TCM Schedule for Friday, February 1, 2013 -- 31 Days Of Oscar -- Warner Bros. Pictures

[Staph]

It's my favorite time of the year again -- 31 days of Oscar! The only comparable period for TCM is the Summer Under The Stars in August. This year's theme appears to be the studios themselves, and first up is Warner Bros., creator of the first feature-length talkie. Warner Bros. Pictures were known in the early days for their musicals and prestigious biographies, but after the market was flooded with musicals, WB became best-known for their gangster films. We get examples of all three genres today. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Jazz Singer (1927)
A cantor's son breaks with family tradition to go into show business.
Dir: Alan Crosland
Cast: Al Jolson, May McAvoy, Warner Oland
BW-89 min, TV-G

Won an Honorary Oscar Award for Warner Bros. for producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Alfred A. Cohn

Sam Warner, the Warner Brother that was nicknamed the "Father of the Talkies" because he insisted that Al Jolson's ad-libbed speech be included in the movie, died on Wednesday, October 5th, 1927, just one day before the film debuted to the remaining cast and crew, on Thursday, October 6th, 1927.


7:30 AM -- Disraeli (1929)
The noted British statesman plays matchmaker for a pair of young lovers.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: George Arliss, Joan Bennett, Florence Arliss
BW-87 min, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- George Arliss

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Achievement -- Julien Josephson, and Best Picture

The film was re-released in 1933, at which time the title credits were re-done, Arliss given billing as "Mr. George Arliss," and an NRA (National Recovery Act) emblem added; this is the version which presently survives. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film is cropped off the left side, in order to accommodate the sound-on-film system track, which had, by then, replaced the now obsolete Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, and required a slightly narrower picture image as a result.


9:00 AM -- Little Caesar (1930)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell
BW-79 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee

Speculation has it that a federal anti-organized crime law - The Racketeering Influence Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO - got its acronym from Edward G. Robinson's character.


10:30 AM -- The Public Enemy (1931)
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
BW-84 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- John Bright and Kubec Glasmon

Several versions exist of the origin of the notorious grapefruit scene, but the most plausible is the one on which both James Cagney and Mae Clarke agree: The scene, they explained, was actually staged as a practical joke at the expense of the film crew, just to see their stunned reactions. There was never any intention of ever using the shot in the completed film. Director William A. Wellman, however, eventually decided to keep the shot, and use it in the film's final release print.


12:00 PM -- 42nd Street (1933)
The definitive backstage musical, complete with the dazzling newcomer who goes on for the injured star.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent
BW-89 min, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director - Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department), and Best Picture

At the end of the "42nd Street" number, Billy and Peggy pull down a curtain or shade with the word "Asbestos" written on it. This can be a confusing reference to 21st-century viewers, who may only be familiar with asbestos as a mineral composite which is now known to cause the lung cancer mesothelioma, but during the first part of the 20th century, asbestos was an often-used flame-retardant component in building materials. It also would have been a reference familiar to theater people, since live-performance theaters were at the time required to have a curtain made of asbestos that would separate the stage from the audience in the event of an on-stage fire. In that context, the presence of the curtain in the film is the movie's way of implying that whatever Billy and Peggy are going to do behind the curtain, it will surely be "hot."


1:30 PM -- Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933)
Three chorus girls fight to keep their show going and find rich husbands.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon
BW-98 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director - Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department)

At 5:55 PM PST on March 10, 1933, the Long Beach earthquake hit southern California, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. When the earthquake hit, Busby Berkeley was filming the "Shadow Waltz" dance sequence on a sound stage on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. The earthquake caused a blackout on the sound stage and short-circuited some of the neon-tubed violins. Berkeley was almost thrown from a camera boom, and dangled by one hand until he could pull himself back up. Since many of the chorus girls in the dance number were on a 30-foot-high scaffold, Berkeley yelled for them to sit down and wait until the stage hands and technicians could open the sound stage doors and let in some light.


3:15 PM -- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
True story of the French scientist's battle to establish modern medical methods.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise
BW-86 min, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Writing, Original Story -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

An electrician for Warner Bros. studio came up to Paul Muni after an advanced screening of the film and told him that his 9-year old son asked him to buy him a microscope because of Muni's performance. Even though he went on to win the coveted Oscar Muni said that this was the greatest compliment he had ever received and that all other accolades meant nothing compared to that compliment.


4:45 PM -- Black Legion (1936)
A disgruntled factory worker is lured into joining a secret society out to terrorize foreigners.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Dick Foran, Erin O'Brien-Moore
BW-83 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Lord

From Wikipedia: The Black Legion was an organization that splintered from the Ku Klux Klan and operated in the United States in the 1930s. The organization was founded by William Shepard in east central Ohio.[1] The group's total membership, estimated between 20,000 and 30,000, was centered in Detroit, Michigan, though the Legion was also highly active in Ohio and one of its self-described leaders, Virgil "Bert" Effinger, lived and worked in Lima, Ohio.

The Associated Press described the organization on May 31, 1936, as

a group of loosely federated night-riding bands operating in several States without central discipline or common purpose beyond the enforcement by lash and pistol of individual leaders' notions of "Americanism."


6:15 PM -- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
C-102 min, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Carl Jules Weyl, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was invited by Warner Brothers to come from his native Austria to Hollywood to see the film with a view to scoring it. He initially turned down the chance as he felt that his musical style was ill-suited for adventure spectaculars. However, while in Hollywood, he learned that the Nazis were about to invade Austria and, feeling he had to secure a source of revenue in the United States, he accepted the assignment. He would go on to win the Oscar. For the rest of his life, Korngold, grateful of how this successful assignment allowed him to stay in America and safe from the Nazis' murderous persecution would playfully quip, "Robin Hood saved my life."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES



8:00 PM -- Captain Blood (1935)
After being unjustly sentenced to prison, a doctor escapes and becomes a notorious pirate.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill
BW-119 min, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Curtiz (This was a write-in candidate, who came in second on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department - Warner Bros.-First National Studio Music Department) and score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (This was a write-in candidate, who came in third on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director - Warner Bros.-First National SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Casey Robinson (This was a write-in candidate, who came in third on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), and Best Picture

After Peter Blood and his friends have escaped from slavery, and taken the Spanish ship, and he is reading the proclamation banding them together as a brotherhood of buccaneers, he mentions the date: "this 20th day of June, 1685" (or 168-- something). Anyway, as all Flynn fans know, June 20 was Flynn's birthday. It's hard to believe this is a coincidence. What is interesting is that when he made this film, Flynn wasn't yet a star, and it would seem risky for him to fool around with the dialogue. It could be that he changed the date, himself, and no one noticed. Or perhaps they let him do it. Flynn did a similar thing in his later "Dawn Patrol." In the film, his character, Courtney, mentions his father, who is a professor of biology at Queens. Flynn's own father was professor of biology at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1938.


10:15 PM -- I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
A World War I veteran faces inhuman conditions when he's sentenced to hard labor.
Dir: Mervyn Le Roy
Cast: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson
BW-93 min, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director - Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department), and Best Picture

The final fade came as an accident. Director Mervyn LeRoy had planned to go to a blackout after the final line. During rehearsals, a light blew, taking the fuse with it. The resultant slow fade, starting just before the final line, was so powerful that Leroy decided to shoot the film exactly that way.


12:15 AM -- Four Daughters (1938)
A small-town family's peaceful life is shattered when one daughter falls for a rebellious musician.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, John Garfield
BW-90 min, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Garfield, Best Director -- Michael Curtiz, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Lenore J. Coffee and Julius J. Epstein, and Best Picture

Remade as a musical, Young at Heart (1954) with Frank Sinatra and Doris Day.


2:00 AM -- The Life Of Emile Zola (1937)
The famed writer risks his reputation to defend a Jewish army officer accused of treason.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard
BW-116 min, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Joseph Schildkraut, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg and Norman Reilly Raine, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Art Direction -- Anton Grot, Best Assistant Director -- Russell Saunders, Best Director -- William Dieterle, Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department - Warner Bros. Studio Music Department) with score by Max Steiner, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg

The film was shot in reverse order; Paul Muni grew his own beard for the role, and it was trimmed and darkened as he proceeded to scenes where Zola is younger. His makeup took 3-1/2 hours to apply each morning.


4:00 AM -- Jezebel (1938)
A tempestuous Southern belle's willfulness threatens to destroy all who care for her.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent
BW-104 min, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (On 19 July 2001 Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscar statuette at a Christie's auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This was the second time in five years Spielberg did so to protect an Oscar from further commercial exploitation.), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Fay Bainter

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Ernest Haller, Best Music, Scoring -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

The red dress sequence was based on a real-life white ball in Hollywood at which all the women dutifully appeared in white - except for Mrs. MGM, Norma Shearer. Comment from another guest: "Who does Norma think she is - the house madam?"


5:45 AM -- Sergeant York (1941)
True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
BW-134 min, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, and Best Film Editing -- William Holmes

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Brennan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Wycherly, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sol Polito, Best Director -- Howard Hawks, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Max Steiner, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston and Howard Koch, and Best Picture

Alvin C. York had been approached by producer Jesse Lasky several times, beginning in 1919, to allow a movie to be made of his life, but had refused, believing that "This uniform ain't for sale." Lasky convinced York that, with war threatening in Europe, it was his patriotic duty to allow the film to proceed. York finally agreed - but only on three conditions. First, York's share of the profits would be contributed to a Bible School York wanted constructed. Second, no cigarette smoking actress could be chosen to play his wife. Third, that only Gary Cooper, could recreate his life on screen. Cooper at first turned down the role, but when York himself contacted the star with a personal plea, Cooper agreed to do the picture.

[CBHagman]

1. I'm moved by the Korngold story.

Of course I love the Robin Hood and other scores/works...but oh, the thought that Korngold came so close to tragedy.