Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #58 :: September 1•7

RKO Radio Pictures

It’s the first full week of September, and in most cases over the last 100 years, there are films released over the Labor Day weekend in the US. In the early part of the century, before there was such a thing as a Summer Blockbuster (1975’s Jaws is credited with making Summer the time for releasing more and more expensive films to draw audiences in from the heat), this week was like any other week, but after 1975 the Hollywood studios looked at Labor Day two ways — a last chance to get audiences in seats before returning to ‘normal’ (i.e. work, school), and a dumping ground for movies they have to release but won’t make a buck — while independent distributors saw the holiday weekend as a way to attract older audiences to their smaller awards hopefuls. This week, 1941 saw the release of a bona fide classic (which was not a box office success at the time), 1991 and 2001 had notable French films getting their debuts, and 2001 and 2011 each had films about the Three Musketeers (coincidentally, there was a Musketeers film released last week as well in 1921. And two decades took the holiday weekend off. Let’s take a look and see if any of your favorite films were released this week!

1921

September 4 – The Blot

• Cast: Philip Hubbard, Margaret McWade, Claire Windsor, Louis Calhern, Marie Walcamp
• Director: Lois Weber
• Studio: Lois Weber Productions, distributed by F.B. Warren Corporation
• Trivia: The film used real locations and as much natural light as possible. Many supporting roles were given to non-professional actors. The film was restored in 1990 for British television, and screened at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2002. It was released on DVD in 2006.

1931

September 4 – Waterloo Bridge

• Cast: Mae Clarke, Kent Douglass (Douglass Montgomery), Doris Lloyd, Frederick Kerr, Enid Bennett, Bette Davis, Ethel Griffies, Rita Carlyle, Ruth Handforth
• Director: James Whale
• Studio: Universal Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1930 play Waterloo Bridge by Robert E. Sherwood, based on his own wartime experiences. The play ran for just 64 performances. MGM bought the film from Universal and remade it twice: in 1940, and again as Gaby in 1956. Warner Bros. now holds the rights to all three versions. Rose Hobart had been assigned the lead but turned it down when she learned Universal was not going to renew her contract. Director James Whale was given a budget of $252,000 and a 26-day shooting schedule. He brought the film in $50,000 under budget and was given his choice of next project … which was Frankenstein. Because of the film’s controversial material, cuts were ordered by censor boards in Chicago, New York and Pennsylvania. After the enforcement of the Production Code in July 1934, the film became impossible to re-release. The film had been stored in a studio vault for 35 years when it was discovered in 1975, but joint ownership between Universal and MGM prevented the film from being shown for another 20 years. Ethel Griffies and Rita Carlyle appeared in both the 1931 and 1940 versions of the film as the same character. This was Bette Davis’ third film.

September 5 – Daughter of the Dragon

• Cast: Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Sessue Hayakawa, Bramwell Fletcher, Frances Dade, Holmes Herbert, Lawrence Grant, Harold Minjir, Nicholas Soussanin, E. Alyn Warren
• Director: Lloyd Corrigan
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: This was Warner Oland’s third and final appearance as Dr. Fu Manchu. The film was made to capitalize on Sax Rohmer’s current book The Daughter of Fu Manchu, to which Paramount did not own the rights.

September 5 – Secrets of a Secretary

• Cast: Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Georges Metaxa, Betty Lawford, Mary Boland, Berton Churchill, Averell Harris, Betty Garde, Hugh O’Connell
• Director: George Abbott
• Studio: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Mary Boland’s first role in a talkie.

September 5 – Street Scene

• Cast: Sylvia Sidney, William Collier, Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, David Landau, Matt McHugh, Russell Hopton, Greta Grandstedt, Eleanor Wesselhoeft, Allan Fox, Nora Cecil, Margaret Robertson, Walter James, Max Montor, Walter Miller, T.H. Manning, Conway Washburne, John M. Qualen, Ann Kostant, Adele Watson, Lambert Rogers, George Humbert, Helen Lovett, Richard Powell, Jane Mercer, Monti Carter, Harry Wallace
• Director: King Vidor
• Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Productions, distributed by United Artists
• Trivia: The film’s New York City premiere was held on August 26, 1931. Adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Elmer Rice. Except for one scene inside of a taxi cab, the entire film was shot on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts. The film features Alfred Newman’s first complete film score. The surviving print of the film, a post-Production Code re-release (with very little alteration from the original), is preserved by the Library of Congress. Beulah Bondi’a film debut.

September 5 – The Squaw Man

• Cast: Warner Baxter, Lupe Vélez, Eleanor Boardman, Charles Bickford, Roland Young, Paul Cavanagh, Raymond Hatton, Julia Faye, DeWitt Jennings, J. Farrell MacDonald, Mitchell Lewis, Dickie Moore, Victor Potel, Lilian Bond
• Director: Cecil B. DeMille
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Based on the play by Edwin Milton Royle. This was the third time Cecil B. DeMille had filmed the play, and the first version with sound. This was the last film on DeMille’s contract with MGM before he returned to Paramount. The film cost over $722,000 to make, and ultimately lost $150,000.

1941

September 5 – Charlie Chan in Rio

• Cast: Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, Harold Huber, Iris Wong, Kay Linaker, Ted North, Victor Jory, Leslie Denison, Hamilton MacFadden, Jacqueline Dalya, Truman Bradley, Eugene Borden, Mary Beth Hughes, Cobina Wright, Jr., Richard Derr, Ann Codee
• Director: Harry Lachman
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film premiered in New York City on August 21, 1941. This was Sidney Toler’s tenth film as Charlie Chan, and the 29th of 47 Chan films. The film is an uncredited remake of The Black Camel. Film debut of Richard Derr.

September 5 – Citizen Kane

• Cast: Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris, Fortunio Bonanova, Gus Schilling, Philip Van Zandt, Georgia Backus, Charles Bennett, Harry Shannon, Sonny Bupp, Buddy Swan, Orson Welles
• Director: Orson Welles
• Studio: RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
• Trivia: The film premiered in New York City on May 1, 1941, followed by a regional roll out that began on May 6 in Chicago, followed by May 8 (Los Angeles), May 16 (Washington DC), May 19 (Boston) and May 27 (San Francisco) before its general US release on September 5. Orson Welles’ first feature film. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one for Best Writing (Original Screenplay). Based loosely on the life of William Randolph Hearst, Hearst prohibited the film from being mentioned in his newspapers. The film was not a financial success and faded from view after its release. The film regained attention after receiving praise from French critics in 1956. The film was included in the first group of inductees into the National Film Registry in 1989. Cinematographer Gregg Toland has a cameo as an interviewer. Then unknown actor Alan Ladd has a small role as a reporter. Under Welles’ contract, RKO was not permitted to see any portion of the film until he was ready to show them, and no cuts could be made without his approval. The film represents the feature film debuts of William Alland, Ray Collins, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, Paul Stewart, and Welles himself. Ruth Warrick was the last surviving member of the principal cast when she died in 2005. Sonny Bupp, the last credited cast member, died in 2007. Jean Forward, who dubbed the singing voice of Susan Alexander, was the last surviving performer in the film when she died in 2016. Welles began shooting the film in secret as ‘tests’ before anyone at the studio knew. When the film was finally approved, Welles told the press the tests were so good they need not be re-filmed. Welles invited a curious press to attend the filming of a scene before a cocktail party, but when the press arrived he notified them filming had completed for the day, but they still had the party. After suffering an injury on set, Welles was forced to direct from a wheelchair for two weeks. The News on the March sequence was edited by RKO’s newsreel division to give it authenticity. Bernard Herrmann was given an unprecedented 12 weeks to compose the film’s score, his first, a task that usually took no more than three weeks. The film’s trailer features no footage from the film, instead offers behind-the-scenes footage. The film was among the first to have sets with ceilings, which were made of muslin fabric. The film’s original nitrate negative was lost in a fire in the 1970s.

September 6 – Cottage to Let

• Cast: Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim, John Mills, Jeanne de Casalis, Carla Lehmann, George Cole, Michael Wilding, Frank Cellier, Muriel Aked, Wally Patch, Muriel George, Hay Petrie, Catherine Lacey
• Director: Anthony Asquith
• Studio: Gainsborough Pictures, distributed by General Film Distributors
• Trivia: The film premiered in London on August 10, 1941 before its general UK release on September 6. The film did not reach US shores until May 1943. Also known as Bombsight Stolen.

1951

September 1 – The People Against O’Hara

• Cast: Spencer Tracy, Pat O’Brien, Diana Lynn, John Hodiak, James Arness, Eduardo Ciannelli, William Campbell, Yvette Duguay, Jay C. Flippen, Richard Anderson, Charles Bronson
• Director: John Sturges
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Based on Eleazar Lipsky’s novel. A one-hour radio adaptation was presented on Lux Radio Theater on March 9, 1953 with Walter Pidgeon. While the film takes place in New York City, only five minutes of location footage appears in the film.

1961

• No new films were released this week in 1961.

1971

September 2 – See No Evil

• Cast: Mia Farrow, Dorothy Alison, Robin Bailey, Diane Grayson, Brian Rawlinson, Norman Eshley, Paul Nicholas, Michael Elphick
• Director: Richard Fleischer
• Studio: Filmways, distributed by Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: Known as Blind Terror in the UK and Australia. As the killer is filmed only from the legs down, all of the suspects are filmed from the waist up to conceal the identity from the audience.

1981

• No new films were released this week in 1981.

1991

September 4 – La Belle Noiseuse

• Cast: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart, David Bursztein, Marianne Denicourt, Gilles Arbona, Bernard Dufour
• Director: Jacques Rivette
• Studio: Pierre Grise Productions
• Trivia: The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 1991, where it won the Grand Prix, before its general release in France on September 4. The film opened in the US on October 2. The title translates to The Beautiful Troublemaker in English. Loosely adapted from the short story ‘Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu (The Unknown Masterpiece)’ by Honoré de Balzac. Director Jacques Rivette used alternate takes and made changes to the scene order to produce a shorter 125-minute version of the film, La Belle Noiseuse: Divertimento, for television and theatrical release in other countries. The film only had a basic outline and was filmed in sequence, with the day’s filming determined by what was filmed the previous day. Emmanuelle Béart had to repeat her filmed nude poses in private for artist Bernard Dufour, who produced the drawings for the film. The extensive nudity took a tool on Béart to a point that she’s only been able to watch the movie once, at the Cannes premiere. 75% of the shooting schedule was devoted to her nude scenes.

September 6 – Close My Eyes

• Cast: Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, Saskia Reeves, Karl Johnson, Lesley Sharp, Kate Garside, Niall Buggy
• Director: Stephen Poliakoff
• Studio: FilmFour International
• Trivia: The film opened in limited release in the UK on September 6, 1991, and the US on November 22. The film is basically a grand re-working of director Stephen Poliakoff’s earlier play Hitting Town. Clive Owen lost an ad campaign contract due to the film’s controversial incest storyline.

September 6 – Company Business

• Cast: Gene Hackman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Kurtwood Smith, Terry O’Quinn, Daniel von Bargen, Oleg Rudnik, Géraldine Danon, Nadim Sawalha, Michael Tomlinson, Bob Sherman, Howard McGillin, Louis Eppolito, Toby Eckholt, Elsa O’Toole, Kate Harper, Shane Rimmer
• Director: Nicholas Meyer
• Studio: MGM-Pathé Communications, Pathé Entertainment, distributed by MGM/UA
• Trivia: Gene Hackman had completed three films back-to-back and tried to withdraw from the film two weeks before production began but stayed on for fear of a lawsuit against him from MGM. The film’s working title was Dinosaurs. The title was dropped when it was learned Disney had already registered it. Mikhail Baryshnikov hated the movie so much he refused to do publicity for it. The film was intended to star Richard Dreyfuss and Elliott Gould but both dropped out before production began. Director and writer Nicholas Meyer was so annoyed with the studio’s interference in his East vs West storyline that he recycled it for his next film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. During post-production, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

September 7 – The Hours and Times

• Cast: David Angus, Ian Hart, Stephanie Pack, Robin McDonald, Sergio Moreno, Unity Grimwood
• Director: Christopher Münch
• Studio: Good Machine
• Trivia: While the film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 1991, Sundance in January 1992, where it won the Special Jury Recognition Award, and the USA Film Festival on April 24, 1992, the film does not appear to have been given a proper theatrical release in the US, or anywhere else, until a March 1, 2019 restoration re-release. Filming took about a week, while Christopher Münch spent two years editing.

2001

September 5 – The Piano Teacher

• Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel, Anna Sigalevitch, Cornelia Köndgen
• Director: Michael Haneke
• Studio: arte France Cinéma, Bavaria Film International, Bayerischer Rundfunk,CanalPlus, CNC, Eurimages, Filmfonds Wien, Les Films Alain Sarde, Österreichischer Rundfunk, distributed by MK2 Diffusion (France), Concorde Filmverleih (Germany)
• Trivia: The film screened at Cannes on May 14, 2001, where it won the Grand Prix, and Best Actor and Actress for Benoît Magimel and Isabelle Huppert, and opened in France and Belgium on September 5. The film began a limited US engagement on March 29, 2002. Known in France as La Pianiste. Based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Elfriede Jelinek. Director Michael Haneke agreed to helm the film only if Huppert was involved. Huppert had played piano as a child and played in the film. Eva Green has an uncredited role. Magimel learned to play for the film so he could look convincing performing to pre-recorded music. Susanne Lothar spoke her dialogue in German and was dubbed over with French. The film was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. The part of Erika’s mother was originally offered to Jeanne Moreau. Huppert has stated that the last scene where she stabs herself took 52 takes.

September 6 – The Bank

• Cast: David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Steve Rodgers, Mandy McElhinney, Mitchell Butel, Sybilla Budd, Greg Stone, Kazuhiro Muroyama, Stephen Leeder
• Director: Robert Connolly
• Studio: Madman Entertainment
• Trivia: The film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on July 18, 2001. then opened in Australia on September 6. The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12. It was next screened in the US on February 16, 2002 at the Portland International Film Festival, and on March 15 at the Cleveland International Film Festival, before a limited run in the US starting on August 28. Some scenes were actually shot on the uppers floors of a major bank’s corporate headquarters in Melbourne.

Alter Ego Entertainment

September 7 – L.I.E.

• Cast: Brian Cox, Paul Dano, Billy Kay, Bruce Altman, Walter Masterson, James Costa, Adam LeFevre, Tony Donnelly, B. Constance Barry, Gladys Dano
• Director: Michael Cuesta
• Studio: Alter Ego Entertainment, Belladonna Productions, distributed by New Yorker Films, Lot 47 Films
• Trivia: The film was screened at Sundance on January 20, 2001, and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August before opening in limited release on September 7, expanding on September 28. The title is an acronym for the Long Island Expressway. This was Michael Cuesta’s directorial debut. This was Paul Dano’s first lead role in a film. Since Dano was underage at the time, his mother Gladys was on set and also plays his deceased mother Sylvia in flashbacks and dream sequences. The film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, but the rating was surrendered and the film was released unrated. An edited R-rated version is also available on DVD. Dano won Best Debut Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards, where it was also nominated for Lead Actor (Cox), Supporting Male (Kay), Best First Screenplay, Best Director and Best Feature. Brian Cox took the role of ‘Big John’ against the advice of his colleagues and agent.

September 7 – Rock Star

• Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Timothy Olyphant, Blas Elias, Nick Catanese, Brian Vander Ark, Jason Flemyng, Timothy Spall, Dominic West, Jason Bonham, Zakk Wylde, Jeff Pilson, Kara Zediker, Heidi Mark, Rachel Hunter, Carrie Stevens, Amy Rolle, Dagmara Domińczyk, Stephan Jenkins, Michael Shamus Wiles, Beth Grant, Matthew Glave, Myles Kennedy, Ralph Saenz, Carey Lessard, Kristin Richardson as Samantha
• Director: Stephen Herek
• Studio: Bel Air Entertainment, Maysville, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held on September 4, 2001. Brad Pitt was originally to star but left the film over creative differences. The singing voice for Mark Wahlberg’s character was Steelheart frontman Miljenko Matijevic. Jeff Scott Soto provided the singing voice for Jason Flemyng. The film’s working title was Metal God. During a concert scene, the crew pranked Wahlberg by playing his Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch song ‘Good Vibrations’ instead of the track he was supposed to perform in the film. Anthony Head was cast as a manager and got paid for the role, but a few weeks before production began the part was written out. The entrance hall of Kirk Cuddy’s mansion is the same set that was used for Chilton Academy on Gilmore Girls.

September 7 – Soul Survivors

• Cast: Melissa Sagemiller, Casey Affleck, Eliza Dushku, Wes Bentley, Angela Featherstone, Luke Wilson, Allen Hamilton, Carl Paoli, Ken Moreno, Barbara E. Robertson, Richard Pickren, Rick Snyder, Candace Kroslak, Ryan Kitley, Danny Goldberg, T. J. Jagodowski, Christine Dunford, Scott Benjaminson
• Director: Stephen Carpenter
• Studio: Artisan Entertainment
• Trivia: The film was screened at the Oldenburg International Film Festival on September 6, 2001. James Marsden turned down a role in the film to play Scott Summers/Cyclops in X-Men.

September 7 – The Musketeer

• Cast: Justin Chambers, Tim Roth, Stephen Rea, Mena Suvari, Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Mesguich, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Nick Moran, Steve Speirs, Jan-Gregor Kremp, Michael Byrne, David Schofield, Jeremy Clyde, Bill Treacher, Tsilla Chelton
• Director: Peter Hyams
• Studio: MDP Worldwide, Crystal Sky Worldwide, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The film was screened at the Deauville Film Festival in September 2001. Based on Alexandre Dumas’s classic 1844 novel The Three Musketeers. The film was announced with the title D’Artagnan.

2011

September 1 – Apollo 18

• Cast: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins, Andrew Airlie, Michael Kopsa
• Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego
• Studio: Bazelevs, distributed by Dimension Films
• Trivia: The film opened in Belarus and Russia on September 1, 2011, followed by the US, UK and Canada on September 2. Director Gonzalo López-Gallego’s first English-language film. Dimension Films head Bob Weinstein insisted the film was made up solely of found footage. To give the film a period look, old camera lenses from the 1970s were used.

Summit Entertainment

September 1 – The Three Musketeers

• Cast: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen, Gabriella Wilde, James Corden, Juno Temple, Freddie Fox, Til Schweiger, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz, Carsten Norgaard, Nina Eichinger, Sara Evans
• Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
• Studio: Summit Entertainment, Impact Pictures, Constantin Film, NEF Productions, New Legacy Film, distributed by Constantin Film (Germany), UGC Distribution (France), E1 Entertainment (United Kingdom), Summit Entertainment (United States)
• Trivia: The film opened on September 1, 2011 in Austria and Germany, October 12 in the UK and Ireland, and October 21 in Canada and the US. Based on Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel of the same title. The ‘Ring of Fire’ crow’s nest with 31 cannons was built in only 14 days, and is still on display in the Babelsberg studio film park.

September 2 – Seven Days in Utopia

• Cast: Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, Melissa Leo, K. J. Choi, Kelly Tilghman, Brandel Chamblee, Deborah Ann Woll, Rickie Fowler, Stewart Cink, Rich Beem
• Director: Matt Russell
• Studio: Utopia Pictures & Television
• Trivia: Based on the book Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia by Dr. David Lamar Cook.

September 2 – Shark Night

• Cast: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee, Joel David Moore, Donal Logue, Joshua Leonard, Sinqua Walls, Alyssa Diaz, Chris Zylka, Jimmy Lee Jr., Damon Lipari, Christine Quinn, Kelly Sry, Tyler Bryan
• Director: David R. Ellis
• Studio: Sierra Pictures, Incentive Filmed Entertainment, Silverwood Films, Next Entertainment, distributed by Rogue
• Trivia: The film was marketed as Shark Night 3D. This was director David R. Ellis’ final film. This was the first shark movie released in 3D since 1983’s Jaws 3D.