17 – The Leathernecks Have Landed (USA, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: Lew Ayres, Isabel Jewell, James Ellison, James Burke, J. Carrol Naish, Clay Clement
• Director: Howard Bretherton

February 18 – August Weekend (USA, Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation)

• Cast: Valerie Hobson, Paul Harvey, G. P. Huntley, Betty Compson
• Director: Charles Lamont
• Trivia: Also known as August Week End and Week-End Madness.

February 18 – The Dark Hour (USA, Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation)

• Cast: Ray Walker, Berton Churchill, Irene Ware, Hobart Bosworth, Hedda Hopper
• Director: Charles Lamont

February 18 – The Secret Voice (London, British & Dominions Film Corporation)

• Cast: John Stuart, Diana Beaumont, John Kevan, Henry Victor, James Carew
• Director: George Pearson
• Trivia: The film went into general UK release on June 29, 1936, and made its US premiere on television in Los Angeles on April 3, 1949.

1946

February 12 – Live Wires (USA, Monogram Pictures)

• Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, William Benedict, William Frambes, Pamela Blake, Claudia Drake, Mike Mazurki
• Director: Phil Karlson
• Trivia: First film in the Bowery Boys series, which was comprised of 48 films. William Frambes’ only appearance as a Bowery Boy.

February 13 – Riverboat Rhythm (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Leon Errol, Glenn Vernon, Walter Catlett, Marc Cramer, Jonathan Hale, Joan Newton
• Director: Leslie Goodwins
• Trivia: The film was intended as a vehicle for musical-comedy team Glenn Vernon and Marcy McGuire, but RKO suddenly released McGuire so Vernon suggested his Broadway co-star Joan Newton as her replacement.

February 14 – Roaring Rangers (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Charles Starrett, Adele Roberts, Merle Travis, Smiley Burnette, Jack Rockwell
• Director: Ray Nazarro
• Trivia: Tenth of 65 Durango Kid movies.

February 15 – Behind Green Lights (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Carole Landis, William Gargan, Don Beddoe, Richard Crane, Mary Anderson, John Ireland
• Director: Otto Brower

February 15 – The Diary of a Chambermaid (USA, Benedict Bogeaus Productions)

• Cast: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, Hurd Hatfield, Francis Lederer, Judith Anderson, Florence Bates, Irene Ryan, Reginald Owen
• Director: Jean Renoir
• Trivia: Based on the 1900 novel of the same title by Octave Mirbeau, and the play Le journal d’une femme de Chambre, written by André de Lorde, with André Heuse and Thielly Nores.

February 16 – Moon Over Montana (USA, Monogram Pictures)

• Cast: Jimmy Wakely, Lee ‘Lasses’ White, Jennifer Holt, Jack Ingram
• Director: Oliver Drake

February 16 – The Madonna’s Secret (USA, Republic Pictures)

• Cast: Francis Lederer, Gail Patrick, Ann Rutherford, Edward Ashley, Linda Stirling
• Director: William Thiele

February 16 – The Shadow Returns (USA, Monogram Pictures)

• Cast: Kane Richmond, Barbara Read, Tom Dugan, Joseph Crehan, Pierre Watkin
• Director: Phil Rosen
• Trivia: First in a series of three films featuring The Shadow, a popular hero of pulp novels and a radio show.

February 17 – Ambush Trail (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)

• Cast: Bob Steele, Syd Saylor, I. Stanford Jolley, Lorraine Miller, Charles King
• Director: Harry L. Fraser

February 18 – Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, Acquanetta, Dennis Hoey, Tommy Cook, Anthony Caruso
• Director: Kurt Neumann
• Trivia: The film was shot in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

1956

February 14 – The Man Who Never Was (USA, Sumar Productions)

• Cast: Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng, Josephine Griffin, Stephen Boyd, Cyril Cusack, Andre Morell, Michael Hordern
• Director: Ronald Neame
• Trivia: The story concerns ‘Operation Mincemeat’, which has been adapted into an award-winning West End and Broadway musical. The film won a BAFTA for Nigel Balchin’s screenplay.

February 15 – Fury at Gunsight Pass (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: David Brian, Neville Brand, Richard Long, Lisa Davis, Katharine Warren, Percy Helton
• Director: Fred F. Sears

February 16 – Carousel (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner, Gene Lockhart
• Director: Henry King
• Trivia: Tor Johnson has an uncredited role. Frank Sinatra was to star, and recorded all of his songs, but allegedly withdrew after wife Ava Gardner threatened to have an affair if he didn’t accompany her to the set of The Barefoot Contessa. Gordon MacRae suspected Sinatra would withdraw and prepared in advance to replace him. The film was originally to be shot in CinemaScope 55 and 35mm CinemaScope, but the studio ultimately decided to just use the 55mm process, eliminating the need to film every scene twice. The 55mm film premiered with a six-track stereo soundtrack, but all other prints included a four-track stereo soundtrack. It is the only one of seven Rodgers and Hammerstein films to not receive any Oscar nominations.

February 17 – Private’s Progress (UK, Charter Film Productions)

• Cast: Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price, Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael, Peter Jones, William Hartnell
• Director: John Boulting
• Trivia: Released in the US on July 23, 1956. The British War Office refused cooperation with the production resulting in a ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ title card stating ‘the producers gratefully acknowledge the official cooperation of absolutely nobody’. The film was followed in 1959 by I’m All Right Jack, which includes references to the film.

February 17 – World in My Corner (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Audie Murphy, Barbara Rush, Jeff Morrow, John McIntire, Tommy Rall, Howard St. John
• Director: Jesse Hibbs
• Trivia: One of the few non-Westerns to star Audie Murphy.

February 18 – The High and the Flighty (USA, short, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Voice Cast: Mel Blanc
• Director: Robert McKimson

1966

February 16 – The Ugly Dachshund (USA, Walt Disney Productions)

• Cast: Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Charlie Ruggles, Kelly Thordsen, Parley Baer, Mako, Charles Lane
• Director: Norman Tokar
• Trivia: Dick Wessel played Eddie the Garbageman, but was dubbed by Paul Frees. Animated featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree accompanied the film’s theatrical release.

February 17 – Jerry, Jerry, Quite Contrary (USA, short, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Voice Cast: Mel Blanc
• Directors: Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble

February 17 – The Naked Prey (West Germany, Sven Persson Films-Theodora Productions)

• Cast: Cornel Wilde, Gert van den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Bella Randels, Patrick Mynhardt
• Director: Cornel Wilde
• Trivia: The film was shot entirely in southern Africa on a budget of $700,000. The screenplay was just nine pages long, and earned an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay.

February 18 – The Chase (USA, Horizon Pictures)

• Cast: Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, E. G. Marshall, Angie Dickinson, Janice Rule, Miriam Hopkins, Robert Duvall, Henry Hull, Diana Hyland, James Fox
• Director: Arthur Penn
• Trivia: Singer-songwriter Paul Williams thought the film would be his big break, but his role was reduced to just a few moments with two lines. Faye Dunaway auditioned for the film but Jane Fonda was cast. Afterwards, director Arthur Penn tested Dunaway and cast her in Bonnie & Clyde.

February 18 – The Silencers (USA, Meadway-Claude Productions Company)

• Cast: Dean Martin, Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Victor Buono, Arthur O’Connell, Robert Webber, James Gregory, Nancy Kovack, Roger C. Carmel, Cyd Charisse
• Director: Phil Karlson
• Trivia: First of four Matt Helm films. This is the first film to have a post-credits scene. Producer Irwin Allen wanted Paul Newman to star in order to compete with Sean Connery in the Bond films (the rights to which Allen had a chance to purchase with Albert Broccoli, but wasn’t interested so Broccoli went off on his own). It was decided to make the film a comedy and Allen suggested Dean Martin to star. The Helm series has been cited as inspiration for the Austin Powers films.

1976

February – Spanish Fly (UK, limited, Izaro Films)

• Cast: Leslie Phillips, Terry-Thomas, Graham Armitage, Nadiuska, Sue Lloyd, Frank Thornton
• Director: Bob Kellett
• Trivia: Released in the US in September 1976. The film was produced as a challenger to the popular Carry On film series. Terry-Thomas was suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s disease during production.

February – Inserts (USA, United Artists)

• Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Jessica Harper, Veronica Cartwright, Bob Hoskins, Stephen Davies
• Director: John Byrum
• Trivia: First opened in West Germany on February 19, 1975. Byrum’s directorial debut. Inserts was filmed in the vein of a one-act stage play on one set and filmed entirely in real time. Of the $350,000 budget, Dreyfuss was paid $150,000. The film received an X-rating due to subject matter and full frontal nudity, both male and female, which Dreyfuss personally appealed to no avail. The MPAA re-rated the film in 1996 to an NC-17.

February – Assault on Agathon (USA, Jensen International Film)

• Cast: Nico Minardos, Nina van Pallandt, Marianne Faithfull, John Woodvine
• Director: László Benedek
• Trivia: Though set in Greece, the film was never theatrically released in the country.

February 13 – Jack and the Beanstalk (USA, Nippon Herald Films)

• Voice Cast (English): Billie Lou Watt, Corinne Orr, Ray Owens, Jack Grimes
• Director: Gisaburō Sugii
• Trivia: First released in Japan on July 20, 1974. Feature directorial debut for Sugii.

February 15 – The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (USA, Faces Distribution)

• Cast: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Morgan Woodward, Azizi Johari, Robert Phillips, Meade Roberts
• Director: John Cassavetes
• Trivia: Cassavetes came up with the idea one night with Martin Scorsese, and then continued to develop it on his own. For a restaurant scene late in the film, Cassavetes invited a number of prominent Hollywood studio executives to play extras, but then deliberately removed all their faces from the final cut. David Bowie sat in on much of the shoot, and is visible in some club audience footage. The original 135 minute edit was a box office flop and pulled from release after a week. Cassavetes eventually re-edited the film to 108 minutes, and this version has been in general release though both were included on Criterion Collection box set devoted to Cassavetes.

1986

February – Death Warmed Up (Japan, Tucker Production Company)

• Cast: Michael Hurst, Margaret Umbers, William Upjohn, Norelle Scott
• Director: David Blyth
• Trivia: First opened in the Netherlands on April 25, 1985. The film has no known US theatrical release date. It is also known as Dr. Evil: Part II. The original version was banned in Australia due to excessive violent, and a censored version was released later.

February – Jenny Kissed Me (USA/AUS, Nilsen Premiere)

• Cast: Ivar Kants, Deborra-Lee Furness, Tamsin West, Paula Duncan, Steven Grives
• Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith
• Trivia: The director has called the film a ‘tearjerker for men’.

February 14 – Knights of the City (USA, Grace)

• Cast: Leon Isaac Kennedy, Nicholas Campbell, John Mengatti, Stoney Jackson,
• Director: Dominic Orlando
• Trivia: The film’s original title was Cry of the City. Mobster Michael Franzese was a producer on the film.

February 14 – Quicksilver (USA, Delphi V Productions)

• Cast: Kevin Bacon, Jami Gertz, Paul Rodriguez, Rudy Ramos, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Larry Fishburne, Louis Anderson
• Director: Thomas Michael Donnelly

February 14 – TerrorVision (USA, Altar Productions)

• Cast: Chad Allen, Diane Franklin, Mary Woronov, Gerrit Graham, Bert Remsen, Jon Gries, Alejandro Rey
• Director: Ted Nicolaou
• Trivia: Frank Welker provides the voice of the Hungry Beast Alien. The film was shot back-to-back in Italy with Troll, and the films were released a month apart in the US.

February 14 – The Delta Force (USA, Golan-Globus Productions)

• Cast: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert Forster, Bo Svenson, Hanna Schygulla, Martin Balsam, Shelley Winters, Joey Bishop, Lainie Kazan, George Kennedy, Susan Strasberg
• Director: Menahem Golan
• Trivia: Lee Marvin’s final film appearance. Kevin Dillon, Liam Neeson, and Mykelti Williamson also appear as Delta Force members. Charles Bronson was to have co-starred with Norris, but dropped out due to a commitment to Act of Vengeance.

February 14 – Turtle Diary (USA, British Lion Film Corporation)

• Cast: Glenda Jackson, Ben Kingsley, Richard Johnson, Michael Gambon, Jeroen Krabbé
• Director: John Irvin
• Trivia: First opened in the UK on December 6, 1985.

February 14 – Wildcats (USA, Hawn / Sylbert Movie Company)

• Cast: Goldie Hawn, James Keach, Swoosie Kurtz, Robyn Lively, Nipsey Russell, Bruce McGill, M. Emmet Walsh, Mykelti Williamson, Woody Harrelson, George Wyner, Jan Hooks, LL Cool J, Gloria Stuart
• Director: Michael Ritchie
• Trivia: The film used Lane Technical College Prep High School football stadium for some of their shots.

1996

February 16 – City Hall (USA, Castle Rock Entertainment)

• Cast: Al Pacino, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda, Danny Aiello, David Paymer, Martin Landau, Anthony Franciosa, Richard Schiff
• Director: Harold Becker
• Trivia: Tom Cruise was in talks to star in the film, but negotiations fell apart.

February 16 – Happy Gilmore (USA/Canada, Robert Simonds Productions)

• Cast: Adam Sandler, Donnie MacMillan, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, Carl Weathers, Allen Covert, Richard Kiel, Dennis Dugan, Joe Flaherty
• Director: Dennis Dugan
• Trivia: Ben Stiller appears in an uncredited roll. Bob Barker plays himself, and he and Sandler won an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. The fight scene brought a new set of younger, male fans to The Price is Right. Judd Apatow did an uncredited rewrite on the script. Christopher McDonald initially turned down the role of Shooter McGavin because he was tired of playing villains, but after Kevin Costner rejected an offer and McDonald won a round of golf, he met with Sandler who gave him the freedom to improvise the role so it wasn’t ‘Villain 101’.

February 16 – Mr. Wrong (USA, Mandeville Films)

• Cast: Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Pullman, Joan Cusack, Dean Stockwell, John Livingston, Joan Plowright, Robert Goulet, Ellen Cleghorne, Polly Holliday, Hope Davis
• Director: Nick Castle
• Trivia: Ellen DeGeneres’ film debut, her only as a lead actress. Louie Anderson and Casey & Jean Kasem appear as themselves.

February 16 – Muppet Treasure Island (USA, Jim Henson Productions)

• Cast: Kevin Bishop, Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Jennifer Saunders, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, Bill Barretta, John Henson, Louise Gold, Don Austen
• Director: Brian Henson
• Trivia: Fifth theatrical film starring The Muppets, and the second produced by Disney. Kevin Bishop, who was the first to audition, makes his film debut as Jim Hawkins. Muppets Gonzo and Rizzo were originally to play characters named Jim and Hawkins, but Disney worried they could not carry the emotional heart of the movie, so the human Jim Hawkins was written in. Franz Oz was unavailable to perform his Muppet characters due to his directing career, so Kevin Clash did the performances with Oz dubbing in the voices later.

2006

February 17 – Date Movie (USA, New Regency Productions)

• Cast: Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge, Tony Cox, Lil Jon, Carmen Electra, Fred Willard, Eddie Griffin, Sophie Monk, Marie Matiko, Judah Friedlander
• Director: Aaron Seltzer
• Trivia: Edward Moss reprises the role of Michael Jackson from Scary Movie 3. Carmen Electra won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for this film and Scary Movie 4.

February 17 – Eight Below (USA, Mandeville Films)

• Cast: Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, Jason Biggs, Belinda Metz
• Director: Frank Marshall
• Trivia: Originally titled Antarctica: The Journey Home. The film is a remake of the 1983 Japanese film, Antarctica, which is based on actual events from 1958. The American film moves the time period up to 1993.

February 17 – Feed (UK, Becker Entertainment-Cutting Edge)

• Cast: Alex O’Loughlin, Patrick Thompson, Gabby Millgate, Jack Thompson
• Director: Brett Leonard
• Trivia: Screened at the Philadelphia International Film Festival on March 31, 2006, but has no known US theatrical release date.

February 17 – Freedomland (USA, Scott Rudin Productions)

• Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard, William Forsythe, Aunjanue Ellis, Anthony Mackie
• Director: Joe Roth
• Trivia: Jackson and Moore took pay cuts so the film could be made for $30 million.

2016

February 18 – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Hong Kong, China Film Group Corporation)

• Cast: Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh, Harry Shum Jr., Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee
• Director: Yuen Woo-ping
• Trivia: The film debuted on Netflix in the US, UK and Canada on February 26, 2016. The film was announced as Iron Knight, Silver Vase, the title of the source material. The film was shot in English and dubbed into Mandarin, unlike its predecessor which was the other way around.

February 18 – Risen (AUS, Affirm Films)

• Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, María Botto
• Director: Kevin Reynolds
• Trivia: The film was announced as The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and was intended as an unofficial sequel to The Passion of the Christ.