TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 27, 2017 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials - Memorial Day Marathon

[Staph]

The Essentials include more of the Memorial Day Marathon. In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films of The Forgotten War -- the Korean War. And in prime time, it's Military Comedies, including Andy Griffith in No Time For Sergeants (1958) and Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955). Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- TARGET ZERO (1955)
International soldiers fight to ignore their differences while holding a hill during the Korean War.
Dir: Harmon Jones
Cast: Richard Conte, Peggie Castle, Charles Bronson
BW- 92 mins, CC,

Filmed in Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and in Arizona.


8:45 AM -- THE HOOK (1963)
Three soldiers in Korea go through inner torment when they're ordered to execute an enemy soldier.
Dir: George Seaton
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker Jr., Nick Adams
BW- 98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The Korean War started on June 25th, 1950 and ended in armistice on 27th of July, 1953.


10:30 AM -- ONE MINUTE TO ZERO (1952)
A U.S. colonel in Korea tries to evacuate American civilians.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman
BW- 106 mins, CC,

In this film, 175 Korean War veterans appear as extras and actual Korean War footage is included in the movie.


12:30 PM -- THE RACK (1956)
A Korean War veteran is accused of cracking under enemy torture.
Dir: Arnold Laven
Cast: Paul Newman, Wendell Corey, Walter Pidgeon
BW- 100 mins, CC,

With "The Rack", Walter Pidgeon ended a nineteen year association with MGM that had begun in 1937 with "Saratoga," ironically Jean Harlow's last film.


2:30 PM -- MEN IN WAR (1957)
Two enemies join forces to save their men during a retreat from the North Koreans.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith
BW- 98 mins,

In January 1952, the 24th Infantry Division, which suffered over 10,000 casualties in 18 months of fighting, was redesignated as the Far East Theater reserve and pulled out of Korea. It returned to Japan to rebuild.


4:30 PM -- THE STEEL HELMET (1951)
Americans trapped behind enemy lines fight off Communists during the Korean War.
Dir: Samuel Fuller
Cast: Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie, James Edwards
BW- 84 mins,

Filmed in ten days only six months after the outbreak of hostilities, this film became the first Korean War movie.


6:00 PM -- BATTLE HYMN (1957)
A minister resists turning to violence while trying to help orphans during the Korean War.
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Rock Hudson, Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea
C- 108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Robert Mitchum lobbied for the lead role. However, the real Col. Dean Hess wouldn't hear of a former jailbird portraying him. He personally approved Rock Hudson instead.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: MEMORIAL DAY MARATHON



8:00 PM -- NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS (1958)
A hillbilly draftee turns the Air Force upside down.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, Nick Adams
BW- 119 mins, CC,

This was Don Knotts' film debut. He met Andy Griffith when Knotts had a small part in Broadway's "No Time For Sergeants". Griffith remembered Knotts when he was looking for someone to play bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). The two formed a lifelong friendship. After Knotts left Andy Griffith Show, he later made guest appearances on it and another Andy Griffith TV series, Matlock (1986). In 2006, Griffith even broke the news of Knotts' passing to the media.


10:30 PM -- MISTER ROBERTS (1955)
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell
C- 121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Lemmon

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros.), and Best Picture

At first the US Navy was not happy that the movie was to be made at all - Capt. Morton (James Cagney) was not the kind of officer the Navy wanted the public to see - and was going to withhold all cooperation with the filmmakers. It took the influence of John Ford, a former Navy captain, on some of his friends at Navy headquarters in Washington to secure the Navy's cooperation.


12:45 AM -- ENSIGN PULVER (1964)
A young officer on a World War II supply ship battles his captain to keep the men happy.
Dir: Joshua Logan
Cast: Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau
C- 104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The movie viewed by the crew, 'Young Dr. Jekyll Meets Frankenstein', never existed. It was fabricated by matching some newly made shots into existing footage from The Walking Dead (1936) a 1936 Warner Brothers release starring Boris Karloff and Edmund Gwenn. Both Karloff and Gwenn are credited on the screen, as is another actor, Morgan Paull, who appears in some of the new shots. Paull's on-screen credit reads "And Introducing Morgan Paull as Young Dr. Jekyll".


2:45 AM -- SEE HERE, PRIVATE HARGROVE (1944)
A green recruit has a series of madcap adventures in the Army.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Robert Walker, Donna Reed, Keenan Wynn
BW- 101 mins, CC,

The title role of Pvt Hargrove was originally intended for Mickey Rooney.


4:45 AM -- GENERAL SPANKY (1936)
Three youngsters get mixed up in a crucial Civil War battle.
Dir: Fred Newmeyer
Cast: Spanky McFarland, Phillips Holmes, Ralph Morgan
BW- 71 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD)

The initials of R. P. W. C. R. C. W. M. R. (Spanky's Confederate Army) stands for "The Royal Protection of Women and Children, Regiment Club of the World and Mississippi River".