Hotchka Movies by the Decade feature #93 :: May 4•10

Marvel Studios

Every decade produced at least one new movie this week in the past century, but the memorable ones are few and far between. 1932 produced a German film that was not well regarded upon its release but has gone on to become a cinematic classic, 1972 brought a Woody Allen play to the big screen, 1982 gave us a horror movie that featured Peter Billingsley a few months before he was Ralphie in A Christmas Story, and produced one of many rip-offs of The Blue Lagoon. 1992 has a cult classic with Drew Barrymore, and a comedy classic from Robert Altman, while 2002 gave us a werewolf film that has also developed a cult following. And 2012 gave us one of the most profitable films of all time. Read on to learn more about these and other films released this week across the decades.

1922

May 6 – My Wife’s Relations (USA, short)

• Cast: Buster Keaton, Monte Collins, Wheezer Dell, Harry Madison, Kate Price, Joe Roberts, Tom Wilson
• Director: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
• Production Company: First National Pictures
• Trivia: The film opened in the UK in June of 1923.

May 7 – Beyond the Rocks (USA)

• Cast: Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Edythe Chapman, Alec B. Francis, Robert Bolder, Gertrude Astor, June Elvidge, Mabel Van Buren, Helen Dunbar, Raymond Brathwayt, Frank Butler, Gino Corrado as
• Director: Sam Wood
• Production Company: Famous Players-Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Elinor Glyn. The film opened in Canada on June 5, 1922. The film was long considered lost but a nitrate print of the film was discovered in the Netherlands in 2003. It was restored and released on DVD in 2006.

1932

May 6 – Vampyr (Germany)

• Cast: Nicolas de Gunzburg (credited as Julian West), Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard, Maurice Schutz, Albert Bras, N. Babanini, Jane Mora, Georges Boidin
• Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
• Production Company: Carl Theodor Dreyer-Filmproduktion, Tobis-Filmkunst, distributed by Vereinigte Star-Film GmbH
• Trivia: Based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly. The film opened in the US on August 14, 1934. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s first sound film, which was required to be recorded in three languages. Sybille Schmitz and Maurice Schutz were the only professional actors in the cast.

May 7 – The Mouthpiece (USA)

• Cast: Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline MacMahon, John Wray, Mae Madison, Ralph Ince, Morgan Wallace, Guy Kibbee, J. Carrol Naish, Walter Walker, Stanley Fields, Murray Kinnell, Noel Francis, Jack LaRue, William Janney
• Director: James Flood, Elliott Nugent
• Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
• Trivia: Based on the play The Mouthpiece by Frank J. Collins. The film previously opened in London on March 21, 1932. It received a wide UK release on November 21.

1942

Monogram Pictures

May 8 – The Corpse Vanishes (USA)

• Cast: Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters, Tristram Coffin, Elizabeth Russell, Minerva Urecal, Angelo Rossitto, Frank Moran, Vince Barnett, Kenneth Harlan, George Eldredge, Joan Barclay, Gwen Kenyon
• Director: Wallace Fox
• Production Company: Banner Productions, distributed by Monogram Pictures Corporation
• Trivia: The film was lampooned in a 1989 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

1952

May 9 – Forbidden Games (France)

• Cast: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Amédée, Laurence Badie, Suzanne Courtal, Lucien Hubert, Jacques Marin, Pierre Merovée, Louis Saintève
• Director: René Clément
• Production Company: Silver Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributed by Les Films Corona, Loew´s (USA)
• Trivia: Based on François Boyer’s novel Jeux Interdits. The film opened in the US on December 8, 1952, and in the UK in March 1953. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Brigitte Fossey’s first film.

May 9 – Steel Town (USA)

• Cast: Ann Sheridan, John Lund, Howard Duff, William Harrigan, Eileen Crowe, Chick Chandler, James Best, Nancy Kulp, Elaine Riley, Tudor Owen, Don Dillaway, Gino Corrado, Lois Wilde, Frank Marlowe, James Dime
• Director: George Sherman
• Production Company: Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Detroit, Michigan on March 13, 1852. The film was released in the UK on June 24. Jeff Chandler was originally announced to play the male lead.

May 9 – The Sniper (USA)

• Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr, Marie Windsor, Frank Faylen, Richard Kiley, Lilian Bond, Mabel Paige, Marlo Dwyer, Geraldine Carr, Charles Lane, Jean Willes, Karen Sharpe
• Director: Edward Dmytryk
• Production Company: Stanley Kramer Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Washington DC on March 12, 1952. It was released in Canada on June 6. Edward Dmytryk’s first film after he had been put on the Hollywood blacklist during the Communist witch hunt when he refused to testify before Congress. He eventually did name names and went into political exile in England. Adolphe Menjou shaved off his trademark mustache for this film. Marie Windsor had to do her death scene in only one take as the special effects department had made only one sheet of fake glass.

1962

May 11 – A Monkey in Winter (France)

• Cast: Jean Gabin, Suzanne Flon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sylviane Margollé, Noël Roquevert, Paul Frankeur, Gabrielle Dorziat, Geneviève Fontanel, Anne-Marie Coffinet, Hella Petri
• Director: Henri Verneuil
• Production Company: Compagnie Internationale de Productions Cinématographiques, Cité Films, distributed by Comacico (France), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (US)
• Trivia: Based on the novel A Monkey in Winter by Antoine Blondin. The film was released in the US on January 31, 1963. Released in the UK as It’s Hot in Hell.

1972

May 5 – Play It Again, Sam (USA)

• Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy, Susan Anspach, Jennifer Salt, Joy Bang, Viva
• Director: Herbert Ross
• Production Company: APJAC Productions, distributed by Paramount Pictures
• Trivia: Based on Woody Allen’s 1969 Broadway play of the same name. The film’s New York City premiere was held on May 4, 1972. The film was released in Canada on May 17, and in the UK on December 14. Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts and Jerry Lacy reprised their Broadway roles in the movie.

May 6 – Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (Spain)

• Cast: Paul Naschy, Shirley Corrigan, Jack Taylor, Mirta Miller, José Marco, Luis Induni, Bernabe Barta Barri, Luis Gaspar, Elsa Zabala, Jorge Vico, Adolfo Thous
• Director: León Klimovsky
• Distributor: Regia-Arturo González Rodríguez (Spain), Filmaco (USA)
• Trivia: The film was screened at Cannes in May 1972. The title translates in English to Dr. Jekyll vs. The Werewolf. The sixth in a series of 12 films about the werewolf Count Waldemar Daninsky, played by Paul Naschy.

1982

Cinema VII

May 7 – Death Valley (USA)

• Cast: Paul Le Mat, Catherine Hicks, Stephen McHattie, Wilford Brimley, Peter Billingsley, Edward Herrmann, Jack O’Leary, Mary Steelsmith, Gina Christian, Kirk Koskella, Frank J. Cimorelli, Arnold C. Waterman, Fred W.S. Newton, J.P.S. Brown, Roy Gunsberg, Merritt Holloway, Glenn McCreedy, Earl W. Smith, Allan Wood
• Director: Dick Richards
• Production Company: Cinema VII, distributed by Universal Pictures
• Trivia: The film premiere in Santa Cruz, CA on January 22, 1982 and was released in Australia on March 4. Cybill Shepherd was considered for the role of Sally but the scheduling couldn’t be worked out. In the end the part was cast with Catherine Hicks.

May 7 – Paradise (USA)

• Cast: Phoebe Cates, Willie Aames, Tuvia Tavi, Richard Curnock, Neil Vipond, Aviva Marks, Yosef Shiloach
• Director: Stuart Gillard
• Production Company: RSL Films, distributed by New World-Mutual
• Trivia: The film was first released in Portugal on March 25, 1982. It was also released in Canada on May 7. Stuart Gillard’s first film. Phoebe Cates’ acting debut. Cates was so upset with the film’s unnecessary nudity (either hers or a double) that she refused to promote the film. Wiilie Aames was upset as well but agreed to promote the movie because he thought it was ‘a damn good film’. Cates sang the film’s title song.

1992

May 8 – CrissCross (USA)

• Cast: David Arnott, Goldie Hawn, Arliss Howard, Keith Carradine, James Gammon, Steve Buscemi
• Director: Chris Menges
• Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists
• Trivia: Written by Scott Sommer, based on his homonymous novel. The film opened in the UK on May 29, 1992. As of 2022, this is David Arnott’s only film acting role.

May 8 – One False Move (USA)

• Cast: Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, Earl Billings, Jim Metzler, Robert Anthony Bell
• Director: Carl Franklin
• Distrinutor: I.R.S. Releasing
• Trivia: The film screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 1992. It was released in the UK on April 9, 1993. The film was intended for the straight-to-video market but good word of mouth convinced the distributor to give it a theatrical release. The script was originally titled Hurricane. The film’s title doesn’t tie into anything in the film.

May 8 – Poison Ivy (USA)

• Cast: Sara Gilbert, Drew Barrymore, Tom Skerritt, Cheryl Ladd, Alan Stock, Jeanne Sakata, E. J. Moore, J. B. Quon, Michael Goldner, Charley Hayward, Time Winters, Billy Kane, Tony Ervolina, Mary Gordon Murray, Leonardo DiCaprio
• Director: Katt Shea
• Production Company: MG Entertainment, distributed by New Line Cinema
• Trivia: The film screened at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury prize of Best Film, in January 1992, then opened in New York City on April 30. The film was not a box office success but has developed a cult following over the years and spawned three direct-to-video sequels. Leonardo DiCaprio’s first tole in a feature film, and the only film in which he does not have a speaking role. The original script was titled Fast Lane. Ivy’s real name is never revealed.

May 8 – The Player (USA)

• Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James, Cynthia Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dean Stockwell, Richard E. Grant, Sydney Pollack, Lyle Lovett, Dina Merrill, Gina Gershon, Angela Hall, Jeremy Piven, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts
• Director: Robert Altman
• Production Company: Avenue Pictures, Spelling Entertainment, David Brown Productions, Addis-Wechsler, distributed by Fine Line Features
• Trivia: Written by Michael Tolkin, based on his own 1988 novel of the same name. The film premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival on April 3, 1992. It opened in New York CIty on April 10, and was screened at the USA Film Festival on April 30 and at Cannes on May 9. The film was released in the UK on June 26. 65 celebrities cameo as themselves, and none were given scripted dialogue. The film received three Oscar nominations for Director, Adapted Screenplay and Editing. It won Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, and Best Actor – Comedy or Musical for Tim Robbins. Fifteen takes were required to shoot the opening 7 minute 47 seconds single tracking shot, but the tenth take was the one used in the film. The sex scene between Griffin and June is shot from the neck up because Greta Scacchi refused to shoot a nude scene after director Robert Altman asked.

May 9 – Timescape (USA)

• Cast: Jeff Daniels, Ariana Richards, Emilia Crow, Jim Haynie, Marilyn Lightstone, George Murdock, David Wells, Nicholas Guest, Robert Colbert, Time Winters, Anna Neill, Willie Rack, Mimi Craven, Jacquie McClure, Steven Gilborn
• Director: David Twohy
• Production Company: Channel Communications, Drury Lane Holdings, Wild Street Pictures, distributed by Academy Entertainment
• Trivia: Loosely based on the 1946 novella ‘Vintage Season’ by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore (writing as Lawrence O’Donnell). The film was screened at the Black Sunday Film Festival on December 21, 1991, and at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in January 1992. The film premiered on video in Germany in April 1992. Released on video as Grand Tour: Disaster in Time.

2002

May 8 – Steal (France)

• Cast: Stephen Dorff, Natasha Henstridge, Bruce Payne, Steven Berkoff, Cle Bennett, Karen Cliche, Tom McCamus,Jamie Orchard
• Director: Gérard Pirès
• Production Company: Alliance Atlantis Communications, Filmguard, Fusion International, Future Film Financing, Mandarin Films, Scion Films, Spice Factory, Spice Favoy, Transfilm, Téléfilm Canada, distributed by Alliance Atlantis Communications
• Trivia: The film opened in Canada on April 25, 2003, and in the UK on November 21. It received a DVD release in the US on April 5, 2005. Originally titled Riders. First and only American movie by Gerard Pires.

May 9 – The Eye (Hong Kong)

• Cast: Angelica Lee, Cusnithorn Chotiphan, Lawrence Chou, Chutcha Rujinanon, Tassanana Nuntasaree, Damronowiseeatpanich, So Yat-lai, Candy Lo, Dampcingcingtrakulsawadee, Ko Yin-ping, Pierre Png, Edmund Chen
• Director: Pang brothers
• Production Company: Applause Pictures, distributed by Mediacorp Raintree Pictures
• Trivia: The film was screened at TIFF on September 9, 2002, and opened in the UK on September 27. It played several US film festivals in 2003 before getting a limited theatrical release on June 6. Also known as Seeing Ghosts.

Pathé

May 10 – Dog Soldiers (UK)

• Cast: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham, Darren Morfitt, Chris Robson, Leslie Simpson, Thomas Lockyer, Craig Conway, Tina Landini
• Director: Neil Marshall
• Production Company: Kismet Entertainment Group, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company, Victor Film Company, Carousel Picture Company, distributed by Pathé
• Trivia: The film was screened at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival on March 22, 2002, the Dead by Dawn Horror Film Festival on March 31 and the Fantastic Film Festival on April 12. It was screened in the US at the Austin Film Festival on October 10, 2002, and at the New Orleans Film Festival on October 15 before being released on DVD on November 5. Neil Marshall’s directorial debut. Marshall chose to use dancers as the werewolves instead of the typical stuntmen in order to highlight their grace and elegant movements. Some of the corpses hanging around in the basement were originally created for and used in Event Horizon.

2012

May 4 – First Position (USA, limited)

• Cast: Michaela DePrince, Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer-Yemini, Miko Fogarty, Jules Fogarty, Joan Sebastian Zamora, Rebecca Houseknecht, Giuseppe Bausilio
• Director: Bess Kargman
• Production Company: First Position Films, distributed by Sundance Selects
• Trivia: The film was screened at TIFF on September 11, 2011. It received a limited release in Canada on July 20, and was released in the UK on April 12, 2013. The title First Position is taken from one of the five standard positions of the feet in classical ballet.

May 4 – The Avengers (USA)

• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maximiliano Hernández, Paul Bettany, Alexis Denisof, Damion Poitier, Powers Boothe, Jenny Agutter
• Director: Joss Whedon
• Production Company: Marvel Studios, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Trivia: The film’s premiere was held in Los Angeles on April 11, 2012. The film was released in major international markets between April 25 and May 3, including the UK on April 26. The film continued to open in Canada and more territories on May 4, and continued a global expansion with Japan as the last market on August 14. Released in the UK and Ireland as Marvel Avengers Assemble. The sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Stan Lee and Harry Dean Stanton have cameos. Enver Gjokaj, who later went on to play Daniel Sousa in the series Agent Carter, appears as a police officer. The film has more than 2,200 visual effects shots. The film grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. Robert Downey Jr. hid food all over the lab set and nobody could find where it was. Whenever he’s eating, it was just because he was hungry. In the end credits scene, Chris Evans is the only one not eating because principal filming had completed and he had grown out his beard for Snowpiercer. He had to wear a prosthetic jaw for the scene which made it impossible to eat (he also had to cover it with his hand because it looked like he’d been attacked by bees). Lou Ferrigno contributed to the voice of the Hulk in this film. Natalie Portman was going to cameo as Jane Foster, but had to drop out when she became pregnant. The Wasp was in an early draft of the script but was replaced with Black Widow.