TCM Schedule for Friday, June 1, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Matadors

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring Frederic March -- not his birthday, but it's always a good day to watch this great actor. He was born as Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel, but because he considered 12 his lucky number, he shortened Frederick to Fredric, shortened his mother's maiden name from Marcher to March, and as of New Year's Day, 1924, Fredric March was born.

In prime time, we have a selection of matador pictures. Who even knew there was more than one matador picture? Sounds very Hemingway. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
Three returning servicemen fight to adjust to life after World War II.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews
BW-170 mins,

Winner of an Honorary Oscar Award for Harold Russell for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives.

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March (Fredric March was not present at the awards ceremony. Cathy O'Donnell accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Harold Russell, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert E. Sherwood, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer, and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

In the film, Fredric March's character Al Stephenson is a banker. Before becoming an actor, March had a career in banking.


9:00 AM -- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
An invalid poetess defies her father's wishes to marry a dashing young poet.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton
BW-110 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Norma Shearer, and Best Picture

Concerned about the public's reaction, the disturbing subplot about Father Barrett's incestuous designs on his daughter was toned down by the studio. However, Charles Laughton famously remarked that they couldn't censor the "gleam" in his eye.


11:00 AM -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a scientist who unleashes the beast within.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart
BW-96 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March (Tied with Wallace Beery for The Champ (1931).)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Percy Heath and Samuel Hoffenstein, and Best Cinematography -- Karl Struss

The remarkable Jekyll-to-Hyde transition scenes in this film were accomplished by manipulating a series of variously colored filters in front of the camera lens. Fredric March's Hyde makeup was in various colors, and the way his appearance registered on the film depended on which color filter was being shot through. During the first transformation scene, the accompanying noises on the soundtrack included portions of Bach, a gong being played backwards, and, reportedly, a recording of director Rouben Mamoulian's own heart. Only in the late 1960's did Mamoulian reveal how they were done.


12:45 PM -- Executive Suite (1954)
When a business magnate dies, his board of directors fights over who should run the company.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck
BW-105 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Nina Foch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George J. Folsey, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Edward C. Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis and Emile Kuri, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

While the practice of including a large, all-star cast had been popular in the 1930s, particularly with films such as Grand Hotel (1932) and Dinner at Eight (1933), it was a relatively rare occurrence in the 1950s. Producer John Houseman admitted many years after the film's production that the decision to cast so many recognizable stars was part of an effort by MGM to compete with the soaring popularity of television.


2:45 PM -- Anthony Adverse (1936)
An orphan runs off to a life of adventure, then returns to France in search of the girl he left behind.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Fredric March, Olivia De Havilland, Donald Woods
BW-141 mins, CC

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gale Sondergaard, Best Cinematography -- Tony Gaudio, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department) and Score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Anton Grot, Best Assistant Director -- William H. Cannon, and Best Picture

Tony Curtis was a huge fan of the book. He changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis in homage to the lead character and was even buried with a copy of the novel.


5:15 PM -- Nothing Sacred (1937)
When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an ambitious newspaper man turns her into a national heroine.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger
C-74 mins, CC

After one fight scene with Fredric March, Carole Lombard had to take the following day off to recuperate from her scratches and bruises. To discourage March's attentions, she invited him to her dressing room one night; after preliminary fumbling, March discovered to his disgust that she was wearing a rubber dildo. He never bothered her again.


6:30 PM -- I Married A Witch (1942)
A 300-year-old witch wreaks havoc when she falls in love with a young politician.
Dir: René Clair
Cast: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley
BW-77 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

Veronica Lake was best known for her iconic hair style of having her right eye covered. Many women copied the style which caused problems since they were working in war plants and their hair kept getting caught in the machinery. Lake was asked to change her style until after the war. When she did she lost her iconic look and her popularity soon faded along with her career.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MATADORS



8:00 PM -- Blood and Sand (1941)
A married matador's rise to stardom is complicated by an affair with a beautiful aristocrat.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth
C-125 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright and Thomas Little

In order to prepare for the role of Juan Gallardo, Tyrone Power attended a bullfight with his wife, Annabella. Because of Power's great stature as a star, he and his wife were given VIP seats in the center front of the ring. Power became violently ill witnessing the bullfight, and in order to get him out of the arena, Annabella said she was ill.


10:15 PM -- The Brave Bulls (1951)
A matador must recover his courage after being gored in the ring.
Dir: Robert Rossen
Cast: Mel Ferrer, Miroslava, Anthony Quinn
BW-107 mins, CC

Filmed in the spring of 1950, but not released until the following year because producer-director Robert Rossen was under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee.


12:15 AM -- Fiesta (1947)
A Mexican beauty replaces her toreador brother in the bull ring so he can pursue his musical career.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Esther Williams, Akim Tamiroff, Ricardo Montalban
C-102 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green

American film (credited) debut of Ricardo Montalban.


2:15 AM -- Private Parts (1972)
A young girl moves into her estranged aunt's hotel when she begins to suspect that a guest was murdered.
Dir: Paul Bartel
Cast: Ayn Ruymen, Lucille Benson, John Ventantonio
C-86 mins, CC

No relation to the Howard Stern biopic of the same name from 1997.


3:45 AM -- Scenes From The Class Struggle In Beverly Hills (1989)
In the home of a wealthy Beverly Hills actress, the male servants make a bet with one another to see who can seduce the other's employer first.
Dir: Paul Bartel
Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Ray Sharkey, Robert Beltran
C-104 mins, CC

After seeing the object of his obsession in this film, Robert John Bardot decided there and then that actress Rebecca Schaeffer should die. After getting her home address in Los Angeles, Bardot showed up on her doorstep on July 18, 1989 with a .357 Magnum revolver and confronted the young actress. After getting her autograph, Bardot wandered off but returned an hour later. He rang her doorbell and when Schaeffer responded, Bardot shot her, point blank, in the chest. She screamed "why?!" before collapsing in a pool of blood. Her murder woke Hollywood up to the dangers of stalkers towards celebrities. Bardot is serving a life sentence for the murder.


5:30 AM -- The Relaxed Wife (1957)
A short industrial film that seeks to help working men and their wives deal with life's little problems.
C-13 mins, CC


5:30 AM -- Delicious Dishes (1950)
Experts demonstrate such innovative kitchen gadgets as the cheese slicer and the melon baller in this short film.
Cast: Arnold Morris,
BW-13 mins,