TCM Schedule for Friday, October 6, 2017 -- Star of the Month: Anthony Perkins

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the centennial birthday of June Allyson, born Eleanor Geisman on October 7, 1917, in the Bronx. Allyson initially wanted to be a doctor, so she got into acting as a way of raising money for medical school. She ended up sticking with it, and instead paid for her brother to become a doctor. She took a lifelong interest in health and medical research. Then in prime time, it's the first night of Star of the Month Anthony Perkins. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- PLEASE BELIEVE ME (1950)
Three men pursue a shipboard romance with a woman they think is an heiress.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Walker, Mark Stevens
BW-87 mins, CC,

Van Johnson was originally set to star as Matthew Kingston. The role was played by Mark Stevens.


7:30 AM -- THE SAILOR TAKES A WIFE (1945)
A sailor gets more than he bargained for from a quickie marriage.
Dir: Richard Whorf
Cast: Robert Walker, June Allyson, Hume Cronyn
BW-91 mins,

Based on a play by Chester Erskine.


9:15 AM -- THE SECRET HEART (1946)
A recent widow tries to help her emotionally disturbed stepdaughter.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson
BW-97 mins, CC,

After filming The Secret Heart (1946) together, Claudette Colbert and co-star June Allyson became such great friends in real life Colbert became godmother to Allyson's daughter Pamela.


11:00 AM -- THE BRIDE GOES WILD (1948)
A womanizing author of children's books borrows a son to woo his illustrator.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Van Johnson, June Allyson, Butch Jenkins
BW-98 mins, CC,

Fourth of six movies that paired June Allyson and Van Johnson.


12:45 PM -- THE STRATTON STORY (1949)
True story of Monty Stratton, the baseball star who fought to continue his career after losing a leg.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan
BW-107 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Douglas Morrow

Although Monty Stratton was a real baseball player who continued to play baseball after having a right-leg, above-knee amputation, much of the story was fictionalized for this film. For instance, in the hunting accident, the real Monty Stratton shot himself with a pistol, rather than with a rifle. Also, the game in which the real Monty Stratton returned to baseball after his amputation was not an All-Star game, as in the movie, but rather a 1939 charity game between the White Sox and the Cubs (the proceeds of which went to Stratton).


2:45 PM -- THE REFORMER AND THE REDHEAD (1950)
A small-town politician falls for an idealistic zookeeper.
Dir: Norman Panama
Cast: June Allyson, Dick Powell, David Wayne
BW-90 mins, CC,

In early 1949, Lana Turner was set to star.


4:30 PM -- THE GIRL IN WHITE (1952)
Biography of Emily Dunning, the first woman doctor to practice in a New York hospital.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: June Allyson, Arthur Kennedy, Gary Merrill
BW-93 mins, CC,

Based on the autobiography of Emily Dunning Barringer, the first female ambulance surgeon.


6:15 PM -- BATTLE CIRCUS (1953)
A doctor fights for his life during the Korean War.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn
BW-90 mins, CC,

he film originally had a different title but the studio and the director thought that title would mislead audiences, so "Battle Circus" was instead chosen. The original title that was rejected was "MASH 66," which referred to the same Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in the Korean War later made famous in both the film MASH (1970) and the TV series "M.A.S.H." (1972).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ANTHONY PERKINS



8:00 PM -- THE ACTRESS (1953)
True story of Ruth Gordon's early struggles on the road to stage stardom.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright
BW-91 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Walter Plunkett

On a January 1, 1980 DICK CAVETT interview, Perkins revealed that he had played this role in summer stock in Delaware. He got himself to Hollywood and tried to get a screen test for the role, on the basis that he had played it. The studio rejected him, but he used to hang around, and when they needed someone to feed lines to an actress they were testing, they tapped him. Director George Cukor, who was filming the tests, asked Perkins, who was facing away from the camera, to move to the side, so the camera had an unimpeded view of the actress being tested. Perkins pretended not to understand and swung his head around, so the camera would capture his face full on, and when the producers were watching the tests later, they decided against hiring the actress, but gave the role to Perkins he had played in stock.


9:45 PM -- FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956)
A peaceful Quaker family's sanctity is tested during the Civil War.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Marjorie Main
BW-138 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Anthony Perkins, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Michael Wilson (Due to being blacklisted Michael Wilson did not receive a screen credit, which under special Academy by-law made him ineligible personally although the writing achievement itself could be eligible. In early 1957 AMPAS instructed Price Waterhouse & Co. not to list any nomination declared ineligible under the by-law and thus this nomination was not included on the final voting ballot. The by-law was laster declared unworkable in January 1959. In December 2002 the Academy reinstated Mr. Wilson's nomination.), Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon R. Glennan (Westrex Sound Services) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Music, Original Song -- Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)", and Best Picture

Anthony Perkins's rushes were so good that word started spreading around Hollywood about the talented new actor. His prospects grew even brighter when James Dean died, leaving the studios scrambling to sign the next big youth favorite. Finally Paramount signed Perkins to a seven-year, non-exclusive contract.


12:15 AM -- THE TIN STAR (1957)
An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Barney Slater (story), Joel Kane (story) and Dudley Nichols (screenplay)

James Stewart was originally supposed to play Morgan Hickman, eventually played by James Stewart.


2:05 AM -- SPORTSMEN AT WORK (1957)
This short film focuses on how conservationists attempt to protect wildlife.
Dir: Larry O'Reilly
BW-8 mins,


2:15 AM -- TALL STORY (1960)
Love puts a college basketball star into a tailspin.
Dir: Joshua Logan
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston
BW-89 mins, CC,

Film debut for both Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.


4:00 AM -- ONE ON ONE (1977)
A talented basketball player has difficulties adjusting to college life.
Dir: Lamont Johnson
Cast: Robby Benson, Annette O'Toole, Gail Strickland
C-98 mins, CC,

The campus scenes were filmed at Colorado State University, mostly at Moby Arena and in the Charles A. Lory Student Center. Many of the CSU basketball players and even assistant coaches were extras in the film.


5:45 AM -- TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE: SYDNEY POLLACK (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-28 mins, CC, Letterbox Format