New Line Cinema
1932 didn’t produce any new movies this week, and the early part of the century didn’t give us many memorable films. Adding to the confusion, a lot of the early films were released with different titles in the US. But 1962 gave us a major film based on a play that went on to win Oscars and Golden Globes — even though the source material was sanitized for the big screen — and 1972 saw the release of a film that has become a bona fide cult classic. 1982 had another stage-to-screen adaptation, a raunchy comedy and a film that actually became a Broadway musical. 1992 produced a film with one of the most well-known moments in film history (for better or worse), and 2012 saw a dramatic TV series become a film comedy. Read on to learn more about these films and see if any of your favorites are celebrating an anniversary this week!
1922
March 19 – Fair Lady
- Cast: Betty Blythe, Thurston Hall, Robert Elliott, Gladys Hulette, Florence Auer, Walter James, Macey Harlam, Henry Leone, Effingham Pinto, Arnold Lucy
- Director: Kenneth Webb
- Production Company: United Artists
- Trivia: Based on the novel The Net by Rex Beach. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
1932
- No new films were released this week in 1932.
1942
March 20 – Rings on Her Fingers
- Cast: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, Shepperd Strudwick, Frank Orth, Henry Stephenson, Marjorie Gateson, George Lessey, Iris Adrian, Harry Hayden, Clara Blandick, Charles C. Wilson, Gwendolyn Logan
- Director: Rouben Mamoulian
- Production Company: 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: The film was released in the UK on October 12, 1942. The film made its US television premiere on January 1, 1957. The yacht used in the film was owned by John Carradine. Henry Fonda was forced to have his chest waxed for his beach scenes.
March 21 – This Was Paris
- Cast: Ann Dvorak, Ben Lyon, Griffith Jones, Robert Morley, Harold Huth, Mary Maguire, Vera Bogetti, Harry Welchman, Frederick Burtwell, Marian Spencer, Billy Holland, Miles Malleson, Bernard Miles, Hay Petrie, Harry McElhone
- Director: John Harlow
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: The film was released in the UK on June 1, 1942. Final film of Mary Maguire.
1952
March 17 – Home at Seven
- Cast: Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, Jack Hawkins, Campbell Singer, Michael Shepley, Margaret Withers, Meriel Forbes, Frederick Piper, Diana Beaumont
- Director: Ralph Richardson
- Production Company: Maurice Cowan Productions, distributed by British Lion Film Corporation (UK)
- Trivia: Based on the play Home at Seven by R. C. Sherriff. The film was released in the UK on March 17, 1952. It did not receive a US release until October 7, 1953 under the title Murder on Monday. The only film directed by Ralph Richardson.
March 17 – Hunted
- Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Jon Whiteley, Elizabeth Sellars, Kay Walsh, Frederick Piper, Julian Somers, Jane Aird, Jack Stewart, Geoffrey Keen, Douglas Blackwell, Leonard White, Gerald Anderson, Denis Webb, Gerald Case, John Bushelle
- Director: Charles Crichton
- Production Company: Independent Artists, British Film Makers, distributed by General Film Distributors
- Trivia: The film opened in London on March 9, 1952 then went into general UK release on March 17. The film opened in New York City on August 19, 1952 under the title The Stranger In Between. The film won the Golden Leopard award at the 1952 Locarno International Film Festival.
March 20 – Fanfan la Tulipe
- Cast: Gérard Philipe, Gina Lollobrigida, Marcel Herrand, Olivier Hussenot, Noël Roquevert, Henri Rollan, Nerio Bernardi, Jean-Marc Tennberg, Geneviève Page, Sylvie Pelayo, Lolita De Silva, Irène Young, Georgette Anys, Henri Hennery, Lucien Callamand
- Director: Christian-Jaque
- Production Company: Filmsonor
- Trivia: The film was released in France on March 20, 1952. It did not open in the US until May 4, 1953, and in the UK in September 1953. The film won the Silver Bear at the 1952 Berlin International Film Festival.
March 20 – My Six Convicts
- Cast: Millard Mitchell, Gilbert Roland, John Beal, Marshall Thompson, Alf Kjellin, Henry Morgan, Jay Adler, Regis Toomey, Fay Roope, Carleton Young, John Marley, Russ Conway, Byron Foulger, Charles Bronson (credited as Charles Buchinsky)
- Director: Hugo Fregonese
- Production Company: Stanley Kramer Productions, distirbuted by Columbia Pictures
- Trivia: Adapted from the autobiographical book written by Donald Powell Wilson, My Six Convicts: A Psychologist’s Three Years in Fort Leavenworth. The film’s premiere was held on March 12, 1952. The film was released in the UK on September 1, 1952. Millard Mitchell won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Hugo Fregonese received a DGA nomination. The film has never received a home video release and has almost faded into obscurity.
March 20 – Saturday Island
- Cast: Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, Donald Gray, John Laurie, Sheila Chong, Russell Waters, MacDonald Parke, Michael Newell, Lloyd Lamble, Peter Butterworth, Harold Ayer, Diana Decker, Hilda Fenemore, Joan Benham, Brenda Hogan, Katharine Blake
- Director: Stuart Heisler
- Production Company: Coronado Productions, distirbuted by United Artists
- Trivia: Based on a novel by Hugh Brooke. The film opened in London on March 20, 1952, and went in to general US release on August 4. The film is also known as Island of Desire.
March 21 – Angels One Five
- Cast: Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson, Cyril Raymond, Veronica Hurst, Humphrey Lestocq, Harold Goodwin, Norman Pierce, Geoffrey Keen, Harry Locke, John Harvey, Philip Stainton, Vida Hope, Amy Veness, Ronald Adam, Andrew Osborn, Ewan Roberts, Peter Jones, John Phillips, John Sharp, Joan Sterndale-Bennett, Colin Tapley, Terence Longdon, Russell Hunter, Harold Siddons, Victor Maddern, Harry Fowler, Gordon Bell, Sam Kydd
- Director: George More O’Ferrall
- Production Company: Templar Productions, distributed by Associated British-Pathé
- Trivia: Based on the book What Are Your Angels Now? by Pelham Groom. Opened in London on March 19, 1952 then entered general UK release on March 21. The film did not open in the US until April 30, 1954. The film was the first British post-war production to deal with the Battle of Britain.
1962
March 21 – Gorath
- Cast: Ryō Ikebe, Yumi Shirakawa, Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, Jun Tazaki, Ken Uehara, Takashi Shimura, Seizaburō Kawazu, Kō Mishima, Sachio Sakai, Takamaru Sasaki, Kō Nishimura, Fumio Sakashita
- Director: Ishirō Honda
- Production Company: Toho
- Trivia: The film opened in Japan on March 21, 1962, but did not get a US release until May 15, 1964 through Allied Artists Pictures. The full Japanese title translates to Ominous Star Gorath. The film was extensively edited and double-billed in the United States with The Human Vapor. The original Japanese version has never been made available outside of Japan.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
March 21 – Sweet Bird of Youth
- Cast: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood, Philip Abbott, Corey Allen, Barry Cahill, Dub Taylor, James Douglas, Barry Atwater, Charles Arnt, Kelly Thordsen, William Forrest, Roy Glenn
- Director: Richard Brooks
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: Based on the 1959 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. The film was released in the UK on May 3, 1962. Ed Begley won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, while Geraldine Page was nominated for Best Actress (winning the Golden Globe), and Shirley Knight was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Newman, Begley, and Knight were also nominated for Golden Globes. The play’s controversial final scene of castration of Chance (played by Paul Newman in the film) was removed, with Chance preparing to leave town unaffected after apparently being roughed up off-screen.
March 21 – The Fury of Hercules
- Cast: Brad Harris, Luisella Boni, Mara Berni, Serge Gainsbourg, Alan Steel, Carlo Tamberlani, Irena Prosen, Franco Gasparri
- Director: Gianfranco Parolini
- Production Company: Cinematografica Associati, Comptoir Francais du Film Production
- Trivia: Italian title is La furia di Ercole. The film was released in Italy on March 21, 1962. It was then released in the US sometime in 1963 but an exact date is unknown. The film was shot in Zagreb, Croatia. Brad Harris did his own stunts, but was dubbed by a different actor.
1972
March 16 – Roma
- Cast: Peter Gonzales, Fiona Florence, Pia De Doses, Renato Giovannoli
- Director: Federico Fellini
- Production Company: Les Productions Artistes Associés, Ultra Film, distributed by Ital-Noleggio Cinematografico
- Trivia: The film’s premiere in Rome was held on March 9, 1972. The film was released in Italy on March 16. The film opened in the US on October 15, but did not get a UK release until January 1973. Also known as Fellini’s Roma or Federico Fellini’s Roma. Uncredited cast members include Dennis Christopher, Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni, Gore Vidal, and Cassandra Peterson in her first feature film appearance. This was Magnani’s final film.
March 17 – Pink Flamingos
- Cast: John Waters, Divine, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, Danny Mills, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller, Channing Wilroy, Paul Swift, Susan Walsh, Linda Olgierson, Pat Moran, Steve Yeager, George Figgs, Elizabeth Coffey, David E. Gluck
- Director: John Waters
- Production Company: Dreamland, distributed by New Line Cinema
- Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Baltimore, Maryland. Part of John Waters’ self-proclaimed ‘Trash Trilogy’ with Female Trouble and Desperate Living. For the 1997 25th anniversary re-release, the film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021. Shot on a budget of $10,000. Waters has said the 1969 Arentine film Fuego was an inspiration. Music from Waters’ personal collection was used in the film without securing any rights. When the rights were eventually secured, a CD soundtrack was released to coincide with the 25th anniversary re-release. The film was initially banned in Switzerland, Australia, Norway and some Canadian provinces. Waters wrote a sequel 15 years later, Flamingos Forver, but Divine refused to be involved and Edith Massey had died in 1984. The film was never made, but the screenplay was published in Waters’ 1988 book Trash Trio. The film has one of the longest front-credits sequence of all time. Every actor and every single extra featured in the film is listed.
March 22 – Fist of Fury
- Cast: Bruce Lee, Nora Miao, Riki Hashimoto, Robert Baker, Tien Feng, Paul Wei, Fung Ngai, Lo Wei, Huang Tsung-hsing, Han Ying-chieh, James Tien, Maria Yi, Jun Katsumura, Lee Kwan, Jackie Chan, Corey Yuen
- Director: Lo Wei
- Production Company: Golden Harvest
- Trivia: The film was released in Hong Kong on March 22, 1972, followed by the US on September 9. The film was released in Canada on July 16, 1973 and in the UK on July 20. This was Bruce Lee’s second major role. Lee recommended his student and friend Robert Baker for the role of Petrov, and dubbed Baker’s voice for the Cantonese and Mandarin versions of the film. The film grossed about $100 million worldwide, which is about $600 million today adjusted for inflation, against a $100,000 budget. The film was accidentally released in the US with the title The Chinese Connection, which was meant for another Lee film, The Big Boss. The titles were switched and that film was released as Fist of Fury, with the error not corrected until 2005.
1982
March 17 – The Atomic Cafe
- Director: Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, Pierce Rafferty
- Production Company: The Archives Project, distributed by Libra Films
- Trivia: The film was screened at the USA Film Festival on May 6, 1982. The movie was crafted by editing together various film clips with no narration to make the directors’ points, with no new footage created for or added to the film. It took five years to make the film.
March 19 – Deathtrap
- Cast: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth, Henry Jones, Joe Silver
- Director: Sidney Lumet
- Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1978 play of the same name by Ira Levin. The film’s premiere was held in New York City on March 16, 1982. The film also opened in Canada on March 19, then in the UK on October 14. Critics noted similarities to Michael Caine’s Sleuth. Real-life film and theatre critics Stewart Klein, Jeffrey Lyons and Joel Siegel have cameo appearances as themselves. Dyan Cannon was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for her performance. The original set of the play Deathtrap at the Music Box Theatre was used as the set for Sidney Bruhl’s flop play in the movie. The scene was shot on a Monday when the theatre was dark with 600 dress extras as the opening night audience. The psychic character Helga ten Dorp’s last name is an anagram for ‘portend’, or to foretell the future. The film originally received an R-rating but was downgraded to PG on appeal.
March 19 – Porky’s
- Cast: Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Cyril O’Reilly, Tony Ganios, Kaki Hunter, Kim Cattrall, Nancy Parsons, Scott Colomby, Boyd Gaines, Doug McGrath, Susan Clark, Art Hindle, Wayne Maunder, Alex Karras, Chuck Mitchell, Eric Christmas, Jack Mulcahy, Will Knickerbocker, Bill Hindman
- Director: Bob Clark
- Production Company: Astral Films, 20th Century Fox
- Trivia: Sneak previews for the film were held on November 13, 1981 and March 6, 1982. The film was released in Canada and the US on March 19, then in the UK on April 16. Kim Cattrall took a small role in the movie because she needed the money, and was horrified when she got top billing on the movie poster, with people thinking it was the end of her career. The film received an X-rating and had to be revised twice to get an R.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
March 19 – Victor Victoria
- Cast: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, John Rhys-Davies, Graham Stark, Peter Arne, Malcolm Jamieson, Herb Tanny (as Sherloque Tanney), Ina Skriver, Michael Robbins, Norman Chancer, David Gant, Maria Charles, Glen Murphy, Geoffrey Beevers, Norman Alden, Jay Benedict
- Director: Blake Edwards
- Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Pinewood Studios, distributed by MGM/United Artists Distribution and Marketing (United States), United International Pictures (International)
- Trivia: Remake of the 1933 German film Victor and Victoria. The film premiered at Filmex on March 16, 1982, the entered general US and Canada release on March 19. The film opened in the UK on April 1. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning one for Best Original Score. Julie Andrews won the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The role of Toddy was meant for Peter Sellers while the film was being planned as far back as 1978. Sellers died in 1980 while Blake Edwards was filming S.O.B. so Robert Preston, who was also in S.O.B. with Julie Andrews, was cast. The costume worn by Andrews for ‘The Shady Dame from Seville’ is the same costume worn by Preston at the end of the film. It was made to fit him, then fitted to Andrews with a series of hooks and eyes on the back with extra ruffles added to the bottom to hide the height difference. Preston did the final musical number in one take. The heel of his right shoe broke off during the number.
1992
March 20 – Basic Instinct
- Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Bruce A. Young, Chelcie Ross, Dorothy Malone, Wayne Knight, Daniel von Bargen, Stephen Tobolowsky, Benjamin Mouton, Jack McGee, Bill Cable, James Rebhorn
- Director: Paul Verhoeven
- Production Company: Carolco Pictures, Le Studio CanalPlus, distributed by TriStar Pictures (United States), Guild Film Distribution (United Kingdom), UGC Distribution (France)
- Trivia: The film was released in the UK on May 8, 1992. No body doubles were used in any of the sex scenes. Sharon Stone was the thirteenth choice to play Catherine Trammell. Steven Spielberg saw Wayne Knight in the movie and he was the first actor cast in Jurassic Park. Michael Douglas declined to go full frontal in the film, or to let his character be bisexual. Film debut of Jeanne Tripplehorn. Final film of Dorothy Malone.
March 20 – Noises Off
- Cast: Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliott, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Nicollette Sheridan, Marilu Henner, Julie Hagerty, Mark Linn-Baker
- Director: Peter Bogdanovich
- Production Company: Touchstone Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
- Trivia: Based on the 1982 play of the same name by Michael Frayn. The film was released in the UK on July 24, 1992. Final performance of Denholm Elliott. The role played by Carol Burnett was originally offered to Audrey Hepburn. Annie Potts was cast in the film but had to drop out after a car accident and was replaced with Marilu Henner.
2002
March 22 – Ali G Indahouse
- Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Gambon, Charles Dance, Kellie Bright, Martin Freeman, Rhona Mitra, Barbara New, Ray Panthaki, Emilio Rivera, Paul Clayton, Olegar Fedoro, Tony Way, Eileen Essell, Daniella Lavender, Capri Ashby, John Scott Martin, Graham McTavish, Naomi Campbell, Nabil Elouahabi, Bruce Jamieson, Anna Keaveney
- Director: Mark Mylod
- Production Company: Working Title Films, StudioCanal, WT2 Productions, Baby Cow Productions
- Trivia: The film was released in the UK on March 22, 2002, then made its US and Canada premiere on DVD on November 2, 2004. The only theatrical movie based on Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters from his Ali G Show, which was not a mockumentary. The movie was filmed under the title Chequered Past.
March 22 – Stolen Summer
- Cast: Adi Stein, Mike Weinberg, Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, Kevin Pollak, Brian Dennehy, Ryan Jonathan Kelley, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Will Malnati
- Director: Pete Jones
- Production Company: Miramax Films
- Trivia: The film was screened at Sundance in January 2002. It received a limited US release on March 22, then went to home video on September 24. The first film produced for the Project Greenlight competition series.
2012
March 16 – Friends with Kids
- Cast: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Megan Fox, Edward Burns, Lee Bryant, Kelly Bishop, Cotter Smith, Ilana Levine, Brian D’Arcy James, John Lutz, Derek Cecil
- Director: Jennifer Westfeldt
- Production Company: Red Granite Pictures, Points West Pictures, Locomotive, distributed by Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions
- Trivia: The film was screened at TIFF on Septmeber 9, 2011. It received a limited US and Canada release on March 9, 2012 then entered general US release on March 16. The film opened in the UK on June 29, 2012. Jennifer Westfeldt’s directorial debut. The scene with Westfeldt’s character’s birthday was done on her actual birthday.
Columbia Pictures
March 16 – 21 Jump Street
- Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, DeRay Davis, Ice Cube, Dax Flame, Chris Parnell, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson, Nick Offerman, Holly Robinson Peete, Johnny Pemberton, Stanley Wong, Justin Hires, Brett Lapeyrouse, Lindsey Broad, Caroline Aaron, Joe Chrest, Geraldine Singer, Dakota Johnson, Rye Rye, Valerie Tian, Jaren Mitchell, Johnny Simmons, Spencer Boldman, Luis Da Silva
- Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
- Production Company: Relativity Media, Original Film, Cannell Studios, distributed by Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Trivia: An adaptation of the 1988–91 television series of the same name by Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh. The film was screened at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 12, 2012. It also opened in Canada and the UK on March 16. Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise made uncredited cameos as their original TV series characters. Live-action directorial debut of Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. The film was shot in a suburb of New Orleans but production went to great lengths to remove all identifiable imagery to keep the location generic. The naked baby pictures of Hill’s character used in the film were actual pictures of Hill as a child. Holly Robinson Peete also reprised her character from the show; she was the only cast member who stayed with the series for its entire run. When Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill exit the limo and enter the prom, the two guys dressed as ushers standing on both sides are their stand-ins.
March 16 – Casa de Mi Padre
- Cast: Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Génesis Rodríguez, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Nick Offerman, Efren Ramirez, Adrian Martinez
- Director: Matt Piedmont
- Production Company: Gary Sanchez Productions, NALA Films, distirbuted by Pantelion Films
- Trivia: The film was screened at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13, 2012. It received a limited US release on March 16, then opened in the UK on June 2. Dan Haggerty appears as himself in a post-credits cameo. The lips in the opening scene singing the title song belong to Christina Aguilera. Will Ferrell spent a month learning and speaking Spanish with a dialect coach for his role.
March 16 – Jeff, Who Lives at Home
- Cast: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon, Judy Greer, Rae Dawn Chong, Steve Zissis, Evan Ross
- Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
- Production Company: Right of Way Films, Indian Paintbrush, Mr. Mudd, distributed by Paramount Vantage
- Trivia: The film was screened at TIFF on September 14, 2011, and at the Austin Film Festival on October 22, 2011. The film received a limited US and Canada release on March 16, 2012. It opened in the UK on May 11. The bathtub scene between Jason Segel and Ed Helms was all improvisation. Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass allowed the actors to riff for 40 minutes straight before calling ‘cut’.
March 22 – The Raid: Redemption
- Cast: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian, Donny Alamsyah, Iang Darmawan, Pierre Gruno, Tegar Satrya, Eka Rahmadia, Alfridus Godfred, Henky Solaiman, Fikha Effendi, Verdi Solaiman, Ananda George, Yusuf Opilus
- Director: Gareth Evans
- Production Company: PT Merantau Films, XYZ Films, Celluloid Nightmares, distributed by PT Merantau Films
- Trivia: The film played several film festivals including TIFF (September 8, 2011), Torino (November 29, 2011) and Sundance (January 20, 2012). It first opened in Australia on March 22, 2012, then received a limited US release on March 23. It was also release in Canada on April 6. The film’s original title was simply The Raid. The title was changed for the US release as Sony Pictures Classics could not obtain the rights to the original title. It also gave Gareth Evans an opportunity to plan out future The Raid films. A sequel was produced, titled The Raid 2. A third film was planned but Evans decided not to move forward with it. All the guns used in the film are Airsoft replicas and not functioning firearms.
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