TCM Schedule for Friday, July 25, 2014 -- Friday Night Spotlight - 100th Anniversary of WWI

[Staph]

It's another full day of films that take place during World War I, including a Charlie Chaplin short about the war made in 1918, before the war ended! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Last Flight (1931)
Four disillusioned Army buddies roam post-WWI Europe.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Richard Barthelmess, David Manners, John Mack Brown
BW-76 mins,

On 21 October 1931 (after the film's release) a musical adaptation called "Nikki," by John Monk Saunders, opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA, and had 39 performances. The opening night cast included Fay Wray as Nikki, Cary Grant as Cary Lockwood and Douglass Montgomery as Shep Lambert.


7:30 AM -- Heroes For Sale (1933)
A veteran fights drug addiction to make his way in the business world.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Aline MacMahon, Loretta Young
BW-71 mins, CC,

Director William A. Wellman used real hoboes for the fight scene and real laundry workers for the laundry scenes.


8:45 AM -- They Gave Him A Gun (1937)
With no other prospects, a World War I veteran turns to crime.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Gladys George, Franchot Tone
BW-95 mins, CC,

During the movie, the rifle range scene was for real. The studio probably had help from the U.S. Government.


10:30 AM -- Marianne (1929)
Two American soldiers fall for the same French girl during World War I.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: George Baxter, Lawrence Gray, Cliff Edwards
BW-111 mins,

Based on a story by Dale Van Every, a United Press staff correspondent, screen writer and author of many successful historical fiction and non-fiction works.


12:30 PM -- The Shopworn Angel (1938)
A showgirl gives up life in the fast lane for a young soldier on his way to fight World War I.
Dir: H. C. Potter
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Walter Pidgeon
BW-85 mins, CC,

Mary Martin provides the singing voice for Margaret Sullavan. This same year she also dubbed the singing voice for Gypsy Rose Lee in "The Battle of Broadway."


2:00 PM -- The Better 'Ole (1926)
In this silent film, friends face misadventures during World War I
Dir: Charles Reisner
Cast: Sydney Chaplin, Doris Hill, Harold Goodwin
BW-95 mins,

Charles Coburn and his wife Ivah Wills both starred in and produced the original play, which opened in New York on 19 October 1918 and ran for 353 performances.


3:45 PM -- Shoulder Arms (1918)
In this silent film, a private fresh out of boot camp accepts a daring mission behind enemy lines.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin,
BW-38 mins,

Many in Hollywood were nervous that one of their most famous peers was going to tackle the subject of WWI. It was released shortly before the Armistice so it did not help boost national morale. But it did end up as one of Charles Chaplin's most popular films and it was particularly popular with returning doughboys.


4:30 PM -- Doughboys (1930)
A young eccentric joins the Army and tries to outwit his temperamental sergeant.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick
Cast: Buster Keaton, Sally Eilers, Cliff Edwards
BW-80 mins, CC,

Alternate-language version of De frente, marchen (1930)


6:00 PM -- King Of Hearts (1966)
During World War I, a Scottish soldier finds an abandoned town ruled by whimsical lunatics.
Dir: Philippe de Broca
Cast: Alan Bates, Pierre Brasseur, Jean-Claude Brialy
C-102 mins, Letterbox Format

Cited by lyrics author and poet Horacio Ferrer as a direct influence in his masterpiece "Balada para un loco", co-written with the great musician Astor Piazzolla.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF WWI



8:00 PM -- Random Harvest (1942)
A woman's happiness is threatened when she discovers her husband has been suffering from amnesia.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn
BW-126 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ronald Colman, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Susan Peters, Best Director -- Mervyn LeRoy, Best Writing, Screenplay -- George Froeschel, Claudine West and Arthur Wimperis, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis and Jack D. Moore, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Herbert Stothart, and Best Picture

Ronald Colman had first-hand experience of shell shock - he had fought in the British army at the Battle of Ypres in World War I, during which he was also gassed.


10:15 PM -- Waterloo Bridge (1940)
A ballerina turns to prostitution when her fiance is reported killed in World War I.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor, Lucile Watson
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

The scene in which Myra and Roy dance to "Auld Lang Syne" was supposed to have dialogue, but nobody could come up with the right words. At about 3:00 in the morning before shooting the scene was to take place, Mervyn LeRoy, a veteran of silent films, realized that there shouldn't be any lines and that the images should speak for themselves. The result is the most celebrated scene of the film.


12:15 AM -- Oh! What A Lovely War (1969)
This film offers a series of vignettes based on British involvement in World War I, as seen through the eyes of a working-class family.
Dir: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Meriel Forbes, Wensley Pithey
C-144 mins, Letterbox Format

The song "La Chanson de Craonne" ("Adieu la Vie&quot , sung by Pia Sablon in the film, commemorates a mutiny in 1917 by French troops. Merely singing it was considered an act of mutiny, and it was banned in France until 1974. During the war, a reward of one million francs and immediate honourable release from the Army was offered for the identity of the author, but never claimed.


2:45 AM -- Mata Hari (1931)
Romantic biography of World War I's notorious lady spy.
Dir: George Fitzmaurice
Cast: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore
BW-89 mins, CC,

Major Thomas Coulson's 1930 book, "Mata Hari: Courtesan and Spy", piqued interest in turning it into a movie, but an MGM executive said that no one book was the basis of their movie. Mata hari translates to "eye of the day" in Indonesian (and Malay), and is the most common word for "sun" in those languages. Censors of many cities required cuts in the movie, which was typical of many pre-code films. When MGM applied to the Hays Office for a certificate in 1936 for re-release, it was refused. However, a certificate was issued in 1939, when the movie was re-released.


4:15 AM -- How I Play Golf By Bobby Jones No. 11 "Practice Shots" (1931)
In this short film, champion Bobby Jones joins several actors on the golf course to show his approach to the sport. Vitaphone Release 4802.
Dir: George Marshall
BW-11 mins,

Evalyn Knapp is introduced as part of the celebrity gallery along with Donald Cook, James Cagney and Anthony Bushell. Right after the introduction, Louise Fazenda suddenly arrives late by taxi, and Knapp mysteriously disappears for the remainder of the short. The focus of the remaining time remains on Fazenda, whose marriage to Warners production head Hal B. Wallis was possibly not co-incidental.


4:30 AM -- After Tonight (1933)
A female Russian spy falls for the enemy during WWI.
Dir: George Archainbaud
Cast: Constance Bennett, Gilbert Roland, Edward Ellis
BW-71 mins,

Constance Bennett's last film under her RKO contract.


5:50 AM -- History Brought To Life (1950)
This short film focuses on studio research departments that are responsible for historical accuracy within a movie.
Dir: Jerry Hopper
Narrator: Cecil B. DeMille
BW-9 mins,

Features clips from The Ten Commandments (1923), Cleopatra (1934), The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), Conquest (1937), The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), Edison, the Man (1940), Wilson (1944), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Sitting Pretty (1948), Hamlet (1948), Adventures of Don Juan (1948), and Samson and Delilah (1949).