TCM Schedule for Friday, February 14, 2014 -- 31 Days of Oscar: 1955 Best Actor Nominees

[Staph]

It's a day of Best Actors, culminating in a look at all of the Best Actor nominees of 1955 -- James Cagney, James Dean, Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, and winner Ernest Borgnine. Enjoy, and have a Happy Valentine's Day!



7:00 AM -- The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954)
A shipwrecked Englishman fights to survive on a desert island.
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Daniel O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernández, Felipe de Alba
C-89 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dan O'Herlihy

Luis Buñuel's first all-English film; the script was also written in English, but according to Dan O'Herlihy Bunuel only directed him in Spanish.


8:45 AM -- The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
A Cuban fisherman believes his long dry spell will end when he catches a legendary fish.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Felipe Pazos Jr., Harry Bellaver, Spencer Tracy
C-87 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, and Best Cinematography, Color -- James Wong Howe

Ernest Hemingway himself was initially involved in the production, although the extent of his participation after selling his book was to go marlin-fishing off the coast of Peru to try to find a fish worthy enough for the picture. In the end, the producers used a rubber marlin and stock footage of marlin fishing in which Hemingway didn't participate in. After seeing the film, Ernest Hemingway expressed his disappointment and said that Spencer Tracy looked less the Cuban peasant fisherman and more the rich old actor that he was.


10:15 AM -- A Star Is Born (1937)
A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he's shepherded to stardom.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou
C-111 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won an Honorary Oscar Award for W. Howard Greene for the color photography of A Star Is Born. (plaque) This award was recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year.

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- William A. Wellman and Robert Carson

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Janet Gaynor, Best Director -- William A. Wellman, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Alan Campbell, Robert Carson and Dorothy Parker, Best Assistant Director -- Eric Stacey, and Best Picture

The character of Norman Maine was based on several real actors, including John Barrymore, John Gilbert, and John Bowers, who drowned off Malibu during the film's production. The funeral scene was inspired by the funeral of Irving Thalberg, where fans swarmed around his widow Norma Shearer outside the church. A similar scene occurred at Jean Harlow's funeral two months after the film's release.


12:15 PM -- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
A husband and wife fight to conquer alcoholism.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford
BW-117 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Days of Wine and Roses"

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Lee Remick, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Joseph C. Wright and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Donfeld

The cast and crew were very concerned that the bleak ending would be changed. Director Blake Edwards recalled for Entertainment Weekly magazine that studio head Jack L. Warner wanted a lighter ending, but he came into a screening with a very attractive date who blasted the decision. Warner reluctantly gave in. In addition, Jack Lemmon purposely flew to Paris after filming had wrapped so he would be "unavailable" for re-shoots.


2:15 PM -- Berkeley Square (1933)
A young American man is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors.
Dir: Frank Lloyd
Cast: Leslie Howard, Heather Angel, Valerie Taylor
BW-88 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Leslie Howard

The original play, "Berkeley Square," opened in London in 1928, starring Leslie Howard. The Broadway production opened at the Lyceum Theater on November 4, 1929, also starring Howard. It ran for 229 performances, and was followed by a national tour. Howard and Valerie Taylor recreated their stage roles for the film version.


3:45 PM -- The Hasty Heart (1950)
Doctors try to get a flinty Scots soldier to open up to his comrades before telling him he's dying.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal, Richard Todd
BW-102 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Richard Todd

When Lachie asks Yank what he's going to do after the war, Yank replies that he's going back to "...a little place on the Rock River, Dixon, Illinois." This is actor Ronald Reagan's actual boyhood home.


5:29 PM -- The Great Heart (1938)
This short film tells the story of Joseph Damien de Beuster, the Belgian priest who worked for many years among the lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Tom Neal,
BW-11 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel


5:45 PM -- The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (1968)
A deaf mute changes the lives of all he meets.
Dir: Robert Ellis Miller
Cast: Alan Arkin, Chuck McCann, Peter Mamakos
C-124 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alan Arkin, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Sondra Locke

Sondra Locke's film debut.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 1955 BEST ACTOR NOMINEES



8:00 PM -- East Of Eden (1955)
Two brothers compete for their father's approval and a woman's love.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
C-118 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jo Van Fleet

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was the first posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards history.), Best Director -- Elia Kazan, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paul Osborn

Elia Kazan, in his autobiography "A Life" (1988), said that Raymond Massey came to despise James Dean. Kazan did nothing to dispel the tension between the two, as it was so right for their characters in the film.


10:02 PM -- So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947)
Joe McDoakes learns what a bumpy road it can be to become an Hollywood star in this comedic short.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Jane Harker, Jack Carson
BW-11 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead

Actor and future President Ronald Reagan is referred to by the narrator as "Ronnie" Reagan as he walks through the studio streets.


10:15 PM -- Marty (1955)
A lonely butcher finds love despite the opposition of his friends and family.
Dir: Delbert Mann
Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ernest Borgnine, Best Director -- Delbert Mann, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paddy Chayefsky, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Joe Mantell, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Betsy Blair, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Ted Haworth, Walter M. Simonds and Robert Priestley

Rod Steiger, who had originated the role of Marty in the eponymous TV production, said that he turned down the role in the movie because the Hecht-Lancaster Productions contract would have bound him for years. Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster, on the other hand, said that they did not want to cast Steiger as they felt the public would not go for the same actor that they had seen for free on TV. Delbert Mann had no idea who to cast in the lead role, so asked his friend Robert Aldrich. Aldrich immediately suggested Ernest Borgnine. Mann was skeptical, as Borgnine was only known for playing heavies, but Aldrich convinced him. Borgnine regularly says that he owes his career to Robert Aldrich.


12:00 AM -- Love Me Or Leave Me (1955)
True story of torch singer Ruth Etting's struggle to escape the gangster who made her a star.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell
C-122 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Daniel Fuchs

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Cagney, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart, Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M), Best Music, Original Song -- Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "I'll Never Stop Loving You", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Percy Faith and George Stoll

Doris Day wrote in her autobiography that she hesitated before accepting the lead in this film. Ruth Etting was a kept woman who clawed her way up from seamy Chicago nightclubs to the Ziegfeld Follies. It would require her to drink, wear scant, sexy costumes and to string along a man she didn't love in order to further her career. There was also a certain vulgarity about Ruth Etting that she didn't want to play. Producer Joe Pasternak convinced Day to accept the role because she would give the part some dignity that would play away from the vulgarity.


2:08 AM -- The Man Without A Country (1937)
This short film focuses on a disgraced U.S. army officer.
Dir: Crane Wilbur
Cast: Donald Brian, Erville Alderson, Charles Middleton
C-21 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Color


2:30 AM -- The Man With The Golden Arm (1955)
A junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak
BW-119 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Frank Sinatra, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Joseph C. Wright and Darrell Silvera, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

Ray Bradbury turned down offers to collaborate on the screenplay, along with the screenplay for Anatomy of a Murder (1959), which Bradbury claimed was $200,000 worth of work. Bradbury said of the refusal "I don't give a goddamn about drugs; it bores the hell out of me. I don't understand the people who take them. So why would I write a screenplay? I'd get a writer's block immediately."


4:33 AM -- Drunk Driving (1939)
In this short film, an up and coming businessman mixes drinking and driving with tragic consequences.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Robert Middlemass, William Tannen, Lee Phelps
BW-21 mins, TV-PG,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel


5:00 AM -- Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
C-82 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Director -- John Sturges, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Millard Kaufman

Just before shooting began, an indecisive Spencer Tracy tried to back out of the picture. Weighed down by his growing alcoholism, Tracy refused to commit to the picture. In order to close the deal, an MGM executive contacted Tracy shortly before filming was to begin and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Tracy, a copy of the script has been sent to Alan Ladd and he has agreed to do the picture." The next day, Tracy committed to the film. Ladd, however, apparently never even saw the script.