TCM Schedule for Friday, July 12, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: François Truffaut

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, we are celebrating Joanne Dru, born Joanne Letitia LaCock on 31 January 1922, Logan, West Virginia, not far from where I live today! She made her name in a series of Westerns, though she later admitted that "I simply hate horses!" Her brother Peter Marshall, while still active, is best remembered as the host of more than 1200 episodes of The Hollywood Squares. Tonight's theme is the films of François Truffaut, with five more of films written and directed by the Frenchman. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Red River (1948)
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru
BW-133 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Christian Nyby, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Borden Chase

There was some concern that John Wayne and Montgomery Clift would not get along since they were diametrically opposed on all political issues, and both were outspoken on their views. According to legend they agreed not to discuss politics and the shooting went smoothly. However both Wayne and Walter Brennan would not get along with Clift, and they stayed away from the young actor when not filming. . Clift later turned down Dean Martin's role in Rio Bravo because he did not want to be reunited with those two actors.


8:30 AM -- All the King's Men (1949)
A backwoods politician rises to the top only to become corrupted.
Dir: Robert Rossen
Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Broderick Crawfor, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mercedes McCambridge, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Ireland, Best Director -- Robert Rossen, Best Film Editing -- Robert Parrish and Al Clark, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert Rossen

Producer-Director Robert Rossen offered the role of Willie Stark to John Wayne. Rossen sent a copy of the script to Wayne's agent, Charles K. Feldman, who forwarded it to Wayne. After reading the script, Wayne sent it back with an angry letter attached. In it, he told Feldman that before he sent the script to any of his other clients, he should ask them if they wanted to star in a film that "smears the machinery of government for no purpose of humor or enlightenment," that "degrades all relationships," and that is populated by "drunken mothers; conniving fathers; double-crossing sweethearts; bad, bad, rich people; and bad, bad poor people if they want to get ahead." He accused Rossen of wanting to make a movie that threw acid on "the American way of life." If Feldman had such clients, Wayne wrote that the agent should "rush this script... to them." Wayne, however, said to the agent that "You can take this script and shove it up Robert Rossen's derriere..." Wayne later remarked that "To make Huey Long a wonderful, rough pirate was great," he said; "but, according to this picture, everybody was shit except for this weakling intern doctor who was trying to find a place in the world." Broderick Crawford, who had played a supporting role in Wayne's Seven Sinners, eventually received the part of Stark. In a bit of irony, Crawford was Oscar-nominated for the part of Stark and found himself competing against Wayne, who was nominated the same year for Sands of Iwo Jima. Crawford won the Best Actor Oscar, giving Rossen the last laugh.


10:30 AM -- She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
An aging Cavalry officer tries to prevent an Indian war in the last days before his retirement.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar
C-104 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Winton C. Hoch

When Sgt. Quincannon (Victor McLaglen) is addressing the troops and warning them to "watch them words," he asks who owns a dog that had wandered over and was watching the assembled soldiers. Not receiving an answer, he concludes, "Nice dog! Irish setter!" The scene was improvised on the spot by director John Ford. The dog was an unnamed Navajo pet that had fallen asleep during the setup. Multiple takes were required because McLaglen kept blowing the line, calling the dog a "cocker spaniel."


12:15 PM -- Wagon Master (1950)
Two wandering cowhands sign on to help a wagon train headed for Utah.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr.
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, CC,

In the scene where Sandy and the Mormon fight, the fight is broken up by Ward Bond's character. Bond has ripped pants as he separates the fighters and you can hear a dog barking in the background. This happened because director John Ford wanted to use two dogs, that had been ruining every scene in the film by fighting, in the background as the men fought, hoping the dogs would start fighting as a contrast to the men fighting. Instead of fighting, however, one of the dogs ran away and the other attacked Bond and ripped his pants. Ford could barely contain his laughter but kept filming. Afterward, he became quite concerned and said they needed to find the dog in case it had bitten Bond, not just ripped his pants. Ford was worried the dog might have needed a tetanus shot.


1:45 PM -- Vengeance Valley (1951)
An honest rancher tries to block his evil brother's plots while keeping them from their father.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru
C-83 mins, TV-PG, CC,

This is one of a handful of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions of the 1950-1951 period whose original copyrights were never renewed and are now apparently in Public Domain; for this reason this title is now offered, often in very inferior copies, at bargain prices, by numerous VHS and DVD distributors who do not normally handle copyrighted or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer material.


3:15 PM -- Sincerely Yours (1955)
Hearing loss creates professional and romantic crises for a concert pianist.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Liberace, Joanne Dru, Dorothy Malone
C-115 mins, TV-G,

This was Liberace's screen acting debut, and went over so poorly that other than cameo appearances in When the Boys Meet the Girls and The Loved One (both 1965) Liberace was never seen on the big screen again.


5:15 PM -- The Warriors (1955)
The "Black Prince" of England remains in France to guard the lands taken by his predecessor-father.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru, Peter Finch
C-85 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Also known as The Dark Avenger. Michael Hordern who plays Errol Flynn's father, was over two years younger than Flynn.


7:00 PM -- The MGM Story (1950)
A collection of MGM previews with an introduction by Lionel Barrymore.
Dir: Herman Hoffman
C-57 mins, TV-G, CC,



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



8:00 PM -- The Bride Wore Black (1968)
A woman seeks revenge on the five men who murdered her fiance.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Bouquet
C-108 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

This film is François Truffaut's homage to Alfred Hitchcock, made shortly after Truffaut had published a book of extensive interviews with Hitchcock. As part of his homage, Truffaut chose a novel written by Cornell Woolrich, on who's story Hitchcock's Rear Window was based, and even chose long-time Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann to compose the score.


10:00 PM -- Confidentially Yours (1983)
An accused man's secretary tries to find the real killer.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Fanny Ardant, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Philippe Laudenbach
BW-111 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

François Truffaut's final film and a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Truffaut was an expert on Hitchcock and a great admirer of his work throughout his career.


12:00 AM -- Mississippi Mermaid (1970)
A plantation owner's mail-order bride turns out to be a beautiful woman with murder on her mind.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Bouquet
C-123 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Quite uniquely, Truffaut chose to shoot the film almost completely in chronological order, the reason being that he found the relationship between the two main characters so important that he wanted it to develop in a natural way. He actually spent the nights re-writing the scenes he would film the next day, to follow the dynamics between the leading couple.


2:15 AM -- Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (1973)
A black comedy about a beautiful woman and her hold on men.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Bernadette Lafont, AndrT Dussollier, Charles Denner
C-98 mins, TV-MA,

Based on the novel Such A Gorgeous Kid Like Me by Henry Farrell, who also wrote the novel What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?


4:00 AM -- Shoot The Piano Player (1960)
A concert pianist on the run gets mixed up with gangsters.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger
BW-81 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Because no funding was available from any of the studios, François Truffaut and his crew shot the film on the fly on the streets of Paris, often making up the script as they went along. The ending was decided on the basis of who was available at the time of shooting.


5:30 AM -- Now Playing July (2013)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
BW-22 mins, TV-PG, CC