TCM for Tuesday, November 10th: TCM Prime Time Feature: Richard Burton

[CBHagman]

Today we celebrate the birthday of Richard Burton.



Ooh, what a voice!



Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

12:30 AM Cuba (1979)
A British mercenary meets an old love while training anti-Castro forces in Cuba. Cast: Sean Connery, Brooke Adams, Hector Elizondo. Dir: Richard Lester. C-122 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

2:45 AM Pier 5, Havana (1959)
An American in Cuba tries to thwart a bombing plot aimed at Castro. Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Allison Hayes, Eduardo Noriega. Dir: Edward L. Cahn. BW-68 mins, TV-PG

4:00 AM We Were Strangers (1949)
A Cuban American returns to his homeland during the Revolution and becomes involved in an assassination attempt. Cast: Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armendariz. Dir: John Huston. BW-106 mins, TV-PG, CC

6:00 AM Her Twelve Men (1954)
A dedicated teacher turns around the troublesome students at a boys' school. Cast: Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, Richard Haydn. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard. BW-91 mins, TV-G, CC

7:49 AM Short Film: Pest Control (1950)
A narrated how to short on how to handle various pest including, an obnoxius man, a bratty kid and an ink pen that does not work. Cast: Dave O'Brien, Pete Smith Dir: David Barclay BW-8 mins,

8:00 AM Born To Be Bad (1950)
An ambitious girl steals a rich husband but keeps her lover on the side. Cast: Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Mel Ferrer. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-90 mins, TV-PG, CC

9:40 AM Short Film: Law Of The Badlands (1945)
BW-20 mins,

10:00 AM Best Of The Badmen (1951)
A band of notorious outlaws help a friend against a corrupt federal agent. Cast: Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor, Robert Preston. Dir: William D. Russell. C-84 mins, TV-PG, CC

11:30 AM Back From Eternity (1956)
When an airliner crashes in the jungle, the repaired plane can only hold five of the survivors. Cast: Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger. Dir: John Farrow. BW-97 mins, TV-PG, CC

1:20 PM Short Film: Have Faith In Our Children (1955)
Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell urge moviegoers to donate to the Variety Club of Northern California, a charity for blind children. Cast: Glenn Ford, Eleanor Powell BW-3 mins,

1:30 PM Racket, The (1951)
A tough cop has to fight his superiors in order to battle the mob. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan. Dir: John Cromwell. BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:00 PM On Dangerous Ground (1951)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-82 mins, TV-PG, CC

4:30 PM Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A widow discovers her handyman is an escaped mental patient. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes. Dir: Harry Horner. BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC

6:00 PM Clash By Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband's best friend. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe. Dir: Fritz Lang. BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: RICHARD BURTON

8:00 PM Taming of the Shrew, The (1967)
A fortune hunter agrees to wed a temperamental woman so his friend can court her sister. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Michael York. Dir: Franco Zeffirelli. C-122 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



10:15 PM V.I.P.S, The (1963)
Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Margaret Rutherford. Dir: Anthony Asquith. C-119 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

12:18 AM Short Film: Comedians In Africa, The (1967)
C-11 mins,

12:30 AM Becket (1964)
England's King Henry II appoints his best friend Archbishop of Canterbury then turns on him. Cast: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud. Dir: Peter Glenville. C-148 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



3:15 AM Look Back in Anger (1958)
An embittered young man spews venom on all around him, particularly his upper-class wife. Cast: Richard Burton, Mary Ure, Claire Bloom. Dir: Tony Richardson. BW-100 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format



5:15 AM Bitter Victory (1958)
A World War II commander jeopardizes his mission to endanger a colleague involved with his wife. Cast: Richard Burton, Curt Jurgens, Ruth Roman. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-102 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

[Matilda]

1. A beautiful voice indeed,

heaps of sexuality and a good brain - God's gift to women! Sadly, he also had a self-destructive streak that in
the end cancelled out so much of what was worthy of the greatest respect.

I thought the young Burton had a Paul Newman-type appeal - sexy, intelligent, rebellious - but what very different
paths they took. Newman always tried for quality work, but Burton was too often sidetracked by money and the
lifestyle it could buy, and ended by becoming a caricature.

I read in a biography of Burton (Melvyn Bragg's?) that Laurence Olivier once said to him "Dear boy, you will have to
decide whether you want to be a great actor or a household name". Such a shame that he went for the latter, when
had he gone for credibility as an actor, he would probably have achieved both, as Olivier himself did.