TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 14, 2015 -- TCM Spotlight: William Cameron Menzies

[Staph]

After a trio of films with Star of the Month Fred MacMurray, TCM is featuring films written by Jane Murfin. It's not her birthday, but she is one of those pioneer women in Hollywood (with an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Original Story for What Price Hollywood? (1932), shared with Adela Rogers St. John). You are probably familiar with her work, including Little Women (1933) and The Women (1939). In prime time, it's more of the celebration of the films of art director / production designer / director William Cameron Menzies, with his best known film. You know which one it is -- that little four-hour extravaganza from 1939. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- Pardon My Past (1945)
A penniless veteran is mistaken for a millionaire playboy.
Dir: Leslie Fenton
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Marguerite Chapman, Akim Tamiroff
BW-88 mins,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 13, 1946 with Fred MacMurray and Marguerite Chapman reprising their film roles.


8:00 AM -- An Innocent Affair (1948)
Doing business with an ex-flame drives an ad man's wife mad with jealousy.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Chas. "Buddy" Rogers
BW-87 mins, CC,

"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 23, 1949 with Fred MacMurray reprising his film role.


9:30 AM -- On Our Merry Way (1948)
An aspiring reporter interviews people about the child that changed their lives.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, James Stewart, Fred MacMurray
BW-98 mins,

"A Miracle Can Happen" was the original title of this film. It consisted of three short stories (about 20-25 minutes each) linked by the Burgess Meredith character. He played a reporter looking for a good scoop and in the second sequence Charles Laughton played a bible-reading minister. However, the powers-that-be decided to drop this 'religious' story altogether and it was replaced by a more comic one featuring Dorothy Lamour. The film in this new version was then re-titled "On Our Merry Way." However, prints of the original film had already been sent abroad for dubbing. In Spain, "A Miracle Can Happen" became "Una Encuesta Llamada Milagro", complete with the original Laughton sequence intact (but of course without the alternative Dorothy Lamour story). As it has been released on DVD there, and retains the English-language soundtrack, the movie can now been seen as it was originally intended.


11:15 AM -- Half-Marriage (1929)
A society girl marries a struggling architect in secret.
Dir: William J. Cowen
Cast: Olive Borden, Morgan Farley, Ken Murray
BW-69 mins,

Screenplay by Jane Murfin


12:30 PM -- The Pay-Off (1930)
A gentleman thief suffers from unrequited love.
Dir: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Lowell Sherman, Marion Nixon, Hugh Trevor
BW-71 mins,

The film is based on the play "Crime" by Samuel Shipman and John B. Hymer. It had a good run of 186 performances at the Eltinge Theatre in New York from February to August 1927.


1:45 PM -- Too Many Cooks (1931)
A young couple tries to cope with relatives who keep intruding on their happiness.
Dir: William Seiter
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee, Rosco Ates
BW-77 mins,

Bert Wheeler's only solo feature without his partner Robert Woolsey, until after Woolsey's 1938 death at age 49.


3:15 PM -- Way Back Home (1932)
A New England preacher shelters a young boy from his alcoholic father.
Dir: William Seiter
Cast: Phillips H. Lord, Effie L. Palmer, Frank Albertson
BW-81 mins, CC,

Phillips Lord and his character name "Seth Parker" appear above the title. They were familiar to 1931 audiences from the radio program on which the film is based. Some RKO executives, however, expressed concern that the radio program appealed only to older folks and that people 15 to 30 years old, do not listen to the program and would not go to see the movie.


4:45 PM -- 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,

Story by Jane Murfin, adaptation by Murfin and Albert S. Le Vino, with uncredited assistance from Robert Benchley and Worthington Miner.


6:00 PM -- Stand Up and Fight (1939)
A southern aristocrat clashes with a driver transporting stolen slaves to freedom.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Wallace Beery, Robert Taylor, Florence Rice
BW-97 mins, CC,

Filmed in northern California, in Butte County.


7:47 PM -- One Against The World (1939)
This short film presents the story of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, who came under scrutiny for his pioneering of surgical practices.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Dick Rich, Harry Strang, Edward Hearn
BW-11 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: WILLIAM CAMERON MENZIES



8:00 PM -- Gone With the Wind (1939)
Classic tale of Scarlett O'Hara's battle to save her beloved Tara and find love during the Civil War.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Vivien Leigh
C-233 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Hattie McDaniel (Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar.), Best Director -- Victor Fleming, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard (Posthumously. Sidney Howard became the first posthumous Oscar nominee and winner.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan, Best Art Direction -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Best Film Editing -- Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom, and Best Picture (David O. Selznick was the founder and owner of Selznick International Pictures, and therefore won and took home Gone With The Wind's Best Picture Oscar.)

Won a Technical Achievement Award for R.D. Musgrave for pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind.

Won an Honorary Award for William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind (plaque).

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Clark Gable, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Olivia de Havilland, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Effects, Special Effects -- Jack Cosgrove (photographic), Fred Albin (sound) and Arthur Johns (sound), and Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner

The first film to credit a Production Designer, mainly to highlight the major contribution from William Cameron Menzies who not only art directed the film but also directed some of the second units.


12:00 AM -- Things To Come (1936)
Two generations of philosophers try to bring an end to war.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson
BW-97 mins,

It was reported that H.G. Wells, the author of the novel the film is based on, actually began directing the film, but his inexperience resulted in director William Cameron Menzies taking over.


1:45 AM -- Our Town (1940)
Small town lovers search for happiness.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Frank Craven, William Holden, Martha Scott
BW-89 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Martha Scott, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Lewis J. Rachmil, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Music, Score -- Aaron Copland, Best Music, Original Score -- Aaron Copland, and Best Picture

Film debut of Martha Scott. She was not considered for the role of "Emily" at first because of her poor screen test for the role of "Melanie" in Gone with the Wind (1939), but she was chosen after much auditioning of other actresses.


3:15 AM -- Made for Each Other (1939)
A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn
BW-93 mins, CC,

David O. Selznick's experience of trying to have life-saving serum flown in for his critically ill brother was the basis for the flying sequences ending the movie.


5:00 AM -- Nothing Sacred (1937)
When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease ambitious newspaper man turns her into a national heroine.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger
C-74 mins, CC,

Ben Hecht wrote a role for his friend John Barrymore, but David O. Selznick refused to hire Barrymore due to Barrymore's alcohol abuse. Hecht refused to work on any more drafts and quit the film.