TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 21, 2013 -- 50th Anniversary of JFK Assassination

[Staph]

In the afternoon TCM is celebrating the birth of Ralph Meeker, born Ralph Rathgeber on November 21, 1920, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And in prime time, we get a series of documentaries and dramatizations of the life and death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I can't really say "enjoy", so I will instead say "remember".


6:00 AM -- A Child Is Waiting (1963)
An emotionally fragile woman takes a job teaching mentally handicapped children.
Dir: John Cassavetes
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Director John Cassavetes (for whom this was his first major studio production) and Producer Stanley Kramer had many creative / economic differences and during the editing phase, Cassavetes was fired.


8:00 AM -- South Sea Woman (1953)
A Marine sergeant battles Nazi agents to help a showgirl escape war torn China.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, Chuck Connors
BW-98 mins, TV-G,

Based on a play by William Rankin, who also wrote the original story that became the film The Harvey Girls (1946).


9:45 AM -- Ten Tall Men (1951)
A Foreign Legion sergeant leads ten volunteers against a mighty Arab army.
Dir: Willis Goldbeck
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Jody Lawrence, Gilbert Roland
C-97 mins, TV-G,

The film debut of Robert Clary (Corporal LeBeau from Hogan's Heroes).


11:30 AM -- Shadow in the Sky (1951)
A shell-shocked veteran tries to recover his sanity while living with his sister.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Nancy Davis, James Whitmore
BW-78 mins, TV-PG,

Based on a story by Edward Newhouse.


1:00 PM -- Glory Alley (1952)
A boxer's drinking problem threatens his career and his love life.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Leslie Caron, Kurt Kaszner
BW-79 mins, TV-G, CC,

This was the only black-and-white film in which Leslie Caron sang and danced.


2:30 PM -- Code Two (1953)
Three young men train to become motorcycle cops.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Sally Forrest, Keenan Wynn
BW-69 mins, TV-PG,

Screenwriter Marcel Klauber was also a songwriter!


3:45 PM -- Jeopardy (1953)
A woman desperately seeks help to prevent her trapped husband from drowning.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker
BW-69 mins, TV-PG, CC,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 15, 1954 with Barbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan reprising their film roles.


5:00 PM -- The Dirty Dozen (1967)
A renegade officer trains a group of misfits for a crucial mission behind enemy lines.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson
C-150 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- John Poyner

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Cassavetes, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing -- Michael Luciano

Production on the film ran for so long that Jim Brown was in danger of missing training camp for the up-coming 1967-68 football season. As training camp and the NFL season approached, the NFL threatened to fine and suspend Brown if he did not leave filming and report to camp immediately. Not one to take threats, Brown simply held a press conference to announce his retirement from football. At the time of his retirement, Brown was considered to be one of the best in the game and even today is considered to be one of the NFL's all-time greats.


7:30 PM -- MGM Parade Show #24 (1955)
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney perform in a clip from "Strike Up the Band"; John Gilbert and Renee Adoree perform in a clip from "The Big Parade." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-25 mins, TV-G,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JFK ASSASSINATION



8:00 PM -- Primary (1960)
The Wisconsin Primary of 1960 sets John Kennedy on the road to the White House.
Dir: Richard Leacock
BW-53 mins, TV-G,

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1990.


9:15 PM -- Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
BW-52 mins, TV-PG,

An episode of the ABC television series ABC Closeup!.


10:30 PM -- Crisis (1963)
After years of segregation, the University of Alabama becomes the last U.S. college to open its doors to black students.
Dir: Robert Drew
BW-52 mins, TV-PG,

With the exception of the narrator, cast members are credited orally during the movie by the narrator or by other cast members or themselves (on the telephone).


11:45 PM -- Faces of November (1964)
This short film examines reactions to President Kennedy's death.
Dir: Robert Drew
BW-12 mins, TV-PG,

Scenes from this documentary were included in the 2008 documentary A President To Remember.


12:00 AM -- Four Days In November (1964)
The nation responds with shock and sorrow when President John F. Kennedy is assassinated.
Dir: Mel Stuart
Narrator: Richard Basehart
BW-122 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Abraham Zapruder, who took the famous 8mm motion picture of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, is very briefly seen in archive footage describing what he saw to WFAA-TV reporter Jay Watson.


2:15 AM -- PT 109 (1963)
Future president John Kennedy fights to save his crew when their PT boat sinks in the Pacific.
Dir: Leslie H. Martinson
Cast: Cliff Robertson, Ty Hardin, James Gregory
C-140 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The real PT 109 had been engaged in continual combat for five months when JFK took command, but was not the derelict, inoperative hulk depicted in the movie.


4:45 AM -- The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1950)
A collection of MGM previews with an introduction by Lionel Barrymore.
Dir: Herman Hoffman
C-57 mins, TV-G, CC