Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1990 as Movie Year
My Oscar Book:
Top-Grossing Films of 1990
Rank Title Distributor Worldwide gross
1 Ghost Paramount $505,702,588
2 Home Alone 20th Century Fox $476,684,675
3 Pretty Woman Buena Vista $463,406,268
4 Dances with Wolves Orion $424,208,848
5 Total Recall TriStar / Carolco $261,317,921
6 Back to the Future Part III Universal $245,000,000
7 Die Hard 2 20th Century Fox $240,031,094
8 Presumed Innocent Warner Bros. $221,303,188
9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Line $202,084,756
10 Kindergarten Cop Universal $201,957,688
Events
March 2 –
The Hunt for Red October, the first film in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan franchise, is met with critical and blockbuster commercial success.
March 23 –
Pretty Woman grosses $463 million, making Julia Roberts a worldwide star.
March 30 –
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, massive box office success, at the time, the highest-grossing independent film in history.
May 25 – Universal unveils new opening logo with music by James Horner, which debuts on Back to the Future Part III, the first change to Universal opening logo in 27 years.
June 1 –
CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall.
June 15 – Following massive media and marketing blitz, Dick Tracy is released. Walt Disney Studios chair Jeffrey Katzenberg noted that the film had cost about $100 million, market and promote and with its disappointing performance claimed “We made demands on our time, talent and treasury that, upon reflection, may not have been worth it”.
June 22 –
The use of real-time computer graphics or “digital puppetry” to create character in a motion picture is performed, in RoboCop 2.
July 4 –
The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2.
July 13 – Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, is grosses $506 million, making it the third highest-grossing movie at the time.
November 9 – Kevin Costner’s directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, earns 12 Oscar nominations and wins 7, including Best Picture and Best Director.
November 16
Home Alone pends 12 consecutive weeks at number one on the US box office, the year’s highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing comedy of all-time.
The Rescuers Down Under is considered the first fully digital film ever made.
December 24 – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman marry.
Buchwald v. Paramount decided, a leading case on the financial rewards due to writers of film treatments.
Awards
63rd Academy Awards, March 25, 1991
Best Film: Dances with Wolves
Best Director Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
Goodfellas Kevin Costner
Dances with Wolves
Best Actor Jeremy Irons
Best Actress: Kathy Bates, Misery
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, Goodfellas
Best Supporting Actress: Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost
Best Screenplay, Adapted Michael Blake Dances with Wolves
Best Screenplay, Original Bruce Joel Rubin, Ghost
Best Original Score The Sheltering Sky
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Richard Horowitz Cinema Paradiso
Ennio Morricone and Andrea Morricone Dances with Wolves
John Barry
Best Original Song “Blaze of Glory”
Young Guns II N/A “Sooner or Later”
Dick Tracy
Best Foreign Language Film: Cyrano de Bergerac (France)
Deaths
Month Date Name Age Country Profession Notable films
January 2
Jan 5
Arthur Kennedy 75 US Actor, Lawrence of Arabia, Some Came Running
6 Ian Charleson 40 UK Actor
Chariots of FireGandhi
8 Terry-Thomas 78 UK Actor
Bachelor FlatIt’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
10 Lyle R. Wheeler 84 US Art Director
Gone with the WindThe Day the Earth Stood Still
14 John Witty 74 UK Actor
The Frightened CityThe Vault of Horror
15 Gordon Jackson 66 UK Actor The Great Escape, The Ipcress File
20 John Maxim 64 UK Actor
The Frightened CityDracula: Prince of Darkness
Jan 20
Barbara Stanwyck 82 US Actress, Double Indemnity, Stella Dallas
Jan 25
Ava Gardner 67 US Actress, The Barefoot Contessa, The Killers
February
Feb 6
Jimmy Van Heusen 77 US Songwriter
Going My WayThe Joker Is Wild
8 Frank Ross 85 US Producer, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Robe
13 Ken Lynch 79 US Actor
North by NorthwestAnatomy of a Murder
14 Jean Wallace 66 US Actress
Lancelot and GuinevereNo Blade of Grass
15 Henry Brandon 77 Germany Actor
The War of the Worlds. The Searchers
15 Michel Drach 59 France Director, Screenwriter, Producer
Amelie or The Time to LoveThe Simple Past
16 Joshua Shelley 70 US Actor, All the President’s MenFunny Lady
17 Allen Rivkin 86 US Screenwriter
Dancing LadyThe Farmer’s Daughter
19 Gabriel Katzka 59 US Producer
Kelly’s HeroesThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Feb 19 Michael Powell 84 UK Director, Black Narcissus, Matter of Life and Death
March 5
Gary Merrill 74 US Actor, All About Eve, Twelve O’Clock High
March 17
Capucine 62 Switzerland Actress, The Pink Panther, North to Alaska
18 Robin Harris 36 US Actor, Comedian
Do the Right ThingHouse Party
20 Maurice Cloche 82 France Director
Monsieur VincentDoctor Laennec
April 2
Aldo Fabrizi 84 Italy Actor, Open City, Cops and Robbers
April 15
Greta Garbo 84 Sweden Actress, Grand Hotel, Ninotchka
17 Joseph McMillan Johnson 77 US Art Director, Production Designer, Visual Effects Artist, Portrait of JennieRear Window
18 Robert D. Webb 87 US Director
Beneath the 12-Mile ReefLove Me Tender
20 Alex McCrindle 78 UK Actor
Star WarsEye of the Needle
23 Paulette Goddard 79 US Actress, So Proudly We Hail!Modern Times
25 Dexter Gordon 67 US Musician, Actor, Round Midnight,m Awakenings
27 Bella Spewack 91 US Screenwriter My Favorite Wife, Week-End at the Waldorf
May 6
Charles Farrell 89 US Actor, Lucky Star7th Heaven
10 Susan Oliver 58 US Actress
The Disorderly OrderlyYour Cheatin’ Heart
12 Anthony Masters 70 UK Production Designer, 2001: A Space OdysseyDune
12 Nate Monaster 78 US Screenwriter
That Touch of MinkHow to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life
14 Franklyn Seales 37 West Indies Actor
The Onion FieldSouthern Comfort
16
Sammy Davis Jr. 64 US Actor, Singer, Ocean’s 11, Robin and the 7 Hoods
16 Jim Henson 53 US Puppeteer, Director, Screenwriter, Producer
The Dark Crystal, The Muppet Movie
18 Jill Ireland 54 UK Actress
Hard Times, Breakheart Pass
22 Max Wall 82 UK Actor, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jabberwocky
25 Vic Tayback 60 US Actor
Alice Doesn’t Live Here AnymoreAll Dogs Go to Heaven
June 1 Eric Barker 78 UK Actor
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying MachinesThere’s a Girl in My Soup
June 2 Rex Harrison 82 UK Actor, My Fair Lady, Doctor Dolittle
3 Tom Brown 70 US Actor
Duke of ChicagoI Killed Wild Bill Hickok
4 Jack Gilford 81 US Actor
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumCatch-22
6 Marcel Grignon 75 France Cinematographer
Is Paris Burning?The Fixer
7 Barbara Baxley 67 US Actress
East of EdenNo Way to Treat a Lady
15 Leonard Sachs 80 UK Actor
ThunderballJohn Wesley
20 Ina Balin 52 US Actress, From the TerraceThe Patsy
23 Frank Gatliff 62 UK Actor, The Ipcress FileOperation Daybreak
25 Sydney Boehm 82 US Screenwriter
Seven ThievesThe Big Heat
July 8 Howard Duff 76 US Actor
Kramer vs. KramerThe Naked City
13 Lois Moran 81 US Actress
Words and MusicUnder Suspicion
14 Philip Leacock 74 UK Director
The War LoverLet No Man Write My Epitaph
15 Margaret Lockwood 73 UK Actress
The Lady VanishesNight Train to Munich
15 Bud Thackery 87 US Cinematographer
The Crimson GhostCoogan’s Bluff
19 Eddie Quillan 83 US Actor
Mutiny on the BountyThe Big Shot
20 Sergei Parajanov 66 Georgia Director
Shadows of Forgotten AncestorsThe Color of Pomegranates
21
Stanley Shapiro 65 US Screenwriter
Pillow TalkThat Touch of Mink
23 Georges Flamant 86 France Actor, La Chienne, The 400 Blows
27 Elizabeth Allan 80 UK Actress
David CopperfieldCamille
27 Ernest Archer 80 UK Art Director
SupermanThe Pirates of Penzance
28
Jill Esmond 82 UK Actress
Thirteen WomenNo Funny Business
August 2 Edwin Richfield 68 UK Actor, Screenwriter
Ben-HurThe Dam Busters
3 Betty Amann 85 Germany Actress
Strictly BusinessIn Old Mexico
12 Dorothy Mackaill 87 US Actress
No Man of Her OwnSafe in Hell
12 Sara Seegar 76 US Actress
Dead Men Tell No TalesThe Music Man
17 Pearl Bailey 72 US Actress, Singer
Carmen JonesSt. Louis Blues
23 Dorothea Kent 74 US Actress
Pin Up GirlShe Married a Cop
27 Raymond St. Jacques 60 US Actor
Cotton Comes to HarlemThe Green Berets
28 Edmund H. North 79 US Screenwriter
The Day the Earth Stood StillPatton
September 4 Irene Dunne 91 US Actress
The Awful TruthCimarron
5 Jack Hildyard 82 UK Cinematographer
The Bridge on the River KwaiThe Message
19 Werner Janssen 91 US Composer
BlockadeThe Southerner
19 Hermes Pan 80 US Choreographer
My Fair LadyTop Hat
20 Jackie Moran 67 US Actor
The Adventures of Tom SawyerNobody’s Darling
October
Oct 4: Jill Bennett 58 UK Actress, For Your Eyes Only, The Sheltering Sky
4 Roy Charman 60 UK Sound Engineer, Aliens, Raiders of the Lost Ark
14 Leonard Bernstein 72 US Composer, West Side Story, On the Waterfront
15 Delphine Seyrig 58 France Actress, Last Year at Marienbad, The Day of the Jackal
Oct 20
Joel McCrea 84 US Actor, Sullivan’s Travels, Foreign Correspondent (Hitchcock)
Oct 27
Jacques Demy 59 France Director, Composer, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Young Girls of Rochefort
27 Ugo Tognazzi 68 Italy Actor, La Cage aux FollesThe Conjugal Bed
November 2
William Travilla 70 US Costume Designer
The Seven Year Itch, Adventures of Don Juan
3 Valerie French 62 UK Actress
JubalDecision at Sundown
Nov 3
Mary Martin 76 US Actress, Singer, Love Thy Neighbor, Night and Day
3 Walter H. Tyler 81 US Art Director
Samson and DelilahThe Ten Commandments
4 Carol Sobieski 51 US Screenwriter
Fried Green TomatoesAnnie
10 Maura McGiveney 51 US Actress
Twist Around the ClockDo Not Disturb
11 Alexis Minotis 90 Greece Actor
Land of the PharaohsBoy on a Dolphin
Nov
12 Eve Arden 82 US Actress, Mildred Pierce, Anatomy of a Murder
13 Don Chaffey 73 New Zealand Director
Jason and the ArgonautsPete’s Dragon
13 Maurice Richlin 70 US Screenwriter
The Pink PantherPillow Talk
23 Roald Dahl 74 UK Screenwriter, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, You Only Live Twice
27 David White 74 US Actor
Sweet Smell of SuccessThe Apartment
December 1
Sergio Corbucci 63 Italy Director, Screenwriter. DjangoNavajo Joe
1 Carla Lehmann 73 Canada Actress
Candlelight in Algeria29 Acacia Avenue
2 Robert Cummings 80 US Actor, Dial M for Murder. Saboteur (Hitchcock)
4 Edward Binns 79 US Actor
12 Angry MenFail-Safe
7 Joan Bennett 80 US Actress
Father of the Bride, Scarlet Street
8 Martin Ritt 76 US Director, Actor, Producer, Hud, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Dec 9
Mike Mazurki 82 US Actor, Some Like It Hot, Dick Tracy
Dec 18
Anne Revere 87 US Actress, National Velvet, Gentleman’s Agreement (blacklisted)
Film Debuts
Hank Azaria – Pretty Woman
Abraham Benrubi – Diving In
Julie Benz – Two Evil Eyes
Brenda Blethyn – The Witches
Andrew Bryniarski – Dragonfight
Bill Camp – Reversal of Fortune
Robert Carlyle – Silent Scream
Kyle Chandler – The Color of Evening
Scott Cohen – Jacob’s Ladder
Russell Crowe – Blood Oath
James Badge Dale – Lord of the Flies
Hope Davis – Flatliners
Andy Dick – The Grifters
Vin Diesel – Awakenings
Ann Dowd – Green Card
Denise Dowse – Coldfire
Chris Ellis – Days of Thunder
Kerry Fox – An Angel at My Table
Brad Garrett – Jetsons: The Movie
Balthazar Getty – Lord of the Flies
Brendan Gleeson – The Field
John Hannah – Harbour Beat
Marcia Gay Harden – Miller’s Crossing
Damon Herriman – The Big Steal
Djimon Hounsou – Without You I’m Nothing
Ashley Johnson – Lionheart
Jacek Koman – Hunting
Nia Long – Buried Alive
George Lopez – Ski Patrol
Aasif Mandvi – No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers
Margo Martindale – Days of Thunder
Debi Mazar – Goodfellas
John McConnell – Miller’s Crossing
Neal McDonough – Darkman
Rose McGowan – Class of 1999
Kristin Minter – Home Alone
Julianne Moore – Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
Peter Mullan – The Big Man
Guy Pearce – Heaven Tonight
Luke Perry – Terminal Bliss
Christina Ricci – Mermaids
Rob Schneider – Martians Go Home
Nick Searcy – Days of Thunder
June Squibb – Alice
Jeffrey Wright – Presumed Innocent
Catherine Zeta-Jones – Les 1001 Nuits
