TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 21 -- TCM Spotlight: Race and Hollywood

[Staph]

Today TCM is celebrating the birthday of C. Aubrey Smith, born on July 21, 1863, in London. I believe his is the earliest birthday that I have seen celebrated on TCM. In primetime TCM continues their Race and Hollywood series with a look at Arabs in film with one of my favorites, The Wind and The Lion (1975) featuring Sean Connery as a sheik with a thick Scottish accent. Enjoy!



7:15 AM -- Daybreak (1931)
An Austrian nobleman falls in love with a commoner.
Dir: Jacques Feyder
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Helen Chandler, Jean Hersholt.
76 min, TV-G

Based on the book by Arthur Schnitzler.


8:45 AM -- Secrets (1933)
A New England society girl braves the West to help her husband build his fortune.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, C. Aubrey Smith.
84 min, TV-G

Marshall Neilan was the original director, but he was fired by producer Mary Pickford for showing up too drunk to work. He was replaced by Frank Borzage.


10:15 AM -- Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
An American orphan discovers he is heir to a British title.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello Barrymore, C. Aubrey Smith.
102 min, TV-G

Due to the demise of Selznick International Productions, this movie is now in the public domain.


12:00 PM -- The Hurricane (1937)
A Polynesian escapes prison to return home during a raging storm.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Dorothy Lamour, Jon Hall, Mary Astor.
104 min, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (United Artists SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Thomas Mitchell, and Best Music, Score -- Alfred Newman (head of department -- Samuel Goldwyn Studio Music Department), score by Alfred Newman

According to Life Magazine, special effects wizard James Basevi was given a budget of $400,000 to create his effects. He spent $150,000 to build a native village with a lagoon 200 yards long, and then spent $250,000 destroying it.


1:50 PM -- India On Parade (1937)
In this "Traveltalk," we learn about the landmarks, people and customs of India.
C-9 min

Film sites include Baroda and Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.


2:00 PM -- The Four Feathers (1939)
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith.
C-115 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile

Made and remade and remade as Four Feathers (1915), The Four Feathers (1921), The Four Feathers (1929), Storm Over the Nile (1955), The Four Feathers (1978) (TV), and The Four Feathers (2002)


4:00 PM -- Maisie Was a Lady (1941)
A Brooklyn showgirl signs on as maid for a family of wealthy eccentrics.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Ann Sothern, Lew Ayres, Maureen O'Sullivan.
79 min, TV-G, CC

The fourth of ten movies starring Ann Sothern as the heroine Maisie Ravier.


5:30 PM -- An Ideal Husband (1947)
An upstanding politician is haunted by his past when a blackmailer threatens to reveal a youthful indiscretion.
Dir: Alexander Korda
Cast: Paulette Goddard, Hugh Williams, Michael Wilding.
C-93 min, TV-G

The original Broadway production of "An Ideal Husband" by Oscar Wilde opened at the Lyceum Theatre on March 12, 1895. Broadway revivals were produced in 1918 and 1996.


7:09 PM -- Littlest Diplomat (1937)
Young Sybil visits her grandfather, a British Colonel stationed at a garrison in India, and she helps negotiate a diplomatic truce between him and the local natives.
Dir: Bobby Connelly
Cast: Sybil Jason, Lumsden Hare
C-19 min,

Actors Patric Knowles and Jean Muir appear in photograph form as Sybil's parents. They do not, however, appear on screen in person.


7:30 PM -- MGM Parade Show #4 (1955)
George Murphy tours Lake Metro, where "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Show Boat" were shot, and introduces a clip from "Good News." These clips feature June Allyson and Peter Lawford.
26 min, TV-G



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: RACE AND HOLLYWOOD



8:00 PM -- Drums Of Africa (1963)
Three adventurers fight the slave trade in turn-of-the-century Africa.
Dir: James B. Clark
Cast: Frankie Avalon, Mariette Hartley, Lloyd Bochner.
C-91 min, TV-PG

Edited from King Solomon's Mines (1950)


10:00 PM -- Harum Scarum (1965)
An American film star is kidnapped in the Middle East.
Dir: Gene Nelson
Cast: Elvis Presley, Mary Ann Mobley, Fran Jeffries.
C-85 min, TV-PG, CC

"Colonel" Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager, was so disappointed with the cheesy script that at one point he suggested that a talking camel be written into the movie to let the audience think it was meant as a comedy.


11:52 PM -- Poltergeist (1982)
A behind-the-scenes promotional documentary on the making of "Poltergeist" (1982), highlighting the special effects and filming challenges faced by the cast and crew. Features interviews with Steven Spielberg, Craig T. Nelson, and Frank Marshall.
Dir: Frank Marshall
C-7 min

The actual feature film Poltergeist was nominated for three Oscars, for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing -- Stephen Hunter Flick and Richard L. Anderson, Best Effects, Visual Effects -- Richard Edlund, Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Jerry Goldsmith


12:00 AM -- Jewel of the Nile (1985)
An adventurer comes to the aid of a romance novelist kidnapped by an Arab potentate.
Dir: Lewis Teague
Cast: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny De Vito.
C-106 min

The actors playing the tribesmen Arak, Barak, Karak, Sarak and Tarak were the members of the juggling troupe the Flying Karamazov Brothers.


2:00 AM -- The Son of the Sheik (1926)
In this silent film, an Arabian knight protects a dancing girl from desert outlaws.
Dir: George Fitzmaurice
Cast: Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Banky, George Fawcett.
69 min, TV-G

This film was not only one of the first "sequels" ever made, it was also one of the first films to come out after its star's death - Valentino had unexpectedly passed away at the age of 31 on August 23, 1926, less than two weeks before this film went into release.


3:30 AM -- The Wind And The Lion (1975)
An Arab chief triggers an international incident when he kidnaps an American widow and her children.
Dir: John Milius
Cast: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith.
C-119 min, TV-MA, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Jerry Goldsmith, and Best Sound -- Harry W. Tetrick, Aaron Rochin, William L. McCaughey and Roy Charman

According to John Milius when the film was screened for President Gerald Ford, Ford remarked that he recognized the place they filmed in Yellowstone National Park well because he used to be a ranger there. Milius refrained from informing him that the entire movie was filmed in and around Spain.


5:30 AM -- Ed Norton (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-26 min, TV-MA, CC