TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 15, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Deborah Kerr

[Staph]

Tonight's films are a trio of kinda-sorta-creepy films fo the 1960s starring the lovely and talented Deborah Kerr. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- MASTER MINDS (1949)
The Bowery Boys takes on a mad scientist when one of them develops the ability to predict the future.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell
BW-64 mins, CC,

Sometimes the censors are asleep at the switch. Near the end of the movie during a scene with a lot of hubbub, Gabe says to Satch, the monster, "Hey, don't you remember me? I'm your pal. We used to write our names in the snow." This a reference to a feat practiced by boys in snowy climes.


8:15 AM -- SPOOK BUSTERS (1946)
When they set themselves up as ghost hunters, the Bowery Boys tangle with a mad scientist.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Douglass Dumbrille
BW-68 mins, CC,

The fourth of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


9:30 AM -- SPOOK CHASERS (1957)
The Bowery Boys go after crooks hiding in a haunted house.
Dir: George Blair
Cast: Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, Darlene Fields
BW-61 mins, CC,

The forty-fifth of forty-eight Bowery Boys movies.


10:45 AM -- THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS (1954)
The Bowery Boys battle a family of mad scientists.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey
BW-65 mins, CC,

The 34th of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


12:00 PM -- CABIN IN THE SKY (1943)
God and Satan battle for the soul of a wounded gambler.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne
BW-99 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe"

During filming, the movie's black stars were told by the studio manager that they were not allowed to eat at the MGM commissary. When the studio head, Louis B Mayer, heard about this slight, he invited the black performers to join him instead in his private dining room. All the performers were allowed to eat in the commissary the following day.


1:45 PM -- AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956)
A Victorian gentleman bets that he can beat the world's record for circling the globe.
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley
C-182 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- James Poe, John Farrow and S.J. Perelman, Best Cinematography, Color -- Lionel Lindon, Best Film Editing -- Gene Ruggiero and Paul Weatherwax, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young (Posthumously), and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Anderson, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- James W. Sullivan, Ken Adam and Ross Dowd, and Best Costume Design, Color -- Miles White

Screenwriter S.J. Perelman didn't attend the Academy Awards ceremony. He sent Hermione Gingold to accept it if he won. He wrote a note for her to read when she accepted. She said the following: "I'm very proud to receive this object d'art on behalf of Mr. Perelman, who writes . . . "--she reads from the note--"...he cannot be here for a variety of reasons, all of them spicy. He's dumbfounded, absolutely flummoxed. He never expected any recognition for writing 'Around the World in Eighty Days'. And, in fact, only did so on the expressed understanding . . . "--flips note over--" . . . that the film would never be shown."


5:00 PM -- HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
Three generations of pioneers take part in the forging of the American West.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb
C-165 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- James R. Webb, Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD), and Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- William H. Daniels, Milton R. Krasner, Charles Lang and Joseph LaShelle, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, William Ferrari, Addison Hehr, Henry Grace, Don Greenwood Jr. and Jack Mills, Best Costume Design, Color -- Walter Plunkett, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Alfred Newman and Ken Darby, and Best Picture

During the Indian attack that was filmed in Lone Pine, California, a Conestoga wagon tumbles down a hill. In order to create the illusion of the audience being inside of a tumbling wagon, a track was built down the slope of a small hill and the top portion of a Conestoga wagon, without the wheels, was affixed onto a flatbed along with a mechanism that would turn the wagon over and over as the flatbed was guided down the hill. The Cinerama camera, in turn, was attached to one end of the flatbed so that it could shoot directly through the turning wagon as the stuntmen, including Loren Janes, were tumbled around the insides of the wagon along with boxes, barrels, blankets and other cargo. It took more than two days to prepare the scene and several takes to complete. In the final cut, this scene lasts no more than five seconds on the screen.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DEBORAH KERR



8:00 PM -- THE INNOCENTS (1961)
A governess convinces herself the children in her charge are haunted.
Dir: Jack Clayton
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins
BW-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

At one point when Deborah Kerr's character wanders around the house at night with only a candelabra for illumination, you might think you see something in the corner of your eye. You do. It's the clapperboard which had briefly wandered into shot. Jack Clayton decided to keep it in because he liked the idea of something almost subliminal being present to add to the air of unease.


9:53 PM -- MILTON FOX, ESQ. (1964)
This promotional short for the feature "Quick Before It Melts" (1964) focuses on its smallest performer, Milton Fox, a penguin.
BW-5 mins,


10:00 PM -- THE CHALK GARDEN (1964)
A woman with a past signs on as governess for a troubled girl.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, John Mills
C-106 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Edith Evans

Gladys Cooper was originally named to play part that went to Edith Evans. Evans, who had created the role on the stage, wanted the film version very much and had director Ronald Neame take her to meet producer Ross Hunter at Claridges Hotel. Evans won the producer over, and she got the part.


12:00 AM -- EYE OF THE DEVIL (1966)
A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Donald Pleasence
BW-96 mins, CC,

This was the official film debut of Sharon Tate; in the opening credits, it says "and introducing Sharon Tate".


1:39 AM -- ALL EYES ON SHARON TATE (1966)
A behind-the-scenes promo short for "Eye of the Devil" (1966), showcasing the late Sharon Tate, then a young, 22-year-old hopeful at MGM.
BW-10 mins,


2:00 AM -- DOLEMITE (1975)
When he's framed for drug dealing, a pimp enlists his call girls to bust him out.
Dir: D'Urville Martin
Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, D'Urville Martin, Jerry Jones
C-90 mins, Letterbox Format

This film is a noted influence on the works of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, rapper Snoop Dogg and comedian Eddie Murphy.


3:30 AM -- SUPERFLY (1972)
A cocaine dealer tries to pull off one big score so he can get out of crime.
Dir: Gordon Parks Jr.
Cast: Ron O'Neal, Carl Lee, Sheila Frazier
C-91 mins, CC,

The Eldorado Cadillac driven by Priest was owned by KC, the pimp who makes an appearance in the nightclub scene. The deal was that KC would get a part in the movie (in the opening credit it says "and introducing: KC&quot in exchange for the use of his car.


5:15 AM -- R.F.D. GREENWICH VILLAGE (1969)
A couple tours around New York in this promotional short for corduroy clothing.
C-11 mins,


5:15 AM -- THE DISTANT DRUMMER: FLOWERS OF DARKNESS (1972)
Filmmakers trace the history of opium and its role in today's drug trade in this short film.
Dir: William Templeton
C-22 mins,