Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #31 :: February 24 to March 2

Tri-Star Pictures

New movies premiered this week in every year except for 1921 and 1941, but there weren’t any really memorable or noteworthy films until 1971, when a film that was almost not released went on to become a critically acclaimed classic. 1991 gave us a musical biopic that many claimed bent the truth a bit too much, and 2001 gave us another pairing of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. 2011 saw an over-the-top 3D action-fantasy flick that should be a cult classic, and a comedy that wasn’t all that funny. Let’s take a look to see if you remember these and the other films that were released this week across the decades.

1921

• No films were released this week in 1921.

1931

February 28 – Parlor, Bedroom and Bath

• Cast: Buster Keaton, Charlotte Greenwood, Reginald Denny, Cliff Edwards, Dorothy Christy, Joan Peers, Sally Eilers, Natalie Moorhead, Edward Brophy, Sidney Bracey, Walter Merrill
• Director: Edward Sedgwick
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn Mayer
• Trivia: It is a remake of the 1920 film of the same name, and based on the 1917 Broadway play by Charles William Bell and Mark Swan. This was Keaton’s third talkie. The film was released in the UK as Romeo in Pyjamas, and Don Juan in Pyjamas in Sweden. A French version, Buster se marie, and a German version, Casanova wider Willen, were produced at the same time. The film is in the public domain. Part of the film was shot in Keaton’s own house.

March 2 – Tell England

• Cast: Fay Compton, Tony Bruce, Carl Harbord, Dennis Hoey, C.M. Hallard, Gerald Rawlinson, Frederick Lloyd, Sam Wilkinson, Wally Patch, Hubert Harben, Ian Hamilton
• Director: Anthony Asquith, Geoffrey Barkas
• Studio: British Instructional Films, distributed by Wardour Films
• Trivia: The film premiered in London on March 2, 1931. It then opened in Ireland on October 2, 1931, followed by the US on December 4, 1931 under the title The Battle of Gallipoli. Based on the 1922 novel by Ernest Raymond. The film was originally to be produced as a silent but production was delayed. Much of the film was shot on location in Malta.

1941

• No films were released this week in 1941.

1951

March 1 – Three Guys Named Mike

• Cast: Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel, Barry Sullivan, Phyllis Kirk, Anne Sargent, Jeff Donnell, Herbert Heyes, Robert Sherwood, Don McGuire, Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Sanders, John Maxwell, Lewis Martin, Ethel ‘Pug’ Wells, Sydney Mason
• Director: Charles Walters
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: MGM failed to renew the film’s copyright and it now exists in the public domain. Based on the story by Ruth Brooks Flippen, from suggestions made by Ethel ‘Pug’ Wells who was a flight attendant for American Airlines. The airline provided advertising for the film and allowed the use of aircraft at no charge (a Douglas DC-6 and Convair 240 were featured). The movie was originally written for either June Allyson or Lana Turner. Allyson was set to star but became unavailable and the part went to Wyman, one of MGM’s biggest stars at the time.

March 2 – Mr. Imperium

• Cast: Lana Turner, Ezio Pinza, Marjorie Main, Barry Sullivan, Cedric Hardwicke, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Codee, The Guadalajara Trio
• Director: Don Hartman
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Based on the play by Edwin H. Knopf. The film’s UK title was You Belong To My Heart. Lana Turner’s singing voice was provided by Trudy Erwin. Another of the MGM titles from the era to enter the public domain. This was Ezio Pinza’s film debut. MGM cancelled Pinza’s contract after the box office failure of the film after critics noted he appeared as a dashing leading man on stage in South Pacific, but on film came across as a ‘dirty old man’. Turner thought the script was stupid and fought the studio against being cast. She also did not get along with Pinza, nor did the crew. MGM knew the film was bad and waited to release it until after Pinza’s second film, Strictly Dishonorable.

1961

March 1 – Posse from Hell

• Cast: Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Zohra Lampert, Vic Morrow, Robert Keith, Rodolfo Acosta, Royal Dano, Frank Overton, James Bell, Paul Carr, Ward Ramsey, Lee Van Cleef, Ray Teal, Forrest Lewis, Charles Horvath, Harry Lauter, Henry Wills, Stuart Randall, Allan Lane
• Director: Herbert Coleman
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the novel by Clair Huffaker, who also wrote the screenplay. Coleman’s directorial debut after a career of being an assistant director and associate producer, including working with Alfred Hitchcock. New York ‘method actress’ Lampert often ad-libbed, confusing Murphy but the two worked out their scenes together. Music director Joseph Gershenson reused music from Universal’s This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space and other films without credit to the original composers, who were not compensated since their scores had been contracted as ‘work for hire’. Universal continued this practice until a lawsuit from the Musicians’ Union stopped it in 1966. This was Allan Lane’s last film. Lane was also the voice of TV’s Mister Ed.

1971

Warner Bros. Pictures

March 1 – Death in Venice

• Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Mark Burns, Marisa Berenson, Björn Andrésen, Silvana Mangano, Romolo Valli, Nora Ricci, Franco Fabrizi, Carole André, Sergio Garfagnoli, Luigi Battaglia, Mascia Predit, Marcello Bonini Olas, Nicoletta Elmi, Marco Tulli, Leslie French, Antonio Appicella, Ciro Cristofoletti, Dominique Darel, Eva Axén, Bruno Boschetti, Mirella Pamphili
• Director: Luchino Visconti
• Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film premiered in London on March 1, 1971. It opened in Italy as Morte a Venezia on March 5 and the US on June 1. Based on the novella by German author Thomas Mann, first published in 1912 as Der Tod in Venedig. The cream used on Bogarde’s face to give his skin a deathly pallor burned his eyes and skin, learning afterward that the tube warned to keep away from eyes and skin. Warner Bros. nearly did not release the film fearing it would be banned because of its subject matter. The studio relented when a gala premiere was arranged, as a benefit to raise funds for the sinking city of Venice, in London with Elizabeth II and Princess Anne attending. Burt Lancaster had sought out the role of Gustav von Aschenbach (played by Bogarde). This was the second film in Visconti’s German Trilogy between The Damned and Ludwig. This was the film debut of Marisa Berenson.

1981

March – Harry’s War

• Cast: Edward Herrmann, Geraldine Page, Karen Grassle, David Ogden Stiers, Salome Jens, Elisha Cook, Jr., James Ray, Douglas Dirkson, Jim McKrell, Noble Willingham, Alan Cherry, Bruce Robinson
• Director: Kieth Merrill
• Studio: American Film Consortium, Taft International Pictures
• Trivia: The film had a limited two week theatrical run in March 1981. The film’s exact release date is lost to history. The film appeared on SelecTV, ONTV, HBO and other premium cable services in 1982, but it has never aired on a network or been broadcast since. The film was released on VHS in 1988 and DVD in 2005.

1991

March 1 – My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

• Cast: Scott Glenn, Kate Capshaw, Balthazar Getty, Ben Johnson, Gary Busey, Tess Harper, Mickey Rooney, Clarence Williams III, Bill Clymer, Dub Taylor
• Director: Stuart Rosenberg
• Studio: The Samuel Goldwyn Company
• Trivia: The last movie directed by Rosenberg. Lane Frost was set to perform the stunts for the main character but died in 1989 at Cheyenne, Wyoming’s Frontier Days. His friend Tuff Hedeman took his place in the film. Frost’s wife was the film’s Stunt Coordinator.

March 1 – The Doors

• Cast: Val Kilmer, Kevin Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Kathleen Quinlan, Meg Ryan, Frank Whaley, Josh Evans, Crispin Glover, Kelly Hu, Dennis Burkley, Billy Idol, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, Michael Madsen, Costas Mandylor, Debi Mazar, Mimi Rogers, Jennifer Rubin, Sean Stone, Jerry Sturm, Gretchen Becker, Floyd Westerman, Paul Williams, Christina Fulton, Michael Wincott, Mark Moses, Eric Burdon, Paul A. Rothchild, Sky Saxon, Oliver Stone, Charlie Spradling, Jennifer Tilly, John Densmore, William Kunstler, Josie Bissett
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Studio: Bill Graham Films, Carolco Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Ixtlan, distributed by Tri-Star Pictures
• Trivia: The film had its Los Angeles premiere on February 23, 1991. The film was set up at Columbia Pictures in 1985 but after two unsuccessful scripts, it was moved to Imagine Films. Oliver Stone was sought to write the original script but never returned his calls. When the film moved, he agreed to a meeting with the surviving band members, telling them he wanted to keep one particularly wild scene from one of the failed scripts. Offended, the band members exercised their right of approval of the director and rejected Stone. Carolco acquired the project in 1989 and wanted Stone to direct. The band were impressed with Stone’s Platoon and approved, with Stone planning to make this his next project after Evita, but that project fell apart after salary negotiations with Meryl Streep broke down so he quickly moved on to The Doors. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek always wanted the band immortalized on film, but did not approve of the direction Stone was taking the story, putting the focus on Jim Morrison instead of the four members of the band. Guitarist Robby Krieger always opposed a band biopic but was on board when Stone signed to direct. Stone stated he tried to involve Manzarek, but all he did was ‘rave and shout’ about his point of view. Morrison’s parents only agreed to be depicted in a dream-like flashback at the beginning of the film. While the film went through ‘development hell’ for a decade actors including Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, John Travolta and Richard Gere were considered for the role of Morrison. Bono and Michael Hutchence were also interested. Stone offered the role to Ian Astbury of The Cult, but he turned it down, not liking how Stone was representing Morrison in the film. Stone then considered Val Kilmer after seeing him in Willow. Kilmer spent thousands of dollars of his own money to make an audition video, looking and singing like Morrison at various stages of his life. Kilmer learned 50 songs for the film, of which 15 were used. Manzarek refused to meet with Kilmer, but when Krieger and John Desnmore heard him singing, they could not tell if it was Kilmer or Morrison. Patricia Arquette had tested for the role of Morrison’s girlfriend Pamela Courson, and casting director Risa Bramon felt she should have gotten the role, but Stone went with Meg Ryan. Krieger tutored Frank Whaley on finger placement on the guitar, and Densmore tutored Kevin Dillon, who was playing him. Stone hired Paula Abdul to handle the film’s choreography, but she did not understand Morrison’s on-stage actions and was not familiar with the era, so she suggested Bill and Jacqui Landrum who watched hours of concert footage before working with Kilmer. Kilmer did his own singing live during the concert scenes over The Doors’ original masters without Morrison’s vocals to avoid lip-syncing. The concert scenes were grueling for Kilmer, deteriorating his voice after two or three takes. Billy Idol’s role in the film was to have been larger but he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident prior to filming that left him unable to walk. Every scene in which he appears, he’s either on crutches, sitting or lying down. Kilmer broke his arm performing a jump from the stage when a stuntman failed to catch him, leading to an abnormal growth on his right elbow that is visible in 1995’s Heat. Kilmer was so thoroughly consumed with Morrison, he had to see a therapist after completing the film to get ‘Jim’ out of his head. This was Lisa Edelstein’s first movie. She had originally auditioned for the role of Courson. Krieger and Densmore have cameos in the film. None of the band members were happy with the film or Stone’s depictions of Morrison or Courson.

2001

March 2 – See Spot Run

• Cast: David Arquette, Angus T. Jones, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Sorvino, Leslie Bibb, Anthony Anderson, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Enzo, Constance Marie, Joe Viterelli, Steve Schirripa, Kavan Smith, Kim Hawthorne
• Director: John Whitesell
• Studio: Village Roadshow Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film had its premiere on February 25, 2001. Despite negative reviews, the film earned $43 million against a $16 million budget. The original cut of the film ran 2 hours and 45 minutes. Anthony Anderson’s character Benny originally had one line in the film, but the director decided Arquette’s character Gordon needed someone to talk to so the role was increased. Michael Clark Duncan filmed two scenes as Murdoch with a broken leg. Any shots of him standing up was a stand-in. Martin Lawrence was originally cast as Gordon but left over creative differences. Paul Sorvino filmed his scenes in four days. Tim Robbins was originally cast as Murdoch.

March 2 – The Mexican

• Cast: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini, J. K. Simmons, Bob Balaban, Sherman Augustus, Michael Cerveris, David Krumholtz, Castulo Guerra, Gene Hackman
• Director: Gore Verbinski
• Studio: Newmarket Films, distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
• Trivia: The film was intended to be an indie production with no big name stars but Pitt and Roberts had been looking for a project to do together and decided to make it. Roberts suggested the casting of Gandolfini. Gandolfini lost 35 pounds for the role and had to gain it back before returning to work on The Sopranos because producer David Chase didn’t think viewers would like a ‘skinny’ Tony. Roberts met her husband, cameraman Daniel Moder, while working on the film. The film was originally to be directed by David Fincher. The ‘rabid dog’ in the film is actually a Golden Retriever with a bad haircut, dyed to look like a mutt.

2011

Summit Entertainment

February 24 – Drive Angry

• Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, David Morse, Katy Mixon, Charlotte Ross, Christa Campbell, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Todd Farmer, Tom Atkins, Jack McGee
• Director: Patrick Lussier
• Studio: Nu Image, Michael De Luca Production, distributed by Summit Entertainment (North America), Warner Bros. Pictures (International)
• Trivia: The film opened in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Kuwait, and the Netherlands on February 24, 2011. It opened in the US, Canada, the UK and other territories on February 25. The film was shot natively in 3D. The film was shot on location in Minden, Plain Dealing and Shreveport, Louisiana. The character of John Milton was intended to be a 70-year-old man but Nicolas Cage expressed interest in the role, so the age became irrelevant. Cage wanted to shave his head and sport a full cranial tattoo but was talked out of it. Cage wanted to be involved in the film because he was interested in the 3D technology. Brie Larson revealed on her YouTube channel that she auditioned for the film.

February 25 – Hall Pass

• Cast: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Joy Behar, Nicky Whelan, Bruce Thomas, Alexandra Daddario, Alyssa Milano, Derek Waters, Kristin Carey, Tyler Hoechlin, Stephen Merchant, J. B. Smoove, Larry Joe Campbell, Richard Jenkins, Rob Moran, Lauren Bowles, Dwight Evans, Bo Burnham
• Director: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
• Studio: New Line Cinema, Conundrum Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Owen Wilson was the first actor to sign on to the film. The Farrellys were unsure of Sudeikis’ involvement due to his commitment to Saturday Night Live. Though shot in Georgia, the film is set in Providence, Rhode Island like most Farrelly Brothers films. Amanda Bynes was originally cast in the film but was replaced by Alexandra Daddario. Bynes later admitted she pulled out due to her substance abuse and mental health issues. This was the third film in which Sudeikis and Applegate starred together. The rights to use the Law & Order chimes cost $200,000. Armie Hammer had a small role in the film, but it was cut. Vanessa Angel also had a small role in the film that was cut but included as a deleted scene on the DVD. The term ‘hall pass’ isn’t used much outside of the US, so the film was retitled Free Pass in many international markets.