TCM Schedule for Saturday, November 5, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Starring Sissy Spacek

[Staph]

Tonight's not-really-the-Essentials star Sissy Spacek. Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1950)
A female music critic marries a rancher and has to adjust to life out West.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Irene Dunne, Fred MacMurray, William Demarest
BW-89 mins, CC,

Co-stars Fred MacMurray and William Demarest would be reunited many years later on the long-running TV series "My Three Sons" (1960).


8:45 AM -- THE CROOKED WAY (1949)
A war hero's amnesia keeps him from dealing with his criminal past.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew
BW-86 mins, CC,

In one scene, John Payne hitches a ride in a mortuary van from a place called "Green Acres". It's coincidental that the movie's cast includes Frank Cady and Percy Helton, who both appeared on the TV series of the same name.


10:13 AM -- GRANDAD OF RACES (1950)
This short film presents the annual horse race held in the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Vitaphone Release 1950A.
Dir: André De La Varre Jr.
C-10 mins,


10:30 AM -- HIGH SOCIETY (1955)
When one of them is mistaken for a society heir, the Bowery Boys move up in the world.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey
BW-61 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Edward Bernds and Elwood Ullman

The screenwriters graciously and voluntarily declined the nomination. The Academy had inadvertently confused their quickly-made Bowery Boys series entry called High Society with the similarly titled Cole Porter musical High Society (1956), which came out the following year and would have been eligible for adapted screenplay only. The nomination was officially revoked for both films and is listed for the purpose of information only.


11:47 AM -- WE NEVER SLEEP (1956)
This short film highlights the work of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the U.S.A.'s oldest private detective company.
Dir: Larry O'Reilly
BW-8 mins,


12:00 PM -- HOMBRE (1966)
A white man raised by Apaches is the only hope for stagecoach passengers stranded by a bandit attack.
Dir: Martin Ritt
Cast: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The photo in the closing credits of the film was taken in 1886 by Camillus Fly, the famous Tombstone (AZ) photographer. The white boy in the photo is Jimmy (Santiago) McKinn, captured by the Apaches in 1885. Like the Paul Newman character in the film, McKinn was totally assimilated in the tribe and was rescued against his will when Geronimo surrendered in 1886.


2:00 PM -- THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1968)
Three men seek hidden loot during the Civil War.
Dir: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
C-179 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In the gun store, everything Eli Wallach does with the guns is completely unscripted. Wallach knew little about guns, so he was instructed to do whatever he wanted. Most of Enzo Petito's bemused reactions throughout the scene are genuine. The scene where Tuco shoves the open/closed sign in his mouth was also Wallach's idea.


5:15 PM -- CIMARRON (1960)
A pioneer couple plays a major role in the settling of Oklahoma.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter
C-147 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, Addison Hehr, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt, and Otto Siegel, and Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer SSD)

There is a truly excellent Sfx sequence when Glenn Ford runs across the street outside his office to rescue his son from a galloping horse. The proximity of Ford and the little boy to the horse on close inspection reveals a masterful traveling matte which can only be discerned by the fact that the horse's shadow doesn't pass over Ford and the boy and for the very last frames does not seem to touch the ground as it runs by the camera.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STARRING SISSY SPACEK



8:00 PM -- COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER (1980)
Musical autobiography of Loretta Lynn, who fought poverty and pills to become a country western star.
Dir: Michael Apted
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Beverly D'Angelo, Levon Helm
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Sissy Spacek

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Thomas Rickman, Best Cinematography -- Ralf D. Bode, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John W. Corso and John M. Dwyer, Best Sound -- Richard Portman, Roger Heman Jr. and James R. Alexander, Best Film Editing -- Arthur Schmidt, and Best Picture

According to Sissy Spacek, Michael Apted and cinematographer Ralf Bode would watch the actors rehearse a scene and design the shot around them, rather than having the shots planned out in advance and directing the actors to conform to the visual plan. "Michael Apted trusted his actors," she said. "It felt extraordinary--even revolutionary."


10:15 PM -- BADLANDS (1973)
A young tough guy and his teen-aged girlfriend take off on a killing spree.
Dir: Terrence Malick
Cast: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates
C-94 mins, CC,

The actor originally cast as the architect that rings at the rich man's door did not show up, so Terrence Malick played the part himself. Malick later wanted to re-shoot the scene with another actor, but Martin Sheen refused to re-do the sequence with another person.


12:00 AM -- MARIE: A TRUE STORY (1985)
A political appointee risks her job and her life to expose corruption.
Dir: Roger Donaldson
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels, Keith Szarabajka
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Lawyer and politician Fred Dalton Thompson, appearing in this film as himself, launched his acting career with this movie.


2:00 AM -- ALONE IN THE DARK (1982)
Four escaped lunatics invade a doctor's home.
Dir: Jack Sholder
Cast: Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Erland Van Lidth De Jeude
C-93 mins, CC,

While writing the screenplay for Alone in the Dark, Jack Sholder was inspired by the writings of R.D. Laing, who theorized that 'psychotics' were actually people having difficulty adapting to an already psychotic world. The character of Dr. Leo Bain was suppose to be something of a parody of Laing.


3:45 AM -- HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE (1980)
A killer stalks a brides-to-be.
Dir: Armand Mastroianni
Cast: Don Scardino, Elizabeth Kemp, Caitlin O'Heaney
C-94 mins, CC,

First movie appearance of Tom Hanks.


3:47 AM -- THE METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STORY (1950)
A collection of MGM previews with an introduction by Lionel Barrymore.
Dir: Herman Hoffman
C-57 mins, CC,


5:30 AM -- GANG BOY (1954)
In this short film, a police officer tries to prevent a gang war by bringing the rival groups together over dinner.
Dir: Arthur Swerdloff
Cast: Curly Riviera,
C-27 mins,