TCM Schedule for Thursday, February 20, 2014 -- 31 Days of Oscar: 1934 Best Actress Nominees

[Staph]

It's a day of Best Actress nominees, with prime time featuring the Best Actress nominees of 1934, including Grace Moore, Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, and winner Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night. And very late night and early morning, you can enjoy three of the late Peter O'Toole's Oscar-nominated roles. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- The Letter (1929)
A planter's wife shoots a neighbor, but tells conflicting stories of what happened.
Dir: Jean De Limur
Cast: Jeanne Eagels, O. P. Heggie, Reginald Owen
BW-60 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jeanne Eagels (No official nominees had been announced this year.)

First American film of Herbert Marshall, who plays Leslie Crosbie's murdered lover, Geoffrey Hammond. In the 1940 remake starring Bette Davis, he plays her husband, Robert Crosbie. Also, Herbert Marshall played author W. Somerset Maugham in The Razor's Edge (1946). Additionally, Marshall's daughter, Sarah Marshall, plays Mrs. Joyce in the 1982 made-for-television version of The Letter (1982).


7:30 AM -- Madame X (1929)
Infidelity and an accidental death force a society wife to leave her infant son.
Dir: Lionel Barrymore
Cast: Lewis Stone, Ruth Chatterton, Raymond Hackett
BW-95 mins,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ruth Chatterton (No official nominees had been announced this year.), and Best Director -- Lionel Barrymore (No official nominees had been announced this year.)

Based on the play by Alexandre Bisson. Also filmed in 1916, 1920, 1937, 1954, 1966 and 1981 as Madame X, and in 1910 as Who Is She?, in 1914 as Hvem er hum? (Denmark), in 1939 as A Woman Is The Judge, in 1948 as The Trial of Madame X, and in 1955 as La Mujer X (Mexico).


9:06 AM -- Strikes And Spares (1934)
In this short film, professional bowler Andy Varipapa provides bowling advice and shows off some bowling tricks.
Dir: Felix E. Feist
Cast: Buster Brodie, Ray Turner,
BW-9 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Novelty -- Pete Smith


9:19 AM -- Movie Pests (1944)
This comedic short looks at annoying movie-going habits that disrupt the viewing experience.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Heinie Conklin, Dave O'Brien, Harry Tyler
BW-11 mins,

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


9:30 AM -- Mogambo (1953)
In this remake of Red Dust, an African hunter is torn between a lusty showgirl and a married woman.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
C-116 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ava Gardner, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grace Kelly

Maureen O'Hara was the first choice for Honey Bear Kelly, but MGM needed Ava Gardner in a movie and made John Ford cast Gardner instead, which is one of the reasons for Ford's vicious treatment towards Gardner while filming.


11:30 AM -- Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
A marine and a nun are shipwrecked on a Pacific Island.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Akira Ohno
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- John Lee Mahin and John Huston

Originally when filming began on Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), her co-star Robert Mitchum worried that Deborah Kerr would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at director John Huston during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. The two stars went on to have an enduring friendship which lasted until Mitchum's death in 1997.


1:30 PM -- Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
A beautiful neurotic will stop at nothing to hold onto her husband's love.
Dir: John M. Stahl
Cast: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain
C-110 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Gene Tierney, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Maurice Ransford and Thomas Little, and Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (20th Century-Fox SSD)

The famous (and dramatic) swimming scene that takes place in the lake for Darryl Hickman's character was in water so cold that the young actor caught pneumonia.


3:30 PM -- Magnificent Obsession (1954)
A playboy becomes a doctor to right the wrong he's done to a sightless widow.
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman

Jeff Chandler turned down the role of Bob Merrick because he thought the story was too "soppy".


5:30 PM -- Splendor In The Grass (1961)
Sexual repression drives a small-town Kansas girl mad during the roaring twenties.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- William Inge

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Natalie Wood

Even though they were supposed to be playing teenagers, Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty were approximately 22 and 23 respectively at the time of filming. As a result, Elia Kazan decided that the other actors who were to play teenagers in the film should be in their early to mid-twenties as a way to make it easier for the audience to accept Wood and Beatty as teenagers rather than as adults playing teens.


7:38 PM -- Torture Money (1937)
In this short film, the police track down a fraud operation that stages automobile accidents to collect insurance money.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Margaret Bert, King Baggot, Mitchell Lewis
BW-20 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 1934 BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES



8:00 PM -- Of Human Bondage (1934)
A medical student falls prey to a sluttish waitress.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee
BW-83 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (This was a write-in nomination.)

Bette Davis wanted the role of Mildred Rodgers because she thought it would be her breakout role after years of starring in films that were getting her nowhere. She begged Warner Brothers studio chief Jack L. Warner to let her out of her contract so she could make the film. He relented because he was sure she would fail, but when her performance sparked talk of an Oscar, Warner began a spite campaign by encouraging academy members not to vote for her. At the time, the voting campaigns and the tabulation of the results were handled by the heads of the academy (of which Warner had a membership) and it worked in his favor when Davis was left out of the Best Actress competition. Supporters of Davis, shocked by her omission, petitioned the academy for a write-in vote. She was added to the nominees as a write-in but she lost to Claudette Colbert for her performance in It Happened One Night (1934). As a result of this incident, write-in votes were henceforth disallowed. Also, as a result of Warner's coup, the academy decided to change it's voting practices and hand over the counting of the results to the independent accounting firm of PriceWaterhouse who still does the official counting to this day.


9:30 PM -- It Happened One Night (1934)
A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly
BW-105 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Clark Gable (In 1996, Steven Spielberg anonymously purchased Clark Gable's Oscar to protect it from further commercial exploitation, gave it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, commenting that he could think of "no better sanctuary for Gable's only Oscar than the Motion Picture Academy".), Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Claudette Colbert (Claudette Colbert was so convinced that she would lose the Oscar to write-in nominee Bette Davis that she didn't attended the ceremony originally. She was summoned from a train station to pick up her Academy Award.), Best Director -- Frank Capra, Best Writing, Adaptation -- Robert Riskin, and Best Picture

Friz Freleng's unpublished memoirs mention that this was one of his favorite films, and that it contains at least three things upon which the character "Bugs Bunny" was based: - The character Oscar Shapely's (Roscoe Karns) personality - The manner in which Peter Warne (Clark Gable) was eating carrots and talking quickly at the same time - An imaginary character mentioned once to frighten Oscar Shapely named "Bugs Dooley." Other mentions of "Looney Tunes" characters from the film include Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly) and King Westley (Jameson Thomas) being the inspirations for Yosemite Sam and Pepé LePew, respectively.


11:30 PM -- One Night of Love (1934)
An aspiring opera singer and her mentor fight so much they barely realize they're in love.
Dir: Victor Schertzinger
Cast: Grace Moore, Tullio Carminati, Lyle Talbot
BW-84 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (sound director), and Best Music, Score -- Louis Silvers (head of department) with Thematic music by Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn.

Won a Technical Achievement Award for their application of the vertical cut disc method ("hill and dale recording&quot to actual studio production, with their recording of the sound on the picture One Night of Love.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Grace Moore, Best Director -- Victor Schertzinger, Best Film Editing -- Gene Milford, and Best Picture

The role of Grace Moore's thickly-accented Italian dresser, Angelina, is played most convincingly by character actress Jessie Ralph who was born and died in Gloucester, Massachusetts.


1:00 AM -- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
An invalid poetess defies her father's wishes to marry a dashing young poet.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Norma Shearer, and Best Picture

Concerned about the public's reaction, the disturbing subplot about Father Barrett's incestuous designs on his daughter was toned down by the studio. However, Charles Laughton famously remarked that they couldn't censor the "gleam" in his eye.


3:00 AM -- The Stunt Man (1980)
A man on the run joins an embattled film company run by a maniacal director.
Dir: Richard Rush
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Barbara Hershey, Steve Railsback
C-131 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter O'Toole, Best Director -- Richard Rush, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush

The movie's main "Stunt Man" character (played by Steve Railsback) is described by his director character Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) in the film as being "A stuntman. Who is an actor. Who is a character in a movie. Who is an enemy soldier". Similarly, on the Australian home video sleeve notes, the persona's many layers is further detailed by stating that 'The Stunt Man' character is a "fugitive (who)- becomes a stunt man who doubles for an actor . . . who plays an American flyer posing as a German soldier . . . who is a fugitive".


5:15 AM -- My Favorite Year (1982)
A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos.
Dir: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter O'Toole

The movie was suggested by an actual true life occurrence. According to the 'Virgin Film Guide', the film was inspired by a "real-life incident where novice comedy writer Mel Brooks was assigned to chaperon the colorful Errol Flynn before he appeared on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (1950)". Brooks was a writer on the show in his career's early days. Flynn was a guest on one episode and this occasion inspired the screenplay. Brooks has said though that Flynn's appearance was in reality uneventful, it not having the notoriety display in this movie's fictional equivalent. Actually, the TV show writers had little opportunity to interact with Flynn at all.