TCM Schedule for Friday, March 10, 2017 -- What's On Tonight - Starring Richard Burton

[Staph]

It's the last day of Starring Richard Burton, with four of his latter films from the 1960s and 1970s. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MURDER, MY SWEET (1944)
Detective Philip Marlowe's search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley
BW-95 mins, CC,

In a 1946 Saturday Evening Post article, Dick Powell wrote that the film ended his ten-year effort to escape musicals. Powell said that when he asked Charles Koerner for a "solid tough guy" character to portray, Koerner offered him the role of Philip Marlowe. Powell's portrayal of Philip Marlowe earned the approval of Raymond Chandler himself.


7:45 AM -- BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933)
A police chief helps a young bride find her missing husband or at least his corpse.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien, Glenda Farrell
BW-73 mins,

To promote the film, Warner Bros. issued a statement that they would pay $10,000 to Joseph F. Crater - a prominent New York City judge who disappeared in August, 1930 - if he would come to see the movie at the box office. Crater never came, and his disappearance remains unsolved to this day.


9:00 AM -- PRIVATE SNAFU VS. MALARIA MIKE (1944)
Private Snafu pays for ignoring regulations that prevent malaria.
Dir: Chuck Jones
Cast: Mel Blanc, Billy Bletcher
BW-5 mins,


9:15 AM -- HARPER (1966)
A broken-down private eye sets out to find a rich woman's missing husband.
Dir: Jack Smight
Cast: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The opening credits sequence: William Goldman later said he knew he'd succeed as a screenwriter as soon as he wrote the opening scene in Harper (1966) in which Harper is forced to recycle used coffee grounds from the trash for his morning cup of coffee. Harper's dismay at the result, as realized by Paul Newman on screen, immediately created empathy between the character and the audience. Ironically, that opening sequence was the last thing he wrote for that script.


11:30 AM -- THE THIN MAN (1934)
A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan
BW-91 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- William Powell, Best Director -- W.S. Van Dyke, Best Writing, Adaptation -- Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, and Best Picture

For William Powell's first scene (at the bar), W.S. Van Dyke told him to take the cocktail shaker, go to the bar and just walk through the scene while the crew checked lights and sound. Powell did it, throwing in some lines and business of his own. Suddenly he heard Van Dyke say, "That's it! Print it!" The director had decided to shoot the scene without Powell knowing it so that he'd be as relaxed and natural as possible.


1:10 PM -- SPENCER TRACY (1962)
This short film, part of the Hollywood Hist-o-Rama series, offers a brief biography of Spencer Tracy.
Dir: Joseph R Juliano
BW-4 mins,


1:15 PM -- BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
C-81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Director -- John Sturges, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Millard Kaufman

According to one biographer of Spencer Tracy, the script did not originally call for the lead character to be a one-armed man. The producers were keen to get Tracy but didn't think he'd be interested, so they gave the character this disability with the idea that no actor can resist playing a character with a physical impairment.


2:45 PM -- THE GAZEBO (1960)
A suburban couple tries to cope with a murder victim whose body refuses to stay put.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner
BW-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

Film debut of television actor Carl Reiner.


4:30 PM -- LADY IN THE LAKE (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective's viewpoint.
Dir: Robert Montgomery
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan
BW-103 mins, CC,

The entire movie plot unfolds from lead Robert Montgomery's point of view, thus creating a rarity in film: the principal character is only seen on-screen as a reflection in mirrors and windows, and as the narrator speaking directly to the audience.


6:19 PM -- THIS THEATRE AND YOU (1948)
This short film takes a look at the importance of the motion picture theatre to small-town communities.
Cast: Brandon Beach,
BW-8 mins,


6:30 PM -- ROPE (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger
C-81 mins, CC,

The film was shot in ten takes, ranging from four-and-a-half minutes to just over ten minutes. (the maximum amount of film that a camera magazine or projector reel could hold). Since the filming times were so long, everybody on the set tried their best to avoid any mistakes. At one point in the movie, the camera dolly ran over and broke a cameraman's foot, but to keep filming, he was gagged and dragged off. Another time, a woman puts her glass down but misses the table. A stagehand had to rush up and catch it before the glass hit the ground. Both parts are used in the final cut.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: RICHARD BURTON



8:00 PM -- WHERE EAGLES DARE (1968)
An Allied team sets out to free an American officer held by the Nazis in a mountaintop castle.
Dir: Brian G. Hutton
Cast: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure
C-155 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In the scenes where Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood climb the steep fortress walls, Burton moves with ease, while Eastwood is clearly working hard physically. This was due to the fact that Burton, who was a hard-drinker, a chain smoker and out-of-shape by that point, chose to ride a crane (made invisible by special effects) up the wall, whereas the health-conscious Eastwood was actually climbing the wall. Burton had already been diagnosed with bursitis - possibly aggravated by faulty treatment - arthritis and dermatitis.


10:45 PM -- STAIRCASE (1969)
Homosexual lovers face age and society's disapproval together.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Cathleen Nesbitt
C-98 mins, Letterbox Format

Elizabeth Taylor was shooting The Only Game in Town (1970) at the same time as this film was in production. While that film is set in Las Vegas, Taylor demanded that director George Stevens shoot in France so she could be close to her husband, Richard Burton, who was filming Staircase (1969) with director Stanley Donen. This caused the budget of The Only Game in Town (1970) to grow higher than most large-scale, high-profile films that Fox was producing at the time. Ironically, the production of Staircase (1969) was moved to France to save money.


12:30 AM -- VILLAIN (1971)
A paranoid British gangster thinks everybody is a potential stoolie.
Dir: Michael Tuchner
Cast: Richard Burton, Ian McShane, Nigel Davenport
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

On 10 November 1970, on his 45th birthday, Richard Burton took a day off from filming to collect his CBE from Buckingham Palace, accompanied by his older sister Cicely and his wife Elizabeth Taylor.


2:15 AM -- EQUUS (1977)
A psychoanalyst tries to help a young man who blinded a stable full of horses.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Colin Blakely
C-138 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Richard Burton, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Firth, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Peter Shaffer

Richard Burton played Martin Dysart on Broadway in 1976 filling in whilst Anthony Perkins went on leave for twelve weeks. Burton was the fifth actor to play Dysart on the big stage after Perkins, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Blakely and Alec McCowen. Burton got to play Dysart in this film because his theatre run had been a big box-office success.


4:45 AM -- THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1933)
The famed English monarch suffers through five of his six disastrous marriages.
Dir: Alexander Korda
Cast: Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie
BW-94 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Laughton (Charles Laughton was not present at the awards ceremony. Fellow nominee Leslie Howard accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Because of the memorable banquet scene, Charles Laughton for many years, thereafter, was often given a free roasted chicken, without utensils, by restaurant owners who thought it was a good joke.