TCM Schedule for Friday, July 5, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: François Truffaut

[Staph]

Tonight's theme is the films of François Truffaut, specifically the five films known as the Adventures of Antoine Doinel, from 1959's The 400 Blows to 1979's Love On The Run. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Daffy detectives fight off a giant octopus in a haunted lighthouse.
Dir: William McGann
Cast: Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins, Marcia Ralston
BW-54 mins, TV-G,

The transformation scene was done in much the same way the beginning part of the transformation was done on Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde. The actress was made up in exaggerated highlights and shadows (including her teeth) using a single color shade of makeup. When filmed through a filter the same shade as the makeup, it's invisible to the camera. Take the filter away and the makeup suddenly becomes visible. Besides a filter, the makeup can also be hidden by similar colored light. This type of trick was only possible on black and white film, of course.


7:15 AM -- Seven Miles From Alcatraz (1942)
Escaped convicts land at a lighthouse being used by Nazi spies.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: James Craig, Bonita Granville, Frank Jenks
BW-62 mins, TV-PG,

The film shows the prison industries at Alcatraz shutting down due to supply shortages caused by the war. In reality, all of Alcatraz's industries were busier than ever during wartime. Most of their production was geared towards helping the war effort. Alcatraz's shops produced items like scrambling nets to be used during amphibious assaults, rubber mats for the sides of ships, etc. And, the prison's laundry services was the place local Army and Navy bases sent their soiled items. Alcatraz even received a citation for the contribution to the war effort it provided. (The convicts were actually enthusiastic workers as they were completely behind the war effort. There were even reports that when Navy ships passed close to the island, convicts in the exercise yard would cheer at the ships.)


8:30 AM -- Thunder Rock (1942)
A disillusioned writer moves into a lighthouse where some ghostly visitors restore his faith.
Dir: Roy Boulting
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Barbara Mullen, James Mason
BW-107 mins, TV-G, CC,

Remade as a television movie in both 1946 and 1985.


10:30 AM -- A Stolen Life (1947)
A twin takes her deceased sister's place as wife of the man they both love.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- William C. McGann (visual) and Nathan Levinson (audible)

Because of her constant insistence for better productions to work on, and an overall better atmosphere on set, Jack L. Warner asked Bette Davis to produce the film. It would be the first and only time she would be able to do this. Reportedly, she was so overworked and also intrigued by this job that she started a relationship with the director of this film to iron out her mind.


12:30 PM -- Stand By for Action (1942)
A Harvard graduate serving on a battleship is faced with the realities of war.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Robert Taylor, Charles Laughton, Brian Donlevy
BW-109 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic), Donald Jahraus (photographic) and Michael Steinore (sound)

The world premiere on 31 December 1942 took place simultaneously in 7 US cities: Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Illinois; Norfolk, Virginia; San Diego, California and San Francisco, California. Some earlier screenings may have taken place for naval officers on Treasure Island, California and Mare Island, California.


2:30 PM -- Hangmen Also Die (1943)
When a Nazi officer is assassinated, Czech patriots band together to protect his killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: H. H. v. Twardowski, Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan
BW-134 mins, TV-14, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hanns Eisler, and Best Sound, Recording, Jack Whitney (Sound Service Inc.)

During the Joseph McCarthy-inspired "Red Scare" era in the 1950s, this was one of the films labeled "subversive" by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) because it was alleged to have contained dialog that might be construed as pro-communist. Writer John Wexley was even "blacklisted". It wasn't seen again in the United States until the mid-'70s.


5:00 PM -- Blood On The Moon (1948)
A gunslinger hired to drive off a rancher falls in love with the man's daughter.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston
BW-88 mins, TV-G, CC,

In 1953, RKO reissued this film theatrically on a double bill with another western, Fort Apache starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda, with the tag line "Two Rip-Roaring Action Hits!"


6:30 PM -- Along the Great Divide (1951)
A U.S. Marshall tries to get a rustler to trial before a vengeful rancher can kill him.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar
BW-88 mins, TV-14, CC,

Morris Ankrum played Ed Roden in this movie and the 1956 episode "The Travelers" of the television series Cheyenne.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT



8:00 PM -- The 400 Blows (1959)
A 12-year-old boy turns to crime to escape family problems.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Guy Decomble, Claire Maurier
BW-100 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- François Truffaut and Marcel Moussy

The English title of the movie "400 Blows" is a gross misinterpretation of the original title. The Finnish and Swedish translations of the title, roughly translatable to "400 practical jokes" are closer to the original meaning, albeit not perfect. The original title stems from the French expression "Faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to live a wild life", as the main character does. Literal translation of the expression would be "to do the 400 dirty tricks".


9:45 PM -- Antoine and Colette (1962)
A sequel to 400 Blows, this continues the adventures of Antoine Doinel as he finds early love.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-François Adam, Patrick Auffay, François Darbon
BW-30 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

Followed by Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed & Board (1970) and Love on the Run (1979)


10:30 PM -- Stolen Kisses (1969)
Fresh out of the army, a romantic young man looks for work and considers an affair with an older woman.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Delphine Seyrig, Michel Lonsdale
C-91 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

Filmed on location throughout Paris


12:15 AM -- Bed And Board (1970)
The adventures of Antoine Doinel continue as he faces up to the responsibilities of adulthood.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claude Jade, Hiroko Berghauer
C-98 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

One of the composer portraits decorating the Doinels' front room is actually a portrait of the actor Oskar Werner dressed as Mozart for a play. Truffaut directed Werner in two films, Jules and Jim and Fahrenheit 451.


2:00 AM -- Love On The Run (1979)
A divorced man continues to search for romantic happiness.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marie-France Pisier, Claude Jade
C-95 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

This is the final film in the Doinel Saga.


4:00 AM -- The Green Room (1978)
A man obsessed with death spends his entire life grieving over the loss of his young wife.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: François Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dasté
C-91 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

The photos on the chapel wall consist of François Truffaut's friends and idols, such as Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Jean Cocteau, Guillaume Apollinaire, Oscar Wilde and Henry James, the author of the story on which the film is based, as well as Maurice Jaubert, whose music is used in the film.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

1. Yeah, that translation makes no sense at all

I'm half French and spent time in France when I was young (my mother is French) and went through a year of high school in their public school system. Faire Les 400 Coups simply should not be literally translated as it doesn't mean striking something 400 times. It means going to town, living it up, living la vida loca, sowing your wild oats, letting it all hang out, raising hell, or a combination of all of that. It's usually applied to young people of whom it's anticipated that they will go through a passage of time where they cut loose before they settle down into adulthood.