Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #295 :: March 19•25

A lot of filsm made their way to the silver screen this week over the past century, with a handful of note. A 1926 silent film was the inspiration for a major comic book character, who shows up in a 2016 film. A 1936 film marked the 20th appearance of a popular comedy team. A 1946 film tried to capture the experience of seeing a live stage production with several directors chipping in. A 1956 musical was groundbreaking for the genre. A 1966 film may be more famous for its theme song, while a 1976 musical found some of its songs cut for American audiences. 1986 saw a third go-round for bumbling cops, 1996 and 2006 had films directed by Spike Lee, and 2016 launched an entire superhero film universe. Scroll down to see all of the films released this week across the decades, and tell us if any of your favorites are celebrating milestone anniversaries.

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

1926

March 20 – The Sap (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Kenneth Harlan, Heinie Conklin, Mary McAllister, David Butler, Eulalie Jensen, John Cossar
• Director: Erle C. Kenton
• Trivia: Based on the 1924 play The Sap by William A. Grew. The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 21 – Blue Blazes (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Pete Morrison, Jim Welch, Barbara Starr, Dick La Reno Jr.
• Directors: Joseph Franz, Milburn Morante
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 21 – Fool’s Luck (USA, short, Lupino Lane Comedy Corporation)

• Cast: Lupino Lane, George Davis, Virginia Vance, Jack Lloyd
• Director: William Goodrich
• Trivia: Goodrich was the name adopted by Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, who could not get work in Hollywood under his own name despite being acquitted in the third trial for the death of Virginia Rappe. Arbuckle also wrote the short under the Goodrich name. The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 21 – Forbidden Waters (USA, Metropolitan Pictures Corporation of California)

• Cast: Priscilla Dean, Walter McGrail, Dan Mason, Casson Ferguson, De Sacia Mooers
• Director: Alan Hale
• Trivia: Hale was the father of Alan Hale, Jr., best known for his role as the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island. The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 21 – Mademoiselle Modiste (USA, Corinne Griffith Productions)

• Cast: Corinne Griffith, Norman Kerry, Willard Louis, Dorothy Cumming, Rose Dione
• Director: Robert Z. Leonard
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

March 21 – The Barrier (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Marceline Day, Norman Kerry, Henry B. Walthall, George Cooper, Bert Woodruff
• Director: George W. Hill
• Trivia: Based on a 1908 novel of the same name, which had been filmed previously in 1913 and 1917. It is the last silent version of the story to be filmed, and is considered lost.

March 21 – The Bat (USA, Feature Productions)

• Cast: Emily Fitzroy, Jack Pickford, Jewel Carmen, Robert McKim, Arthur Houseman
• Director: Roland West
• Trivia: Director West filmed at night to give the film a more spooky atmosphere, but actor William Bakewell stated West filmed at night to avoid studio executives. The film was thought lost for decades until a print was discovered in the 1980s. West created a sound version of the film in 1930, titled The Bat Whispers, and both versions inspired Bob Kane’s Batman character.

March 21 – The Highbinders (USA, Worthy Pictures)

• Cast: William T. Tilden, Marjorie Daw, Ben Alexander, George Hackathorne, Edmund Breese
• Director: George Terwilliger
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 21 – Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (USA, Harry Langdon Corporation)

• Cast: Harry Langdon, Joan Crawford, Edwards Davis, Tom Murray, Alec B. Francis
• Director: Harry Edwards
• Trivia: The film was written by Frank Capra. 16mm and 35mm prints are held in the George Eastman Museum.

March 21 – Yellow Fingers (USA, Fox Film Corporation)

• Cast: Olive Borden, Ralph Ince, Claire Adams, Edward Peil, Sr., Otto Matieson
• Director: Emmett J. Flynn
• Trivia: The film is preserved with a copy located in Europe.

March 22 – Desert Gold (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

• Cast: Neil Hamilton, Shirley Mason, Robert Frazer, William Powell, Josef Swickard
• Director: George B. Seitz
• Trivia: The Kansas Board of Review required the removal of the scene where a man places his lit cigarette on a girl’s arm before the film could be exhibited in the state. There is conflicting information as to the film’s survival status.

March 22 – Miss Brewster’s Millions (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

• Cast: Bebe Daniels, Warner Baxter, Ford Sterling, André de Beranger
• Director: Clarence G. Badger
• Trivia: The film is considered lost.

March 22 – The Qualified Adventurer (UK, Stoll Picture Productions)

• Cast: Matheson Lang, Genevieve Townsend, Fred Raynham, Kiyoshi Takase, Cameron Carr
• Director: Sinclair Hill
• Trivia: The film’s survival status is unknown.

March 22 – The Untamed Lady (USA, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

• Cast: Gloria Swanson, Lawrence Gray, Joseph W. Smiley, Charles E. Graham, Nancy Kelly
• Director: Frank Tuttle
• Trivia: Debut of Nancy Kelly, who was a child actress at the time.

1936

March 19 – Lil’ Ainjil (USA, short, Charles Mintz Productions)

• Voice Cast: Danny Webb
• Director: Ben Harrison
• Trivia: Animated short starring Krazy Kat.

March 20 – Everybody’s Old Man (USA, 20th Century Fox)

• Cast: Irvin S. Cobb, Rochelle Hudson, Johnny Downs, Norman Foster, Alan Dinehart
• Director: James Flood
• Trivia: The film was conceived as a starring vehicle for Will Rogers, but Rogers was killed in a plane crash the previous year.

March 20 – Petticoat Fever (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Reginald Owen, Winifred Shotter, Otto Yamaoka
• Director: George Fitzmaurice

March 20 – Silly Billies (USA, RKO Radio Pictures)

• Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Harry Woods, Ethan Laidlaw, Chief Thunderbird, Willie Best
• Director: Fred Guiol
• Trivia: Twentieth feature film starring the team of Wheeler and Woolsey.

March 21 – Colleen (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Jack Oakie, Joan Blondell, Hugh Herbert
• Director: Alfred E. Green
• Trivia: Seventh and final film to star Keeler and Powell.

March 25 – Brilliant Marriage (USA, Invincible Pictures Corp.)

• Cast: Joan Marsh, Ray Walker, Inez Courtney, Hugh Marlowe, Doris Lloyd
• Director: Phil Rosen

1946

March 20 – Romance of the West (USA, Producers Releasing Corporation)

• Cast: Eddie Dean, Emmett Lynn, Joan Barton, Forrest Taylor, Robert McKenzie
• Director: Robert Emmett Tansey

March 21 – Gunning for Vengeance (USA, Columbia Pictures)

• Cast: Charles Starrett, Marjean Neville, The TrailsmenSmiley Burnette, Robert Kortman
• Director: Ray Nazarro
• Trivia: Eleventh film in the Durango Kid series.

March 21 – Perilous Holiday (USA, Phil L. Ryan Productions)

• Cast: Pat O’Brien, Ruth Warrick, Alan Hale, Edgar Buchanan, Audrey Long
• Director: Edward H. Griffith
• Trivia: Griffith’s final film.

March 21 – The Kid from Brooklyn (USA, Samuel Goldwyn Productions)

• Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, Eve Arden, Walter Abel, Lionel Stander, Fay Bainter, Clarence Kolb, The Goldwyn Girls
• Director: Norman Z. McLeod
• Trivia: Remake of Harold Lloyd’s The Milky Way (1936). Lionel Stander plays the role of “Spider” Schultz in both versions. Virginia Mayo’s and Vera-Ellen’s singing voices were dubbed by Betty Russell and Dorothy Ellers, respectively.

March 22 – The Spider Woman Strikes Back (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Gale Sondergaard, Brenda Joyce, Kirby Grant, Milburn Stone, Rondo Hatton
• Director: Arthur Lubin
• Trivia: The film was hoped to be the first in a series of Spider Woman movies. The film’s original title was The Spider Woman Strikes Again. Lubin did not want to direct the movie but Universal threatened him with suspension. He did, though, enjoy working with Sondergaard.

March 22 – Ziegfeld Follies (USA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

• Cast: William Powell, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Hume Cronyn, William Frawley, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Edward Arnold, Virginia O’Brien, Cyd Charisse, Keenan Wynn
• Director: Vincente Minnelli
• Trivia: The film includes segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney. Sidney was the film’s original director until Minnelli took over. Other directors claim to have directed segments of the film, but they have gone uncredited.

1956

March 20 – The Birds and the Bees (USA, Gomalco Productions)

• Cast: George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor, David Niven, Reginald Gardiner, Fred Clark, Hans Conried, Charles Lane
• Director: Norman Taurog
• Trivia: Remake of Preston Sturges’ 1941 film, The Lady Eve. Star George Gobel, making his film debut, had the highest rated show on television at the time of production. Working titles were The George Gobel Comedy, The Gobel Story, and The Lady Eve.

March 21 – Crime Against Joe (USA, Bel-Air Productions)

• Cast: John Bromfield, Julie London, Henry Calvin, Patricia Blair, Joel Ashley, Rhodes Reason
• Director: Lee Sholem

March 21 – Mobs, Inc. (USA, Premier Sound Films)

• Cast: Reed Hadley, Lisa Howard, Marjorie Reynolds, Douglass Dumbrille
• Director: William Asher
• Trivia: The film was made from three episodes of the TV series Racket Squad.

March 21 – Rock Around the Clock (USA, Clover Productions)

• Cast: Alan Freed, Johnny Johnston, Alix Talton, Lisa Gaye, John Archer, Henry Slate, Bill Haley and His Comets, The Platters
• Director: Fred F. Sears
• Trivia: The film was shot in January 1956 and released in March to capitalize on the popularity of Bill Haley’s title song, which had originally played over the credits of The Blackboard Jungle. The same recording of the song was used for both films, and would be used again in 1973 for the opening of American Graffiti. The film is considered to be the first major rock-and-roll musical. Bill Haley and His Comets and Alan Freed also appeared in the 1956 loose sequel, Don’t Knock the Rock, also directed by Sears and rushed into production to capitalize on the original film’s success. It was not as successful, but helped popularize one of the performers, Little Richard. The film was basically remade in 1961 with Chubby Checker as Twist Around the Clock, which was also followed by a sequel, Don’t Knock the Twist. The anti-establishment theme of the film stirred up riots among younger movie-goers in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the UK.

March 23 – Alexander the Great (UK, Rossen Films-C.B. Films S.A.)

• Cast: Richard Burton, Fredric March, Claire Bloom, Barry Jones, Harry Andrews, Peter Cushing, Michael Hordern, Peter Wyngarde
• Director: Robert Rossen
• Trivia: Released in the US on March 28, 1956. Charlton Heston turned down the role of Alexander. Barry Jones turned down the role of Aristotle four times, but accepted on the fifth after suggesting his own salary.

March 23 – Serenade (USA, Warner Bros. Pictures)

• Cast: Mario Lanza, Joan Fontaine, Sarita MontielVincent Price, Joseph Calleia, Harry Bellaver, Vince Edwards, Edward Platt
• Director: Anthony Mann
• Trivia: This was Lanza’s fifth film, his first in four years. Mann was advised not to make the film with Lanza because of his difficult reputation, but he did and found the experience difficult.

March 24 – Raw Edge (USA, Universal Pictures)

• Cast: Rory Calhoun, Yvonne De Carlo, Mara Corday, Neville Brand, Rex Reason , Herbert Rudley, Ed Fury, William Schallert
• Director: John Sherwood
• Trivia: John Gavin’s film debut under the name John Gilmore.

March 25 – Indestructible Man (USA, C.G.K. Productions)

• Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Max Showalter, Marian Carr, Ross Elliott
• Director: Jack Pollexfen
• Trivia: Max Showalter was billed as Casey Adams. Joe Flynn appears in an uncredited role. Chaney has almost no dialogue in the film.

March 25 – World Without End (USA, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation)

• Cast: Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Rod Taylor, Lisa Montell
• Director: Edward Bernds
• Trivia: Also known as Flight to the Future. Rod Taylor appears in an early screen role. The film was made as a way to reuse footage from Flight to Mars (1951).

1966

March 23 – The Party’s Over (USA, Tricastle)

• Cast: Oliver Reed, Clifford David, Ann Lynn, Louise Sorel
• Director: Guy Hamilton
• Trivia: Shot in 1963, the film was censored in the UK over scenes of implied necrophilia, which delayed its release until 1965. Hamilton, the producer and executive producer had their names removed from the credits to protest the censorship.

March 24 – Alfie (UK, Lewis Gilbert Productions)

• Cast: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin, Vivien Merchant, Jane Asher
• Director: Lewis Gilbert
• Trivia: Released in the US on August 24, 1966. Terence Stamp wanted the lead role, so director Gilbert insisted he play the role on Broadway first. It flopped and Stamp decided to not do the film. Shelley Winters had trouble understanding Michael Caine’s heavy Cockney accent and had to wait until his lips stopped moving so she knew when to deliver her lines. Cher sang the theme song over the closing credits, and it charted at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a single. Dionne Warwick later had a major hit with the song, her version becoming more well-known than Cher’s. The song received one of the film’s five Oscar nominations. The film also received six BAFTA nominations, with Vivien Merchant winning Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. It also received seven Golden Globe nominations.

March 25 – A Man Could Get Killed (USA, Cherokee Productions)

• Cast: James Garner, Melina Mercouri, Tony Franciosa, Robert Coote
• Directors: Ronald Neame, Cliff Owen
• Trivia: Owen was the original director, but he fell out with the cast and was replaced with Neame. Garner and Franciosa also did not get along, and their fight scene became a real brawl. Garner later said he did punch Franciosa because he was abusive to the stunt people and did not pull his punches in fight scenes. The film introduced the melody of the song ‘Strangers in the Night’ (though listed as ‘Beddy Bye’ in the credits), which was to be performed by Melina Mercouri, but she felt the melody better suited a man. Frank Sinatra eventually performed the song and it became a global hit, and is now regarded as a standard of easy listening music. It won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, beating ‘Born Free’, ‘Alfie’ and ‘Georgy Girl’.

1976

March 25 – The Slipper and the Rose (UK, Paradine Co-Productions)

• Cast: Gemma Craven, Richard Chamberlain, Margaret Lockwood, Michael Hordern, Lally Bowers, Edith Evans, Annette Crosbie, Kenneth More
• Director: Bryan Forbes
• Trivia: The film was entirely financed by the Sultan of Oman who wanted to invest in a film. The film was announced in 1975 as The Story of Cinderella. The songs were written by the Sherman Brothers, best known for their work with Disney. The scene where Cinderella sings ‘I Can’t Forget the Melody’, where she sits on a swing, is a reference to ‘The Swing’, a painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Every detail of Cinderella’s costume and setting are identical to Fragonard’s painting, including the color of her dress and the style of her hat. The songs ‘What Has Love Got to Do with Being Married’ and ‘I Can’t Forget the Melody’ were cut from the initial US release, and omitted from the North American soundtrack album. The Song Score and the Original Song, ‘He/She Danced with Me’, were nominated for Oscars. The film also received five BAFTA and two Golden Globe nominations.

1986

March 20 – The More Things Change… (USA/AUS, Syme International Productions)

• Cast: Judy Morris, Victoria Longley, Barry Otto, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Alex Menglet, Peter Carroll
• Director: Robyn Nevin
• Trivia: Nevin’s directorial debut.

March 21 – GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (USA, Hanna-Barbera Productions)

• Cast: Michael Bell, Foster Brooks, Arthur Burghardt, Ken Hudson Campbell, Philip Lewis Clarke, Peter Cullen, Ike Eisenmann, Dick Gautier, Darryl Hickman, Margot Kidder, Roddy McDowall, Michael Nouri, Telly Savalas, Frank Welker
• Directors: Ray Patterson, Don Lusk, Alan Zaslove
• Trivia: Last film released by Clubhouse Pictures. The film features the first appearance of the Rock Lords, who were given their own toy line after the release of the film.

March 21 – Just Between Friends (USA, MTM Enterprises)

• Cast: Mary Tyler Moore, Christine Lahti, Sam Waterston, Ted Danson, Mark Blum, Salome Jens, Jane Greer
• Director: Allan Burns

March 21 – Police Academy 3: Back in Training (USA, Police Academy Productions)

• Cast: Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook, George Gaynes, Art Metrano, Debralee Scott, Bobcat Goldthwaite, David James Elliott
• Director: Jerry Paris
• Trivia: Final film directed by Jerry Paris, who also appears in the film as a priest, who died ten days after the film’s release.

March 21 – Rad (USA, limited, TaliaFilm II Productions)

• Cast: Bill Allen, Lori Loughlin, Talia Shire, Ray Walston, Alfie Wise, Jack Weston, Bart Conner
• Director: Hal Needham
• Trivia: The film expanded nationwide in the US on March 28, 1986. The film was released in international markets as Hell Track.

1996

March 21 – Camp Stories (New York City, Forensic Films)

• Cast: Zachary Taylor, Elliott Gould, Jerry Stiller, Ben Shenkman, Paul Sand, Talia Balsam, Scott Cohen, Jason Biggs
• Director: Herbert Beigel
• Trivia: The film did not receive a wide US release until April 18, 1997.

March 22 – Diabolique (USA, Marvin Worth Productions)

• Cast: Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates, Spalding Gray, Shirley Knight, Allen Garfield
• Director: Jeremiah Chechik
• Trivia: Remake of the 1955 French thriller, Les Diaboliques. The film was shot on location in Pittsburgh, PA. The character ‘Sharon Stone’ in 1994’s The Flintstones was intended for Stone, but she had to turn it down as she was shooting Diabolique at the same time, a decision she later claimed to regret.

March 22 – Flirting with Disaster (USA, limited, Miramax)

• Cast: Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, David Patrick Kelly, Celia Weston
• Director: David O. Russell
• Trivia: Expanded to a nationwide release in the US on April 12, 1996. Burt Reynolds was to have a role in the film, but Russell decided not to work with him after hearing of his abusive behavior on the set of The Larry Sanders Show.

March 22 – Girl 6 (USA, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)

• Cast: Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, Spike Lee, Jenifer Lewis, Debi Mazar, Peter Berg, Michael Imperioli, Naomi Campbell, Gretchen Mol, Richard Belzer, Debra Wilson, Coati Mundi, Madonna, John Turturro, Joie Lee, Halle Berry
• Director: Spike Lee
• Trivia: The first film directed by Spike Lee that he didn’t write. Quentin Tarantino and Ron Silver make cameo appearances as film directors at a pair of auditions. The film’s soundtrack is composed of entirely of songs written by Prince. Mekhi Phifer has an uncredited cameo as himself.

March 22 – It’s My Party (USA, Opala Productions)

• Cast: Eric Roberts, Margaret Cho, Lee Grant, Bruce Davison, Olivia Newton-John, Devon Gummersall, George Segal, Marlee Matlin, Gregory Harrison, Bronson Pinchot, Roddy McDowall, Steve Antin, Sally Kellerman, Lou Liberatore, Nina Foch, Christopher Atkins, Dennis Christopher, Ron Glass, Paul Regina
• Director: Randal Kleiser
• Trivia: One of the first feature films to address the topic of AIDS patients dying with dignity. The film is based on the true events of the death of Harry Stein, who was Kleiser’s ex-lover. Cassandra Peterson has an uncredited role as a party guest.

March 22 – Jack and Sarah (USA, British Screen Productions)

• Cast: Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Cherie Lunghi, Imogen Stubbs, Ian McKellen
• Director: Tim Sullivan
• Trivia: First opened in the UK on June 2, 1995. Simply Red performs the film’s theme song, ‘Stars’. Annie Lennox’s ‘Precious’ plays over the end credits.

March 22 – Land and Freedom (USA, Parallax Pictures)

• Cast: Ian Hart, Rosana Pastor, Frédéric Pierrot, Icíar Bollaín
• Director: Ken Loach
• Trivia: First opened in Spain on April 7, 1995 as Tierra y Libertad. Nominated for Best British Film by the BAFTAs.

March 22 – Race the Sun (USA, TriStar Pictures)

• Cast: Halle Berry, James Belushi, Bill Hunter, Casey Affleck, Eliza Dushku, Kevin Tighe, Anthony Ruivivar, Steve Zahn, Joel Edgerton
• Director: Charles T. Kanganis
• Trivia: The story was based on the solar car team from Konawaena High School.

2006

March 24 – Inside Man (USA/Canada/UK, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks)

• Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe, Chiwetel Ejiofor
• Director: Spike Lee
• Trivia: First opened in Netherlands on March 16, 2006. Ron Howard was originally attached to direct, but stepped away after Russell Crowe asked him to direct Cinderella Man. Lee took the job because of the script’s similarities to one of his favorite films, Dog Day Afternoon, and he cast Marcia Jean Kurtz and Lionel Pina in Easter egg cameos reprising their original roles from that film. Lee even screened the film for his cast. This was the second film shot at NYC’s Steiner Studios after 2005’s The Producers. About 80% of the film was shot using a Steadicam or hand-held cameras. Seven cameras were used for the hostage release scene.

March 24 – Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (USA, Full Sail Films)

• Cast: Dan Whitney/Larry the Cable Guy, Iris Bahr, Megyn Price, Lisa Lampanelli, Joanna Cassidy, Joe Pantoliano, Tony Hale, Thomas F. Wilson, Jerry Mathers
• Director: Trent Cooper
• Trivia: Larry the Cable Guy received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor.

March 24 – Stay Alive (USA/Canada, Adam F. Goldberg Productions)

• Cast: Jon Foster, Samaire Armstrong, Frankie Muniz, Sophia Bush, Jimmi Simpson, Wendell Pierce, Rio Hackford, Milo Ventimiglia, Adam Goldberg
• Director: William Brent Bell

March 24 – Unidentified (USA, limited, Christiano Film Group)

• Cast: Jonathan Aube, Josh Adamson, Michael Blain-Rozgay, Jenna Bailey, Lance Zitron, Rebecca St. James
• Director: Rich Christiano

2016

March 25 – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (USA/Canada/UK, DC Entertainment)

• Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot, Scoot McNairy, Callan Mulvey, Tao Okamoto
• Director: Zack Snyder
• Trivia: Second film in the DC Extended Universe, which has become known by fans as the SnyderVerse. The film features the first live-action, feature film portrayal of Wonder Woman. The Walking Dead stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan play Thomas and Martha Wayne, and Patrick Wilson voices the President of the United States. Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher are briefly introduced as The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg to set up 2017’s Justice League. Comic book fans initially criticized the casting of Affleck and Gadot, feeling they did not fit their roles, but after the film was released they both received significant praise.

March 25 – My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (USA/Canada/UK, Gold Circle Films)

• Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Elena Kampouris, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin, Louis Mandylor, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Ian Gomez, John Stamos, Rita Wilson, Rob Riggle
• Director: Kirk Jones
• Trivia: First opened in Spain on March 23, 2016.

March 25 – I Saw the Light (USA, limited, BRON Studios)

• Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, Maddie Hasson, Wrenn Schmidt, David Krumholtz
• Director: Marc Abraham
• Trivia: Tom Hiddleston performed his own vocals in the style of Hank Williams, upon whose life the film is based.