TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 20, 2014 -- What's On Tonight - Zeppelins, Dirigibles and Blimps

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, there is more of Star of the Month Mary Astor, and in the evening, TCM is looking at some of the more unusual forms of flight. Enjoy!

Edited to add the prime time films -- cut-and-paste problem!


6:45 AM -- A Successful Calamity (1932)
A family pulls together to help a member in financial trouble.
Dir: John G. Adolfi
Cast: George Arliss, Mary Astor, Evalyn Knapp
BW-72 mins,

The play by Clare Kummer originally opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on 5 February 1917, and ran for 144 performances before closing for the summer (there was no air conditioning in those days). It then reopened on 10 October 1917 at the Plymouth Theatre. The opening night cast included Katharine Alexander, William Gillette, Estelle Winwood and Roland Young.


8:00 AM -- The Little Giant (1933)
When Prohibition ends, a bootlegger tries to break into high society.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Helen Vinson
BW-76 mins, CC,

One of the great pre-code films, with references to cocaine and perhaps the first use of the word "fags" before the 1960s.


9:15 AM -- Easy to Love (1934)
When she thinks her husband has been unfaithful, a woman claims to be having an affair of her own.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Genevieve Tobin, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor
BW-61 mins, CC,

The play, "As Good as New," opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 3 November 1930 and closed in December 1930 after 56 performances. The opening night cast included Marjorie Gateson, Otto Kruger and Vivienne Osborne.


10:30 AM -- Young Ideas (1943)
A widow's grown children try to break up her romance with a college professor.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Susan Peters, Herbert Marshall, Mary Astor
BW-77 mins,

While on a 1945 New Year's Day duck-hunting trip in the San Diego area with her husband and friends, one of the hunting rifles accidentally discharged when Susan Peters went to retrieve it. The bullet lodged in her spine. Permanently paralyzed from the waist down, MGM paid for her bills but was eventually forced to settle her contract.


12:00 PM -- Blonde Fever (1944)
A woman fights to save her husband from a sluttish waitress.
Dir: Richard Whorf
Cast: Philip Dorn, Mary Astor, Felix Bressart
BW-69 mins,

Gloria Grahame's first film.


1:10 PM -- Traffic With The Devil (1946)
This short film looks at the increase of traffic levels and accidents in the U.S.
Dir: Gunther V. Fritsch
Cast: Ralph Montgomery, Ben Hall, Gil Perkins
BW-19 mins,


1:30 PM -- Any Number Can Play (1949)
The owner of a gambling casino tries to win back his estranged wife and child.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Clark Gable, Alexis Smith, Wendell Corey
BW-103 mins, CC,

There were two different (usually uncredited) character actors named William O'Brien - William H. O'Brien and William J. O'Brien - and they both appear in this film (uncredited) as gamblers.


3:30 PM -- Some of the Greatest (1955)
This short film showcases scenes from "Don Juan" (1926), starring John Barrymore.
Dir: Robert Youngson
BW-11 mins,


3:50 PM -- We Never Sleep (1956)
This short film highlights the work of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the U.S.A.'s oldest private detective company.
Dir: Larry O'Reilly
BW-8 mins,


4:00 PM -- The Power And The Prize (1956)
An ambitious executive jeopardizes his career to marry a European refugee.
Dir: Henry Koster
Cast: Robert Taylor, Elisabeth Mueller, Burl Ives
BW-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

Based on the novel by Howard Swigett.


5:45 PM -- The Legend Of Lylah Clare (1968)
An obsessed movie director grooms an unknown to play his deceased movie-star wife.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Kim Novak, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine
C-130 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This was Kim Novak's last starring role in an American-made feature film.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ZEPPELINS, DIRIGIBLES, AND BLIMPS



8:00 PM -- The Hindenburg (1975)
Sabotage causes the airship Hindenburg to crash on arrival at New York in this disaster film.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton
BW-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Special Achievement Oscar Awards for Peter Berkos for sound effects, and for Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson for visual effects.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Edward C. Carfagno and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Sound -- Leonard Peterson, John A. Bolger Jr., John L. Mack and Don Sharpless

WLS radio announcer Herbert Morrison was present at the scene of the Hindenburg crash, along with his engineer Charlie Nehlsen, and recorded an eyewitness account of the unfolding tragedy. This audio clip can be heard at the end of the film. However, Nehlsen's recorder was running a bit slow, so that when the recording is played back at normal speed, the pitch of Morrison's real speaking voice is raised slightly. Also note that a slight cracking is audible at one point during the recording. This was caused by the shockwave of the explosion reaching the recorder just after Morrison shouts "It's burst into flames!"


10:15 PM -- Dirigible (1931)
Romantic rivals vie to be the first to fly to the South Pole.
Dir: Frank R. Capra
Cast: Jack Holt, Ralph Graves, Fay Wray
BW-100 mins,

This film is loosely based on the crash of the airship Italia, flown by Umberto Nobile, around May 25, 1928 near the North Pole, and the international rescue effort that cost early Polar explorer Roald Amundson his life. The Pilot who rescued Nobile also crashed when returning to rescue more survivors and had to be rescued himself.


12:00 AM -- This Man's Navy (1945)
Two Navy vets compete to see whose son is the bigger hero.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, James Gleason
BW-100 mins, CC,

Based on an idea from Commander Herman E. Halland U.S. Navy Ret.


1:44 AM -- The United States Service Bands (1943)
A WWII patriotic wartime short showcasing the service bands of the U.S. Army, Army Air Force, Marines, and Navy.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
BW-10 mins,


2:00 AM -- Hell's Angels (1930)
Two buddies take on World War I flying aces and a seductive blonde.
Dir: Howard Hughes
Cast: Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow
C-132 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography -- Tony Gaudio and Harry Perry

Entire story had been filmed as a silent, minus a soundtrack, by Howard Hughes in 1928. Greta Nissen had the role played later by Jean Harlow. When sound equipment became available Hughes decided to re-shoot the whole film as a talkie. This is the film that Hughes is directing and directing and directing at the beginning of the Hughes bio-pic The Aviator (2004).


4:15 AM -- Master Of The World (1961)
A mad genius tries to bomb the world into peace.
Dir: William Witney
Cast: Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, Henry Hull
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Richard Matheson combined two stories by Jules Verne for this screenplay: "Clipper of the Clouds" (1886) and its sequel "Master of the World" (1904).