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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Thu May 9, 2013, 10:39 PM May 2013

TCM Schedule for Friday, May 10, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: Second Looks

We've got a day of Best Actor Oscar winners from the 1930s and early 1940s. And tonight's theme (indeed, the Friday night theme for this month) is Second Looks, a chance to see movies that were not so well regarded when first released but now worthy of a second look. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Informer (1935)
An Irish rebel turns in his best friend to earn passage money to America, then has to dodge the suspicions of his cohorts.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster
BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Victor McLaglen, Best Director -- John Ford, Best Music, Score -- Max Steiner (head of departmment - RKO Radio Studio Music Department), and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Dudley Nichols (Refused to accept his award because of the antagonism between several industry guilds and the academy over union matters. This marked the first time an Academy Award had been declined. Academy records show that Dudley was in possession of an Oscar statuette by 1949.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- George Hively, and Best Picture

John Ford kept Victor McLaglen continually off-balance (and thus in character) by getting him drunk, changing his schedules, verbally abusing him on and off the set and filming scenes when he'd told McLaglen that they were only rehearsing. For the crucial rebel court scene, the story goes that Ford reduced the actor to a trembling wreck by promising him the day off only to bring him into the studio early and extremely hung over, insisting that he spit out his lines. McLaglen was so furious with Ford over this that he threatened to quit acting and kill the director.



7:45 AM -- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
True story of the French scientist's battle to establish modern medical methods.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise
BW-86 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Writing, Original Story -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

An electrician for Warner Bros. studio came up to Paul Muni after an advanced screening of the film and told him that his 9-year old son asked him to buy him a microscope because of Muni's performance. Even though he went on to win the coveted Oscar Muni said that this was the greatest compliment he had ever received and that all other accolades meant nothing compared to that compliment.



9:30 AM -- Captains Courageous (1937)
A spoiled rich boy is lost at sea and rescued by a fishing boat, where hard work and responsibility help him become a man.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore
BW-117 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Elmo Veron, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Marc Connelly, John Lee Mahin and Dale Van Every, and Best Picture

Spencer Tracy was impressed early on by Freddie Bartholomew's dedication to the role, jumping over the side of the boat in order to get what he considered sufficiently wet after having been shot with a hose and doused with a bucket of water. "The kid can take it," Tracy said. "I hand it to him."



11:30 AM -- Boys Town (1938)
True story of Father Flanagan's fight to build a home for orphaned boys.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull
BW-93 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy (Spencer Tracy was not present at the awards ceremony. His wife Louise Treadwell accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Norman Taurog, Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Meehan and Dore Schary, and Best Picture

The day after Spencer Tracy won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film, an MGM publicist released a statement - without consulting Tracy first - that the actor would donate his Oscar to the real Boys Town in Nebraska. Tracy agreed to make the donation if the Academy would send him a replacement Oscar. When the replacement arrived, the engraving on the award read: "Best Actor - Dick Tracy."



1:15 PM -- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
A cold-hearted teacher becomes the school favorite when he's thawed by a beautiful young woman.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn
BW-114 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robert Donat

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greer Garson, Best Director -- Sam Wood, Best Film Editing -- Charles Frend, Best Sound, Recording -- A.W. Watkins (Denham SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Eric Maschwitz, R.C. Sherriff and Claudine West, and Best Picture

34-year-old Robert Donat ages 63 years (1870-1933) over the course of the film. He remarked: "As soon as I put the mustache on, I felt the part, even if I did look like a great Airedale come out of a puddle."



3:15 PM -- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Tabloid reporters crash a society marriage.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart
BW-112 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Stewart, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Donald Ogden Stewart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ruth Hussey, Best Director -- George Cukor, and Best Picture

The film was shot in eight weeks, and required no retakes. During the scene where James Stewart hiccups when drunk, you can see Cary Grant looking down and grinning. Since the hiccup wasn't scripted, Grant was on the verge of breaking out laughing and had to compose himself quickly. James Stewart thought of hiccuping in the drunk scene himself, without telling Cary Grant. When he began hiccuping, Grant turned to Stewart saying, "Excuse me." The scene required only one take.



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, TV-G, CC,

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

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

Alvin C. York had been approached by producer Jesse Lasky several times, beginning in 1919, to allow a movie to be made of his life, but had refused, believing that "This uniform ain't for sale." Lasky convinced York that, with war threatening in Europe, it was his patriotic duty to allow the film to proceed. York finally agreed - but only on three conditions. First, York's share of the profits would be contributed to a Bible School York wanted constructed. Second, no cigarette smoking actress could be chosen to play his wife. Third, that only Gary Cooper, could recreate his life on screen. Cooper at first turned down the role, but when York himself contacted the star with a personal plea, Cooper agreed to do the picture.




TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: SECOND LOOKS



8:00 PM -- The Great Moment (1944)
A 19th-century dentist sets out to find a painless method for pulling teeth in this true story.
Dir: Preston Sturges
Cast: Joel McCrea, Betty Field, Harry Carey
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC,

Sturges intended this to be a much more serious film. Panicked by some inconclusive reviews, Paramount cut it as a traditional Sturges comedy. The director, no longer associated with the studio, asked former friend and studio chief Frank Freeman to entitle the film "Triumph Over Pain," and he wrote and offered to write, direct, and appear in a prologue gratis. Paramount did not want to expend the additional $50,000 this would incur, and they ignored his offer.


9:30 PM -- The Horn Blows At Midnight (1945)
An angel is sent to destroy the earth with a trumpet blast.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran
BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC,

For the rest of his career Jack Benny used the failure of this movie as one of his best jokes.


11:00 PM -- Under Capricorn (1949)
Newly arrived in Australia, a man discovers his childhood love is now an alcoholic.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding
C-117 mins, TV-PG, CC,

According to Michael Wilding's autobiography "The Wilding Way", on one occasion while Ingrid Bergman and Michael Wilding were in the middle of a passionate love scene Hitchcock let out a howl of pain, then in the most gentle tone said "Please move the camera a little to the right. You have just run over my foot." The X-ray revealed later that the camera's weight had broken Hitchcock's big toe.


1:15 AM -- Above and Beyond (1952)
The pilot who helped drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima struggles with the demands of the dangerous mission.
Dir: Melvin Frank
Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, James Whitmore
BW-122 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Beirne Lay Jr.

The sequences showing the bombing of Hiroshima were lifted from another MGM film, The Beginning or the End, which was about the development and use of the first atomic bombs.



3:30 AM -- Battle Cry (1955)
A group of Marines eagerly await deployment during World War II.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman
C-148 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Film debut of L.Q. Jones (billed under his real name of "Justus E. McQueen"; he took his character's name in this film as his real name after this film was released).



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TCM Schedule for Friday, May 10, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: Second Looks (Original Post) Staph May 2013 OP
L. Q. Jones solid, dependable actor. Graybeard May 2013 #1

Graybeard

(6,996 posts)
1. L. Q. Jones solid, dependable actor.
Fri May 10, 2013, 07:54 AM
May 2013

Last edited Fri May 10, 2013, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)

His first film, Battle Cry 3:30am, began a long career of supporting roles that continues to this day (he is now 86 yrs old and his last film was, A Prairie Home Companion - 2006.)

Playing strong-willed soldiers or cowboys, L. Q. Jones was always one of those actors whose presence on screen brought notice but little recognition.
Thanks for singling him out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Q._Jones
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