TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 7, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: Bette Davis in the 50s

[Staph]

It appears that the Essentials with Robert Osborne and co-host Sally Field is still being delayed. In the meantime, Ben Mankiewicz will be stepping in with tonight's Essentials, featuring a trio of films from the 1950s starring Bette Davis, including her gloriously bitchy role as Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950). And in the very late night, there are hours of short films directed by the very strange David Lynch, including his DumbLand cartoon series. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
A team of flyers risks their lives to deliver the mail in a mountainous South American country.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess
BW-121 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Walker, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Roy Davidson (photographic) and Edwin C. Hahn (sound)

Howard Hawks and Jean Arthur did not get along during filming. Arthur was not used to Hawks' highly improvisational style, and when Hawks wanted Arthur to play Bonnie much in a subtly sexy way (not unlike his other "Hawksian women&quot , Arthur flatly said, "I can't do that kind of stuff." Hawks told Arthur at the end of the shoot, "You are one of the few people I've worked with that I don't think I've helped at all. Someday you can go see what I wanted to do because I'm gonna do this character all over again." Years later Hawks returned home to find Arthur waiting for him in his driveway. She had just seen his To Have and Have Not (1944) and confessed, "I wish I'd done what you'd asked me to do. If you ever make another picture with me, I'll promise to do any goddamn thing you want to do. If a kid [Lauren Bacall] can come in and do that kind of stuff, I certainly could do it." Hawks and Arthur never collaborated again.


9:15 AM -- The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946)
A reformed thief tracks a stolen gem to clear his name.
Dir: D. Ross Lederman
Cast: Gerald Mohr, Janis Carter, Eric Blore
BW-65 mins, CC,

The eighteenth of twenty-two Lone Wolf films.


10:30 AM -- Bowery Battalion (1951)
The Bowery Boys join the Army to catch a spy ring.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Donald MacBride
BW-69 mins, CC,

Shot in six days.


12:00 PM -- Dark of the Sun (1968)
A mercenary band fights to get refugees and a fortune in diamonds out of the Congo.
Dir: Jack Cardiff
Cast: Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Showbusiness trade paper Variety erroneously reported in its review that this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie was shot in Africa but in fact this movie was filmed Out of Africa. The picture's exteriors were lensed in Jamaica in the Carribean as it could not be shot on the dark continent due to political unrest. Ironically, around the same, another picture from MGM, Graham Greene's The Comedians (1967), was set in the Carribean, but filmed in Benin, West Africa.


2:00 PM -- The Hustler (1961)
A pool shark falls into the clutches of a crooked gambler.
Dir: Robert Rossen
Cast: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie
BW-135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Eugen Schüfftan, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Harry Horner and Gene Callahan

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Piper Laurie, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jackie Gleason, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George C. Scott (Refused even to be nominated.), Best Director -- Robert Rossen, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen, and Best Picture

Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.


4:30 PM -- Them! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
BW-92 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.


6:15 PM -- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
An alien demands that Earth's leaders choose between peace and destruction.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe
BW-92 mins, CC,

The role of Gort was played by Lock Martin, the doorman from Grauman's Chinese Theater, because he was extremely tall. However, he was unable to pick up Helen because he was so weak and had to be aided by wires (in shots from the back where he's carrying her, it's actually a lightweight dummy in his arms). He also had difficulty with the heavy Gort suit and could only stay in it for about a half-hour at a time.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BETTE DAVIS IN THE '50S



8:00 PM -- All About Eve (1950)
An ambitious young actress tries to take over a star's career and love life.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
BW-138 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Sanders, Best Director -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Charles Le Maire, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Baxter, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Celeste Holm, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Thelma Ritter, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Milton R. Krasner, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis, Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alfred Newman

In real life, Bette Davis had just turned 42 as she undertook the role of Margo Channing, and Anne Baxter, still an up-and-comer, not only wowed audiences with her performance, but successfully pressured the powers that be to get her nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category rather than Best Supporting Actress. This is thought to have split the vote between herself and Davis. The winner for the 1950 Best Actress was Judy Holliday for her noticeable turn in Born Yesterday (1950), so Baxter's actions in effect blocked Davis' chances for the win.


10:30 PM -- The Catered Affair (1956)
A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
BW-94 mins, CC,

Craggy-faced Ernest Borgnine was 39 when this film came out, only 15 years older than his film daughter Debbie Reynolds, who was 24. His wife in the film, Bette Davis, was 48.


12:15 AM -- Another Man's Poison (1951)
A mystery writer's real life turns to intrigue when her criminal husband escapes from prison.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams
BW-90 mins, CC,

Co-produced by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. who co-starred with Davis in Parachute Jumper in 1933 while still married to her rival, Joan Crawford.


2:00 AM -- The Grandmother (1970)
A boy plants a seed that grows into a grandmother in this experimental short film.
Dir: David Lynch
Cast: Dorothy McGinnis, Richard White, Robert Chadwick
C-34 mins,


2:00 AM -- Premonition Following an Evil Deed (1995)
Police discover a naked dead body.
Dir: David Lynch
BW-1 mins,


2:00 AM -- The Alphabet (1968)
This experimental short film presents a sick woman's nightmare involving living representations of the alphabet.
Dir: David Lynch
Cast: Peggy Lynch,
C-4 mins,


2:00 AM -- Six Men Getting Sick (1966)
Six cartoon figures vomit repeatedly.
Dir: David Lynch
BW-4 mins,


2:00 AM -- The Amputee, Version 1 (1974)
A double amputee attempts to write a letter while her nurse gets in the way.
Dir: David Lynch
BW-5 mins,


2:00 AM -- The Amputee, Version 2 (1974)
A double amputee attempts to write a letter while her nurse gets in the way.
Dir: David Lynch
BW-4 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: My Teeth Are Bleeding (2002)
Randy's family experiences bloody accidents.
BW-4 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: Get the Stick! (2002)
A screaming man crashes through Randy's fence.
BW-4 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: The Treadmill (2002)
Randy loses his temper when his wife disturbs him by running on a noisy treadmill.
BW-4 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: Ants (2002)
Randy is plagued by an ant infestation.
BW-5 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: A Friend Visits (2002)
Randy's friend visits after he causes a car wreck.
BW-4 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: The Doctor (2002)
A doctor arrives after Randy shocks himself while trying to fix a broken lamp.
BW-5 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: The Neighbor (2002)
Randy makes small talk with a neighbor.
BW-3 mins,


3:30 AM -- DumbLand: Uncle BOB (2002)
Randy stays at home to watch his uncle.
BW-5 mins,


4:15 AM -- The Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness (1972)
Filmmakers trace the history of opium and its role in today's drug trade in this short film.
Dir: William Templeton
C-22 mins,


4:15 AM -- The Distant Drummer: A Movable Scene (1970)
An education short film that exposes drug use and drug culture.
Dir: William Templeton
C-22 mins,

[longship]

1. A great early evening beginning with "Day the Earth Stood Still" then "All About Eve"

The first has Robert Wise's firm direction and brilliant casting of Michael Rennie.

What can one say about "All About Eve" beyond "Fasten your seatbelts". What a great script! And make sure you pay attention to Celeste Holm!!!!

Note: both films feature Hugh Marlowe in support.

[Staph]

2. I'm still trying to figure out

the logic of TCM's Saturday daytime programming. The weekdays all have a theme of some sort, an actor, a director, a location, a genre, or even words in the title.

But Saturdays at TCM seem to be a grab bag! However, if grab bag means that we get The Hustler and The Day The Earth Stood Still in the same afternoon, it's all right with me!