TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 26, 2014 -- The Essentials - Fairy Tales

[Staph]

Tonight's edition of The Essentials features films based on fairy tales, along with Hans Christian Anderson (1952), starring Danny Kaye as the Danish storyteller. Enjoy!



8:15 AM -- Big Jake (1971)
A rancher leads the posse out to recover his kidnapped grandson.
Dir: George Sherman
Cast: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Patrick Wayne
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Director George Sherman was a friend of John Wayne dating back to their days in the 1930s making westerns at Republic Pictures. By the time of this film, however, Sherman was aging and not in the best of health, and had a difficult time shooting in the wilds of Mexico, where much of the movie was filmed. On the days when Sherman was unable to shoot because of his health conditions, Wayne took over direction, but when the film was completed he insisted that Sherman alone be credited as director.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Burt Reynolds (2/18/72) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Burt Reynolds from 2/18/72.
C-8 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942)
An advertising executive and his temperamental wife sail to Hawaii in search of business.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Lupe Velez, Leon Errol, Charles "Buddy" Rogers
BW-73 mins,

The fifth of the eight Mexican Spitfire films.


11:45 AM -- The Red Badge Of Courage (1951)
A young Union soldier fights to atone for a moment of cowardice during the Civil War.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Andy Devine, Robert Easton Burke, Douglas Dick
BW-69 mins, CC,

John Huston considered this his best film. After a power struggle at the top of MGM management, the film was cut from a 2 hour epic to the 69 minute version released to theaters. It was never released as a A-list movie but was shown as a 2nd feature B-list movie. Both Houston and star Audie Murphy tried unsuccessfully to purchase the film so that it could be re-edited to its original length. The studio claiming that the cut footage was destroyed. Unless there is an undiscovered copy of the uncut version, this movie will never be viewed as John Huston intended.


1:00 PM -- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A fading southern belle tries to build a new life with her sister in New Orleans.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter
BW-125 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh (Vivien Leigh was not present at the awards ceremony. Greer Garson accepted on her behalf.), Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Karl Malden, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Kim Hunter (Kim Hunter was not present at the awards ceremony. Bette Davis accepted on her behalf.), and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day and George James Hopkins

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Tennessee Williams, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Lucinda Ballard, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros.), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alex North, and Best Picture

Vivien Leigh had already played Blanche in the first London production of the play, under the direction of her then-husband, Laurence Olivier. Nine members of the original Broadway cast (Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Peg Hillias, Richard Garrick, Ann Dere and Edna Thomas) repeated their roles in the film, a highly unusual decision at the time and even today, when original casts of plays are often completely replaced for the film versions. Vivien Leigh initially felt completely at sea when she joined the tight New York cast in rehearsals. Director Elia Kazan was able to exploit her feelings of alienation and disorientation to enrich her performance.


3:15 PM -- The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Charles Lindbergh risks his life to complete his historic flight from New York to Paris.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith
C-135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Louis Lichtenfield

James Stewart was given the role of Charles Lindbergh after John Kerr had turned it down, owing to his disapproval of Lindbergh's pro-Nazi sympathies and his racist and anti-Semitic views. This was despite the fears of the producers that Stewart was too old for the part.


5:45 PM -- Gunga Din (1939)
Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
BW-117 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph H. August

At the time he was playing water-boy Gunga Din, Sam Jaffe was 47 years old. Sabu was first choice to play Gunga Din; when it became clear he was unavailable, Sam Jaffe was hired in his place. In an interview years later, Jaffe (a Jewish Russian-American) was asked how he so convincingly played an Indian Muslim. Jaffe replied he kept telling himself to "Think Sabu."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: FAIRY TALES



8:00 PM -- Beauty And The Beast (1946)
A mysterious monster forces a young innocent to share his life in an enchanted castle.
Dir: Jean Cocteau
Cast: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Marcel Andre
BW-94 mins,

The effect of the candles lighting themselves as the merchant passes them was achieved by blowing them out and then running the film in reverse as he walked backward past them. The entire sequence was done in one long take and reversed - a quick glimpse of the fireplace shows the flames appearing to move downward.


10:00 PM -- The Glass Slipper (1955)
Musical adaptation of the story of Cinderella and her magical trip to the prince's ball.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Leslie Caron, Michael Wilding, Keenan Wynn
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to the Internet Movie Data Base, the story of Cinderella has been filmed at least 65 times, beginning with a short filmed in 1898, starring Laura Bayley.


12:00 AM -- Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
The storytelling shoemaker falls for a married ballerina who stars in one of his stories.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger, Jeanmaire
C-113 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Richard Day, Antoni Clave and Howard Bristol, Best Costume Design, Color -- Antoni Clave, Mary Wills and Barbara Karinska, Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Goldwyn Sound Department), Best Music, Original Song -- Frank Loesser for the song "Thumbelina", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Walter Scharf

The 1966 US TV premiere of this film, telecast by ABC-TV, was hosted by yet another legendary Dane, Victor Borge. This was done because the film runs a full two hours and ABC did not wish to cut it to make room for commercials, so they stretched out the broadcast with hosting sequences. The telecast was sponsored by Eastern Air Lines, who offered, as a promotional tie-in, an album of Anderson stories, as told by Borge, on American Decca records, and sold through the mails. Coincidentally, the best-selling studio cast album of the songs from the'Danny Kaye' film, which featured Kaye along with Jane Wyman in a rare singing appearance, was also an American Decca release.


2:00 AM -- The Candy Snatchers (1973)
An autistic boy is the sole witness to the kidnapping of a teenage heiress.
Dir: Guerdon Trueblood
Cast: Tiffany Bolling, Ben Piazza, Susan Sennet
C-94 mins, Letterbox Format

Director Guerdon Trueblood and co-star Vince Martorano had been best friends at George Washington University in Virginia and, both being interested in the film industry, had a bet as to who would find success first. Trueblood became an in-demand writer for TV shows and movies-of-the-week, and when he got the job of directing "The Candy Snatchers," asked writer Bryan Gindoff to create the character of Eddy specifically for Martorano, who was working as a commercial fisherman when he was summoned by Trueblood to appear in the film.


3:45 AM -- Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
A medium kidnaps a child so she can help the police solve the crime.
Dir: Bryan Forbes
Cast: Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Mark Eden
BW-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Kim Stanley

Bryan Forbes looked for that house with the turret as a film location; when he went to the owner for permission, she asked who was in the film. When told that an American actress named Kim Stanley, the woman blanched, stepped back, and said that Stanley was one of her oldest friends whom she had not seen in 17 years.


5:45 AM -- Don't Get Angry (1953)
This short social guidance film offers advice covering anger management.
BW-11 mins,