TCM Schedule for Friday, May 4 -- What's On Tonight: Lee J. Cobb

[Staph]

Today we're celebrating the birth of Audrey Hepburn, born Audrey Kathleen Ruston, on May 4, 1929, in Ixelles, Belgium, the child of an English banker and a Dutch baroness. Her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, temporarily changed the actress' name from Audrey to Edda during the World War II, feeling that "Audrey" might indicate her British roots too strongly. During the war, being English in occupied Holland was not an asset; it could have attracted the attention of the occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or even deportation. After the war, her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, found documents about his ancestors, some of whom bore the name Hepburn. This is when he added it to his name, which caused her daughter to have to legally add Hepburn to her name as well, thus Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston.

Our subject for primetime is actor Lee J. Cobb, and TCM is showing a trio of his films, including the amazing 12 Angry Men (1957), currently ranked #6 on IMDB's Top 250. Enjoy!



7:45 AM -- The Ladykillers (1955)
An eccentric bandit gang moves into a little old lady's boardinghouse to plot a major heist.
91 min, TV-G
Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original -- William Rose

The producers originally rejected director Alexander Mackendrick's choice of Katie Johnson for the role of Mrs. Wilberforce on the grounds that she might be too frail for the project, and so they cast a younger actress - who died before filming began.


9:30 AM -- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
An overlooked gold transporter with twenty years service plots to steal a million pounds of gold.
81 min, TV-G
Dir: Charles Crichton
Cast: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- T.E.B. Clarke

Nominated for an Oscar Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness

Audrey Hepburn was considered for a larger role in this film, but stage work made her unavailable. Alec Guinness was impressed with the young actress and arranged for her to appear in a bit part. This is considered to be Hepburn's first appearance in a major film.


11:00 AM -- The Nun's Story (1959)
A headstrong girl fights the strictures of the Catholic church in Europe and the Belgian Congo.
C-152 min, TV-PG
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Dame Edith Evans

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Cinematography, Color -- Franz Planer, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Film Editing -- Walter Thompson, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Anderson, and Best Picture

Audrey Hepburn met the real Marie-Louise Habets - inspiration for the novel and film - while she was preparing for the role. The two actually became great friends and Habets later nursed Hepburn back to health after her near-fatal horse-riding accident on the set of The Unforgiven.


1:45 PM -- Green Mansions (1959)
A young adventurer falls in love with a mystical woman in the South American jungle.
C-104 min, TV-PG
Dir: Mel Ferrer
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Anthony Perkins, Lee J. Cobb

This was the first major Hollywood film to be shot in Panavision. The Panavision process faced its first major test when Audrey Hepburn expressed worries that the widescreen process would distort her already square face. Test footage made in Panavision revealed this not to be the case, and reportedly received applause when it was shown for Hepburn and others in a test screening.


3:45 PM -- Love In The Afternoon (1957)
An aging American tycoon overcomes his inhibitions to court a young Parisian.
130 min, TV-G
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier

The original ending of the film just showed the two lovers departing together on a train, which threatened to land the film on the Catholic Legion of Decency's "Condemned List." As a result, Maurice Chevalier was called back to do the voice-over heard at the close of the film, in which he reports that the couple are "now married and serving a life sentence in New York City."


6:00 PM -- Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who've invaded her home.
C-108 min, TV-PG
Dir: Terence Young
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn

During World War II, 16-year-old Audrey Hepburn was a volunteer nurse in a Dutch hospital. During the battle of Arnhem, Hepburn's hospital received many wounded Allied soldiers. One of the injured soldiers young Audrey helped nurse back to health was a young British paratrooper - and future director - named Terence Young who more than 20 years later directed Hepburn in Wait Until Dark.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: LEE J. COBB



8:00 PM -- The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
A psychiatrist tries to help a woman integrate her split personalities.
91 min, TV-PG
Dir: Nunnally Johnson
Cast: Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, Lee J. Cobb

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joanne Woodward

The film is based on the true case of Christine Costner Sizemore who later wrote two books about her multiple personality problem, "I'm Eve" (1977) and "A Mind of My Own" (1989).


9:45 PM -- 12 Angry Men (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
96 min, TV-PG
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Sidney Lumet, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Reginald Rose, and Best Picture

At the beginning of the film, the cameras are all positioned above eye level and mounted with wide-angle lenses to give the appearance of greater distance between the subjects. As the film progresses the cameras slip down to eye level. By the end of the film, nearly all of it is shot below eye level, in close-up and with telephoto lenses to increase the encroaching sense of claustrophobia.


11:30 PM -- They Came To Rob Las Vegas (1969)
A casino blackjack dealer plots to hijack and rob an armored car.
C-129 min, TV-PG
Dir: Antonio Isasi Isasmendi
Cast: Gary Lockwood, Elke Sommer, Lee J. Cobb

This picture was an international co-production of four countries: France, Italy, Spain and West Germany but not the USA even though it was shot there too and Americans Gary Lockwood, Lee J. Cobb and Jack Palance lead the cast.


2:00 AM -- They Live (1988)
A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.
C-94 min, TV-MA
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster

Graffiti artist Shepard Fairey got his "obey" name from this film.


3:45 AM -- Escape From New York (1981)
Set in the future, Manhattan becomes a prison and an ex-bank robber is in charge of rescuing the president.
C-99 min, TV-MA
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Karen L. Peterkin

John Carpenter originally wrote the film in the mid-'70s as a reaction to the Watergate scandal, but no studio wanted to make it because it was deemed to be too dark and too violent. That all changed after the success of Halloween.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #10 (1955)
George Murphy introduces clips from "A Guy Named Joe" and "Guys and Dolls."
26 min, TV-G

[LASlibinSC]

1. 12 Angry Men

Man, this is a great movie! The direction is so smart. Wish I could have seen it from the start!

[Bolo Boffin]

2. They will have 12 Angry Men on again.

It really is a classic movie, made from a crackerjack stage script.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/94081/12-Angry-Men/

Looks like it will be on again June 3. Less than a month!

[LASlibinSC]

3. Thank you bunches

Pretty new to DU. I came tn this forum cause I love old movies. Have seen 12Angry Men scads of times, but it's one of my favorites. Thanks again!

[CBHagman]

4. Welcome to the Classic Films group, LASlibinSC!

I hope you will post queries and opinions and original threads.