TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 21, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: Insurance Intrigue

[Staph]

It appears that the Essentials with Robert Osborne and co-host Sally Field is still being delayed. In the meantime, some one else (maybe Ben Mankiewicz, maybe Madeleine Stowe) will be stepping in with tonight's Essentials, featuring four films about the evils of insurance fraud. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- Fireman, Save My Child (1932)
A small-town ball player moves to the big leagues.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Evalyn Knapp, Lilian Bond
BW-66 mins,

This film was spoofed in the Slim Summerville short film Officer, Save My Child (1932).


7:30 AM -- Ten Little Indians (1966)
Party guests at a remote mansion have been brought together to pay for past crimes.
Dir: George Pollock
Cast: Hugh O'Brian, Shirley Eaton, Fabian
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

All movie versions of "Ten Little Indians" are based on the stage play by Agatha Christie and not the novel. While the identity of the murderer is the same in each version, who survives the murderer's plot is different.


9:15 AM -- The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949)
A reformed thief tracks a stolen jewel to clear his name.
Dir: John Hoffman
Cast: Ron Randell, June Vincent, Alan Mowbray
BW-60 mins,

The last of the Lone Wolf films. There was a television series beginning in 1954, starring Louis Hayward as Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf.


10:18 AM -- The Little Archer (1949)
A four year old practices to become an expert archer and hunter in this short film. Vitaphone Release 1794A.
Dir: Patsie V Sinkey
C-9 mins,


10:30 AM -- Let's Go Navy! (1951)
The Bowery Boys join the Navy to catch some crooks posing as sailors.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Allen Jenkins
BW-68 mins, CC,

The 23rd of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


11:45 AM -- The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins an Army platoon during World War II to learn what battle is really about.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Mitchum, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore and Philip Stevenson, Best Music, Original Song -- Ann Ronell for the song "Linda", and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell

The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa - the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner - never having seen the movie in which they appeared.


1:45 PM -- Shane (1953)
A mysterious drifter helps farmers fight off a vicious gunman.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin
C-118 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Loyal Griggs

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Brandon De Wilde, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Palance, Best Director -- George Stevens, Best Writing, Screenplay -- A.B. Guthrie Jr., and Best Picture

In the funeral scene, the dog consistently refused to look into the grave. Finally, director George Stevens had the dog's trainer lie down in the bottom of the grave, and the dog played his part ably. The coffin (loaded with rocks for appropriate effect) was then lowered into the grave, but when the harmonica player began to play "Taps" spontaneously, the crew was so moved by the scene that they began shoveling dirt into the grave before remembering the dog's trainer was still there.


4:00 PM -- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Seven American gunmen hire themselves out to protect a Mexican village from bandits.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen
C-128 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

Although the film received only mixed reviews, John Sturges got a rave from the one source that really mattered to him. After seeing the picture, Akira Kurosawa was so impressed, he sent the American director a ceremonial sword as a gift.


6:15 PM -- Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
Officers on a WWII submarine clash during a perilous Pacific tour.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The older / younger dynamic (deskbound older commander taking the reins of what was to be the younger commander's first ship, yet keeping the younger officer on as the Exec) was featured prominently in another Robert Wise film some 20 years later: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: INSURANCE INTRIGUE



8:00 PM -- Double Indemnity (1944)
An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client's death.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
BW-108 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbara Stanwyck, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD),
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

Author James M. Cain later admitted that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did, he would have employed them in his original novel.


10:00 PM -- Cover-Up (1949)
An insurance investigator smells something wrong when he looks into a small-town suicide.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: William Bendix, Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton
BW-83 mins,

One of the co-writers of the original screenplay was actor Dennis O'Keefe.


11:30 PM -- Pitfall (1948)
A married insurance man falls for a criminal's girlfriend.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt
BW-86 mins, CC,

Continuity problems -- Near the end of the film, Dick Powell wanders the sidewalks throughout much of the night and into the morning. When he goes to his office, he is is unshaven. Later that morning, when his wife picks him up from the police station, Powell appears clean shaven.


1:00 AM -- Timetable (1956)
An insurance investigator turns to robbery, then has to solve one of his own crimes.
Dir: Mark Stevens
Cast: Mark Stevens, King Calder, Felicia Farr
BW-80 mins,

Based on a original story by Robert Angus.


2:30 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 2 (1985)
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.
Dir: Sid Laverents
Cast: Joan Guthrie, Sid Laverents
C-31 mins,


2:30 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 3 (1989)
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.
Dir: Sid Laverents
Cast: Adelaide Laverents, Sid Laverents
C-31 mins,


2:30 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 1 (1985)
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.
Dir: Sid Laverents
Cast: Sid Laverents, Bob Sandstrom, Karlene Sandstrom
C-27 mins,


2:30 AM -- Multiple SIDosis (1970)
A short film utilizing quick cuts and multiple angles of a one-man-band musical performance.
Dir: Sid Laverents
Cast: Adelaide Laverents, Sid Laverents
C-9 mins,


4:18 AM -- San Sebastian 1746 In 1968 (1968)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of "Guns For San Sebastian&quot 1968) in northern Mexico.
Dir: Floyd L. Peterson
BW-10 mins,


4:30 AM -- Booked for Safekeeping (1960)
In this short documentary, police officers are trained in the assistance and management of mentally ill and confused persons.
Dir: George C Stoney
BW-32 mins,


4:30 AM -- As Boys Grow... (1957)
In this short film, a coach gives the young boys on his athletic team an overview of puberty and the male and female reproductive system.
Dir: George Watson
Cast: Joe Miksak ,
BW-16 mins,


4:30 AM -- Perversion For Profit (1965)
This anti-porn short film shows a floodtide of filth engulfing the country in the form of newsstand obscenity.
Cast: Damian O'Flynn ,
C-31 mins,

[Vadem]

1. thanks for keeping us informed! n/t