TCM Schedule for Friday, November 9, 2018 -- What's On Tonight -- Running Wild

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is beginning a weekend of movies for Remembrance Day, for the 100th anniversary of World War I, the Great War. And surprisingly, most of today's films are actually about WWI! Then in prime time, TCM is running wild. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- THE SHOPWORN ANGEL (1938)
A showgirl gives up life in the fast lane for a young soldier on his way to fight World War I.
Dir: H. C. Potter
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Walter Pidgeon
BW-85 mins, CC,

Mary Martin provides the singing voice for Margaret Sullavan. This same year she also dubbed the singing voice for Gypsy Rose Lee in "The Battle of Broadway."


7:30 AM -- ACE OF ACES (1933)
After he's branded a coward, a sculptor travels to France to help fight World War I.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allen, Ralph Bellamy
BW-77 mins, CC,

When Richard Dix runs from the gendarmes and finds Elizabeth Allen, one can briefly see the back wall of the sound stage.


9:00 AM -- WATERLOO BRIDGE (1940)
A ballerina turns to prostitution when her fiance is reported killed in World War I.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor, Lucile Watson
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

Of all the classic Hollywood films ever made, this somewhat obscure title happens to be one of the most popular in China, especially among college students. There are even audio guides for students to practice their English by reciting dialogue from this film. The reason for why this particular film has become so endeared among the Chinese is anyone's guess. One possibility is that the popularity of Gone with the Wind (1939) in China led many to seek other movies starring Vivien Leigh.


11:00 AM -- ARMY SURGEON (1942)
A female surgeon pretends to be a nurse so she can serve on the front line.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: James Ellison, Jane Wyatt, Kent Taylor
BW-63 mins, CC,

Randolph Scott was originally cast in the role of Lt. Harvey according to a contemporary item in The Hollywood Reporter.


12:15 PM -- THE SPY IN BLACK (1939)
A German sub tries to sink the British fleet during World War I.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Sebastian Shaw, Valerie Hobson
BW-82 mins,

The password that Hardt is to use for his contact is the opening line of Heine's poem Die Lorelei, in which a beautiful woman, who lures sailors on the rocks, is used as a symbol of homesickness. When his crew joke about him spouting love poetry to a woman in the dark, they miss half of the point.


1:45 PM -- HELL BELOW (1933)
A submarine captain clashes with one of his crew during World War I.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, Madge Evans
BW-101 mins, CC,

The print shown on TCM is the 1937 re-release, with some bits of 1933 dialogue obviously eliminated in order to meet the stricter standards of the now enforced 1934 production code.


3:30 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,

The poem read at the funeral of the soldiers killed in the dugout is"'Rouge Bouquet" by Joyce Kilmer (portrayed by Jeffrey Lynn). This scene and preceding ones are based on an actual incident in the war, when a German heavy artillery bombardment on March 12, 1918, buried 21 men of the 69th; 14 of the bodies were never recovered.


5:30 PM -- SERGEANT YORK (1941)
True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
BW-134 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, and Best Film Editing -- William Holmes

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Brennan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Wycherly, Best Director -- Howard Hawks, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston and Howard Koch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sol Polito, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Alvin C. York himself was on the set for a few days during filming. When one of the crew members tactlessly asked him how many "Jerries" he had killed, York started sobbing so vehemently he threw up. The crew member was nearly fired, but the next day, York demanded that he keep his job.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: RUNNING WILD



8:00 PM -- THEODORA GOES WILD (1936)
A woman's two lives as small-town innocent and author of torrid romances collide.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell
BW-94 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Irene Dunne, and Best Film Editing -- Otto Meyer

The dialogue from this film is re-used in the film Bedtime Story (1941), in which Fredric March portrays a playwright and Loretta Young his actress wife. All the dialogue in March's new "play" is actually from the screenplay of this film. It's virtually word for word, with only the heroine's name changed. The "gardener" referred to in the dialogue is of course Melvyn Douglas. Columbia Pictures, the distributor of "Bedtime Story," made this film, too, but none of the writers overlap between the films. Interestingly, in "Bedtime Story," the actors playing the onstage scene are not meant to be in a comedy. What is borrowed is the confrontation over the gardener between Theodora, her aunt, and the local club ladies. Also, in an early scene, March has an inspiration for the last line of his play - something about nobody in the town ever calling the heroine "baby" before - an idea that figures in "Theodora Goes Wild" as well.


9:45 PM -- HAVING A WILD WEEKEND (1965)
Advertising executives turn a model's romance with a stunt man into a publicity stunt.
Dir: John Boorman
Cast: Dave Clark, Barbara Ferris, Lenny Davidson
BW-91 mins, CC,

Filming was interrupted on location when leading man Dave Clark complained about the film's costumes to Alexander Jacobs, who was the assistant to the film's producer, David Deutsch. Jacobs was married to the costume designer and reacted to Clark's remarks by punching him in the face. Clark's nose became, for a short time, extremely swollen and he could not be photographed, but he responded well to emergency medical treatment and shooting eventually continued.


11:30 PM -- THE WILD AFFAIR (1963)
A group of male office workers try to comfort and flirt with a young office assistant experiencing pre-wedding jitters.
Dir: John Krish
Cast: Nancy Kwan, Terry-Thomas, Jimmy Logan
BW-88 mins, CC,

For this film, Nancy Kwan wore costumes made by Mary Quant, and had her hair cut by top hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, in a short, geometric bob. Considered the first time the styles (both of hair and of wear) of swinging London to be captured on film.


1:15 AM -- WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (1933)
An impoverished girl masquerades as a boy to run with a gang of young hobos.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, Rochelle Hudson
BW-68 mins, CC,

About 15 minutes into the movie, the main character Eddie says to his father "I guess I'm just like my cousin Hoogo." This is a reference to a character from the 1920s and 1930s created by actor Jack Pearl. The character he created was Baron Munchausen. Munchausen told fanciful stories about his life, and they often involved his fictional cousin Hugo (pronounced Hoogo). Pearl played the character in musical reviews in the 1920s, and then in radio shows in the early 1930s.


2:30 AM -- LADY STREET FIGHTER (1981)
A woman hunts for her sister's killers in Los Angeles.
Director: James Bryan (uncredited)
Stars: Jody McCrea, Renee Harmon, Trace Carradine
C-73 mins, CC,

This film was shot in 1975 under the title "Deadly Games". This title was later changed to "Lady Streetfighter" to capitalize on the then hot martial arts movie craze.


4:00 AM -- SISTER STREET FIGHTER (1975)
When a martial arts champion, working undercover for the police, is kidnapped, his sister is recruited to save him.
Dir: K. Yamaguchi
Cast: Etsuko Shiomi, Shin'ichi Chiba, Asao Uchida
C-81 mins,

Also known as Female Fighting Fist In Danger.


5:45 AM -- THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945)
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed
BW-135 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), and Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic), Donald Jahraus (photographic), R.A. MacDonald (photographic) and Michael Steinore (sound)

During production, John Ford had put John Wayne down every chance he got, because Wayne had not enlisted to fight in World War II. Ford commanded a naval photographic unit during the war, rising to the rank of captain and thought Wayne a coward for staying behind. After months of Ford heaping insults on Wayne's head, co-star Robert Montgomery finally approached the director and told him that if he was putting Wayne down for Montgomery's benefit (Montgomery had also served as a naval officer in the war), then he needed to stop immediately. This brought the tough-as-nails director to tears and he stopped abusing Wayne. Hurrah for the Classic Films Group's patron saint!