TCM Schedule for Friday, January 31, 2014 -- Friday Night Spotlight: Science in the Movies

[Staph]

Today is the end of Star of the Month Joan Crawford, followed by a series of films about swinging bachelors, and then the last of the Friday Night Spotlight -- Science in the Movies, with a couple of H.G. Wells films, a couple of biographies of great scientists, and a film based on one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever. Enjoy!

Edited to fix the date in the title -- stupid fingers!



7:09 AM -- Stopover In Hollywood (1963)
This short film takes the viewer to various landmarks and attractions in Hollywood, CA.
C-16 mins,


7:30 AM -- Berserk (1967)
A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.
Dir: Jim O'Connolly
Cast: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors
C-96 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Two performers dressed as Batman and Robin appear in the circus, at the beginning of the London premiere, with all of the other circus performers. Michael Gough, who played Albert Dorando in this film, played Alfred the butler in the 1989-1997 series of Batman films.


9:09 AM -- Violets In Spring (1936)
In this musical short film, a janitor at a carpet sweeping company gets a couple of employees to fall in love.
BW-21 mins, TV-PG,


9:30 AM -- Bachelor Apartment (1931)
An honest working girl falls for a skirt-chasing playboy.
Dir: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Lowell Sherman, Irene Dunne, Mae Murray
BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC,

I love the dialogue in pre-code films -- " I'm tired of the parties and the women. The champagne as flat as the women."


11:00 AM -- The Tender Trap (1955)
A swinging bachelor finds love when he meets a girl immune to his line.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne
C-111 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song &quot Love Is) The Tender Trap"

The original Broadway production of "The Tender Trap" by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith opened at the Longacre Theater on October 13, 1954 and ran for 102 performances. The original cast included Robert Preston and Kim Hunter.


1:00 PM -- Bachelor In Paradise (1961)
A writer moves into a housing development to study married couples.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Cast: Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige
C-109 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "Bachelor in Paradise"

Based on a story by Vera Caspery, probably best remembered for writing the novel Laura, made into an amazing movie in 1944 starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews.


3:00 PM -- Boys' Night Out (1962)
A psychology student researches infidelity by becoming a platonic kept woman for four buddies.
Dir: Michael Gordon
Cast: Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall
C-113 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Originally, the movie's title song was to be sung by Frank Sinatra. His version was recorded on March 6, 1962, almost three months before the film's premiere. At last wind, Patti Page recorded her version which was initially optioned for use while Sinatra's original languished in the Columbia vaults until 1995 when his Reprise box-set was issued.


5:00 PM -- Any Wednesday (1966)
A young businessman catches his boss keeping a mistress in the company apartment.
Dir: Robert Ellis Miller
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jason Robards Jr., Dean Jones
C-109 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The original Broadway production of "Any Wednesday" opened on Feb. 18, 1964 at the Music Box Theater and ran for 983 performances. Rosemary Murphy was nominated for the 1964 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and recreated her role in the movie version. Gene Hackman created the role of Cass Henderson on Broadway.


7:00 PM -- Fonda on Fonda (1992)
Jane Fonda recalls her father Henry's career as a star of stage and screen.
Dir: David Heeley
BW-46 mins, TV-G, CC,


7:47 PM -- A Look Back At Crossbow (1965)
This promotional short film for "Operation Crossbow" (1965) gives the historical background for the movie's plot through archival footage.
BW-10 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: SCIENCE IN THE MOVIES



8:00 PM -- First Men in the Moon (1964)
A scientist's experimental space craft puts him in the path of an intergalactic invasion.
Dir: Nathan Juran
Cast: Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Martha Hyer
C-103 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The original H.G. Wells book has an atmosphere on the moon, so the characters required no space suit of any type, making the diving suits worn by the characters an addition of the filmmakers. However, Wells' speculation of a Lunar atmosphere could have been proved wrong in his own time by the fact that it would be visible as a haze around the limbs of the moon's disk.


10:00 PM -- The Time Machine (1960)
A turn-of-the-century inventor sends himself into the future to save humanity.
Dir: George Pal
Cast: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux
C-103 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Gene Warren and Tim Baar

When George arrives in the year 802701 his time machine reads the date of October 12th. So George arrives into a "New World" on the anniversary of Columbus' first reaching the "New World" of the Americas.


12:00 AM -- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
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 mins, TV-G, CC

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.


1:30 AM -- The Dipsy Doodler (1938)
In this short film, Larry Clinton and his orchestra perform popular hits with the help of guest dancers and vocalists.
BW-11 mins,


1:45 AM -- Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
True story of the German scientist who devoted his life to curing syphilis.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger
BW-103 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald and John Huston

This film generated controversy because many thought the subject of syphilis too scandalous a topic for a motion picture in 1940.


3:32 AM -- Song Of Revolt (1937)
This short film tells the story of how France's "Le Marseillaise" came to be written during the French Revolution.
BW-11 mins,


3:45 AM -- Charly (1968)
Scientists turn a mentally challenged man into a genius.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala
C-103 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Cliff Robertson (Cliff Robertson was not present at the Awards ceremony. Frank Sinatra accepted the award on his behalf.)

Cliff Robertson saw more than one TV production he'd starred in turned into hit movies with other actors (such as Days of Wine and Roses (1962)), so when he starred in the 1961 The United States Steel Hour (1953) production of "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon," based on the novel "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, he bought the rights and later was responsible for turning that story into this film.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #25 (1955)
Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones perform in a clip from "The Firefly"; Dan Dailey introduces a clip from "Meet Me in Las Vegas." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,