Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #292 :: February 26 to March 4

It’s a pretty full week moving from February to March, with a number of new titles reaching the big screen but only a handful being realy noteworthy. Those include a 1936 film that nearly took down its studio, a 1946 film that was held back from release to help its star in the Oscar race for another film, a groundbreaking 1956 sci-fi classic, a 1966 Roger Corman film with a wild production history, a 1986 horror cult classic, a 2006 film that was the last for its director, and a 2016 animated hit that broke new ground in animation techniques. Scroll down to see all 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 27 – The Night Cry (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
February 28 – My Own Pal (US, Fox Film Corporation)
February 28 – Sky High Corral (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 28 – The Cohens and Kellys (USA, Universal Pictures)
February 28 – The Dancer of Paris (USA, First National Pictures)
February 28 – The Johnstown Flood (USA, Fox Film Corporation)
February 28 – The King of the Turf (USA, Film Booking Offices of America)
February 28 – The Miracle of Life (USA, S.E.V. Taylor)
February 28 – Wild Oats Lane (USA, Marshall Neilan Productions)
March – Phantom Police (USA, serial, Rayart Pictures Corporation)
March – The Speed Limit (USA, Gotham Productions)
March – The Windjammer (USA, Harry J.Brown Productions)
March 1 – Dancing Mothers (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
March 1 – Ladies of Leisure (USA, Columbia Pictures)
March 1 – Let’s Get Married (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)
March 1 – Monte Carlo (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
March 1 – Perils of the Coast Guard (USA, Paul Gerson Pictures Corporation)
March 1 – The Test of Donald Norton (USA, Chadwick Pictures Corporation)
March 1 – Why Girls Go Back Home (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• The following films are considered lost: My Own Pal, The Dancer of Paris, The Miracle of Life, Why Girls Go Back Home.

1936

February 27 – The Music Goes ‘Round (USA, Columbia Pictures)
February 27 – Under Proof (London, Twentieth Century Fox Productions)
February 28 – Beloved Imposter (London, John Stafford Productions)
February 28 – Don’t Gamble with Love (USA, Columbia Pictures)
February 28 – Murder at Glen Athol (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)
February 28 – Not Now (USA, short, Fleischer Studios)
February 28 – Song of the Saddle (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
February 29 – Boom Boom (USA, short, Leon Schlesinger Studios)
March – Blind Man’s Bluff (UK, Fox Film Company)
March – Find the Lady (UK, Fox Film Company)
March – Gaol Break (UK, Warner Bros. Pictures)
March – Hot News (UK, St. George’s Pictures)
March – King of Hearts (UK, Butcher’s Film Service)
March – Strange Cargo (UK, British & Dominions Film Corporation)
March – Sweeney Todd (UK, George King Productions)
March – The First Offence (UK, Gainsborough Pictures)
March – Twelve Good Men (UK, Warner Bros. Pictures)
March – Wedding Group (UK, Fox Film Company)
March 1 – Border Caballero (USA, Excelsior Pictures)
March 1 – Hair-Trigger Casey (USA, Berke-Perrin Productions)
March 1 – Sutter’s Gold (USA, Universal Pictures)
March 2 – Flame in the Heather (UK, Victor M. Greene Productions)
March 2 – Red River Valley (USA, Republic Pictures)
March 2 – The Little Red Schoolhouse (USA, Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation)
March 4 – Laughing Irish Eyes (USA, Republic Pictures)
March 4 – Wildcat Saunders (USA, Berke-Perrin Productions)

• Sutter’s Gold, based on the discovery of gold on the Sutter property that spurred the California Gold Rush was meant to be Universal Studios’ head Carl Laemmle’s Western epic with a cast of ‘name’ stars. Unfortunately at the time, the studio had no big name stars to attach to the project, and Laemmle gave director James Cruze carte blanche on the project. Cruze was known to over-spend, which he did, and the expenditure was too lavish for the budget-conscious studio, and with no stars to draw audiences the film failed spectacularly, damaging Cruze’s reputation and ruining Universal. A group of investors ousted Laemmle from the studio he founded, and rebranded the studio ‘The NEW Universal’. The only real value the studio got from the film was its use as stock footage thanks to Cruze’s carefully staged outdoor scenes which could be edited into the studio’s low budget adventures, Westerns and serials.

1946

February 26 – Breakfast in Hollywood (USA, Golden Pictures)
February 27 – Road to Utopia (USA, Paramount Pictures)
February 28 – A Bird in the Head (USA, short, Columbia Pictures)
February 28 – Crime of the Century (USA, Republic Pictures)
February 28 – The Gentleman Misbehaves (USA, Columbia Pictures)
March – Blonde Alibi (USA, Universal Pictures)
March – Sentimental Journey (USA, 20th Century Fox)
March 1 – Young Widow (USA, Hunt Stromberg Productions)
March 2 – Fear (USA, Monogram Pictures)
March 2 – The Haunted Mine (USA, Monogram Pictures)
March 4 – They Knew Mr. Knight (UK, G.H.W. Productions)

• Road to Utopia is the fourth film in the ‘Road to…’ series, filmed in 1943 but not released until 1946. It is the only ‘Road’ film to not have a real place in its title, and it is the only one not set in modern times, though the cast is made up to look older at the beginning and end of the film to frame it as a flashback. Humorist Robert Benchley provides wry commentary throughout the film (Benchley died several months before the film was released). The film pokes fun at its studio, Paramount, references Frank Sinatra, and has many instances of ‘breaking the fourth wall’. Bing Crosby’s incantation at the beginning of the film includes ‘presto-sturgando’, which was a reference to Paramount’s writer-director Preston Sturges. The film may have been delayed to prevent interference with Crosby’s role in Going My Way, which the studio felt would be under Oscar consideration. Crosby did win the Best Actor Oscar for his role as a priest in that film. Road to Utopia was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1947.

1956

March – Comanche (USA, Carl Krueger Productions)
March – Ghost Town (USA, Bel-Air Productions)
March – Red Sundown (USA, Universal-International Pictures)
March – Soho Incident (UK, Frankovich Productions)
March – The Creature Walks Among Us (USA, Universal-International Pictures)
March – The Gelignite Gang (UK, Cybex Film Productions)
March – The River Changes (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)
March 1 – A Town Like Alice (UK, Vic Films Productions)
March 1 – Please Murder Me (USA, Gross-Krasne Productions)
March 2 – Forbidden Planet (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
March 2 – Uranium Boom (USA, Clover Productions)

• Forbidden Planet is considered by many to be a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The film has many firsts for a science fiction film including the first in which humans travel in a man-made, faster-than-light starship. It is also the first to be set on a planet orbiting another star far from Earth’s solar system. The film’s Robby the Robot is also the first film robot to be more than just a ‘tin can on legs’, with a distinct personality that is integral to the plot. It was also the first film to use an entirely electronic musical score, by Bebe and Louis Barron. The script was originally titled Fatal Planet, but was changed to Forbidden Planet to generate greater box office appeal. The first draft was set on Mercury, and did not contain the Krell or the Id monster. The film was shot entirely on sound stages with sets designed by Cedric Gibbons and Arthur Lonergan, enhanced with visual effects and matte paintings. Lonergan built sets much larger than the budget allowed, but by the time the studio found out it was too late to do anything about it. The cost for Robby the Robot alone was about 7% of the film’s budget, with a price tag of $125,000. The electronically-controlled passenger vehicle and the truck/tractor-crane were also built for the film. The Id monster’s animator, Joshua Meadoe, was loaned to MGM by Disney. The monster’s appearance was considered so scary in some states that it was edited out of the film so as to not frighten children. The film was re-released in 1972 as a ‘Kiddie Matinee’ with about 6-minutes removed to ensure it received a G-rating. Later un-edited versions all carry the G-rating. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2013.

1966

March – Queen of Blood (USA, Cinema West Productions)
March – Three on a Couch (USA, Jerry Lewis Productions)
March – W.I.A. Wounded in Action (USA, Myriad Productions)
March 2 – Blood Bath (USA, Jack Hill Productions)
March 3 – Jerry-Go-Round (USA, short, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
March 3 – Kitchen (USA, The Factory)
March 3 – Madame X (USA, Ross Hunter Productions)
March 4 – Doctor in Clover (UK, Rank Organisation)
March 4 – The Group (USA, Famartists Productions S.A.)
March 4 – The Oscar (USA, Greene-Rouse Productions)

• Blood Bath has a complex production history. Roger Corman had originally co-produced a Yugoslavian spy thriller, Operation: Titian, which was deemed unreleasable. Corman then purchased the rights to another film and commissioned Jack Hill to write a new script, this one a horror film that incorporated footage from the failed spy film, titled Portrait in Terror. Corman was still not satisfied and hired Stephanie Rothman to film additional sequences, and the cobbled-together film was released as Blood Bath, with an additional version made for television titled Track of the Vampire. William Campbell, who starred in Operation: Titian, was available to shoot new scenes for Hill, and despite his outrageous salary demands, Corman agreed and proceeded with the production. Hill added beatnik scenes to the story featuring Sid Haig and Jonathan Haze, as well as the film’s most effective moment — the hatchet murder. Patrick Magee’s role from the original film was retained in Hill’s original cut. Rothman’s contribution to the story changed Campbell’s deranged, murderous artist to a deranged, murderous artist who is also a vampire. Campbell refused to participate further, so the vampire was played by a completely different actor, forcing Rothman to give reason for the character to magically transform his physical shape, and explain why the vampire did not look like Campbell. Haig was also brought back for re-shoots, further complicating things because he did not have a beard during the original shoot, but grew one for the subsequent project he was working on, leading to continuity issues with his facial hair. Despite the issues, Rothman’s version was the one Corman preferred. Both Hill and Rothman were credited, but Hill felt Rothman’s changes ruined the film. Running at 62 minutes, Blood Bath was too short for TV broadcast, so further footage was filmed including a six-minute segment of Linda Saunders dancing non-stop on the beach.

1976

February – Ace Up My Sleeve (West Germany, Film Cine Produktion)
February – Adios Amigo (USA, Po’ Boy Productions)
February – Blue Belle (Italy, Italian International Film-Coralta Cinematografica)
February – I Will, I Will… for Now (USA, Brut Productions)
February – Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (USA, Palladium Productions)
February – Swallows and Amazons (Mexico, Theatre Projects Film Productions Ltd.)
February – Tanya (Linco Productions)
March – Foxtrot (USA, Carvold-CoNaCine)
March – Nashville Girl (USA, New World Pictures)
March – The Swiss Conspiracy (Switzerland, Bavaria Film)
March 3 – The First Nudie Musical (USA, The First Musical Company)

• The First Nudie Musical starred Bruce Kimmel, Stephen Nathan and Cindy Williams. The film developed a cult following due to frequent broadcasts on Cinemax. Kimmel and Williams collaborated again in 1981 on The Creature Wasn’t Nice.

1986

February 27 – House (AUS, Sean S. Cunningham Films)
February 28 – Hollywood Vice Squad (USA, Sandy Howard Productions)
February 28 – Pretty in Pink (USA/Canada, Paramount Pictures)

• House shot on location for its first two weeks using the exterior of the estate known today as Mills View, a Victorian-style home built in 1887. At the time it was owned by Los Angeles firemen brothers, Brian and John Wade. During four weeks of pre-production the entire exterior was repainted, a wrought iron fence supported by stone pillars was added to border the yard, and foam spires were attached to the roof. The clapboard back of the house was covered with brick, and landscapers planted flowers and reseeded the dying lawn. There was no sidewalk, so a walkway was made from plywood painted gray to look like concrete. Some time after production, a real concrete walkway was installed to replicate the one seen in the movie, as it played a pivotal role in the finished film. Two floors of the interior were recreated on sound stages at Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, and jungle exteriors for the Vietnam flashback scenes were also built on the sound stages. Seventeen special effects artists created the seven monsters in the film over a period of three-and-a-half months. The war demon puppet measured 18 feet, was fully mechanized and operated by fifteen people. The film was a success and launched a series with three sequels.

1996

March 1 – Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (USA, F.M. Entertainment International N.V.)
March 1 – Bullet (USA, limited, Clipsal Films)
March 1 – Down Periscope (USA, 20th Century Fox)
March 1 – Up Close & Personal (USA, Cinergi Pictures Entertainment)

2006

March 3 – 16 Blocks (USA, Alcon Entertainment)
March 3 – Aquamarine (USA, Fox 2000 Pictures)
March 3 – The Feast of the Goat (Spain)
March 3 – Ultraviolet (USA, Ultravi Productions)

• 16 Blocks was the final film directed by Richard Donner, and was the last acting role for his cousin, Steve Kahan. Donner originally wanted Ludacris to play the role of Eddie Bunker, but Mos Def was cast. 16 Blocks is the second film in which David Morse play the villain to Bruce Willis, following 1995’s 12 Monkeys.

2016

March 4 – London Has Fallen (USA, Millennium Films)
March 4 – The Other Side of the Door (USA/UK, 42-Fire Axe Pictures)
March 4 – Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (USA/Canada, Broadway Video)
March 4 – Zootopia (USA, Walt Disney Pictures)

• Zootopia is known as Zootropolis in some markets, and Zoomania in Germany. The story for Zootopia began as a 1960s international spy film titled Savage Seas, with arctic hare ‘Jack Savage’ as the lead character. To focus on the animal-created city of the script’s first act, the 1960s setting was dropped along with the espionage aspects for a more traditional and contemporary police procedural, with Nick Wilde as the lead and Judy Hopps as his sidekick. The writers eventually decided to reverse the roles and make Hopps the focus instead of Wilde, and that led to the elimination of several characters including two gerbils who did nothing but harass Nick. Animators spent eight months studying animals’ walk cycles and fur colors at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Eight hundred thousand forms of mammals were created for and featured in the film. To make the characters’ fur even more realistic, they also went to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to closely observe the appearance of fur with a microscope under a variety of lighting. Filmmakers consulted with Americans with Disabilities Act specialists and HVAC system designers to create a city that could support mammals of wildly different sizes, from two inches to 27 feet, from drastically different climates. J Mays, former chief creative officer for Ford Motor Company, was consulted on the design of vehicles appropriate for mammals of different types and sizes. New software, iGroom, was developed for the film to give the characters realistic fur. The film, along with Moana, was produced in a giant warehouse in North Hollywood while Disney Animation headquarters in Burbank were being renovated. The film won the Oscar, Golden Globe, Critics Choice Movie Award and Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and was also nominated for the BAFTA.