TCM Schedule for Friday, May 23, 2014 -- Friday Night Spotlight - Australian Cinema

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In the daylight hours, we've got a selection of films starring John Payne, direct descendant of John Howard Payne (1791-1852), composer of the classic song "Home, Sweet Home" ("Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.&quot . In prime time, TCM is continuing this month's Friday night look at Australian cinema, with films directed by Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford and P. J. Hogan. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Dodsworth (1936)
A husband whose wife left him looks for new love in Europe.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas
BW-101 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Art Direction -- Richard Day

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Huston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard, Best Sound, Recording -- Oscar Lagerstrom (United Artists SSD), and Best Picture

William Wyler thought the characterization of Mrs Dodsworth was too black and white and insisted on some subtleties to the performance. Ruth Chatterton vigorously disagreed with this interpretation and the two would often argue fiercely on the subject. At one point, Chatterton slapped Wyler across the face and retreated to her dressing room. In her memoirs, Mary Astor observed that Chatterton's character "was that of a woman trying to hang onto her youth - which was exactly what Ruth herself was doing. It touched a nerve."


7:45 AM -- Garden Of The Moon (1938)
A nightclub owner and a bandleader compete for the lead singer's heart.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, John Payne
BW-94 mins,

The roles played by John Payne and Margaret Lindsay were originally intended for Dick Powell and Bette Davis. Powell took a layoff rather than make this film.


9:30 AM -- Indianapolis Speedway (1939)
A race-car driver tries to keep his kid brother from taking to the track.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, John Payne
BW-82 mins,

Frank McHugh plays the same character in this film as he did in the original 1932 version titled The Crowd Roars (1932). The remake even uses footage of McHugh from the first film to save on production expenses.


11:00 AM -- Kid Nightingale (1939)
A waiter becomes a singing prizefighter.
Dir: George Amy
Cast: John Payne, Jane Wyman, Walter Catlett
BW-57 mins,

From a story by Lee Katz.


12:00 PM -- Wings Of The Navy (1939)
Pilot brothers vie for the same woman.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: George Brent, Olivia de Havilland, John Payne
BW-90 mins,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on October 7, 1940 with George Brent, John Payne and Olivia de Havilland reprising their film roles.


1:45 PM -- King Of The Lumberjacks (1940)
A northwoods lumberjack unwittingly marries his best friend's girl.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: John Payne, Gloria Dickson, Stanley Fields
BW-59 mins,

Parts of this film were edited from The Valley of the Giants (1927) and God's Country and the Woman (1937).


2:45 PM -- Tear Gas Squad (1940)
A brave young policeman single-handedly takes on a vicious criminal gang.
Dir: Terry Morse
Cast: Dennis Morgan, John Payne, Gloria Dickson
BW-55 mins, CC,

Despite the title, tear gas is not mentioned until five minutes before the end of this film, it is not used until two minutes before the end, and there is no actual tear gas squad. Tear gas is just a weapon coincidentally used by regular police officers.


3:45 PM -- The Crooked Way (1949)
A war hero's amnesia keeps him from dealing with his criminal past.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew
BW-86 mins, CC,

In one scene, John Payne hitches a ride in a mortuary van from a place called "Green Acres". It's coincidental that the movie's cast includes Frank Cady and Percy Helton, who both appeared on the TV series of the same name.


5:15 PM -- Raw Deal (1948)
When the gangster for whom he took the rap welches, a convict breaks out of prison to get revenge.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt
BW-79 mins, CC,

Suggested by a story by Arnold B. Armstrong and Audrey Ashley.


6:45 PM -- Talk About A Stranger (1952)
Small-town gossips rage over the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
Dir: David Bradley
Cast: George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray
BW-65 mins, CC,

Also known as The Enemy, and The Stranger In The House.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: AUSTRALIAN CINEMA



8:00 PM -- The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Two American journalists get more than they'd bargained for during an Indonesian revolution.
Dir: Peter Weir
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt
C-115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Linda Hunt

Linda Hunt is the first actor to have won an Academy Award (Oscar) for portraying a member of the opposite sex. Hunt is also the only ever actress ever to win an Academy Award (Oscar) for playing a man with no cross dressing or gender confusion involved. Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry (1999)) received the one for playing a biological female who identifies as a man whilst Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love (1998)) received one for playing a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Director Peter Weir cast actress Linda Hunt in the role of Billy Kwan after failing to find a male actor who could play the part in the way he wanted.


10:00 PM -- The Plumber (1979)
The arrival of a mysterious plumber upsets a doctor's wife.
Dir: Peter Weir
Cast: Judy Morris, Robert Coleby, Ivar Kants
C-77 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Peter Weir based the movie on two real-life incidents. The first involved two of Weir's friends, who suffered through a number of house-calls made by an incessantly talkative yet incompetent plumber. The second involved Weir himself riding in a cab in the late 1960s with a driver who appeared to be a hippie. When the pair began discussing the Vietnam war, the driver espoused numerous fascist and pro-war sentiments, concluding his diatribe by expressing a desire to see the entire nation of Vietnam destroyed with an atomic bomb.


11:45 PM -- The Adventures of Barry Mckenzie (1972)
An Australian cowboy undergoes numerous adventures as a stand-up comic touring England.
Dir: Bruce Beresford
Cast: Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, Paul Bertram
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Gough Whitlam (a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, Prime Minister, and a performer in this film) awards Edna Everage the title of Dame. From this point forward she is billed as Dame Edna Everage.


1:45 AM -- Don's Party (1976)
This film focuses on a wild house party that takes place in a suburban Australian neighborhood in 1969.
Dir: Bruce Beresford
Cast: Ray Barrett, Claire Binney, Pat Bishop
C-90 mins, Letterbox Format

This movie has been said to have resurrected the film career of director Bruce Beresford whose two recent pictures, the second Barry McKenzie movie Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) and the little-seen British comedy Side by Side (1975), had both been both critically and commercially unsuccessful.


3:30 AM -- Muriel's Wedding (1994)
Although she's never had a date, a young woman goes about the business of landing herself a husband.
Dir: P.J. Hogan
Cast: Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths
C-105 mins, Letterbox Format

The writer/director P.J. Hogan wanted to use the music of ABBA in the film. At first, permission for the music to be used was denied. When the director promised to fly to Europe to plead his case to the founders of the band, permission was granted, as long as the band received a percentage of the film profits. The film turned out to be a big international hit, and thus helped inspire the very successful Broadway show which became the movie Mamma Mia! (2008).


5:30 AM -- Thundering Fleas (1926)
In this silent short film, a gang of kids attend a wedding, bringing along their flea collection... which gets loose.
Dir: Robert F McGowan
Cast: Joe Cobb, George B. French, Charlie Hall
BW-20 mins, Letterbox Format