What entertaining movies did poorly at the box office?

[Naphtali]

I'll begin with four comedies, and I'm going to keep the pikers out by using BRINGING UP BABY first. I don't believe it was astonishingly entertaining, but what do I know. . . . I'll be with you in a minute, Mr. Peabody.

Here are some that fit the bill:
1. The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) Robert Mitchum and Jack Webb. This was a droll, thinker's comedy, based sufficiently on reality that the person portrayed in the movie by Mitchum won an invasion of privacy suit from the writer, William Bowers (Jack Webb in the movie). This lasted in theaters less than two weeks in my town. I saw it and loved it. I've seen it once on television, many years ago.

2. The D.I. (1957) Jack Webb. This is a reasonably accurate, hilarious examination of drill instructors. It has perhaps the funniest disciplinary scene in the history of motion pictures. Those of you who have seen the movie know exactly what I mean.

3. Local Hero (1983) Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster. This is a quiet comedy. No belly laughs, merely many smiles and a sense of well-being after watching.

4. A Coming-Out Party (1961) James Robertson-Justice and Leslie Phillips. A super scientist, who could have been The Man Who Came to Dinner, becomes a prisoner of war in World War II Germany. Tough luck for the Germans.

 

[jake_fink]

Heaven's Gate

It's a Wonderful Life


Buckaroo Banzai

 

[Naphtali]

I apologize to my brother for omitting:

Jake Speed (1986) Wayne Crawford, Dennis Christopher, and John Hurt. Mr. Everyman as super hero. I think this bombed because critics didn't understand Jake Speed was not intended to be larger than life. They expected Sean Connery and got Wayne Crawford. The story is first rate and dialogue witty. Its premise is dime novel heroes like Remo Williams, Matt Helm, et al., are real. And they fight evil where it exists.

 

[CharlieH.]

I believe Plan 9 From Outer Space was hardly released (and 3 years after it was made at that). I haven't seen all of it, but it sure looks like a riot.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Buckaroo Banzai!!

Shawshank Redemption

Independent movies normally don't make much because they aren't shown everywhere.

 

[CharlieH.]

I forgot to mention Fantasia. Great film, but it almost killed the studio. I hear Citizen Kane had the same effect.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) The now-regarded-as-a-classic film starring Burt Lancaster & Tony Curtis was a box office dud during it's initial run.

 

[Feraud]

Memento, Primer, The Fountain,
Solaris are a few that come to mind.
As happyfilmluvguy said, many independent films receive a limited release and fall into the category of 'entertaining / limited money makers'.

 

[Starius]

I can't think of any golden era films off of the top of my head, but I know of several movies from my own youth that did poorly at the box office but have had strong cult followings and video sales years after its release.

Movies like:
TRON (1982) - mocked by academy award judges because they thought computer fx was "cheating" back then, instead of revolutionary. Also, I don't know if Disney had much faith in the film either. They changed it's premiere date around just to have something up against Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH just to spite the guy.

The Dark Crystal (1982) - Up against E.T. in theaters, that didn't help much. I've read that Jim Hension was very personally disappointed and hurt that it didn't do very well in theaters, he put a lot of love into it. I wished he could have lived to see that it has such a strong following that a sequel is now being made. Labyrinth (1986), too, has a similar following for it. Cause, you know, those teenage girls still find a Bowie goblin king very sexy. And I challenge any teenage boy not to fall in love with a young Jennifer Connelly...

The Princess Bride (1987) - Barely in theaters for a blink of an eye but also now a cult favorite.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I don't know how well Casablanca fared when it was first released, but have read a number of accounts that the actors involved made fun of the film.

How was the Wizard of Oz received when it first came out? Did it not receive much fanfare or am I getting that mixed up with Fantasia, which I heard was a big flop.

karol

 

[Starius]

I don't know how well Casablanca fared when it was first released, but have read a number of accounts that the actors involved made fun of the film.

How was the Wizard of Oz received when it first came out? Did it not receive much fanfare or am I getting that mixed up with Fantasia, which I heard was a big flop.

karol

Considering the size of it's budget at the time, OZ was considered a moderate success but not a huge sucess. It wasn't until TV airings years later that the movie really started to pick up steam. So, I think you kinda could group OZ in here too considering how big of a favorite it became in subsequent decades.

 

[Doctor Strange]

A classic recent example that got mega-outstanding reviews but did virtually no business was 1999's "The Iron Giant" - one of the very best animated films of the last twenty years. Director Brad Bird later scored big with "The Incredibles" and now "Ratatouille" (SP?), but "The Iron Giant" has a lot going for it, including its charming late-50s setting and very nicely done old-school drawn animation. It's a kids movie that's not just for kids.

 

[Feraud]

I love The Iron Giant! A great film.
The voices are provided by an all star cast. Harry Connick is the artist/rocker guy (forgot his name) and Vin Diesel provides the voice of the giant.

 

[Doctor Strange]

His name is Dean, a la Dean Moriarty in "On the Road," to make his hipster/beatnik aspect perfectly clear. I'm not a big fan of Connick in general, but he's superb in this part.

There's also nice voice work from John Mahoney as the general, Jennifer Aniston as Hogarth's mom, and Christopher McDonald as agent Kent Manley: "I work for the government... and all that implies!"

 

[BeBopBaby]

A classic recent example that got mega-outstanding reviews but did virtually no business was 1999's "The Iron Giant" - one of the very best animated films of the last twenty years.

I agree. The Iron Giant really had a lot of heart. I cried like a little kid when the robot said Superman at the end.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Everybody did!

 

[GeniusInTheLamp]

One of my favorite movies (not just comedies), DUCK SOUP, was considered a box-office dud when it was first released.

 

[dhermann1]

I loved TRON. ROCKETEER didn't do well at the box office either.
The first film to flop at the box office and make a bundle form video rentals was THE RIGHT STUFF. I saw that in a theater when it first came out, sat in about the third row. VROOM!
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, same story. Nothing much at the box office, but TV made it famous. Through some anomaly, it became a public domain item (I think this is accurate) and because it was available, was shown at Christmas, starting some time in the 70's maybe. The rest is history.
There are lots of them. Luckily, TV came along, and they got second chances.

 

[jake_fink]

I didn't realize that Princess Bride or Memento did poorly at the box office. I thought one was a huge and the other a modest hit. Memento didn't have to do well to be successful since it cost relatively little to make. I don't think Wizard of Oz was really a failure either.

Spinal Tap plopped big at the theatres, I remember seeing it with my friends two or three times in empty cinemas before it closed. Austin Powers was another one that bombed at theatres but found life on video, neccistating numerous sequels.