TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 30, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Moira Shearer

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM finally returns to the Essentials. Tonight, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird are showing films starring the luminous, red-headed ballet star, Moira Shearer. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- HOW SWEET IT IS (1968)
A married couple's working vacation in Paris turns into a battle to stay faithful.
Dir: Jerry Paris
Cast: James Garner, Debbie Reynolds, Maurice Ronet
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Baseball reference. Gary Marshall, a major baseball fan, likes to reference baseball in his work. In this instance, it's when Jerry Paris, as a brothel patron, wearing a baseball hat, glove, and holding a baseball while the working girl is wearing a catcher's mask, glove, and chest protector, yells out, "What inning is it?"


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: BARNEY'S HUNGRY COUSIN (1953)
Barney Bear heads to a national park for a vacation.
Dir: Dick Lundy
Cast: Tex Avery, Paul Frees
BW-7 mins, CC,

The first mention of Jellystone Park, later the home of Yogi Bear.


8:08 AM -- ENVY (1930)
In this short film, two bored couples think they can find happiness if they exchange spouses for the evening.
Dir: Arthur Hurley
Cast: Eric Dressler, Romney Brent, Madge Evans
BW-9 mins,


8:17 AM -- CALLING ON MICHIGAN (1949)
This travel short focuses on the history, culture, and people of Michigan.
C-10 mins,


8:28 AM -- GENIUS AT WORK (1947)
Two radio sleuths tackle a real murder case.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Anne Jeffreys
BW-61 mins, CC,

Last of eight features to team Wally Brown and Alan Carney, RKO's long forgotten answer to Universal's popular Abbott and Costello.


9:30 AM -- TERRY AND THE PIRATES: THE DRAGON QUEEN THREATENS (1940)
Dr. Herbert Lee, an archaeologist seeking to decipher ancient Mara inscriptions, is aided by his son, Terry, Terry's pal, Pat Ryan, and Normandie Drake.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: William Tracy, Jeff York, Joyce Bryant
BW-17 mins, CC,

Episode four of fifteen.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: POPEYE MEETS RIP VAN WINKLE (1941)
Rip Van Winkle is being thrown out for nonpayment of rent (for 20 years). Popeye happens by and carts the sleeper home.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Myron Waldman (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer
BW-6 mins, CC,

One of a number of Popeye shorts which were sent off to Asia in the 80's to undergo the infamous redraw and colorization process.


10:07 AM -- HARD BOILED MAHONEY (1947)
The Bowery Boys try to expose a phony fortune-teller.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan
BW-63 mins, CC,

The sixth of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


11:30 AM -- A SMALL TOWN IDOL (1939)
This comedic short was extracted from the longer feature "A Small Town Idol" (1921), about a young man wrongly accused of robbery.
BW-19 mins,


12:00 PM -- THE BODY SNATCHER (1945)
To continue his medical experiments, a doctor must buy corpses from a grave robber.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell
BW-78 mins, CC,

This film featured the 8th and last on-screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Filming took place October 25-November 17 1944, delaying the completion of Karloff's Isle of the Dead (1945).


1:30 PM -- FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
BW-118 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Frank Sinatra, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Donna Reed, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Daniel Taradash, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Burnett Guffey, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), Best Film Editing -- William A. Lyon, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Montgomery Clift, Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Burt Lancaster, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Morris Stoloff and George Duning

Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle (even though he knew he'd be dubbed) and taking boxing lessons. Fred Zinnemann said, "Clift forced the other actors to be much better than they really were. That's the only way I can put it. He got performances from the other actors, he got reactions from the other actors that were totally genuine."


3:45 PM -- THE FAR COUNTRY (1955)
Two cowboys on the road to Alaska help a wagon train in trouble.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvet
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

One of James Stewart's favorite stories of his film career concerned his horse, Pie, a sorrel stallion whom Stewart called, "One of the best co-stars I ever had." Pie appeared as Stewart's horse in seventeen Westerns, and Stewart developed a strong personal bond with the horse. Pie was very intelligent, Stewart recalled, and would often "act for the cameras when they were rolling. He was a ham of a horse." When shooting the climax of The Far Country (1954), the script called for Stewart's horse to walk down a dark street alone, with no rider in the saddle, to fool the bad guys who were waiting to ambush Stewart. Assistant Director John Sherwood asked Stewart if Pie would be able to do the scene. Stewart replied, "I'll talk to him." Just before the cameras rolled, Stewart took Pie aside and whispered to the horse for several minutes, giving him instructions for the scene. When Stewart let the horse go, Pie walked perfectly down the middle of the street, to his trainer who was waiting with a sugar cube just out of camera range. He did the scene in one take. After Pie died in 1970, Stewart arranged to have the horse buried at his California ranch.


5:30 PM -- THE SUNDOWNERS (1960)
An Australian sheepherder and his wife clash over their nomadic existence and their son's future.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov
C-133 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Glynis Johns, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Isobel Lennart, and Best Picture

Although studio head Jack L. Warner wanted to shoot the movie in Arizona, Director Fred Zinnemann insisted on shooting the exteriors on-location in Australia. The shoot did not go well. Zinnemann spent twelve weeks filming scenery and sheepherding scenes in the outback before the cast arrived. Once the cast got there, the weather began alternating daily between hot sun and cold rain, which resulted in several extra weeks of filming. Robert Mitchum was so harassed by fans, that he had to move onto a boat to get away from them.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: MOIRA SHEARER



8:00 PM -- THE RED SHOES (1948)
A young ballerina is torn between her art and her romance with a young composer.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer
C-134 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Hein Heckroth and Arthur Lawson, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Brian Easdale

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Emeric Pressburger, Best Film Editing -- Reginald Mills, and Best Picture

Much to his surprise, Michael Powell had great difficulty persuading Moira Shearer to be in the film. She held out for a year before giving in. Shearer herself, however, did not particularly care for Powell. In later years, she described the making of the film as being a terrible ordeal. She said that Powell was distant and aloof and never really gave her much direction; further, having to dance for hours on end on concrete floors physically took a toll on all the dancers, making their legs swell.


10:30 PM -- THE MAN WHO LOVED REDHEADS (1954)
The Honorable Mark St. Neots is obsessed with the memory of Sylvia, a redhead he met at a party as a boy, and vowed he would love forever.
Dir: Harold French
Cast: Moira Shearer, John Justin, Roland Culver
BW-86 mins,

The film is based on the play Who is Sylvia? (1950) by Terence Rattigan, which is reputedly a thinly veiled account of the author's philandering father.


12:15 AM -- A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald
Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to sources at Turner Classic Movies, Joanne Woodward once stated that she not only considers this the worst of her movies, but the worst Hollywood movie ever made. Your mileage may vary!


2:15 AM -- SEX KITTENS GO TO COLLEGE (1960)
A stripper with a high IQ gets a job teaching at a college science department through a selection process determined by a robot.
Dir: Albert Zugsmith
Cast: Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, Mijanou Bardot
BW-94 mins, CC,

As hard as it is to believe, the namesake sons of two of the most legendary film comedians (Harold Lloyd and Charles Chaplin) appear uncredited in this picture, one of the most legendarily worst films ever produced.


4:00 AM -- BORN RECKLESS (1959)
A saloon singer falls in love with a free roaming rider and tries to change his lifestyle.
Dir: Howard W. Koch
Cast: Mamie Van Doren, Jeff Richards, Arthur Hunnicutt
BW-79 mins, CC,

In December 1957, director Howard W. Koch ordered a trainer to deliver "one mean bull" to the set. A huge Brahma bull was delivered, which promptly broke through a chain link fence and pushed in the side of Koch's brand new convertible which was parked nearby.


5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #1 (1955)
Judy Garland sings "You Made Me Love You" in a clip from "Broadway Melody of 1938"; Cyd Charisse introduces a clip from "It's Always Fair Weather." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-25 mins,