Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #77 :: January 12•18

Warner Bros. Pictures

We are deep in the doldrums of January, with a few very notable films making their debuts … or being carried over from ‘awards season’ … and more than a few that are barely remembered today. Buster Keaton released a two-reeler 100 years ago this week, Shirley MacLaine took on a role in 1962 that would probably never happen today, Kubrick released a controversial classic in 1972, and Bruce Dern did the unthinkable the same year. 1992 brought us movies that starred Mick Jagger and Tupac Shakur, 2002 dramatised a real life military incident, and 2012 united Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, and gave Harry Belafonte a documentary. Read on to see if any of your favorite movies are celebrating anniversaries this week!

1922

January 15 – The Paleface

• Cast: Buster Keaton, Virginia Fox, Joe Roberts
• Director: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
• Production Company: Buster Keaton Productions, distributed by Associated First National Pictures
• Trivia: The two-reel short opened in Canada on February 25, 1922, and in the UK in April of 1923. The film was restored in 2015 through Lobster Films, a process partially funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

1932

January 14 – Union Depot

• Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, David Landau, George Rosener, Earle Foxe, Frank McHugh, Adrienne Dore
• Director: Alfred E. Green
• Production Company: First National Pictures
• Trivia: Based on an unpublished play by Joe Laurie Jr., Gene Fowler, and Douglas Durkin. The film opened in London on January 28, 1932, but did not enter general UK release until June 20. The train station set would be used by Warner Bros. for several years, helping keep production costs down on other films.

January 15 – The Local Bad Man

• Cast: Hoot Gibson, Sally Blane, Hooper Atchley, Edward Hearn, Edward Peil Sr., Milton Brown
• Director: Otto Brower
• Production Company: Allied Pictures
• Trivia: The film opened in London on March 3, 1932, followed by a general UK release on July 18.

1942

January 15 – The Shanghai Gesture

• Cast: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson, Phyllis Brooks, Albert Bassermann, Maria Ouspenskaya, Eric Blore, Ivan Lebedeff, Mike Mazurki, Clyde Fillmore, Grayce Hampton, Rex Evans, Mikhail Rasumny, Michael Dalmatoff, Marcel Dalio, Leyland Hodgson
• Director: Josef von Sternberg
• Production Company: Arnold Pressburger Films, distributed by United Artists
• Trivia: Based on a Broadway play of the same name by John Colton. There had been 32 previous attempts to film the play. The film premiered in New York City on December 25, 1941. It opened in Canada on February 12, 1942, and in the UK on May 10. The last film completed by Josef von Sternberg. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score. Film debut of Mike Mazurki. The Hays Office insisted on over 30 cuts before they allowed it to be passed.

1952

January 16 – Scandal Sheet

• Cast: Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, John Derek, Rosemary DeCamp, Henry O’Neill, Harry Morgan, James Millican, Griff Barnett, Jonathan Hale
• Director: Phil Karlson
• Production Company: Motion Picture Investors, distributed by Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller. The Dark Page was also the film’s working title. The film opened in Montréal on March 28, 1952, and in London in April 1952. Strother Martin and Garry Owen appear uncredited. This was Owen’s final role. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1997.

January 18 – Outcast of the Islands

• Cast: Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley, Wendy Hiller, Kerima, George Coulouris, Tamine, Wilfred Hyde-White, Peter Illing, Betty Ann Davies, Frederick Valk, A.V. Bramble, Marne Maitland, James Kenney, Annabel Morley, Ranjana, K. Gurunanse
• Director: Carol Reed
• Production Company: London Film Productions, distributed by British Lion Films Corporation
• Trivia: Based on Joseph Conrad’s 1896 novel An Outcast of the Islands. The film opened in London on January 18, 1952. In the US, the film opened in New York City on May 15, 1952 and entered general release on July 11. Filmed on location in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Nominated at the 1953 BAFTAs for Best British Film and Best Film From Any Source. Robert Morley’s daughter Annabel played his daughter in this movie. She was five at the time.

1962

January 12 – The Young Ones

• Cast: Cliff Richard, Robert Morley, Carole Gray, The Shadows, Teddy Green, Richard O’Sullivan, Melvyn Hayes, Annette Robertson, Robertson Hare, Sonya Cordeau, Sean Sullivan, Harold Scott, Gerald Harper, Rita Webb
• Director: Sidney J. Furie
• Production Company: Associated British Picture Corporation, distributed by Warner-Pathé (UK), Paramount Pictures (US)
• Trivia: The film’s London premiere was held on December 13, 1961, ahead of the January 12, 1962 UK release. The film opened in the US on March 13, 1963 under the title Wonderful to Be Young. Cliff Richard’s first major film role. The film’s story was borrowed from the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland film Babes in Arms.

January 18 – A View from the Bridge

• Cast: Raf Vallone, Maureen Stapleton, Jean Sorel, Carol Lawrence, Raymond Pellegrin, Morris Carnovsky, Harvey Lembeck, Mickey Knox, Vincent Gardenia, Frank Campanella
• Director: Sidney Lumet
• Production Company: Transcontinental Films, Produzioni Intercontinentali, distributed by Cocinor (France), Euro International (Italy)
• Trivia: Based on the Arthur Miller play of the same name. The film opened in Italy on January 18, 1962, and in the US on January 22. A View from the Bridge was filmed in separate English and French versions. The first time that a kiss between men was shown on screen in America, although it was meant to reveal a character’s alleged homosexuality rather than as a romantic expression. Carol Lawrence was 29 when she played the 18-year-old Catherine.

Paramount Pictures

January 18 – My Geisha

• Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Yves Montand, Edward G. Robinson, Bob Cummings, Yoko Tani, Tatsuo Saito, Tamae Kiyokawa, I. Hayakawa, Alex Gerry, Tsugundo Maki
• Director: Jack Cardiff
• Production Company: Paramount Pictures Corporation and Sachiko Productions, Inc., distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film opened in London on Janaury 18, 1962, but did not get a US release until June 13. Shu Uemura took over the makeup for MacLaine’s Geisha role after Michael Westmore fell ill. The international recognition Uemura received for his work enabled him to launch his own cosmetics company.

1972

January 13 – A Clockwork Orange

• Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive, Adrienne Corri, Carl Duering, Paul Farrell, Clive Francis, Michael Gover, Miriam Karlin, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Madge Ryan, Anthony Sharp, Philip Stone, Michael Tarn, David Prowse, Carol Drinkwater, Steven Berkoff, Margaret Tyzack, Pauline Taylor, John Savident
• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Production Company: Polaris Productions, Hawk Films, distributed by Warner Bros. (US), Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK)
• Trivia: Based on Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel of the same name. The film received a limited US release on December 19, 1971 for awards consideration, then opened in the UK on January 13, 1972 followed by the general US release on February 2. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2020. The film was originally set to star The Rolling Stones with Ken Russell directing. The doctor standing next to Malcolm McDowall during the Ludovico technique scene was a real doctor dropping saline solution into McDowall’s eyes to prevent them from drying. Kubrick’s first cut of the film ran almost four hours. After two copycat crimes in the UK, Kubrick requested the film be withdrawn from distribution, and it wasn’t shown again publicly (or legally) until after Kubrick’s death.

January 13 – The Cowboys

• Cast: John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Slim Pickens, Sarah Cunningham, Allyn Ann McLerie, Alfred Barker Jr., Nicolas Beauvy, Steve Benedict, Robert Carradine, Norman Howell, Stephen R. Hudis, Sean Kelly, A Martinez, Clay O’Brien, Sam O’Brien, Mike Pyeatt, Charles Tyner, Matt Clark, Jerry Gatlin, Walter Scott, Wallace Brooks, Charise Cullin, Larry Randles, Larry Finley, Jim Burk, Ralph Volkie, Lonny Chapman, Maggie Costain, Dick Farnsworth, Wallace Brooks, Collette Poeppel, Norman Howell Sr., Rita Hudis, Margaret Kelly, Fred Brookfield, Tap Canutt, Chuck Courtney, Gary Epper, Tony Epper, Kent Hays, J.R. Randall, Henry Wills, Joe Yrigoyen
• Director: Mark Rydell
• Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1971 novel by William Dale Jennings. The film opened in the UK on March 21, 1972. Robert Carradine’s film debut. Mark Rydell originally wanted to cast George C. Scott in the lead role because he disagreed with John Wayne’s political views on the Vietnam War and Civil Rights. Robert Carradine and A Martinez reprised their film roles in a short-lived 1974 TV series. Shortly after the film’s release, Bruce Dern received death threats for his character killing John Wayne by shooting him in the back. Dern said 35 years later he still receives hate mail.

January 14 – Family Life

• Cast: Sandy Ratcliff, Bill Dean, Grace Cave, Malcolm Tierney, Hilary Martin, Michael Riddall
• Director: Ken Loach
• Production Company: Anglo-EMI, Kestrel Films, distributed by MGM-EMI (UK), Cinema 5 Distributing (US)
• Trivia: The film was screened at the BFI London Film Festival on November 17, 1971, then opened in London on January 14, 1972. The film played the New York Film Festival on October 3, 1972, and received a limited US release on October 5 under the title Wednesday’s Child. The film is a remake of In Two Minds, an episode of the BBC’s Wednesday Play series first transmitted by the BBC in March 1967, which was also written by Mercer and directed by Ken Loach.

January 15 – Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

• Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Tomoko Mayama, Fumio Watanabe, Keiko Fujita, Reiko Kasahara, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Yūnosuke Itō
• Director: Kenji Misumi
• Production Company: Katsu, distributed by Toho
• Trivia: The film opened in Japan on Janaury 15, 1972. The film was released in the US on August 23, 1973. It is the first of six films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series. Akihiro Tomikawa, who portrays Ogami Itto’s son, Daigoro, only ever played this one character for his on-screen acting career. He appears as Daigoro in all six ‘Lone Wolf & Cub’ feature films.

1982

January 15 – Vernon, Florida

• Cast: Albert Bitterling, Roscoe Collins, George Harris, Joe Payne, Howard Pettis, Claude Register, Snake Reynolds, Henry Shipes
• Director: Errol Morris
• Production Company: New Yorker Films
• Trivia: The film was screened at the New York Film Festival on October 8, 1981. Originally titled Nub City, with the subject matter focusing on the residents of the town who would cut off their own limbs to collect insurance money. After hostility and death threats, director Errol Morris reworked the film to just focus on the eccentricities of the town.

1992

January 17 – Freejack

• Cast: Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Banks, Grand L. Bush, David Johansen, Amanda Plummer, Wilbur Fitzgerald, Frankie Faison, John Shea, Esai Morales, Jerry Hall
• Director: Geoff Murphy
• Production Company: Morgan Creek Productions, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Loosely adapted from the 1959 science fiction novel Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley. The film opened in the UK on March 27, 1992. Linda Fiorentino was originally cast of Julie Redlund but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts; she was replaced by Rene Russo, who then met co-writer Dan Gilroy during production. The two have been married since 1992. An early test screening was disastrous, so Ronald Shusett was brought in to re-shoot around 40% of the movie and add more characters and humor. Mick Jagger was said to have accepted his role a week before production began, but if he’d had more time to read the script he would have turned it down.

January 17 – Grand Canyon

• Cast: Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin, Mary McDonnell, Mary-Louise Parker, Alfre Woodard, Jeremy Sisto, Tina Lifford, Patrick Malone, Randle Mell, Sarah Trigger, Destinee DeWalt
• Director: Lawrence Kasdan
• Production Company: 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film received a limited release in the US on December 25, 1991 for awards consideration. The film opened in the UK on May 1, 1992. It finally came to Canada on video August 26, 1997. Oscar nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Winner of the Golden Bear Award for Best Film at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival in 1992. The character Davis (Steve Martin) is based on action film producer Joel Silver. The scene where Mack is nearly killed by a bus was taken from writer and director Lawrence Kasdan’s own life. Randle Mell, who portrays the Alley Baron, the derelict that Claire (Mary McDonnell) runs past while jogging in the back alley, is McDonnell’s husband in real life. Film debut of Jeremy Sisto, Marley Shelton, and Clifton Collins Jr.

January 17 – Juice

• Cast: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Khalil Kain, Jermaine Hopkins, Cindy Herron, Vincent Laresca, Samuel L. Jackson, George O. Gore II, Grace Garland, Queen Latifah
• Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
• Production Company: Island World, Moritz-Heyman, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film did not open in the UK until August 28, 1992. Oran ‘Juice’ Jones, Flex Alexander, Doctor Dré & Ed Lover, Fab 5 Freddy, Donald Faison, EPMD and Treach make cameo appearances. The writing and directing debut of Ernest R. Dickerson, and Tupac Shakur’s acting debut.

January 17 – Rush

• Cast: Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gregg Allman, Sam Elliott, Max Perlich, Tony Frank, William Sadler, Special K. McCray, Jimmy Ray Pickens, Dennis Letts, Dennis Burkley, Glenn Wilson, Merrill Connally, Michael Kirkland, Connie Cooper, John Ray Harrison, Suzanne Savoy, Thomas Rosales Jr.
• Director: Lili Fini Zanuck
• Production Company: The Zanuck Company, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Based on a novel written by Kim Ramsey Wozencraft, which was based on the actual 1978-79 drug scandal involving the Tyler, Texas police department and Smith County, Texas Sheriff’s Office. The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 18, 1991, and received a limited US release beginning December 22. The film opened in the UK on June 5, 1992. Jason Patric actually did shoot up for authenticity’s sake for the film, though the substances he used in his syringes were either saline or vitamins.

2002

Columbia Pictures

January 18 – Black Hawk Down

• Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Ewen Bremner, Gabriel Casseus, Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gruffudd, Tom Guiry, Charlie Hofheimer, Danny Hoch, Jason Isaacs, Brendan Sexton III, Brian Van Holt, Ian Virgo, Tom Hardy, Gregory Sporleder, Carmine Giovinazzo, Chris Beetem, Tac Fitzgerald, Matthew Marsden, Orlando Bloom, Enrique Murciano, Michael Roof, Kent Linville, Norman Campbell Rees, Corey Johnson, Sam Shepard, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Kim Coates, Steven Ford, Željko Ivanek, Johnny Strong, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Richard Tyson, Ron Eldard, Glenn Morshower, Jeremy Piven, Boyd Kestner, Pavel Vokoun, Jason Hildebrandt, Keith Jones,George Harris, Razaaq Adoti, Treva Etienne, Ty Burrell, Dan Woods, Giannina Facio
• Director: Ridley Scott
• Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Revolution Studios, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Scott Free Productions, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
• Trivia: Based on the 1999 non-fiction book of the same name by journalist Mark Bowden. The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 18, 2001, and entered limited release for awards consideration on December 28. It opened in the US, Canada and the UK on January 18, 2002. Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Eight minutes of footage was restored for the home video release. To keep the film at a manageable length, 100 key figures in the book were condensed to 39. The movie also does not feature any Somali actors, and no Somalis were hired for accuracy. Eighteen hours of combat is compressed into less than three hours of screen time. Some of the radio chatter in the film was taken from actual radio transmissions made during the battle. The Black Hawk going down, spiraling as it crash-lands, was achieved largely through real, skillful flying of the helicopter, with some CGI augmentation. The minute it hits the ground, however, the rotors are computer-generated. A lot of the dust seen swirling around underneath the Black Hawks was computer generated. Real dust would have been too prevalent and would have obscured the action so the ground was dampened before filming to reduce the amount of dust. Tom Hardy’s first feature film, billed as Thomas Hardy. Eric Bana’s US film debut. The set was constantly bothered by stray dogs running into shots. Ridley Scott kept them in because he liked the authentic feel of their presence. Eight dogs were adopted by various members of the production and were eventually brought back to the US with them. Russell Crowe was offered the role of Sgt. Hooten but could not accept due to scheduling conflicts with A Beautiful Mind. Crowe suggested Eric Bana for the role.

2012

January 13 – Contraband

• Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Caleb Landry Jones, Giovanni Ribisi, Diego Luna, J. K. Simmons, Lukas Haas, Robert Wahlberg, Jaqueline Fleming, William Lucking, David O’Hara, Kirk Bovill, Lucky Johnson, Viktor Hernandez, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jason Mitchell
• Director: Baltasar Kormákur
• Production Company: Relativity Media, Working Title Films, Blueeyes Productions, Leverage Entertainment, Closest to the Hole Productions, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The film also opened in Canada on January 13, 2012, followed by the UK on March 16. Remake of the 2008 Icelandic film Reykjavík-Rotterdam, in which this version’s director starred. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson had a role in both films.

January 13 – The Divide

• Cast: Lauren German, Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Courtney B. Vance, Ashton Holmes, Rosanna Arquette, Iván González, Michael Eklund, Abbey Thickson, Jennifer Blanc
• Director: Xavier Gens
• Production Company: Preferred Content, Instinctive Film, Julijette Inc, distributed by Anchor Bay Films
• Trivia: The film was screened at San Diego Comic-Con on July 22, 2011, then entered limited US release on January 13, 2012, and in Canada on January 20. The film opened in the UK on April 20. The film was shot in the Millennium Centre and the Manitoba Production Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The pictures of Mickey’s wife in the movie are pictures of Michael Biehn’s real life wife Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. The film was shot in chronological order. The movie was originally titled The Shelter, then The Fallout before it was finally changed to The Divide.

Warner Bros. Pictures

January 13 – Joyful Noise

• Cast: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Dexter Darden, Courtney B. Vance, Kris Kristofferson, Jesse L. Martin, Angela Grovey, Andy Karl, Dequina Moore, Paul Woolfolk, Francis Jue, Roy Huang, Judd Lormand, Shameik Moore, Ivan Kelley Jr., Kirk Franklin, Karen Peck, Chloe Bailey
• Director: Todd Graff
• Production Company: Alcon Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film also opened in Canada on January 13, but did not get a UK release until June 29. Jeremy Jordan’s first movie and starring role. Jordan was 27 and Keke Palmer was 19 when they played high school students in a relationship. Shipped to theaters under the code name Choir Practice.

January 13 – Sing Your Song

• Cast: Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Marge Champion, Julian Bond, George Schlatter, Diahann Carroll, Nelson Mandela, Shari Belafonte, John Lewis, Tony Bennett, Petula Clark, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Quincy Jones, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Ruby Dee, Andrew Young
• Director: Susanne Rostock
• Production Company: Thought Engine Media Group, distributed by S2BN Films
• Trivia: The film was screened at Sundance in January 2011, and began limited engagements across the US starting January 13, 2012. The film opened in the UK on June 8.

January 18 – Haywire

• Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, Mathieu Kassovitz, Eddie J. Fernandez, Anthony Brandon Wong, J.J. Perry, Tim Connolly, Maximino Arciniega, Aaron Cohen, Natascha Berg
• Director: Steven Soderbergh
• Production Company: Relativity Media, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board, distributed by Relativity Media (United States), Paramount Pictures, Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom and Ireland)
• Trivia: The film premiered in Hollywood on January 5, 2012, then opened in the UK on January 18, followed by the US and Canada on January 20. The film was developed in 2009 under the title Knockout. The film was meant to be released in 2010, but re-shoots and a change in distribution delayed it for more than a year. In the meantime, Soderbergh filmed, edited and released Contagion. Laura San Giacomo dubbed Gina Carano’s voice in some instances. Dennis Quaid was cast but had to drop out due to conflicts with Soul Surfer, and was replaced by Bill Paxton. The beach Michael Fassbender walks on late in the film is the same beach seen in the opening scene of Grease.