Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #69 :: November 17•23

Universal Pictures

November is a good time for new movie releases because studios are looking at prestige pictures, at least in the modern era when they’re also looking at ‘Oscar bait’ films. But earlier in the century, there are films that may not be award winners but they certainly have obtained ‘classic’ status. !921 gave us a star-making silent, and 1931 gave us a star-making horror flick that only came about because Dracula was a success. 1941 saw the release of another film in a popular franchise, 1951 gave us the very first DC Comics feature film, 1961 sent Elvis across the Pacific, 1991 had a history-making animated film plus a big screen outing for a famous family from comics and television, and 2011 saw Scorsese dabble in 3D and the return to the silver screen of a collection of characters made from felt and foam rubber. Read about these films and tell us which ones are your favorites this week.

1921

November 20 – The Sheik

Cast: Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres, Ruth Miller, George Waggner, Frank Butler, Charles Brinley, Lucien Littlefield, Adolphe Menjou, Walter Long, Loretta Young, Polly Ann Young
Director: George Melford
Studio: Famous Players-Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film premiered in Los Angeles on October 30, 1921. Based on the 1919 romance novel by Edith Maude Hull. Loretta Young and her two sisters appear in the film as Arab children. Rudolph Valentino was cast after James Kirkwood refused the salary offered. The film made Valentino a star.

1931

November 21 – Frankenstein

Cast: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff, Edward Van Sloan, Frederick Kerr, Dwight Frye, Lionel Belmore, Marilyn Harris, Michael Mark
Director: James Whale
Studio: Universal Pictures
Trivia: The film premiered in Detroit, Michigan on November 19, 1931. The film did not open in Canada until January 6, 1932, followed by the UK on January 20. Adapted from the 1927 stage play by Peggy Webling, which was adapted from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1991. Kenneth Strickfadden’s electrical equipment used in the laboratory is said to have included one Tesla coil obtained directly from Nikola Tesla. The shoes Karloff wore as The Monster weighed 13 lbs each.

November 21 – Possessed

Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Wallace Ford, Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, Frank Conroy, Marjorie White, John Miljan, Clara Blandick
Director: Clarence Brown
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Adapted from the 1920 Broadway play The Mirage by Edgar Selwyn. Joan Crawford starred in a completely different film with the same title in 1947.

1941

November 21 – Look Who’s Laughing

Cast: Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Marian Jordan, Harold Peary, Lucille Ball, Dorothy Lovett, Isabel Randolph, Lee Bonnell, Charles Halton, Neil Hamilton, Spencer Charters, Jed Prouty, Dot Farley, Dorothy Lloyd, Sterling Holloway, George Cleveland
Director: Allan Dwan
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: Also known as Look Who’s Talking. Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz were originally billed as co-stars but Arnaz was replaced. It would be ten more years before they worked together on I Love Lucy.

November 21 – Shadow of the Thin Man

Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Louise Beavers, Donna Reed, Sam Levene, Alan Baxter, Henry O’Neill, Stella Adler, Loring Smith, Joseph Anthony, Will Wright, Sid Melton, Adeline De Walt Reynolds, Tor Johnson, Frankie Burke, Joe Oakie, Lou Lubin, Richard (Dickie) Hall
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Trivia: Fourth of six Thin Man films. Feature debut of Ava Gardner who is glimpsed briefly standing by Nick’s car. One of four films in which famed acting coach Stella Adler appears. Film debut of Barry Nelson and Sid Melton.

November 21 – Skylark

Cast: Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Brian Aherne, Binnie Barnes, Walter Abel, Grant Mitchell, Mona Barrie, Ernest Cossart, James Rennie, Leonard Mudie, Warren Hymer, Hobart Cavanaugh, Edward Fielding, Leon Belasco, Irving Bacon
Director: Mark Sandrich
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film was released in the UK on December 10, 1941. Based on Samson Raphaelson’s novel Streamlined Heart, which he then turned into the 1939 play Skylark.

1951

November 20 – Another Man’s Poison

Cast: Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams, Anthony Steel, Barbara Murray, Reginald Beckwith, Edna Morris
Director: Irving Rapper
Studio: Angel Productions, distributed by Eros Films
Trivia: The film opened in the UK on November 20, 1851, but did not get a US release until January 6, 1952. Based on the 1948 play Deadlock by Leslie Sands. Gloria Swanson had been cast in the lead role but dropped out to perform in Twentieth Century on Broadway. This was the second on-screen pairing of married couple Bette Davis and Gary Merrill.

November 20 – Two Tickets to Broadway

Cast: Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Gloria DeHaven, Eddie Bracken, Ann Miller, Barbara Lawrence, Bob Crosby, Charles Dale, Joe Smith, Taylor Holmes, Buddy Baer
Director: James V. Kern
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
Trivia: The film premiered in Seattle, Washington on November 8, 1951. Nominated for the Best Sound Recording Oscar. Choreographed by Busby Berkeley. Laurel & Hardy were originally cast but were replaced by Smith & Dale due to Stan Laurel’s illness contracted while making Utopia.

November 23 – Superman and the Mole Men

Cast: George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jeff Corey, Walter Reed, J. Farrell MacDonald, Stanley Andrews, Ray Walker, l K. Dawson, Phil Warren, Frank Reicher, Beverly Washburn, Billy Curtis, Jerry Maren, Byron Foulger
Director: Lee Sholem
Studio: Lippert Pictures
Trivia: The first feature film based on any DC Comics character. Previous Superman and Batman theatrical presentations had been weekly serials. The film served as a ‘pilot’ for the Adventures of Superman TV series, eventually edited into the show’s only two-part episode. Kirk Alyn, who appeared as Superman in the serials, was to reprise the role but wanted too much money. The Mole Men’s weapon was a 1950s Electrolux vacuum cleaner with extra parts stuck on it.

1961

Paramount Pictures

November 22 – Blue Hawaii

Cast: Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury, Nancy Walters, Roland Winters, John Archer, Howard McNear, Steve Brodie, Darlene Tompkins, Iris Adrian, Hilo Hattie, Jenny Maxwell, Pamela Austin, Christian Kay, Lani Kai, Jose De Vega, Frank Atienza, Tiki Hanalei
Director: Norman Taurog
Studio: Hal Wallis Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film opened in the UK on February 9, 1962.

November 22 – The George Raft Story

Cast: Ray Danton, Jayne Mansfield, Julie London, Barrie Chase, Frank Gorshin, Barbara Nichols, Brad Dexter, Robert Strauss, Herschel Bernardi, Margo Moore, Neville Brand, Joe De Santis, Jack Lambert, Jack Albertson, John Bleifer
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Studio: Allied Artists
Trivia:

November 23 – The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Cast: Edward Judd, Leo McKern, Janet Munro, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Gene Anderson, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen, Austin Trevor, Edward Underdown, Ian Ellis, Peter Butterworth, Pamela Green, Michael Caine, Norman Chappell
Director: Val Guest
Studio: Val Guest Productions, distributed by British Lion Films (UK), Universal-International (US)
Trivia: The film opened in the UK and Denmark on November 23, 1961, but did not play in general release in the US until May 1962, after a limited New York City engagement from March 15, 1962. The film opened in Canada on May 10, 1962.

November 23 – Too Late Blues

Cast: Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, Everett Chambers, Nick Dennis, Vincent Edwards, Val Avery, Marilyn Clark, James Joyce, Rupert Crosse, Mario Gallo, J. Alan Hopkins, Cliff Carnell, Richard O. Chambers, Seymour Cassel, Dan Stafford, Slim Gaillard
Director: John Cassavetes
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film premiered in France on November 7, 1961, then opened in the UK on November 23. The film opened in the US on February 28, 1962.

1971

No new films were released this week in 1971.

1981

November 20 – The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

Cast: Mel Blanc, June Foray, Bea Benaderet, Stan Freberg, Ralph James, Frank Nelson, Frank Welker
Director: Friz Freleng
Studio: Warner Bros. Animation, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Trivia:

November 20 – They All Laughed

Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, Patti Hansen, John Ritter, Dorothy Stratten, Blaine Novak, Linda MacEwen, George Morfogen, Colleen Camp, Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Studio: Moon Pictures! Time-Life Films, distributed by Moon Pictures, PSO
Trivia: The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 1981.

1991

November 22 – An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

Cast: Phillip Glasser, Cathy Cavadini, Dom DeLuise, Amy Irving, James Stewart, John Cleese, Jon Lovitz, Nehemiah Persoff, Erica Yohn, Patrick Pinney, Jack Angel, David Tate
Director: Phil Nibbelink, Simon Wells
Studio: Amblin Entertainment, Amblimation, distributed by Universal Pictures
Trivia: The film premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on November 17, 1991, and opened in New York City on November 21 before its wide release on November 22. The film’s UK engagement began December 13. It did not play in Canada until July 13, 1994.

Walt Disney Pictures

November 22 – Beauty and the Beast

Cast: Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Jo Anne Worley, Hal Smith, Mary Kay Bergman, Kath Soucie, Jack Angel, Phil Proctor, Bill Farmer, Patrick Pinney, Brian Cummings, Alvin Epstein, Tony Jay, Alec Murphy, Kimmy Robertson, Frank Welker
Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Silver Screen Partners IV, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Trivia: The film was screened at the New York Film Festival on September 29, 1991, then held its premiere in Hollywood on November 10. The film began a New York City engagement on November 13, and a Los Angeles engagement on November 15. The film did not open in the UK until October 9, 1992.

November 22 – K2

Cast: Michael Biehn, Matt Craven, Raymond J. Barry, Luca Bercovici, Patricia Charbonneau, Julia Nickson-Soul, David Cubitt, Hiroshi Fujioka, Jamal Shah, Cristian Caingin
Director: Franc Roddam
Studio: Trans Pacific Films, Miramax Films, Screenscope, Phanos Development, Majestic Films International, distributed by Paramount Pictures (US), Entertainment Film Distributors (UK)
Trivia: The film opened in the UK on November 22, but did not get a US release until May 1, 1992 after screening at the USA Film Festival on April 24.

November 22 – The Addams Family

Cast: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, Judith Malina, Carel Struycken, Christopher Hart, John Franklin, Elizabeth Wilson, Dan Hedaya, Dana Ivey, Paul Benedict, Mercedes McNab, Sally Jessy Raphael
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Studio: Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures (US), Orion Pictures (International)
Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Beverly Hills, California on November 19, 1991. The film did not open in the UK until December 13.

2001

November 21 – Black Knight

Cast: Martin Lawrence, Marsha Thomason, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Conway, Vincent Regan, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Countryman, Jeannette Weegar, Erik Jensen, Dikran Tulaine, Helen Carey, Robert Alan Harris
Director: Gil Junger
Studio: Regency Enterprises, Runteldat Entertainment, The Firm, Inc., distributed by 20th Century Fox
Trivia: The film’s premiere was held on November 15, 2001. It did not get a UK release until August 23, 2002.

November 21 – Out Cold

Cast: Jason London, A. J. Cook, Lee Majors, Willie Garson, Zach Galifianakis, David Koechner, Flex Alexander, David Denman, Caroline Dhavernas, Derek Hamilton, Thomas Lennon, Victoria Silvstedt, Todd Richards, Lewis Arquette, Rio Tahara, Brett Kelly, Lee R. Mayes, Danny Hagge, Adam Harrington, Rob “Sluggo” Boyce, Ted Stryker, Steve Kahan
Director: The Malloys
Studio: Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, The Donners’ Company, Barber/Birnbaum, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Trivia: Richard Donner appears in the uncredited role as ‘Snooty Bartender’.

November 21 – Spy Game

Cast: Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine McCormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Ken Leung, David Hemmings, Michael Paul Chan, Garrick Hagon, Todd Boyce, Matthew Marsh, Andrew Grainger, Shane Rimmer, Ho Yi, Benedict Wong, Adrian Pang, Omid Djalili, Dale Dye, Demetri Goritsas, Charlotte Rampling, Matthew Walker, James Aubrey, Colin Stinton, Amidou, Andrea Osvárt
Director: Tony Scott
Studio: Beacon Pictures, Toho-Towa, Metropolitan Filmexport, distributed by Universal Pictures, Beacon Pictures
Trivia: The film’s premiere was held on November 19, 2001. The film opened in the UK on November 23.

November 23 – Me Without You

Cast: Anna Friel, Anna Popplewell, Michelle Williams, Ella Jones, Kyle MacLachlan, Oliver Milburn, Cameron Powrie, Trudie Styler, Marianne Denicourt, Adrian Lukis, Steve John Shepherd, Allan Corduner, Nicky Henson
Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Studio: Capitol Films, Fireworks Pictures, distributed by Momentum Pictures
Trivia: The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2001, and opened in the UK on November 23. The film screened in the US at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8, 2002 and began a New York City engagement on July 5, and a Los Angeles engagement on July 12. The film screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival on October 4, 2002 but does not appear to have received a general release in Canada.

2011

November 18 – Happy Feet Two

Cast: Ava Acres, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Alecia Moore, Meibh Campbell, Benjamin “Lil’ P-Nut” Flores Jr., Common, Magda Szubanski, Hugo Weaving, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Richard Carter, Anthony LaPaglia, Hank Azaria, Jai Sloper, Oscar Beard, Danny Mann, Carlos Alazraqui, Johnny A. Sanchez, Lombardo Boyar, Jeffrey Garcia, Lee Perry, Roger Narayan
Director: George Miller
Studio: Village Roadshow Pictures, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, Dr. D Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures (International), Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)
Trivia: The film was not released in the UK until December 2, 2011.

November 23 – Hugo

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Michael Stuhlbarg, Christopher Lee, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Kevin Eldon, Gulliver McGrath, Angus Barnett, Ben Addis, Emil Lager, Robert Gill, Marco Aponte
Director: Martin Scorsese
Studio: GK Films, Infinitum Nihil, distributed by Paramount Pictures
Trivia: The film screened at the New York Film Festival on October 10, 2011 before beginning its US and Canada engagement on November 23. A Royal Command Performance was held in London on November 28, followed by a UK release on December 2.

November 23 – My Week with Marilyn

Cast: Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Philip Jackson, Derek Jacobi, Toby Jones, Michael Kitchen, Julia Ormond, Simon Russell Beale, Dougray Scott, Zoë Wanamaker
Director: Simon Curtis
Studio: The Weinstein Company, BBC Films, LipSync Productions, Trademark Films, distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors (UK), The Weinstein Company (US)
Trivia: The film screened at several film festivals between October 9 and November 6, 2011 before beginning its limited US engagement on November 23 and limited Canadian engagement on November 25. The film also opened in the UK on November 25.