Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #80 :: February 2•8

20th Century Fox

The first week of February across the decades includes one bona fide classic, one film plagued by scandal, one that launched a promising director’s career (which some say has subsequently crashed and burned), and one that gave Daniel Radcliffe his first role post-Harry Potter. MGM tried to create a new comedy team in 1932, 1952 saw Kirk Douglas acting for free to get out of a contract, a 1962 film nearly tanked its studio, and 1992 saw Sean Connery with a ponytail. Do you know any of these films? Read on to see if your favorites debuted this week!

1922

• No new films were released this week in 1922.

1932

February 6 – The Passionate Plumber

• Cast: Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Irene Purcell, Polly Moran, Gilbert Roland, Mona Maris, Maude Eburne, Henry Armetta, Paul Porcasi, Jean Del Val, August Tollaire, Edward Brophy
• Director: Edward Sedgwick
• Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Based on the 1926 play Dans sa candeur naïve by Jacques Deval. The second screen adaptation of the play after 1928’s The Cardboard Lover. The film was remade in 1942 as Her Cardboard Lover. The film was released in London on March 2, 1932 with a general UK release following on June 6. MGM’s first attempt to pair Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante as a comedy team.

1942

February 2 – Hatter’s Castle

• Cast: Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr, James Mason, Emlyn Williams, Henry Oscar, Enid Stamp-Taylor, Beatrice Varley, Anthony Bateman, June Holden, George Merritt, Laurence Hanray, Claude Bailey, Ian Fleming, Mary Hinton, Roddy Hughes, David Keir, Stuart Lindsell, Aubrey Mallalieu, Brefni O’Rorke, Vi Kaley, John Slater, Robert Brooks
• Director: Lance Comfort
• Production Company: Grafton Films, distributed by Paramount British Pictures
• Trivia: Released in the UK on February 2, 1942. It did not receive a US release until April 19, 1948. Based on the 1931 novel by A.J. Cronin. It is believed to be the only film to depict the Tay Bridge disaster.

Paramount Pictures

February 2 – Sullivan’s Travels

• Cast: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, Byron Foulger, Margaret Hayes, Jane Buckingham, Robert Greig, Eric Blore, Torben Meyer, Georges Renavent, Emory Parnell
• Director: Preston Sturges
• Production Company: Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: The film had limited releases in Jackson, Tennessee on December 29, 1941, London on January 3, 1942, Detroit on January 15, Boston on January 22, and New York City on January 28. The film opened in wide release in Canada on February 2, followed by the US on February 6. The title is a reference to Gulliver’s Travels. The film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1990. The censors at the Hays Office felt British censors would object to the word ‘bum’. Before Veronica Lake was cast, Barbara Stanwyck and Frances Farmer were considered. Lake was six months pregnant at the beginning of production, something she failed to disclose to Sturges who grew so furious he had to be physically restrained. Sturges hired Tournament of Roses queen Cheryl Walker as Lake’s double, and Edith Head was tasked with constructing costumes to hide her condition. Lake was reportedly disliked by some of her co-stars. Joel McCrea refused to work with her again and turned down the lead in I Married a Witch, which went to Frederic March, who didn’t much like her either. Sturges wanted to use a clip from a Charlie Chaplin film for the church scene but Chaplin refused to give clearance.

February 6 – Valley of the Sun

• Cast: Lucille Ball, James Craig, Cedric Hardwicke, Dean Jagger, Peter Whitney, Billy Gilbert, Tom Tyler, Antonio Moreno, George Cleveland, Hank Bell
• Director: George Marshall
• Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
• Trivia: According to The Hollywood Reporter at the time, Joel McCrea was cast as the male lead, and Lucille Ball replaced Dorothy Comingore due to illness.

1952

February 2 – The Snow Maiden

• Voice Cast: Veronika Borisenko, Leonid Ktitorov, Irina Maslennikova, Veniamin Shevtsov
• Director: Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya
• Production Company: Soyuzmultfilm
• Trivia: Based on the play of the same name by A. Ostrovskiy to the music of N. Rimskiy-Korsakov. The film was released in the Soviet Union on February 2, 1952. It was released in the US on September 5, 1953.

February 4 – At Sword’s Point

• Cast: Cornel Wilde, Maureen O’Hara, Robert Douglas, Gladys Cooper, June Clayworth, Dan O’Herlihy, Alan Hale Jr., Blanche Yurka, Nancy Gates, Edmund Breon, Peter Miles, George Petrie, Moroni Olsen
• Director: Lewis Allen
• Production Company: RKO Pictures
• Trivia: The film was completed in 1950 but not released until 1952. Alan Hale Jr. plays the son of Porthos; in the 1939 The Man in the Iron Mask his father, Alan Hale, played an aging Porthos. When that film was remade in 1979 as The Fifth Musketeer, Hale Jr. played the same role as his father. Moroni Olsen plays Porthos in this film, while he played the younger version of the character in 1935’s The Three Musketeers.

February 5 – The Big Trees

• Cast: Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller, Patrice Wymore, Edgar Buchanan, John Archer, Alan Hale, Jr., Roy Roberts, Charles Meredith, Harry Cording, Ellen Corby, Duke Watson, Lane Chandler, Elizabeth Slifer, Lilian Bond, Michael McHale, William Challee
• Director: Felix E. Feist
• Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK on March 30, 1952. Kirk Douglas agreed to star in the film for free to end his Warner Bros. contract, later calling it a bad movie.

February 8 – Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory

• Cast: Clayton Moore, Slim Andrews, Charles Harvey, Rodd Redwing, Chief Yowlachie, Chief Thundercloud
• Director: Bernard B. Ray
• Production Company: Jack Schwarz Productions, distributed by United Artists
• Trivia: The film was released in the UK on January 20, 1953. Final film of Slim Andrews.

February 8 – Lambert the Sheepish Lion

• Voice Cast: Sterling Holloway, June Foray, Stan Freberg, Jimmy MacDonald, Clarence Nash, Candy Candido, Hannes Schroll
• Director: Jack Hannah
• Production Company: Walt Disney Productions, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
• Trivia: Oscar nominated for Best Short Subject, Cartoon. The original print of the film was given as a gift to Emperor Hirohito of Japan because it was his favorite Disney cartoon. Sterling Holloway reprised his stork role from Dumbo for this film.

February 8 – Lone Star

• Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi, Ed Begley, James Burke, William Farnum, Lowell Gilmore, Moroni Olsen, Russell Simpson, William Conrad, Lucius Cook, Ralph Reed, Ric Roman, Victor Sutherland, Jonathan Cott, Charles Cane, Nacho Galindo, Trevor Bardette, Harry Woods, Dudley Sadler, Emmett Lynn
• Director: Vincent Sherman
• Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Loew’s, Inc
• Trivia: The film premiered in New York City on January 31, 1952. The first screen appearance, uncredited, of George Hamilton who was 13 years old at the time. Final film of Lionel Barrymore.

1962

February 2 – Sail a Crooked Ship

• Cast: Robert Wagner, Dolores Hart, Carolyn Jones, Ernie Kovacs, Frankie Avalon, Frank Gorshin, Jesse White, Harvey Lembeck, Sid Tomack, Guy Raymond, Buck Kartalian, Wilton Graff, Marjorie Bennett
• Director: Irving Brecher
• Production Company: Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Nathaniel Benchley. Ernie Kovacs’ last movie, released shortly before he was killed in a car crash. The roles played by Carolyn Jones and Dolores Hart were originally announced with Joan Collins and Jean Seberg.

February 6 – All Night Long

• Cast: Patrick McGoohan, Marti Stevens, Paul Harris, Keith Michell, Richard Attenborough, Betsy Blair, Bernard Braden, Harry Towb, María Velasco, Carol White, Dave Brubeck, Keith Christie, Bert Courtley, John Dankworth, Ray Dempsey, Allan Ganley, Tubby Hayes, Geoffrey Holder, Charles Mingus, Barry Morgan, Kenny Napper, Colin Purbrook, Harry Beckett, John Scott
• Director: Basil Dearden
• Production Company: Rank Organisation, distributed by J. Arthur Rank (UK), Colorama Features (US)
• Trivia: An updated version of William Shakespeare’s Othello, set in the London jazz scene of the 1960s. The film opened in the UK on February 6, 1962, but did not play in the US until April 17, 1963. Patrick McGoohan learned to play the drums for this movie, and kept his drum kit after filming completed. Geoffrey Holder’s credited film debut (as Himself).

February 6 – Slaughter of the Vampires

• Cast: Walter Brandi, Dieter Eppler, Graziella Granata, Luigi Batzella, Gena Gimmy, Edda Ferronao, Carla Foscari, Maretta Procaccini, Alfredo Rizzo
• Director: Roberto Mauri
• Production Company: Mercur Films
• Trivia: The film opened in Italy on February 6, 1962, and received a limited US release on June 4, 1969 as Curse of the Blood Ghouls.

February 7 – Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

• Cast: Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer, Yvette Mimieux, Lee J. Cobb, Paul Henreid, Karl Boehm, Paul Lukas, Nestor Paiva, Harriet MacGibbon, Kathryn Givney, Marcel Hillaire, George Dolenz, Stephen Bekassy, Albert Rémy
• Director: Vincente Minnelli
• Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Moctezuma Films, Olallo Rubio, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Trivia: Loosely based on the 1916 novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, which had been filmed in 1921 with Rudolph Valentino. The film was released in the UK in March 1962. The film was a box office disaster which contributed to MGM’s financial problems. Lee J. Cobb plays Glenn Ford’s grandfather, even though he was just five years older than Ford. Angela Lansbury dubbed Ingrid Thulin’s voice because the studio thought her Swedish accent was too thick and hard to understand. Director Vincente Minnelli wanted Alain Delon for the lead but the studio demanded an American actor and proven box office star Ford was cast.

1972

February 2 – The Visitors

• Cast: Patrick McVey, Patricia Joyce, James Woods, Steve Railsback, Chico Martínez
• Director: Elia Kazan
• Production Company: United Artists
• Trivia: The film was screened at Cannes on May 5, 1972, and opened in France on May 17 but did not see a UK release until July 9, 2003 on DVD. Elia Kazan used an article written by Daniel Lang for The New Yorker in 1969, and Lang’s subsequent book Casualties of War, as a jumping-off point for this film. Often cited as the first fictional film to deal with the Vietnam War seriously. Aside from Patrick McVey, the other four cast members were making their film debuts.

1982

Par-Par Productions

February 5 – Butterfly

• Cast: Stacy Keach, Pia Zadora, Lois Nettleton, Edward Albert, James Franciscus, Orson Welles, Stuart Whitman, Ed McMahon, June Lockhart, Ann Dane, George Buck Flower, John O’Conner White, Paul Hampton, Peter Jason
• Director: Matt Cimber
• Production Company: Par-Par Productions, distributed by Analysis Releasing
• Trivia: Based on the 1947 novel The Butterfly by James M. Cain. The film screened at the Montréal World Film Festival on August 23, 1981. The film received ten Golden Raspberry Awards nominations including Worst Picture. Pia Zadora won Worst Actress and Worst New Star. Zadora infamously won the Best Female Newcomer at the Golden Globes, resulting in accusations that her husband ‘bought’ the award by entertaining members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in Las Vegas. Orson Welles was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor by the Razzies and Best Supporting Actor by the Globes, however he ‘lost’ his Razzie to Ed McMahon for the same film. Often cited as Zadora’s first film although she had appeared as a child in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians eighteen years earlier.

February 5 – Personal Best

• Cast: Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn, Patrice Donnelly, Kenny Moore, Robert Patten
• Director: Robert Towne
• Production Company: The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The production was halted in July 1980 because of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild. Mariel Hemingway trained for more than a year in preparation for her role as an pentathlete in this film.

1992

February 7 – Being at Home with Claude

• Cast: Roy Dupuis, Jacques Godin, Jean-François Pichette, Gaston Lepage, Hugo Dubé, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Nathalie Mallette, Lothaire Bluteau
• Director: Jean Beaudin
• Production Company: Les Productions du Cerf, National Film Board of Canada, distributed by Alliance Vivafilm, Strand Releasing
• Trivia: Based on the play by René-Daniel Dubois. The film was released in Canada on February 7, 1992, then screened at Cannes in May. Festival screenings included Canada’s Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival in September 1992, the Chicago International Film Festival in October 1992, and the Adelaide Film Festival in Australia on May 27, 1993. The film was released in the UK on May 28, 1993, and opened in New York City on August 6, with a limited US release following in October 1993. As the cinema buffs in France would have a hard time understanding the Quebecquer accent, France distributors dubbed the movie in Parisian French, and renamed it: Chez moi, chez Claude.

February 7 – Final Analysis

• Cast: Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts, Keith David, Paul Guilfoyle, Robert Harper, Agustin Rodriguez, Rita Zohar, George Murdock, Shirley Prestia, Tony Genaro, Wood Moy, Corey Fischer, Rico Alaniz, John Roselius
• Director: Phil Joanou
• Production Company: Warner Bros., Roven-Cavallo Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s Los Angeles premiere was held on February 6, 1992. The film was not released in the UK until April 10. The final film of director of photography Jordan Cronenweth. Harold Becker, Joel Schumacher, and John Boorman were variously attached as director. The original script was set in New York City, but was changed to San Francisco due to an ongoing union strike.

February 7 – Medicine Man

• Cast: Sean Connery, Lorraine Bracco, José Wilker, José Lavat
• Director: John McTiernan
• Production Company: Hollywood Pictures, Cinergi Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures (North America/South America), Cinergi Productions (International)
• Trivia: The film also opened in Canada on February 7, but did not get a UK release until May 29. Sean Connery’s hairstyle in this movie was based upon composer Jerry Goldsmith’s well-known ponytail. Gary Busey has claimed he was a consultant on the film and was attacked by tree frogs.

2002

February 6 – 8 Women

• Cast: Danielle Darrieux, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier, Firmine Richard, Dominique Lamure, Romy Schneider
• Director: François Ozon
• Production Company: Fidélité Productions, France 2 Cinéma, Mars Films, distributed by Mars Distribution (France), BIM Distribuzione (Italy)
• Trivia: Based on the 1958 play by Robert Thomas. The film premiered in France on January 8, 2002 ahead of its general release on February 6. The film received a limited US release on September 6. François Ozon originally conceived a remake of The Women but could not secure the rights. Virginie Ledoyen, who played the pregnant character Suzon, actually was pregnant. This is the third time that Danielle Darrieux has played Catherine Deneuve’s mother, following The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and Le lieu du crime (1986).

February 8 – Scotland, PA

• Cast: James Le Gros, Maura Tierney, Christopher Walken, Kevin Corrigan, James Rebhorn, Tom Guiry, Amy Smart, Timothy Levitch, Andy Dick
• Director: Billy Morrissette
• Production Company: Lot 47 Films
• Trivia: A modernized version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The film screened at Sundance on January 22, 2001, and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. While set in Pennsylvania, the film was shot in Nova Scotia.

February 8 – In the Bedroom

• Cast: Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, William Mapother, Celia Weston, Karen Allen, William Wise, Justin Ashforth, Camden Munson, Frank T. Wells, Deborah Derecktor
• Director: Todd Field
• Production Company: Good Machine, Eastern Standard Film Company, GreeneStreet Films, distributed by Miramax Films
• Trivia: Based on the 1979 short story ‘Killings’ by Andre Dubus. The film was screened at Sundance on January 19, 2001, and played several other festivals including TIFF (September 9) and began FYC screenings in New York and Los Angeles on November 23 before its general US release on February 8, 2002. The film received five Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (for Spacek), Best Actor (for Wilkinson), Best Supporting Actress (for Tomei), and Best Adapted Screenplay. There were 15 takes of Sissy Spacek slapping Marisa Tomei. The final version of the film used the first take. Sissy Spacek, who was a set dresser early in her career, decorated the house in which her character lives.

2012

February 2 – Big Miracle

• Cast: John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Ahmaogak Sweeney, John Pingayak, Kristen Bell, Vinessa Shaw, Stephen Root, Ted Danson, Kathy Baker, Dermot Mulroney, Rob Riggle, Michael Gaston, Ken Smith, Megan Angela Smith, Tim Blake Nelson, James LeGros, Mark Ivanir, Stefan Kapicic, Andrew Daly, Jonathan Slavin, Gregory Jbara, John Michael Higgins
• Director: Ken Kwapis
• Production Company: Anonymous Content, Working Title Films, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: Based on Tom Rose’s 1989 book Freeing the Whales. The film opened in Russia, Kazakhstan and Portugal on February 2, then Canada and the US on February 3, followed by the UK on February 10, continuing to expand worldwide through July 2012. The film’s working title was Everybody Loves Whales.

February 3 – Chronicle

• Cast: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, Anna Wood, Rudi Malcolm, Luke Tyler, Crystal-Donna Roberts, Adrian Collins, Grant Powell, Armand Aucamp, Nicole Bailey
• Director: Josh Trank
• Production Company: Dune Entertainment, Davis Entertainment, distributed by 20th Century Fox
• Trivia: The film was screened at the Gerardmer Fantasy Film Festival on January 28, 2012, and actually opened in the UK on February 1 followed by the US and Canada release on February 3. The film was shot primarily in Cape Town, South Africa for budgetary reasons. Screenwriter Max Landis was banned from set during production and director Josh Trank has not spoken to him since 2012. Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, and Alex Russell lived in a house together for fifteen days, in order to create a genuine bond between the three actors.

Alliance Films

February 3 – The Woman in Black

• Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White, Roger Allam, Tim McMullan, Jessica Raine, Daniel Cerqueira, Shaun Dooley, Mary Stockley, David Burke, Sophie Stuckey, Misha Handley, Aoife Doherty, Victor McGuire, Alexia Osborne, Alisa Khazanova, Ashley Foster, Sidney Johnston
• Director: James Watkins
• Production Company: Alliance Films, Hammer Films, UK Film Council, Cross Creek Pictures, Talisman Films, Exclusive Media Group, Filmgate, Film i Väst, distributed by Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom), CBS Films (United States), Alliance Films (Canada), Svensk Filmindustri (Sweden)
• Trivia: An adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel of the same name. The film’s premiere was held at Royal Festival Hall on January 24, 2012, but did not open to the general public in the UK until February 10. The film was meant to be shot in 3D before those plans were scrapped. The boy who plays Daniel Radcliffe’s son is his real godson, casting suggested by Radcliffe himself, which helped him establish an authentic relationship between father and son.