TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 17, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: St. Patrick's Day

[Staph]

There's another daylight schedule looking like an old-time movie house's Saturday matinee -- cowboy movies, cartoons, and a short travelogue. Then in prime time, the not-Essentials is celebrating the luck of the Irish. And in late night, catch Blood Simple (1984), the first film for the Coen brothers and Frances McDormand - the beginning of an amazing collaberation. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- PEG O' MY HEART (1933)
A spunky Irish girl inherits a place in a British estate.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Marion Davies, Onslow Stevens, J. Farrell MacDonald
BW-87 mins, CC,

In the days before there were outright Oscar campaigns, William Randolph Hearst pushed hard (behind the scenes) for an Oscar nomination for Marion Davies for this hit film. However, her chances were hurt because there were only three nominees in the acting categories that year. Had there been five nominees, she might very well have won a nomination.


8:00 AM -- THE BIG STAMPEDE (1932)
A new sheriff faces the rustlers who killed his predecessor.
Dir: Tenny Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Noah Beery
BW-54 mins, CC,

The horse known as "Duke"--which was also John Wayne's nickname--appeared with him in six films: The Big Stampede (1932); Haunted Gold (1932); Ride Him, Cowboy (1932); The Telegraph Trail (1933); The Man from Monterey (1933); Somewhere in Sonora (1933).


8:00 AM -- ROAMING THROUGH NORTHERN IRELAND (1949)
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Northern Ireland.
C-8 mins,

From IMDB: "A look primarily at the beauty of the countryside and seacoast, starting at Carrick-a-Rede Island then on to Enniskillen, the cathedral at Downpatrick, an appreciation of Medieval Irish craft and architecture, visits to a peat farm and the ruins of Castle Dunluce, and the pastoral beauty of County Down. There we visit the resort seacoast town of Bangor. It's on to Cushendun in County Antrim, watching two pedestrians pass each other on a swinging bridge, and finishing at the Giant's Causeway, where the narrator tells folktales as we examine fascinating rock formations and the mysteries of creation."


8:00 AM -- IRELAND "THE EMERALD ISLE" (1934)
This short film focuses on the people, land, and culture of rural Ireland.
Dir: Ruth Fitzpatrick
C-8 mins,


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: DROOPY LEPRECHAUN (1958)
Droopy the dog is mistaken for a real leprechaun while in Ireland.
Dir: Michael Lah
Cast: Lucille Bliss, Bill Thompson
C-6 mins, CC,

The last of a couple dozen cartoons starring the droopy-faced basset hound, appropriately named Droopy. The character returned in the 1980s, in a series of shorts that appeared on The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.


9:30 AM -- RED BARRY: THE CURTAIN FALLS (1938)
The second chapter in the Red Barry serial. An undercover detective must uncover the truth and figure out who stole two million dollars in bonds.
BW-20 mins,

Based on the Red Barry detective comic strip by Will Gould.


10:00 AM -- TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934)
The jungle king fights to protect his wife from a greedy ivory hunter.
Dir: Cedric Gibbons
Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Hamilton
BW-104 mins, CC,

Maureen O'Sullivan does not appear as Jane during the film's famous nude swimming sequence. O'Sullivan is instead doubled by Josephine McKim, a member of the 1924 and 1928 U.S. Womens' Olympic Swim Teams and one of the four U.S. swimmers on that team to win the 1928 gold medal in the 400-Meter Freestyle Relay.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: I YAM WHAT I YAM (1933)
Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy arrive in America and encounter a tribe of Native Americans and must fend for themselves.
Dir: Dave Fleischer
Cast: William Costello, Charles Lawrence, William Pennell
BW-6 mins, CC,

The title is one of Popeye's catchphrases, including his own pronunciation.


12:00 PM -- THE FIGHTING 69TH (1940)
A braggart soldier learns the true meaning of heroism when he joins World War I's all-Irish unit.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent
BW-90 mins, CC,

Get your mind out of the gutter!

In training camp, there is a reference to the 69th as "Coxey's Army". Coxey's Army was the name given to a protest march on Washington in 1894 by unemployed workers, led by businessman Jacob Coxey.


1:45 PM -- YOUNG CASSIDY (1965)
True story of playwright Sean O'Casey's involvement with the Irish rebellion of 1910.
Dir: Jack Cardiff
Cast: Rod Taylor, Flora Robson, Jack MacGowran
C-110 mins, CC,

The character of "John Cassidy" is allegedly based on the playwright Sean O'Casey (his name is an Anglicization of O'Casey's), but Rod Taylor, playing the part, bears no resemblance to the famous writer. The real O'Casey was a diminutive man with poor eyesight who always wore thick glasses and kept out of violent encounters; he was a working-class man of strong intellectual gifts and fierce political views, and in reality was, at the time of the events depicted, about fifteen or twenty years older than "Cassidy" is supposed to be.


3:45 PM -- THE RISING OF THE MOON (1957)
Three stories examine the lives of the Irish living under British oppression.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Tyrone Power, Denis O Dea, Eileen Crowe
BW-81 mins, CC,

Based on Frank O'Connor's story "The Majesty of the Law", Michael J. McHugh's story "A Minute's Wait", and Lady Augusta Gregory's story "The Rising of the Moon".


5:15 PM -- FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968)
A leprechaun follows the Irishman who stole his pot of gold to the U.S. South.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele
C-145 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound and Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Ray Heindorf

Because of its satire on racism, this popular 1947 Broadway musical was considered such a hot potato in Hollywood that studios would not touch it unless they were allowed to change the story. Its original creators, E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane and Fred Saidy, held out and by 1968 it was able to be filmed with very few changes.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ST. PATRICK'S DAY



8:00 PM -- FLIGHT OF THE DOVES (1971)
Two orphans flee across Ireland to escape their menacing stepfather.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Ron Moody, Jack Wild, Dorothy McGuire
C-101 mins,

Jack Wild later admitted he was drunk every day of filming.


10:00 PM -- PADDY O'DAY (1935)
An immigrant learns to survive as an entertainer after arriving to America an orphan.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Jane Withers, Pinky Tomlin, Rita Cansino
BW-77 mins, CC,

The following is from "Weekly Variety" magazine: "Rita Cansino comes along nicely in this, though she is better known as a dancer than a player. She has two dance bits, both Russian, the last on a tasteful production number that actually fits the stage on which it's supposed to be played!" You will know Rita Cansino better by her stage name, Rita Hayworth!


11:30 PM -- RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL (1953)
While driving through the Irish countryside, a man picks up a hitchhiker who tells him of a strange event.
Dir: Hilton Edwards
Cast: Orson Welles, Michael Laurence, Shelah Richards
BW-24 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel

"Glennascaul" is Irish for "Glen of the Shadows."


12:00 AM -- CROSSFIRE (1947)
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan
BW-86 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Ryan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gloria Grahame, Best Director -- Edward Dmytryk, Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Paxton, and Best Picture

It has been suggested that one reason the film failed to win any Oscars was due to director Edward Dmytryk and producer Adrian Scott's refusal to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Even more, Dmytryk--a Canadian who had become an American citizen only a decade earlier--was one of the notorious anti-HUAC 'Hollywood Ten.' Indeed, subsequent to the HUAC hearings, both Dmytryk and Scott were blacklisted for political reasons and unable to work in Hollywood.


1:45 AM -- BLOOD SIMPLE (1984)
A Texas bar owner hires a private eye to kill his cheating wife and her boyfriend.
Dir: Joel Coen
Cast: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
C-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The title is based on a phrase from the Dashiell Hammett novel 'Red Harvest', in which "blood simple" is a term coined to describe the addled, fearful mindset people are in after a prolonged immersion in violent situations. Blood Simple writers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen later made Miller's Crossing (1990) which is loosely based on that novel.


3:45 AM -- THE PLAYER (1992)
A rising producer tries to cover up the accidental killing of a screenwriter who was stalking him.
Dir: Robert Altman
Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Peter Falk
C-124 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Robert Altman, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published -- Michael Tolkin, and Best Film Editing -- Geraldine Peroni

The film has more Oscar winning actors and actresses in the cast than any other movie in history. There are twelve: Cher, James Coburn, Louise Fletcher, Whoopi Goldberg, Joel Grey, Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, Marlee Matlin, Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Rod Steiger. Thirteen, when you count Oscar winning Producer and Director Sydney Pollack, who also makes a cameo appearance. Also includes thirteen other actors and actresses who received Oscar nominations: Karen Black, Dean Stockwell, Michael Tolkin, Gary Busey, Peter Falk, Teri Garr, Jeff Goldblum, Elliott Gould, Sally Kirkland, Buck Henry, Sally Kellerman, Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte, and Lily Tomlin.