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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Wed May 30, 2018, 02:09 PM May 2018

TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 31, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Marlene Dietrich

In the daylight hours, TCM's series on movie serials finishes today, with Rusty the dog and Flipper the dolphin. Then in prime time, TCM wraps up the films of Star of the Month Marlene Dietrich. If you've never seen Witness for the Prosecution (1957), you're in for a treat! Charles Laughton steals the show. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- THE PAINTED HILLS (1951)
A faithful collie protects a prospector from claim jumpers.
Dir: Harold Kress
Cast: Lassie, Paul Kelly, Bruce Cowling
C-69 mins, CC

This was the seventh and final Lassie feature produced by MGM.


7:45 AM -- ADVENTURES OF RUSTY (1945)
A lonely boy tries to rehabilitate a police dog trained by the Nazis.
Dir: Paul Burnford
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Margaret Lindsay, Conrad Nagel
BW-67 mins,

First of the Rusty series.


9:00 AM -- FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY (1947)
A dog helps a boy and his father sort out their differences.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Tom Powers, Ann Doran
BW-69 mins,

Most of child actor Ted Donaldson's films were part of the Rusty series, though he also appeared in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945).


10:15 AM -- THE SON OF RUSTY (1947)
When they are separated, a boy and his dog fight to find each other.
Dir: Lew Landers
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Stephen Dunne, Tom Powers
BW-69 mins,

The creator of Rusty, Al Martin, wrote dozens of television episodes in the 1950s and 1960s.


11:30 AM -- MY DOG RUSTY (1948)
A faithful dog helps his master's father win a mayoral race.
Dir: Lew Landers
Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran
BW-67 mins,

Rusty was first played by Ace the Wonder Dog, followed by Flame the Wonder Dog.


12:45 PM -- RUSTY LEADS THE WAY (1948)
A boy and his dog help a bitter blind girl adjust to life.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Sharyn Moffett, John Litel
BW-59 mins,

Sharyn Moffett, who plays the blind girl, left acting after her teens and eventually married a pastor and at one time served as national president of Big Sisters.


1:47 PM -- TALE OF A DOG (1944)
In this comedic short, a town is led into panic after a child names his dog "Smallpox."
Dir: Cy Endfield
Cast: Billy Laughlin, Janet Burston, Anita Sharp-Bolster
BW-11 mins,

The last "Our Gang" short to be produced.


2:00 PM -- RUSTY SAVES A LIFE (1949)
A faithful dog rescues his master from a life of delinquency.
Dir: Seymour Friedman
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Gloria Henry, Stephen Dunne
BW-68 mins, CC,

Rusty's master's father is played by three different actors over the course of the series: Conrad Nagel, Tom Powers and John Litel.


3:15 PM -- RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY (1949)
A lost dog tries to find his way back to his beloved master.
Dir: Seymour Friedman
Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran
BW-61 mins, CC,

Last of the Rusty series.


4:30 PM -- FLIPPER (1963)
A fisherman in the Florida Keys opposes his son's friendship with a dolphin.
Dir: James B. Clark
Cast: Chuck Connors, Luke Halpin, Kathleen Maguire
C-90 mins, CC,

In a 2012 interview Associate Producer and writer of "Flipper" Ricou Browning told how he helped teach Luke Halpin to ride the dolphin Mitzie like a horse providing compelling footage for the movie. At the movie premier in 1963 in New York the LIFE magazine photographer sent to cover the event didn't believe the dolphin riding actually happened and actually questioned Browning, Producer Ivan Tors and Luke Halpin separately about the technique before he would believe them.


6:04 PM -- CAPTAIN KIDD'S TREASURE (1938)
In this short film, a promoter attempts to sell a man the idea of searching for Captain Kidd's buried treasure, claiming he has the original map.
Dir: Leslie Fenton
Cast: Charles Irwin, Jack Roper, Stanley Andrews
BW-10 mins,


6:15 PM -- FLIPPER'S NEW ADVENTURE (1964)
The heroic dolphin helps capture a group of escaped convicts.
Dir: Leon Benson
Cast: Luke Halpin, Pamela Franklin, Helen Cherry
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The final scene shows Flipper being treated by vets at the Miami Seaquarium after being stabbed by Gil Bates the escaped convict. The head vet doing the treatment is actually Flipper scriptwriter and producer Ricou Browning and the youngest assistant is Ric O'Barry who was at the time one of the dolphin trainers. O'Barry went on to become a dolphins rights advocate criticizing the way the Miami Seaquarium penned the dolphins in extended captivity.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: MARLENE DIETRICH



8:00 PM -- TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)
A narcotics agent risks his wife's life to investigate a crooked cop.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles
BW-111 mins, CC,

Executives from Universal Pictures only found out that Marlene Dietrich was playing Tanya when they saw the rushes for that day's shooting; she had filmed her part in one day as a personal favor to Orson Welles and he had not told anyone about it. She agreed to appear at minimum union wage, but when the studio execs decided to give her on-screen credit, they had to pay her more.


10:00 PM -- WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)
A British lawyer gets caught up in a couple's tangled marital affairs when he defends the husband for murder.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Laughton, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Elsa Lanchesterl, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, and Best Picture

Charles Laughton, who could be moody and difficult, was apparently a dream to work with, throwing himself into the role with dedication and delight. Billy Wilder later recalled a day that was set aside just for shooting reaction shots of the jury and courtroom crowd (composed of extras hired only for the day). Normally, the assistant director would read the actors' lines and the extras would react. However, Laughton, who was fascinated with the whole process of filmmaking, begged to help. So he came in on his day off and read all of the off-camera speeches for the jury members. He read not only his part, but also the judge's, the prosecutor's and even Marlene Dietrich's. According to biographer Maurice Zolotow in his book "Billy Wilder in Hollywood", the author said, "it was an exhibition of craftsmanship such as Wilder had never seen. He believes that Charles Laughton had the greatest technical range and power of any actor, man or woman, whom he has known."



12:15 AM -- STAGE FRIGHT (1950)
An acting student goes undercover to prove a singing star killed her husband.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding
BW-110 mins, CC,

In an extraordinary move for the normally controlling director, Alfred Hitchcock provided Marlene Dietrich an exceptional amount of creative control for the film, particularly in how she chose to light her scenes. Hitchcock knew that Dietrich had learned a great deal of the art of cinematography from Josef von Sternberg and Günther Rittau, and allowed her to work with this film's cinematographer, Wilkie Cooper, to light and set her scenes the way that she wished.


2:15 AM -- RANCHO NOTORIOUS (1952)
A cowboy infiltrates a bandit hideout in search of his girlfriend's killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer
C-89 mins, CC,

Director Fritz Lang had originally planned to call this film "Chuck-a-Luck". However, studio head Howard Hughes insisted that its name be changed to "Rancho Notorious", and when Lang asked why, he was told that it was because non-Americans (Europeans) wouldn't understand what "Chuck-a-Luck" (a gambling game commonly played in saloons in the Southwest) meant. Lang replied, "Well, it's a good thing that they all know what 'Rancho Notorious' (which has nothing to do with anything in the film) means!"


4:00 AM -- THE MONTE CARLO STORY (1957)
Two compulsive gamblers fall in love on the French Riviera.
Dir: Samuel A. Taylor
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Vittorio De Sica, Arthur O'Connell
C-101 mins, Letterbox Format

Marlene Dietrich's only Italian-made motion picture.


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TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 31, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Marlene Dietrich (Original Post) Staph May 2018 OP
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, elleng May 2018 #1
Absolutely not to be missed. CBHagman May 2018 #2
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