TCM Schedule for Friday, May 8, 2015 -- Friday Night Spotlight - Orson Welles

[Staph]

During the day, we're visiting the Eternal City of Rome. This month's Friday night theme continues with the films of Orson Welles. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Sky Divers (1969)
This promotional short film offers a behind-the-scenes look at "The Gypsy Moths" (1969), focusing exclusively on skydiving.
Dir: Dale Mackey
C-15 mins,


6:15 AM -- Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1956)
A playboy finds love while managing a posh hotel in Rome.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Dean Martin, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eva Bartok
C-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

First movie Dean Martin did after Martin and Lewis broke up.


8:15 AM -- The Seven Hills Of Rome (1957)
A television star finds love while trying to get away from it all in Rome.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Mario Lanza, Renato Rascel, Marisa Allasio
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Traditionally, the seven hills are:
Aventine Hill (Latin, Aventinus; Italian, Aventino)
Caelian Hill (Caelius, Celio)
Capitoline Hill (Capitolinus, Campidoglio)
Esquiline Hill (Esquilinus, Esquilino)
Palatine Hill (Palatinus, Palatino)
Quirinal Hill (Quirinalis, Quirinale)
Viminal Hill (Viminalis, Viminale)


10:00 AM -- When In Rome (1952)
A con artist disguises himself as a priest, then begins to believe the role.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Van Johnson, Paul Douglas, Joseph Calleia
BW-78 mins, CC,

Paul Douglas comments that St. Peter's is bigger than Yankee Stadium. In fact, the Yankee Stadium of 1952 could fit into just the central aisle of St. Peter's.


11:30 AM -- Purple Noon (1961)
French adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, about Tom Ripley, a talented mimic, moocher, forger and all-around criminal improviser.
Dir: René Clément
Cast: Alain Delon, Marie Laforêt, Maurice Ronet
C-117 mins,

John Malkovich remarked in an interview with the BBC that he came close to directing The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and that he was in negotiations to obtain the rights to direct a remake of the first "Talented Mr Ripley" adaptation, "Plein Soleil." Malkovich later played Tom Ripley in Ripley's Game (2002).


1:37 PM -- Italy's In Season (1967)
This short film presents a look at Italy's popular tourist spots.
C-7 mins,


1:45 PM -- Light In The Piazza (1962)
A woman's efforts to marry off her daughter are hindered by a family secret.
Dir: Guy Green
Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, Yvette Mimieux
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

George Hamilton was a last minute replacement for James Darren.


3:30 PM -- Roman Holiday (1953)
A runaway princess in Rome finds love with a reporter who knows her true identity.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert
BW-118 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Dalton Trumbo (The screen credit and award were originally credited to Ian McLellan Hunter who fronted for Dalton Trumbo. In December 1992 the Academy decided to change the records and to credit Mr. Trumbo with the achievement. Ian McLellan Hunter was removed from the Motion Picture Story category and the Oscar was posthumously presented to Trumbo's widow on May 10th, 1993.), and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Eddie Albert, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Franz Planer and Henri Alekan, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler, Best Film Editing -- Robert Swink, and Best Picture

The Embassy Ball sequence featured real Italian nobility, who all donated their salaries to charity. The reporters at the end of the film were real, too.


5:29 PM -- Capriccio Italien (1953)
In this short film, The MGM Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien."
BW-10 mins,


5:45 PM -- Rome Adventure (1962)
A rebellious teacher moves to Rome and finds love.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson, Rossano Brazzi
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Natalie Wood was the first choice to play the female lead of Prudence Bell. She had a writer friend of hers read the script and once he confirmed her fear that it wasn't up to snuff she decided it was a good time to go ahead with a tonsillectomy that she'd been putting off; the part was then given to Suzanne Pleshette.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: ORSON WELLES



8:00 PM -- Touch Of Evil (1958)
A narcotics agent risks his wife's life to investigate a crooked cop.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles
BW-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Orson Welles was fired as director during post-production, and the film was recut contrary to his wishes. Before his death, he left instructions on how he wanted the film to be edited, and in 1998 a version was made the way he intended.


10:00 PM -- The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane
BW-87 mins, CC,

Near the end of shooting, Orson Welles told Columbia executives that he wanted a complete set repainted on a Saturday for shooting on Monday. Columbia exec Jack Fier told Welles it was impossible, because of union rules and the expense that would be incurred by calling in a crew of painters to work on a weekend. Welles and several friends broke into the paint department that Saturday and repainted the set themselves, and when they were finished they hung a banner on the set that read "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fier Himself". When the union painters arrived at work on Monday and saw that the set had been repainted by someone else, they refused to work, threw a picket line around the studio and threatened to stay on strike until a union crew was paid triple time for the work that had been done (which was why Fier had refused to authorize the work in the first place). To placate the union, Fier agreed to pay them what they wanted but put the cost on Welles' personal bill. In addition, he had the union painters paint a banner saying "All's Well That Ends Welles".


11:45 PM -- Mr. Arkadin (1955)
A private eye investigates a millionaire's mysterious past before a murderer can get to the witnesses.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Robert Arden, Paola Mori
BW-106 mins,

The novel and the screenplay were both based on an episode in the radio series, "The Lives of Harry Lime", in which Welles played his Harry Lime character as rather less villainous that he was in The Third Man (1949). In "Mr. Arkadin", the Harry Lime character is renamed "Guy van Stratten" and is played by Robert Arden, while Welles plays Arkadin. The radio episode was number 37 in the series, entitled "Man of Mystery," and first broadcast on 11 April 1952. The introduction to the episode also describes the movie: "One late afternoon a couple of years ago, a plane was sighted about seventy miles out of Orly Airport in Paris. It was a private plane, medium sized, and nobody was in it; nobody at all. The plane, keeping its course steadily toward Paris, was flying itself. Why was it empty? Who had been flying it? And why, and under what circumstances, had they left it? Why? Thereby hangs a tale."


1:45 AM -- Journey Into Fear (1942)
A munitions expert gets mixed up with gunrunners in Turkey.
Dir: Norman Foster
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Ruth Warrick
BW-68 mins, CC,

In late August 1942, RKO decided to delay the release of the movie because critics panned it in press previews. By that time, Orson Welles' contract was terminated by a new studio head. As part of the settlement, Welles agreed to recut the last reel and film additional scenes. He added the voice-over by Joseph Cotten at the beginning and end of the movie, and designed the pre-credit sequence.


3:04 AM -- Victory Quiz (1942)
This short film asks viewers questions about the United States and its involvement in World War II.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Dave O'Brien, Alan Hale Jr.,
BW-9 mins,


3:15 AM -- Foreign Correspondent (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #6 (1955)
Greta Garbo performs in a clip from "Anna Christie"; Robert Taylor introduces a clip from "Quentin Durward." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,