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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Thu Sep 11, 2014, 10:30 PM Sep 2014

TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 13, 2014 -- The Essentials - Houses of Ill Repute

Tonight's Essentials all take place in and around houses of ill repute, an interesting follow-up to yesterday's pre-code films. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- Singin' In The Rain (1952)
A silent-screen swashbuckler finds love while trying to adjust to the coming of sound.
Dir: Gene Kelly
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds
C-103 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jean Hagen, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

For the "Make Em Laugh" number, Gene Kelly asked Donald O'Connor to revive a trick he had done as a young dancer, running up a wall and completing a somersault. The number was so physically taxing that O'Connor, who smoked four packs of cigarettes a day at the time, went to bed (or may have been hospitalized, depending on the source) for a week after its completion, suffering from exhaustion and painful carpet burns. Unfortunately, an accident ruined all of the initial footage, so after a brief rest, O'Connor, ever the professional, agreed to do the difficult number all over again.



8:00 AM -- The Three Musketeers (1948)
Athletic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure about the king's musketeers and their mission to protect France.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Lana Turner, Gene Kelly, June Allyson
C-126 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color - Robert H. Planck

Fearing pressure from church groups, MGM had the script refer to Richelieu as Prime Minister rather than Cardinal and almost all traces of him being a cardinal or a man of the church at all have been removed, even though other versions of this story kept Richelieu explicitly a cardinal without any repercussions.



10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Gene Kelly (11/7/75) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Gene Kelly from 11/7/75.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- The Secret Of Dr. Kildare (1939)
A young doctor tries to help a woman suffering from psychosomatic blindness.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Lionel Atwill
BW-84 mins, CC,

Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. A college dropout, he was found by a talent scout in the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and entered Hollywood as a bit player. He was leading man to Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), but it was the role of Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that was his big break. He was profoundly affected by the anti-war message of that film, and when, in 1942, the popular star of Young Dr. Kildare (1938) and subsequent Dr. Kildare films was drafted, he was a conscientious objector. America was outraged, and theaters vowed never to show his films again, but quietly he achieved the Medical Corps status he had requested, serving as a medic under fire in the South Pacific and as a chaplain's aid in New Guinea and the Phillipines. His return to film after the war was undistinguished until Johnny Belinda (1948) - his role as the sympathetic physician treating the deaf-mute Jane Wyman won him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Subsequent movie roles were scarce; an opportunity to play Dr. Kildare in television was aborted when the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. He continued to act, but in the 1970s put his long experience into a project to bring to the west the philosophy of the East - the resulting film, Altars of the World (1976), while not a box-office success, won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. Lew Ayres died in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.


12:00 PM -- The Law Rides Again (1943)
Western lawmen use an outlaw to bring down a crooked Indian agent.
Dir: Alan James
Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Jack LaRue
BW-56 mins, CC,

Follows Wild Horse Stampede (1943). Followed by Blazing Guns (1943), Death Valley Rangers (1943), Westward Bound (1944), Arizona Whirlwind (1944), Outlaw Trail (1944) and Sonora Stagecoach (1944).


1:15 PM -- The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
During WWII, five brothers enlist in the Navy and are assigned to serve on the same ship.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Edward Doherty and Jules Schermer

As a direct result of the five Sullivan brothers fatalities, the United States War Department developed and initiated the Sole Survivor Policy. It is a myth that following the five Sullivan brothers deaths, the US Government enacted the "Sullivan Act", an act made to prevent siblings serving together on the same boat. At the time of the Second World War, the US Navy did have a policy of separating siblings. This policy was not enforced by the book though.



3:15 PM -- Fail-Safe (1964)
A failure in the U.S. defense system threatens to start World War III.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau
BW-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Columbia Pictures produced both this movie and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Director Stanley Kubrick insisted his movie be released first, and it was, in January 1964. When Fail-Safe (1964) was released, it garnered excellent reviews, but audiences found it unintentionally funny because of "Strangelove", and stayed away. Henry Fonda later said he would never have made this movie if he had seen "Strangelove" first, because he would have laughed too.


5:15 PM -- The Guns of Navarone (1961)
A team of Allied saboteurs fight their way behind enemy lines to destroy a pair of Nazi guns.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn
C-157 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Bill Warrington (visual) and Chris Greenham (audible)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- J. Lee Thompson, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Carl Foreman, Best Sound -- John Cox (Shepperton SSD), Best Film Editing -- Alan Osbiston, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

The plot went through so many twists that Gregory Peck finally submitted his own version to screenwriter/producer Carl Foreman: "David Niven really loves Anthony Quayle and Gregory Peck loves Anthony Quinn. Tony Quayle breaks a leg and is sent off to hospital. Tony Quinn falls in love with Irene Papas, and Niven and Peck catch each other on the rebound and live happily ever after."




TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: HOUSES OF ILL REPUTE



8:00 PM -- Belle de jour (1967)
A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Geneviève Page
C-100 mins, Letterbox Format

"Belle de jour" is a day lily in French, a flower that blooms only by day, as Severine is available only during the afternoons. "Belle de jour" is also a sort of pun, as it reminds us of "belle de nuit", an euphemism for prostitute.


10:00 PM -- Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
A penniless farmer tracks the woman he loves to a New Orleans brothel.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda
C-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Elmer Bernstein (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "Walk on the Wild Side"

According to Penny Stallings' 'Flesh and Fantasy', when Barbara Stanwyck first encountered Laurence Harvey on the set lounging in his gold brocade bathrobe and drinking champagne, she walked up to him and said, "All right, Larry, let's go! Get your ass in gear. We've got a picture to make, and I don't have time for prima donnas!" After a moment of silence, this struck Harvey as highly amusing and he burst into laughter. He and Stanwyck immediately became friends.



12:15 AM -- Frisco Jenny (1932)
A district attorney prosecutes his own mother for murder.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Ruth Chatterton, Louis Calhern, Helen Jerome Eddy
BW-71 mins, CC,

George Brent was originally cast opposite Ruth Chatterton but withdrew to star in 42nd Street (1933).


1:33 AM -- Lionpower From MGM (1967)
This short film presents highlights from MGM films scheduled to be released during the upcoming 1967-68 movie seasons.
C-27 mins,


2:00 AM -- Madhouse (1974)
A horror star's attempted comeback is complicated by a string of murders.
Dir: James Clark
Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry
C-91 mins, Letterbox Format

The title has very little to do with the film. There is a brief scene in a mental institution; and we learn in some expository dialogue that the main character spent time there. Otherwise, the "madhouse" of the title is irrelevant.


3:40 AM -- Have Faith In Our Children (1955)
In this short film, Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell urge moviegoers to donate to a charity for blind children.
BW-3 mins,


3:45 AM -- House Of Wax (1953)
A scarred sculptor re-populates his ravaged wax museum with human corpses.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk
C-88 mins, CC,

The alcoholic sculptor was a heroin addict in the original version of the film, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), but that had to be changed for the remake because the Production Code forbade any mention of drug addiction. (Ironically, a character played by Vincent Price had got away with confessing to drug addiction in Dragonwyck (1946), filmed in 1945, eight years before "House of Wax.&quot


5:30 AM -- Shake Hands With Danger (1970)
Short safety film about dangers associated with earthmoving equipment operation, showing many simulated accidents on construction sites.
C-23 mins,


5:55 AM -- John Barrymore (1962)
This short film, part of the Hollywood Hist-o-Rama series, offers a brief biography of John Barrymore.
Dir: Joseph R Juliano
BW-3 mins,


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TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 13, 2014 -- The Essentials - Houses of Ill Repute (Original Post) Staph Sep 2014 OP
A great supporting role for Larry Hagman in Fail-Safe longship Sep 2014 #1
Casting the "boy" singer in a film full of adult actors Staph Sep 2014 #2
The Guns of Navarone is still a great adventure film. longship Sep 2014 #3

longship

(40,416 posts)
1. A great supporting role for Larry Hagman in Fail-Safe
Fri Sep 12, 2014, 02:13 AM
Sep 2014

As well as Walter Matthau and Dan O'Herlihy.

It is a compelling story that unfortunately was overpowered by Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, which is undoubtedly the better statement against nuclear war.

Nevertheless, I love Fail-Safe

Also, The Guns of Navarone is another great adventure, spoiled only by the studio's insistence of casting James Darren and actually having him sing. (What is this? A musical?) Niven and Peck doing great work here with a good supporting cast.

Staph

(6,245 posts)
2. Casting the "boy" singer in a film full of adult actors
Fri Sep 12, 2014, 03:10 AM
Sep 2014

seems to be a very 1950s/1960s kind of thing, as a way of bringing "youngsters" to the movies. Think Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959).

Of course, today the majority of films are aimed at 12- to 25-year-olds, but no one in Hollywood thinks to include an older actor (think someone in his/her thirties or forties) to bring in the adult viewers!


longship

(40,416 posts)
3. The Guns of Navarone is still a great adventure film.
Fri Sep 12, 2014, 03:16 AM
Sep 2014

The cast is pretty damned good even though the story is pretty much unbelievable. Nevertheless, if one falls into the narrative, it works, mainly because of the cast. I love David Niven in this film. He's rarely been better. He nearly died making it, BTW -- infection contracted while working on the water logged set.

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