TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 25, 2014 -- The Essentials - Classic Horror Novels

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials are based on a trio of famous horror novels, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Convicts 4 (1962)
A convicted killer discovers a talent for art while behind bars.
Dir: Millard Kaufman
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Stuart Whitman, Ray Walston
BW-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

After filming was completed, Sammy Davis Jr. asked for and received permission to put on a show for the inmates. The warden set two conditions: no racial jokes (which could start a riot) and no sex jokes (for obvious reasons). Four thousand inmates attended the show, Davis told no racial or sex jokes, and the show went off with no trouble.


7:55 AM -- 2010 The Odyssey Continues (1984)
This promotional short for "2010" (1984) shows moviegoers how some of the film's visual effects were created.
Dir: Les Mayfield
C-20 mins,


8:15 AM -- Mrs. Soffel (1984)
A prison warden's wife is seduced into helping a notorious killer escape.
Dir: Gillian Armstrong
Cast: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The jail used in the movie is the actual Allegheny County Jail that figures in the story. Designed by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson, built between 1884-1888, it served as a jail until 1995 and is now used by the juvenile and family sections of the Common Pleas Court.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Diane Keaton (12/28/72) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Diane Keaton from 12/28/72.
C-9 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Dr. Kildare's Victory (1942)
A young doctor with a broken heart succumbs to the lure of a socialite.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Ann Ayars
BW-93 mins, CC,

When Lew Ayres announced he was a conscientious objector to the war shortly after the film was released, hundreds of bookings were canceled because of protests. Loew's ordered that all cancellation requests be granted. When Ayres changed his status (in April 1942) to "non-combatant", many in the film industry stated that a boycott of his films would be intolerant and inconsistent with "Americanism".


12:15 PM -- Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
An evil Egyptian princess' sprit possesses an Egyptologist's daughter.
Dir: Seth Holt
Cast: Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, James Villiers
C-93 mins, CC,

Based on Bram Stoker's novel, Jewel of the Seven Stars. You can see the seven stars (the Big Dipper) in many scenes throughout the production, either in crystal balls, ruby rings.


2:00 PM -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)
A father returns to London after being deported to find out what happened to his wife and child.
Dir: Terry Hughes
Cast: George Hearn, Angela Lansbury, Cris Groenendall
C-141 mins, CC,

Though Angela Lansbury won the 1979 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett on Broadway, this production is the national tour, filmed while in Los Angeles.


4:30 PM -- Mad Love (1935)
A mad doctor grafts the hands of a murderer on to a concert pianist's wrists.
Dir: Karl Freund
Cast: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive
BW-68 mins, CC,

Peter Lorre's first American film. Charles Chaplin called Lorre the screen's best actor after seeing his performance in "Mad Love."


5:45 PM -- The Birds (1963)
In a California coastal area, flocks of birds unaccountably make deadly attacks on humans.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Ub Iwerks

Alfred Hitchcock saw Tippi Hedren in a 1962 commercial aired during the Today (1952) show and put her under contract. In the commercial for a diet drink, she is seen walking down a street and a man whistles at her slim, attractive figure, and she turns her head with an acknowledging smile. In the opening scene of the film, the same thing happens as she walks toward the bird shop. This was an inside joke by Hitchcock.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: CLASSIC HORROR NOVELS



8:00 PM -- The Haunting (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson
BW-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Claire Bloom was intrigued to the play the role of a woman who was attracted to another woman. She said she got along with everyone on the set, except for Julie Harris, who tried everything to avoid her and not talk to her. At the end of the shoot, Harris went over to Bloom's house with a present and explained that the reason she had kept to herself was to stay in character, because Harris' role in the film was that of an outsider that none of the others understand or will listen to. Bloom was happy to hear the real reason behind Harris' behavior, since Bloom stated that she really liked Harris and could not understand what she herself had done wrong to be treated like that by her co-star.


10:00 PM -- Village Of The Damned (1961)
After a mysterious blackout, the inhabitants of a British village give birth to emotionless, super-powered offspring.
Dir: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
BW-77 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The source novel is called The Midwich Cuckoos. This is because when cuckoo birds lay eggs, they deposit these eggs in the nests of other birds, who then raise the cuckoo chicks as their own. Compounding the insidious nature of this process, the cuckoo chicks often murder their nestmates in competition for food and parental attention.


11:30 PM -- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
A scientist's attempts to create life unleash a bloodthirsty monster.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart
C-83 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Melvyn Hayes (the young Baron) explains in the Blu-Ray 'making of' how producer Peter Rogers told him about the casting process of the monster. According to Rogers, a memo went out indicating Hammer was looking for 'someone big' to play the monster. In the end, it boiled down to Christopher Lee and Bernard Bresslaw. Both their agents were phoned, asking them how much money they wanted. Bresslaw's minimum fee was 10 pounds a day, whereas Lee's was 8. "And so, for the sake of two pounds, Christopher Lee became an international star", according to Hayes.


1:04 AM -- A Look At The World Of "Soylent Green" (1973)
This short film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the science fiction film "Soylent Green" (1973).
C-10 mins,


1:15 AM -- A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011)
Author Stephen King discusses the various types of horror films and why they are so popular with moviegoers.
Dir: Laurent Bouzereau
C-58 mins, CC, Letterbox Format


2:14 AM -- On Location With Westworld (1973)
This promotional short shows what occurred behind-the-scenes during the shooting of "Westworld" (1973).
C-9 mins,


2:30 AM -- Ciao! Manhattan (1972)
A one-time underground film star goes home to her mother to recover from years of drug abuse.
Dir: John Palmer
Cast: Edie Sedgwick, Wesley Hayes, Isabel Jewell
C-90 mins, Letterbox Format

Edie Sedgwick spent her entire trust fund from the Sedgwick family fortune in just a few months, promoting Andy Warhol and entertaining his clients and hangers-on. This never seemed to register with Warhol, who continued to deride her as a "poor little rich girl" (also the title of one of his movies with her), and wondered out loud when she died if her husband of a few months would "get her money." (Warhol was told curtly by a friend "Edie didn't have any money. She spent it all on you.&quot


4:00 AM -- F for Fake (1973)
Director Orson Welles examines the career of a notorious art forger.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten
C-88 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Hidden within a montage of footage of Howard Hughes is one brief shot of a man disembarking from a ship who looks similar to Hughes, but is actually actor Don Ameche.


5:30 AM -- Shake Hands With Danger (1970)
Short safety film about dangers associated with earthmoving equipment operation, showing many simulated accidents on construction sites.
C-23 mins,

[longship]

1. I absolutely love "The Haunting"

I saw it at a local theater when it came out. I went with friends. I took my bicycle, but had to ride home alone about a mile and a half in the dark. About 15 at the time, I was quite spooked by the situation.

Best ghost movie ever made. And not one spook in sight.

Based on Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.

The classic quote from the book which introduces the house:

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”

Still sends the chills down my spine.

The film holds up well, with Claire Bloom and Julie Harris standouts, both admirably filling their roles. And as portrayed by their characters in Jackson's book, which this film stays very close to.

Highly recommended. Another Robert Wise gem.