TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 29, 2014 -- TCM Memorial Tribute to Rod Taylor

[Staph]

This evening, TCM is celebrating the life and work of Australian Rod Taylor, who passed away on January 7, 2015. Taylor had completely retired from acting when Quentin Tarantino offered him the role of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Inglourious Basterds (2009). At first Taylor declined the part, suggesting that Tarantino should cast Albert Finney (who had played Churchill to great acclaim in The Gathering Storm (2002)), but eventually the director talked him into it. Enjoy!


7:00 AM -- The Florentine Dagger (1935)
A playwright descended from the Borgias becomes a murder suspect.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Donald Woods, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith
BW-69 mins,

The third in a Warner Bros series called Clue Club -- no relationship with the Hanna-Barbera animated series.


8:15 AM -- The Mystery Of Mr. X (1934)
A sophisticated jewel thief tries to prove himself innocent of a string of cop murders.
Dir: Edgar Selwyn
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Elizabeth Allen, Lewis Stone
BW-84 mins, CC,

Philip MacDonald's novel was first published in London as "X v. Rex" using his pseudonym, Martin Porlock. It was published in America as "The Mystery of the Dead Police" under his real name.


9:45 AM -- Crime Unlimited (1935)
A young police academy recruit tries to break up a gang of thieves.
Dir: Ralph Ince
Cast: Esmond Knight, Lilli Palmer, Cecil Parker
BW-71 mins,

This film had its U. S. television premiere on Turner Classic Movies on 24 September 2007 during TCM's festival of films made by Warner Brothers at Teddington Studios in the UK.


11:00 AM -- London By Night (1937)
A blackmailer holds the key to several murders.
Dir: William Thiele
Cast: George Murphy, Rita Johnson, Virginia Field
BW-69 mins,

Will Scott's play, "The Umbrella," was unpublished and possibly never performed.


12:15 PM -- Haunted Honeymoon (1940)
British sleuth Sir Peter Wimsey's wedding celebration is cut short by the discovery of a murdered man in his honeymoon cottage.
Dir: Arthur B. Woods
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Constance Cummings, Leslie Banks
BW-83 mins, CC,

Richard Thorpe was the original director starting 4 August 1939, traveling to various locations in England. World War II started in early September, and the film was shelved until March 1940 with Arthur B. Woods as director. Maureen O'Sullivan was to appear in the film and sailed on the Queen Mary for London, but she returned to the USA when the film was shelve.


1:45 PM -- Shadows On The Stairs (1941)
A series of mysterious murders haunts the inhabitants of a boarding house.
Dir: D. Ross Lederman
Cast: Frieda Inescort, Paul Cavanagh, Heather Angel
BW-64 mins,

Original script title -- Murder on the Second Floor.


3:00 PM -- Crack-Up (1946)
An art critic risks his reputation and his life to track down a forgery racket.
Dir: Irving Reis
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall
BW-93 mins, CC,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 30, 1946 with Pat O'Brien reprising his film role.


4:45 PM -- The Runaway Bus (1954)
A London motor coach gets lost in the fog with a cache of stolen gold aboard.
Dir: Val Guest
Cast: Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford, Petula Clark
BW-74 mins,

First film of Michael Gwynn.


6:05 PM -- White Peril (1956)
This short film shows members of a "snow patrol" at work in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.
Dir: Don Horter
BW-8 mins,


6:15 PM -- The Secret Partner (1961)
A shipping tycoon with a record becomes a suspect when money goes missing from the company vault.
Dir: Basil Dearden
Cast: Stewart Granger, Haya Harareet, Bernard Lee
BW-91 mins, Letterbox Format

French title -- Scotland Yard contre X.


7:57 PM -- Madame - Sophia Loren (Trailer) (1961)
This short is a promotional trailer for "Madame" (1961), starring Sophia Loren.
C-2 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: ROD TAYLOR



8:00 PM -- The Time Machine (1960)
A turn-of-the-century inventor sends himself into the future to save humanity.
Dir: George Pal
Cast: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux
C-103 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Gene Warren and Tim Baar

When George arrives in the year 802701 his time machine reads the date of October 12th. So George arrives into a "New World" on the anniversary of Columbus' first reaching the "New World" of the Americas.


9:50 PM -- H.M.S. Bounty Sails Again! (1962)
A promotional short following the world tour of the "HMS Bounty", built specially by MGM for their 1962 remake "Mutiny on the Bounty."
BW-8 mins,


10:00 PM -- The Birds (1963)
In a California coastal area, flocks of birds unaccountably make deadly attacks on humans.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Ub Iwerks

Mitch Zanich, owner of the Tides Restaurant at the time of shooting, told Hitchcock he could shoot there if the lead male in the film was named after him, and Hitch gave him a speaking part in the movie. Hitchcock agreed: Rod Taylor's character was named Mitch Brenner, and Mitch Zanich was given a speaking part. After Melanie is attacked by a seagull, Mitch Zanich can be heard saying to Mitch Brenner, "What happened, Mitch?"


12:15 AM -- Sunday in New York (1963)
A philandering pilot gets real moral, real fast when his sister contemplates a premarital fling.
Dir: Peter Tewksbury
Cast: Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson
C-105 mins, CC,

Jane Fonda has been quoted as stating that this film was the first time she enjoyed making a movie or thought she was any good at acting.


2:15 AM -- Young Cassidy (1965)
True story of playwright Sean O'Casey's involvement with the Irish rebellion of 1910.
Dir: Jack Cardiff
Cast: Rod Taylor, Flora Robson, Jack MacGowran
C-110 mins, CC,

Director John Ford fell ill during production and was replaced by Jack Cardiff. In an interview Cardiff said that only four minutes and five seconds of the footage shot by John Ford ended up in the finished film. The riot scene was cited by critics as the obvious work of Ford, yet it was completely done by Cardiff who admitted that he found inspiration from Battleship Potemkin (1925).


4:15 AM -- The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
A woman writing a scientist's biography is mistaken for a spy.
Dir: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Alice Pearce and George Tobias appear as a married couple. They were also husband and wife in Bewitched (1964) (1964). Paul Lynde, who plays Homer Cripps, also appeared in the show as Samantha's zany Uncle Arthur.

[Panich52]

1. Really like Taylor

I remember sneaking down and sitting on the steps to watch Time Machine when it first came on TV. (Parents caught me & sent me back to bed). And Sunday in New York is one of my favs, tho it makes the feminist & aging flower child in me cringe a bit.

[Staph]

2. I had a bit of a crush on Rod Taylor myself, many moons ago.

Welcome to DU, Panich52, and welcome to the Classic Film group. I see you're a fellow West Virginian as well -- I'm always glad to see another mountaineer around!