TCM Schedule for Friday, July 29, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month: Olivia De Havilland

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is highlighting films featuring Nancy Davis (aka Nancy Reagan, aka Mommy). It's not her birthday, but TCM is giving her a memorial day, as they have done for so many recently deceased performers. Then in prime time, it's the last of 100 year old Olivia de Havilland. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #23 (1955)
Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse perform in a clip from "Anchors Aweigh"; George Murphy, Dore Schary and Richard Brooks show a short film about the making of "The Last Hunt." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,


6:30 AM -- SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
A child is left mute by the sight of her stepmother's murder.
Dir: Patrick Jackson
Cast: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau
BW-84 mins, CC,

The first woman seen is a maid, Olga, who is played by none other than "The Beaver's" mother, Barbara Billingsly!


8:00 AM -- THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR... (1950)
The voice of God mystically appears on the radio, changing all who hear it.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: James Whitmore, Nancy Davis, Gary Gray
BW-83 mins, CC,

This is apparently one of only three films in which the MGM lion is not shown roaring at the start of the opening credits, probably because of the religious theme of the film. The only other known incidence of a non-roaring lion is Ben-Hur (1959), which also has a religious theme, and Westward the Women (1951). (The studio's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) uses the illustrated lion from the MGM record label at its beginning, not a real lion, and so doesn't count.)


9:30 AM -- NIGHT INTO MORNING (1951)
After a fire kills his family, a college professor sinks into alcoholism.
Dir: Fletcher Markle
Cast: Ray Milland, John Hodiak, Nancy Davis
BW-86 mins, CC,

In the promotional film The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951), this film is referred to only under its working title, "People in Love".


11:00 AM -- IT'S A BIG COUNTRY (1952)
Seven stories celebrate the glorious diversity of American life.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Ethel Barrymore, Keefe Brasselle, Gary Cooper
BW-89 mins, CC,

Originally released as It's A Big Country: An American Anthology.


12:45 PM -- TALK ABOUT A STRANGER (1952)
Small-town gossips rage over the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
Dir: David Bradley
Cast: George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray
BW-65 mins, CC,

Based on Charlotte Armstrong's story The Enemy.


2:00 PM -- SHADOW IN THE SKY (1951)
A shell-shocked veteran tries to recover his sanity while living with his sister.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Nancy Davis, James Whitmore
BW-78 mins,

Based on a story by Edward Newhouse.


3:30 PM -- DONOVAN'S BRAIN (1953)
A scientist keeps an unscrupulous tycoon's brain alive and falls under its influence.
Dir: Felix Feist
Cast: Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, Nancy Davis
BW-84 mins, CC,

Dr. Cory, under the control of the brain, makes out a list showing several false identities under which Donovan has hidden money around the country. The first four names on the list are actual names of crew members: production supervisor H.B. Chapman, production designer Boris Leven, assistant director Jack R. Berne (on list as "Jack Byrne&quot and set decorator Edward Boyle. The fifth name, Fred Russell, is that of a popular sports writer of the early 1950s.


5:00 PM -- HELLCATS OF THE NAVY (1957)
A submarine commander inadvertently causes the death of a romantic rival under his command.
Dir: Nathan Juran
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Davis, Arthur Franz
BW-81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This movie has a great introduction by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who directly addresses the audience in this movie's prologue. Not often seen speaking in public, Navy buffs will enjoy seeing the Admiral introduce this film. He talks for about two minutes, explaining how he approved the orders for this real life event in World War II. As Commander of the American Fleet in the Pacific region, Nimitz authorized the plan to break the supply chain between the Asian mainland and Japan. The Hellcat submarines were critical to the US Navy achieving this strategy. Nimitz said of this mission: "This is the story of one of the most daring operations in the history of Navy warfare!" According to the 'Hollywood Reporter' of December 1956, the Chester W. Nimitz footage for this movie was filmed in Berkeley, California in late December 1956 and early January 1957. In an uncredited part, Selmer Jackson portrays Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in the rest of this movie outside of the introduction.


6:30 PM -- CRASH LANDING (1958)
The passengers and crew of a trans-Atlantic flight prepare for a crash landing at sea.
Dir: Fred F. Sears
Cast: Gary Merrill, Nancy Davis, Roger Smith
BW-77 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This was Nancy Davis's final theatrical film. She continued to work in television until 1962.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: OLIVIA De HAVILLAND



8:00 PM -- THE 5TH MUSKETEER (1979)
France's King Louis XIV tries to use his look-alike brother to political advantage.
Dir: Ken Annakin
Cast: Beau Bridges, Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The movie marked Alan Hale Jr.'s third and final portrayal of Porthos in a film after inheriting the role from his father, Alan Hale, who had originated the merry character in the earlier picture The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Hale, Jr. played Porthos Jr. in At Sword's Point (1952) and then portrayed Porthos for the second time in Lady in the Iron Mask (1952).


10:00 PM -- THE SWARM (1978)
Killer bees extend their territory into the U.S., with devastating effect.
Dir: Irwin Allen
Cast: Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark
C-116 mins, CC,

Michael Caine stated in an interview that during filming he thought the little yellow spots left by the bees on his clothing was honey so he began to eat it, unaware he was eating bee poop.


12:15 AM -- 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

The Broadway production of the musical version of "The Light in the Piazza" opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York on April 18, 2005, ran for 504 performances and was nominated for the 2005 Tony Awards for the Best Musical and Book and won for Best Score.


2:15 AM -- LIBEL (1959)
A former POW is accused of being an impostor.
Dir: Anthony Asquith
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Olivia De Havilland, Paul Massie
BW-100 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound -- A.W. Watkins (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer London Sound Department)

The original Broadway production of "Libel", produced in 1935, was directed by Otto Preminger, years before he made his Hollywood debut as a film director.


4:00 AM -- THE MALE ANIMAL (1942)
A college professor fights censorship and an amorous football player who's after his wife.
Dir: Elliott Nugent
Cast: Henry Fonda, Olivia De Havilland, Joan Leslie
BW-101 mins, CC,

Two of the "college students" in the cast went on to be well-known TV dads in the 1960s: Herbert Anderson (Dennis the Menace (1959)) and Don DeFore (Hazel (1961)).


5:50 AM -- PICTURESQUE PATZCUARO (1942)
This short film takes the viewer to Lake Patzcuaro, one of the most beautiful bodies of water in Mexico.
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins,