TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 18, 2014 -- The Essentials - Redemption

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials are stories of redemption, and an excellent bunch they are -- Kevin Costner's best work in Field of Dreams (1989), John Wayne's best work in The Searchers (1956), and the adventurous The Four Feathers (1939). Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- Hollywood Without Make-Up (1966)
In this special, Ken Murray hosts his own behind-the-scenes home movies of some of Hollywood's greatest stars.
Cast: Ken Murray,
BW-50 mins,


8:00 AM -- The Hill (1965)
Prisoners fight to survive the grueling conditions in a North African military stockade.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen
BW-123 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filming began on September 14, 1964, in Almeria, Spain. As a result, Connery was unable to attend the premiere of his 3rd official James Bond film, Goldfinger, which he had just completed work on.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Sean Connery (12/5/75) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Sean Connery from 12/5/75.
C-9 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)
A young doctor's wedding turns into a tragic event.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day
BW-83 mins, CC,

Ninth of the sixteenth Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie films.


12:00 PM -- The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
The words on an Egyptian prince's burial shroud revive a vengeful mummy.
Dir: John Gilling
Cast: Andre Morell, John Phillips, David Buck
C-90 mins,

Elizabeth Sellars only made two films for Hammer. The first was Cloudburst (1952), their first film to be made at their then-new Bray Studios. The second was The Mummy's Shroud (1967) 15 years later, the last film to be made at Bray.


1:45 PM -- Moonfleet (1955)
A British buccaneer is torn between three seductive women.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filmed entirely on the MGM backlot, apart from some scenes of the Californian coast.


3:30 PM -- The Black Stallion (1979)
A boy and a horse forge a close friendship after being shipwrecked together in Africa.
Dir: Carroll Ballard
Cast: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Terry Garr
C-117 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won a Special Achievement Oscar Award for Alan Splet for sound editing

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Mickey Rooney, and Best Film Editing -- Robert Dalva

Cass Ole, like most horses, had his mane trimmed into what's called a bridle path. This makes it easier to fit a bridle. For the movie, Cass Ole had to wear "hair extensions" to make his mane look like a wild horse's mane. He also had white markings on his legs and forehead and the white needed to be covered with a black hair dye to transform Cass Ole into the Black Stallion.


5:45 PM -- Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Musical autobiography of Loretta Lynn, who fought poverty and pills to become a country western star.
Dir: Michael Apted
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Beverly D'Angelo, Levon Helm
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Sissy Spacek

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Thomas Rickman, Best Cinematography -- Ralf D. Bode, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John W. Corso and John M. Dwyer, Best Sound -- Richard Portman, Roger Heman Jr. and James R. Alexander, Best Film Editing -- Arthur Schmidt, and Best Picture

According to Loretta Lynn, her husband Doolittle wanted nothing to do with Tommy Lee Jones, who was playing him, until shortly before shooting began in Butcher Holler. Jones rented a Jeep, got drunk on moonshine and went tearing through the town in the vehicle, only to get arrested for drunk driving, beat up for resisting arrest and jailed. Doolittle liked him immediately after that.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: REDEMPTION



8:00 PM -- Field of Dreams (1989)
Mysterious voices tell an Iowa farmer to build a baseball diamond in his backyard.
Dir: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Phil Alden Robinson, Best Music, Original Score -- James Horner, and Best Picture

Then unknown, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are among the thousands of extras in the Fenway Park scene, and are uncredited. Over a decade later, when Phil Alden Robinson welcomed Affleck to the set of The Sum of All Fears (2002), Affleck said, "Nice working with you again." Robinson asked, "What do you mean 'again'?" and Affleck explained the connection.


10:00 PM -- The Searchers (1956)
An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Reportedly this film was seen in a theater in Texas by Buddy Holly and his friends in the summer of 1956. They were so impressed with Ethan's (John Wayne) repeated use of the phrase "That'll be the day" that they used it as the title for their now standard rock song, which they composed soon after.


12:15 AM -- 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 mins, CC,

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

Storm Over the Nile (1955) reuses a lot of the battle sequences.


2:30 AM -- Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
A group of individuals trapped in a police station fight off a horde of murderous gang members.
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
C-91 mins, Letterbox Format

The assault takes place on Precinct 9, Division 13. Many have noted the title misnomer, since there is no "Precinct 13" in the film. At first, Carpenter wanted to call the film "The Anderson Alamo" (the original title of his screenplay), and, at one point, he changed the working title to "The Siege." CKK, the film's distributor, was responsible for the misnomer; they rejected Carpenter's titles and came up with the name "Assault on Precinct 13" (which they felt was more ominous sounding) during post-production.


4:00 AM -- The Super Cops (1974)
Two rogue cops enlist a streetwalker to help them stop a deadly drug ring.
Dir: Gordon Parks
Cast: Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The nick-names of David Greenberg (Ron Leibman) and Robert Hantz (David Selby) were "Batman" and "Robin" as well as collectively "The Super Cops".