TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 1, 2017 -- What's On Tonight - April Fools

[Staph]

April Fools!

























No, not really. We still get a day full of films for April 1. I'm just having difficulty figuring out exactly how Woody Allen's Sleeper (1973) and the mega-comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) fit into the April Fools category. Oh, well, enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Rosalie (1937)
A West Point cadet falls for a European princess.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Frank Morgan
BW-124 mins,

Originally to be filmed with Marion Davies in 1928. The production was abruptly halted when MGM converted its studio to sound. The 1936 film incorporated footage from the unfinished 1928 production, mostly exterior shots.


8:15 AM -- The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
The Three Musketeers rescue the king's unjustly imprisoned twin.
Dir: James Whale
Cast: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William
BW-112 mins, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Lud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck

Peter Cushing did double duty on this film. In additional to his own role, he would feed Louis Hayward the lines for the split screen shots. Director James Whale initially cast him only to play opposite Hayward in the sequences where both twins appear together, but was impressed enough with the newcomer that he offered Cushing a small part on horseback. This was Peter Cushing's film debut, and he had the unique opportunity to view his own rushes and improve his own performance, especially since none of it would be used in the finished feature. As Second Officer, he can be seen 17 minutes in, with two lines of dialogue ("I've been here before&quot .


10:30 AM -- Maisie Was a Lady (1941)
A Brooklyn showgirl signs on as maid for a family of wealthy eccentrics.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Ann Sothern, Lew Ayres, Maureen O'Sullivan
BW-79 mins, CC

In the opening scene at the carnival, the carnival barker at the Freak Show is the actor Joe Yule. He is the real life father of Mickey Rooney (born as Joe Yule, Jr.).


12:00 PM -- The Wolf Man (1941)
A British nobleman undergoes a startling transformation when he's bitten by a gypsy werewolf.
Dir: George Waggner
Cast: Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy
BW-70 mins, CC

Many of the modern myths of werewolves originated from this film, such as a person becoming a werewolf through a bite, the only way to kill a werewolf is with a silver bullet, werewolves and their victims being marked with pentagrams, and changing into one during a full moon. Some are taken from the earlier, unsuccessful werewolf movie Werewolf of London (1935) (which also made them up out of whole cloth), and others are original concepts created by writer Curt Siodmak. In folklore, one became a werewolf by being cursed or by making a pact with the devil, you could turn at any time, and werewolves were mortal and could be killed by conventional means. Later films added the detail of werewolves being immortal; again, an invention of Hollywood, and basically an excuse to keep bringing the character back for sequel after sequel.


1:45 PM -- Vertigo (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he's been hired to tail.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
C-128 mins, CC, Letterbox

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color -- Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead, Sam Comer and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Sound -- George Dutton (Paramount SSD)

The original source material for the film was the French novel "D'entre Les Morts" and the action was set in Paris. Alfred Hitchcock changed the setting to San Francisco, a city well known for its unique topography and hilly landscape, in order to add a further torment to Scottie's life and emphasize the debilitating nature of his vertigo.


4:15 PM -- Children of the Damned (1963)
Space invaders impregnate six women with super-powered offspring.
Dir: Anton M. Leader
Cast: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris
BW-90 mins, CC, Letterbox

A sequel (of sorts) to Village of the Damned (1960), though both are based on the same book, The Midwich Cuckoo by John Wyndham.


6:00 PM -- Young Frankenstein (1974)
A descendant of Dr. Frankenstein sets out to make a man.
Dir: Mel Brooks
Cast: Terry Garr, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder
BW-106 mins, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material -- Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, and Best Sound -- Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa

Mel Brooks usually appeared in his own films but Gene Wilder insisted that Brooks should not appear in the film. He felt that Brooks' appearance would ruin the illusion and would only make the film if Brooks promised not to appear in it. Brooks didn't mind in the least, but did however make off-camera appearances as the howling wolf, Frederick's grandfather and the shrieking cat.




TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: APRIL FOOLS



8:00 PM -- Sleeper (1973)
After awaking from cryogenic suspension, a '70s man gets mixed up with a future revolution.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox

Woody Allen confirmed the scientific feasibility of his screenplay ideas in a single lunchtime meeting with Isaac Asimov. Allen also consulted with leading science fiction writer Ben Bova to make sure that some of his futuristic predictions were feasible.


9:45 PM -- It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
A group of greedy clowns tears up the countryside in search of buried treasure.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar
C-159 mins, CC, Letterbox

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- Walter Elliott

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Laszlo, Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Film Editing -- Frederic Knudtson, Robert C. Jones and Gene Fowler Jr., Best Music, Original Song -- Ernest Gold (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World", and Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Ernest Gold

The cast was in awe of Spencer Tracy and spent much of their time between scenes keeping him amused. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett delighted him with off-color take-offs on Boys Town (1938), in which Rooney had co-starred with Tracy. Jonathan Winters would improvise entire movies while impersonating Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.


12:45 AM -- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A troupe of squabbling actors joins the Polish underground to dupe the Nazis.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
BW-99 mins, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner R. Heymann

The biggest problem early in the shoot was Jack Benny's insecurity about acting the central role in such an important production by a major filmmaker. He seemed dumbfounded that Ernst Lubitsch had not only cast him but was building the film around him. Finally Lubitsch set him straight: "You think you are a comedian. You are not even a clown. You are fooling the public for 30 years. You are fooling even yourself. A clown - he is a performer what is doing funny things. A comedian - he is a performer what is saying funny things. But you, Jack, you are an actor, you are an actor playing the part of a comedian and this you are doing very well. But do not worry, I keep your secret to myself."


2:45 AM -- Blood and Black Lace (1964)
A mysterious killer stalks a design house's models.
Dir: Mario Bava
Cast: Eva Bartok, Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Reiner
C-88 mins, CC

Actress Mary Arden wrote most of the English dialog for the film, as she was one of the only English-speaking member of the production and the film was being shot in English for overseas marketing.


4:30 AM -- Corruption (1967)
When a plastic surgeon accidentally disfigures his model girlfriend, he becomes obsessed with restoring her face.
Dir: Robert Hartford-Davis
Cast: Peter Cushing, Sue Lloyd, Noel Trevarthen
C-91 mins

Foreign versions of this film replaced Jan Waters in the role of the first victim with Marianne Morris, who played the murder scene topless. I have no clue which version TCM will show.

[Warpy]

1. I see Mankeiwicz is channeling his inner Holden Caulfield again

These are mostly movies he manages to show every month, month after month. Yawn.

I'll be listening to rude music and doing my taxes on April Fool's Day. Seems appropriate.

[longship]

2. Lots of good films today.

I absolutely adore It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

The scene with Jonathon Winters and Arnold Stang.

High art there.