TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 11, 2015 -- The Essentials: Starting Over

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials topic features films about new starts -- a rather interesting concept. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Angel on My Shoulder (1946)
The Devil sends a murdered gangster to Earth as a respected judge.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, Claude Rains
BW-101 mins, CC,

After his definitive performance in Scarface (1932), Paul Muni vowed never to play a gangster again. This tactic worked well for a couple of years, with an Academy Award for The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and an Oscar nomination for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), but eventually the good parts started to dwindle. By 1946, Muni was keen to play a major role again, so took the part of a gangster in this film.


7:50 AM -- Land Of The Zuider Zee (1951)
This short film takes the viewer to popular sites around Holland.
Dir: Ralph F. Donaldson
C-9 mins,


8:00 AM -- The Story of Mankind (1957)
Satan and the spirit of mankind contend for the future of humanity.
Dir: Irwin Allen
Cast: Ronald Colman, Hedy Lamarr, Groucho Marx
C-100 mins, CC,

When Ronald Colman was asked if the film was based on a book, he replied, "Yes. But they are using only the notes on the dust jacket."


10:00 AM -- Batman: Poison Peril (1943)
Batman uses Alfred as bait for spies after a radium mine's owner.
BW-17 mins,


10:30 AM -- After The Fox (1966)
A notorious con man poses as a film director to front a major caper.
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
Cast: Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Britt Ekland
BW-103 mins, Letterbox Format

The actor portraying Moses (in the Biblical epic being filmed by Vittorio De Sica in the desert) has a hairstyle modeled on Michelangelo's renowned sculpture, "Moses"; horns are sculpted into the actor's hair, mimicking the horns in Michelangelo's statue (placed there due to a mistranslation of the Bible, in which the Hebrew word for "rays" was misread as 'horns').


12:15 PM -- Footlight Parade (1933)
A producer fights labor problems, financiers and his greedy ex-wife to put on a show.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler
BW-104 mins, CC,

Film debut of Dorothy Lamour.


2:02 PM -- Two Boobs In A Balloon (1935)
In this short film, Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy take a flight in a hot air balloon. Vitaphone Release 1780.
Dir: Lloyd French
Cast: Edgar Bergen, Almira Sessions,
BW-10 mins, CC,


2:15 PM -- A Hard Day's Night (1964)
A typical day in the life of the Beatles.
Dir: Richard Lester
Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
BW-87 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Alun Owen, and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- George Martin

United Artists executives didn't really care about the film itself, they were mainly interested in exploiting a legal loophole which would allow them to distribute the lucrative soundtrack album. In fact, they fully expected to lose money on the film. With a final cost of about $500,000 and a box office take of about $8,000,000 in the first week, "A Hard Day's Night" is among the most profitable (percentage-wise) films of all time.


3:46 PM -- Looking At London (1946)
A colorful travelogue of London's most historic buildings and the residual damage still left from WWII.
C-10 mins,


4:00 PM -- The Way We Were (1973)
A fiery liberal fights to make her marriage to a successful writer work.
Dir: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman
C-118 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Marvin Hamlisch (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "The Way We Were", and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Marvin Hamlisch

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbra Streisand, Best Cinematography -- Harry Stradling Jr., Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stephen B. Grimes and William Kiernan, and Best Costume Design -- Dorothy Jeakins and Moss Mabry

One of the first Hollywood productions to tackle the blacklisting during the McCarthy era which had profound repercussions for the Hollywood community in the late 40s and early 50s.


6:15 PM -- The Defiant Ones (1958)
Two convicts, a white racist and an angry black, escape while chained to each other.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel
BW-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith (Nedrick Young had been blacklisted at the time and the Oscar went to his pseudonym 'Nathan E. Douglas'. In 1993 AMPAS restored Young's credit upon the request of his widow and recommendation of the Academy's writers branch.), and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sam Leavitt

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Tony Curtis, Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Sidney Poitier, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Theodore Bikel, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Cara Williams, Best Director -- Stanley Kramer, Best Film Editing -- Frederic Knudtson, and Best Picture

Robert Mitchum turned down the Tony Curtis' role. Mitchum, a real-life veteran of a Southern chain gang, said that he didn't believe the premise that a black and white man would be chained together, as such a thing would never happen in the very strictly segregated South. Over the years, this reason was corrupted to the point where many people now believe Mitchum turned down the role because he didn't want to be chained to a black man, an absolute falsehood. Curtis repeated the inaccurate story in his autobiography, but since has recanted after it was explained to him.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: STARTING OVER



8:00 PM -- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
A widow dreaming of a singing career ends up waiting tables in Phoenix.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ellen Burstyn (Ellen Burstyn was not present at the awards ceremony. Martin Scorsese accepted the award on her behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Diane Ladd, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Robert Getchell

Coming hot off her success in The Exorcist (1973), the studio granted Ellen Burstyn total creative control over this project. She had two goals: to make a film about woman with real-life problems, and to secure an up-and-coming film maker as the director. Upon selecting this script, Brian De Palma brought Francis Ford Coppola to Burstyn's attention who suggested she consider Scorsese. While impressed with Scorsese's talent after viewing Mean Streets (1973), Burstyn still hesitated to hire the director, fearing he could only direct men. When she asked Scorsese what he knew about women, Scorsese replied "Nothing, but I'd like to learn." Satisfied with his enthusiasm, Burstyn immediately hired Scorsese.


10:15 PM -- The Rain People (1969)
A housewife who feels trapped leaves home and takes up with a hitchhiker.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

One of Francis Ford Coppola's top five favorite films of his own.


12:06 AM -- Strauss And Vienna: On Location The Great Waltz (1972)
This short promotional film presents the making of "The Great Waltz" (1972).
C-7 mins,


12:15 AM -- One Is A Lonely Number (1972)
A pretty divorcee tries to build a new life.
Dir: Mel Stuart
Cast: Trish Van Devere, Janet Leigh, Monte Markham
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

First film role of any kind for Joe Spano, who was credited as Joseph Spano, and who portrayed Earl of Kent.


2:00 AM -- It's a Small World (1950)
A little person becomes the dupe of a criminal gang.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: Paul Dale, Lorraine Miller, Will Geer
BW-69 mins, CC,

Watch for a cameo by director William Castle, as a cop.


3:15 AM -- Macabre (1958)
A doctor's daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: William Prince, Philip Tonge, Jonathan Kidd
BW-71 mins,

The first of William Castle's "gimmick" films. In this one, admission included an insurance policy against "death by fright" issued by Lloyds of London.


4:30 AM -- Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007)
The last great American showman, producer-director William Castle used outrageous hype to sell his low-budget horror films.
Dir: Jeffrey Schwarz
Cast: Terry Castle, John Waters, Joe Dante
C-82 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Documentary on famed Hollywood director and producer - and supreme showman - William Castle. Castle made his mark in the decade from the mid-1950s to the mid 1960s with a series of low-budget but highly popular and profitable horror films. The list includes Macabre (1958), House on Haunted Hill (1959), Homicidal (1961) and many others. Castle always had to have a gimmick to go with his movies. These included having nurses on duty in the lobby should anyone need medical assistance or giving everyone a $1000 insurance policy should anyone die of fright. Castle's greatest success came as he producer of Rosemary's Baby (1968). All in all he is fondly remembered by those who knew and worked with him.

Written by garykmcd on IMDB.