TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 10 -- What's On Tonight: True Crime

[Staph]

Today TCM is celebrating Max Steiner, born Maximilian Raoul Walter Steiner on May 10, 1888 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria). He must be one of the most prolific composers in Hollywood history, with 1271 credits on IMDB. Tonight we continue this month's theme, True Crime. Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- Woman Wanted (1935)
67 min, TV-G
An innocent woman is chased by both gangsters and the police.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Maureen O'Sullivan, Joel McCrea, Lewis Stone

Based on a story by Wilson Collison.


8:30 AM -- Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
73 min, TV-G
A hotshot reporter and a temperamental actress clash when he investigates the backer of her latest show.
Dir: Edward Ludwig
Cast: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Reginald Owen

Remake of Three Hours (1927)


9:45 AM -- The Animal Kingdom (1932)
85 min, TV-G
An intellectual publisher can't choose between his society wife and his free thinking former love.
Dir: Edward H. Griffith
Cast: Ann Harding, Leslie Howard, Myrna Loy

Leslie Howard, William Gargan and Ilka Chase originated the roles in New York when the play opened on 12 January 1932 at the Broadhurst Theater and ran for 183 performances.


11:15 AM -- Ace of Aces (1933)
77 min, TV-G
After he's branded a coward, a sculptor travels to France to help fight World War I.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allen, Ralph Bellamy

Even though the film takes place in 1917-1918, all of Elizabeth Allan's clothing and hairstyles are strictly early 1930s, the year the film was produced.


12:45 PM -- After Tonight (1933)
71 min, TV-PG
A female Russian spy falls for the enemy during WWI.
Dir: George Archainbaud
Cast: Constance Bennett, Gilbert Roland, Edward Ellis

As a boy, Steiner was given piano instruction by legendary composer Johannes Brahms. Steiner's father was a major theatrical producer in Vienna, who had discovered and promoted Brahms, and the two remained great friends.


2:00 PM -- One More Tomorrow (1946)
88 min, TV-PG
A playboy and a lady photographer allow social differences to come between them.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson

Version of The Animal Kingdom (1932)


3:33 PM -- Animals In Action (1955)
9 min
Narrator: Pete Smith

Edited from Of Pups and Puzzles (1941)


3:45 PM -- Battle Cry (1955)
C-148 min, TV-PG
A group of Marines eagerly await deployment during World War II.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Film debut of L.Q. Jones (billed under his real name of "Justus E. McQueen"; he took his character's name in this film as his real name after this film was released).


6:15 PM -- The Violent Men (1955)
C-96 min, TV-PG
The wife of a crooked cattle baron plots his murder.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson

Edward G. Robinson may seem oddly cast in a western, but he was a rush replacement for 'Broderick Crawford' who early on in shooting fell off his horse and was injured. Robinson would later appear in the western Cheyenne Autumn, this time replacing the ill Spencer Tracy who had to bail out.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: TRUE CRIME


8:00 PM -- The Phenix City Story (1955)
100 min, TV-14
A crusading lawyer takes on the corrupt machine running a Southern town.
Dir: Phil Karlson
Cast: John McIntire, Richard Kiley, Kathryn Grant

In the film, John Patterson (Richard Kiley) is depicted as supportive of African-American Zeke Ward (James Edwards) and his family. In real life, following his term as Alabama attorney general (1954-1958), he ran for governor in 1958, ran an openly racist campaign and won. One of his opponents, George Wallace, had run as a racial moderate and told his friends after the election, "John Patterson out-niggered me, and I'm never gonna be out-niggered again." Four years later, in 1962, Wallace won the governorship of Alabama as an avowed segregationist.


9:48 PM -- This Is The Bowery (1941)
10 min
This short looks at New York City's Bowery district.
Dir: Gunther von Fritsch
Narrator: John Nesbitt

Another in the ongoing series, John Nesbitt's Passing Parade.


10:00 PM -- The Case Against Brooklyn (1958)
81 min, TV-PG
A rookie cop takes on criminals who have the local government in their pocket.
Dir: Paul Wendkos
Cast: Darren McGavin, Maggie Hayes, Warren Stevens

Based on the book "I Broke the Brooklyn Graft Scandal", by Ed Reid.


11:30 PM -- I Want To Live! (1958)
121 min, TV-PG
True story of the small-time lady crook who fought to escape the gas chamber.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Susan Hayward

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Lionel Lindon, Best Director -- Robert Wise, Best Film Editing -- William Hornbeck, Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz

Inveterate researcher that he is, Robert Wise was determined to capture every grisly element of an execution for the climax of his movie. He visited San Quentin prison and asked for permission to see the gas chamber and witness an actual execution. After he'd seen it and had his art director photograph it and take measurements for set replication purposes, he was still uncertain about how he would structure the last act. He went back to the prison and made one final request for a detailed account of the entire execution procedure. This is what is painstakingly documented in the movie's climax.


1:45 AM -- Madeleine (1950)
115 min, TV-PG
A beautiful young woman stands trial for poisoning her lover.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Ann Todd, Norman Woland, Ivan Desny

Ann Todd had portrayed the title character in theatrical productions of the play this film was based on, and had always wanted to play her in a film adaptation. Shortly after she married director David Lean, he agreed to make this film and cast her as the lead as a "wedding present" of sorts.


3:47 AM -- A Wee Bit Of Scotland (1949)
C-10 min
In this "Traveltalk," we learn about the history, culture, and people of Scotland.

Filmed at Culloden Moor, Inverness, Loch Ness, Perth, and St. Andrews, Scotland, UK.


4:00 AM -- Boxcar Bertha (1972)
C-89 min, TV-MA
A union leader enlists his girlfriend in a plot to get back at the railroad's evil management.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus

After he finished this film, Martin Scorsese screened the film for John Cassavetes. Cassavetes, after seeing this film, hugged Scorsese and said, "Marty, you've just spent a whole year of your life making a piece of shit. It's a good picture, but you're better than the people who make this kind of movie. Don't get hooked into the exploitation market, just try and do something different." Scorsese's next film was Mean Streets.


5:30 AM -- The Moonshine War - Featurette (1970)
C-7 min
This is a promotional short film for The Moonshine War (1970).
Cast: Will Geer, Melodie Johnson, Patrick McGoohan

The unidentified rural location is Mountain Ranch, CA.


5:39 AM -- There'll Always Be An England (1945)
20 min
This travelog starts in London, then visits several towns and villages of historical interest.
Narrator: Tom Roddy

Filmed in Abinger Hammer, Aylesbury, Chalfont St. Giles, Dover, Guildford, Henley-on-Thames, London, Ripley, Sonning, Stoke Poges, and Windsor.

[CBHagman]

1. I hadn't heard the Scorsese story!

And I still haven't seen Boxcar Bertha, though I certainly remember the ads. Mean Streets was something I saw at the student union when I was an undergraduate.