TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 1, 2014 -- 31 Days of Oscar: 1967 Best Picture Nominees

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is showing films that won the Best Picture award. In prime time, we've got the Best Picture nominees of 1967, including Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and winner In The Heat of The Night. Enjoy!



7:30 AM -- Grand Hotel (1932)
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through scandal and heartache.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford
113 min

Won an Oscar for Best Picture

Greta Garbo was very particular as to how her love scenes with John Barrymore were shot. She requested red front-lighting and required curtains to be placed between the camera and film crew to help set the mood and create the illusion that she and Barrymore were alone. During one take, Garbo got so carried away with the scene that she continued kissing Barrymore for three full minutes after Edmund Goulding had yelled cut. The bonus smooching footage survives, however, it was not used in the film's final cut.


9:45 AM -- Gigi (1958)
A Parisian girl is raised to be a kept woman but dreams of love and marriage.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan
C-115 min

Won Oscars for Best Director -- Vincente Minnelli, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Alan Jay Lerner, Best Cinematography, Color -- Joseph Ruttenberg, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color -- William A. Horning, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace and F. Keogh Gleason (William A. Horning's nomination and win was posthumously, as he died after completing his work on Gigi (1958) and in the midst of the production on Ben-Hur (1959) and North by Northwest (1959); the last two films would earn him Oscar nominations and a win (for Ben-Hur alone) the next year.), Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color -- Cecil Beaton, Best Film Editing -- Adrienne Fazan, Best Music, Original Song -- Frederick Loewe (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) for the song "Gigi", Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn, and Best Picture

Cecil Beaton had to supply over 150 period costumes for the scene in the Bois, and 20 ornate gowns for the scene in Maxims. Beaton had difficulty procuring such a large amount of costumes in Paris but when the production moved to Hollywood, he found warehouses stuffed to bursting with period furniture and costumes.


12:00 PM -- On The Waterfront (1954)
A young stevedore takes on the mobster who rules the docks.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
108 min

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eva Marie Saint, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Budd Schulberg, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Boris Kaufman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day, Best Film Editing -- Gene Milford, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Lee J. Cobb, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Karl Malden, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Rod Steiger, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Leonard Bernstein

In his biography of Elia Kazan, Richard Schickel describes how Kazan used a ploy to entice Marlon Brando to do the movie. He had Karl Malden direct a scene from the film with an up-and-coming fellow actor from the Actors Studio playing the Terry Malloy lead role. They figured the competitive Brando would not be eager to see such a major role handed to some new screen heartthrob. The ploy worked, especially since the competition had come in the form of a guy named Paul Newman.


2:00 PM -- Gandhi (1982)
The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.
Dir: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud
C-191 min

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ben Kingsley, Best Director -- Richard Attenborough, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Briley, Best Cinematography -- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing and Michael Seirton, Best Costume Design -- John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya, Best Film Editing -- John Bloom, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound -- Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye, Best Music, Original Score -- Ravi Shankar and George Fenton, and Best Makeup -- Tom Smith

Mohandas K. Gandhi (played by Ben Kingsley) travels to London, he stays at Kingsley Hall. This is a historical coincidence, and not a cute reference by the filmmakers.


5:30 PM -- A Man for All Seasons (1966)
A devout scholar gets caught in the middle of Henry VIII's plans to break with the Catholic Church.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern
C-121 min

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Scofield (Paul Scofield was not present at the awards ceremony. His co-star Wendy Hiller accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Bolt, Best Cinematography, Color -- Ted Moore, Best Costume Design, Color -- Elizabeth Haffenden and Joan Bridge, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Shaw, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Wendy Hiller

One of only five productions to win both the Best Play/Musical Tony (1962) and the Best Picture Oscar (1966). The other four are My Fair Lady (1957/1964), The Sound of Music (1960/1965), Amadeus (1981/1984) and The Producers (2001/2005).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 1967 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES



8:00 PM -- In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
A black police detective from the North forces a bigoted Southern sheriff to accept his help with a murder investigation.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
C-110 min

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Rod Steiger, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stirling Silliphant, Best Sound, Best Film Editing -- Hal Ashby, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Norman Jewison, and Best Effects, Sound Effects -- James Richard

Sidney Poitier insisted that the movie be filmed in the north because an incident in which he and Harry Belafonte were almost killed by Ku Klux Klansman during a visit to Mississippi. Hence the selection of Sparta, Illinois for the location filming. Nevertheless, the filmmakers and actors did venture briefly into Tennessee for the outdoor scenes at the cotton plantation, because there was no similar cotton plantation in Illinois that could be used. Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow during production in Tennessee. Poitier did receive threats from local racist thugs so the shoot was cut short and production returned to Illinois.


10:00 PM -- The Graduate (1967)
A recent college graduate has an affair with his neighbor's wife, then falls for their daughter.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross
C-106 min

Won an Oscar for Best Director -- Mike Nichols

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dustin Hoffman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Bancroft, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Katharine Ross, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, and Best Picture

Robert Redford screen-tested with Candice Bergen for the part of Benjamin Braddock but was finally rejected by director Mike Nichols because Nichols did not believe Redford could persuasively project the underdog qualities necessary to the role. When he told this to Redford, the actor asked Nichols what he meant. "Well, let's put it this way," said Nichols, "Have you ever struck out with a girl?" "What do you mean?" asked Redford. "That's precisely my point," said Nichols.


12:00 AM -- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
An aging couple's liberal principles are tested when their daughter announces her engagement to a black doctor.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn
C-108 min

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn (Katharine Hepburn was not present at the awards ceremony. George Cukor accepted the award on her behalf.), and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- William Rose

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy (posthumously), Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Cecil Kellaway, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Beah Richards, Best Director -- Stanley Kramer, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Robert Clatworthy and Frank Tuttle, Best Film Editing -- Robert C. Jones, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Frank De Vol, and Best Picture

In the scene near the end where Spencer Tracy gives his memorable soliloquy, Katharine Hepburn can be seen crying in the background. This was not acting: she knew how gravely ill her longtime lover was and was moved by his remarks about how true love endures through the years.


2:00 AM -- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The legendary bank robbers run riot in the South of the 1930s.
Dir: Arthur Penn
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
C-111 min

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Estelle Parsons, and Best Cinematography -- Burnett Guffey

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Warren Beatty, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Faye Dunaway, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Hackman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Michael J. Pollard, Best Director -- Arthur Penn, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- David Newman and Robert Benton, Best Costume Design -- Theadora Van Runkle, and Best Picture

Producer Warren Beatty requested that the sound of gunshots in the movie should be much louder than the rest of the soundtrack. He was greatly influenced by Shane (1953) in this regard. However, at a screening in London he noticed that the gunfire sounds were much softer than intended. He went to the projection booth, where the projectionist told he that he had "helped" the film by adjusting the gunfire sounds. The projectionist said that he had not come across a film as poorly mixed since "Shane".


4:00 AM -- Doctor Dolittle (1967)
A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, Anthony Newley
C-149 min

Won Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- L.B. Abbott, and Best Music, Original Song -- Leslie Bricusse for the song "Talk to the Animals". Leslie Bricusse was not present at the awards ceremony. Sammy Davis Jr. accepted the award on his behalf.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Mario Chiari, Jack Martin Smith, Ed Graves, Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss, Best Sound, Best Film Editing -- Samuel E. Beetley and Marjorie Fowler, Best Music, Original Music Score -- Leslie Bricusse, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Lionel Newman and Alexander Courage, and Best Picture

No one expected that shooting a scene with ducks swimming in a pond would be difficult. However, when the ducks were placed onto the pond they sank! Apparently it was the wrong time of year and the ducks had lost their water-repellent feathers and couldn't swim.

[CBHagman]

1. A fact that isn't.

Said of A Man for All Seasons:

One of only five productions to win both the Best Play/Musical Tony (1962) and the Best Picture Oscar (1966). The other four are My Fair Lady (1957/1964), The Sound of Music (1960/1965), Amadeus (1981/1984) and The Producers (2001/2005).

The Producers did not win Best Picture.

[url]https://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/best-pictures.html[/url]

[Staph]

2. That one is my fault.

IMDB only listed the first four films, but I must have had an attack of chemo brain when I added The Producers. Sorry!

[CBHagman]

3. I was thinking maybe it was "Chicago," but...

...I just looked up the Tony Awards and the original Broadway production of Chicago was up against something called A Chorus Line. D'oh!