TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 18, 2015 -- The Essentials: On the Campaign Trail

[Staph]

It's the perfect Essentials theme for DU -- let's try not to argue too much about our favorite candidates! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Captain Blood (1935)
After being unjustly sentenced to prison, a doctor escapes and becomes a notorious pirate.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Lionel Atwill
BW-119 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Curtiz (This was a write-in candidate, who came in second on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Casey Robinson (This was a write-in candidate, who came in third on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department) with score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (This was a write-in candidate, who came in third on the final ballots. It was not an official nomination.), and Best Picture

Robert Donat was cast in the title role, but couldn't complete it because of chronic health health issues. Leslie Howard was second choice but was either unavailable or uninterested. Fredric March, Ronald Colman and Clark Gable were also considered by supervisor Harry Joe Brown. After George Brent, Brian Aherne and Errol Flynn were tested, Warners decided to take a gamble on the unknown Australian.


8:05 AM -- A Dream Comes True: The Making Of An Unusual Motion Picture (1935)
This short film promotes the film "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935), and offers behind-the-scene footage of the creation of the film.
BW-7 mins,


8:15 AM -- Crime and Punishment (1935)
A young student murders for money then tries to escape his guilt and a brilliant detective.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold, Marian Marsh
BW-88 mins, CC,

Josef von Sternberg was contractually obligated to make this film, and he disliked it, saying in his autobiography that it was "no more related to the true text of the novel than the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower is related to the Russian environment."


9:50 AM -- Lions On The Loose (1941)
In this short film, two lion cubs escape from the zoo and go on an adventure.
Dir: Marjorie Freeman
BW-8 mins,


10:00 AM -- Batman and Robin: Robin's Wild Ride (1949)
Batman and Robin try to stop a runaway train controlled by a criminal mastermind
BW-17 mins,


10:30 AM -- Killer Leopard (1954)
The jungle boy fights a rampaging cat to help a movie star find her missing husband.
Dir: Ford Beebe
Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Beverly Garland, Donald Murphy
BW-70 mins, CC,

The penultimate entry in the 'Bomba' series.


11:45 AM -- Giant (1956)
A Texas ranching family fights to survive changing times.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean
BW-201 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Director -- George Stevens

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was James Dean's second consecutive posthumous nomination.), Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Rock Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mercedes McCambridge, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Ralph S. Hurst, Best Costume Design, Color -- Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best, Best Film Editing -- William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson and Fred Bohanan, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

During this production shoot James Dean appeared in an informal black & white TV commercial in which he responded to questions posed by actor Gig Young. Ironically, Dean was promoting safe driving and informed viewers, "People say racing is dangerous, but I'd rather take my chances on the track any day than on the highway." Before he left the studio he added one piece of advice: "Drive safely, because the life you save may be mine." Dean was wearing the very hat and clothing he wore for this movie throughout the commercial. He perished a few weeks later in a car crash.


3:15 PM -- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
An alienated teenager tries to handle life's troubles and an apron-wearing dad.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sal Mineo, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Natalie Wood, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Nicholas Ray

In his article "Dangerous Talents," published in Vanity Fair Magazine in March 2005, Sam Kashner writes that director Nicholas Ray, screenwriter Stewart Stern, costar James Dean, and Sal Mineo himself all intended for Mineo's character Plato to be subtly but definitely understood as gay. Kashner says that although the Production Code was still very much in force and forbade any mention of homosexuality, Ray, Dean, Mineo, and Stern all worked together to insert restrained references to Plato's homosexuality and attraction to Jim, including the pinup photo of Alan Ladd on Plato's locker door, Plato's adoring looks at Jim, his loaded talk with Jim in the old mansion, and even the name "Plato," which is a reference to the Classical Greek philosopher. For that mansion scene, Dean suggested to Mineo that Plato should "look at me the way I look at Natalie."


5:15 PM -- Lolita (1961)
Vladimir Nabokov's racy classic focuses on an aging intellectual in love with a teenager.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters
BW-153 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Vladimir Nabokov

In later years, Stanley Kubrick confessed that if he had fully appreciated the moral implications of adapting Vladimir Nabokov's novel for film, he probably wouldn't have tackled the project.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL



8:00 PM -- The Candidate (1972)
A senate candidate's ideals weaken as his position in the polls gets stronger.
Dir: Michael Ritchie
Cast: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas
C-110 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Jeremy Larner

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound -- Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa

Robert Redford and Michael Ritchie had recently worked together on Downhill Racer (1969), when they approached Jeremy Larner together wanting to make a movie about "a candidate who sold his soul." According to Larner: "Warners would not have financed the film were not Redford willing to take responsibility for it, and though he did not want the credit, he was a most conscientious producer from beginning to end, and the movie certainly reflects his personality."


10:00 PM -- The Last Hurrah (1958)
A political boss faces changing times as he runs for re-election.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jeffrey Hunter, Dianne Foster
BW-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Orson Welles was John Ford's original choice to play Frank Skeffington but Welles either lost or refused the part after Ward Bond, a Ford friend and an ultra-conservative Republican, publicly questioned Welles' loyalty to the US, as Welles was well-known as a progressive Democrat. Ford was furious at Bond, since Welles and Ford were fans of each other's work.


12:15 AM -- The Dark Horse (1932)
A political machine backs a dimwitted candidate for governor.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Warren William, Bette Davis, Guy Kibbee
BW-75 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Courtney Terrett and Darryl F. Zanuck (writing as Melville Crossman)


1:35 AM -- Babes In The Goods (1934)
In this comedic short, two women are offered a job in a department store... and are locked in after hours.
Dir: Gus Meins
Cast: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, Charley Rogers
BW-19 mins,


2:00 AM -- Equinox (1970)
Four friends are attacked by a demon while on a picnic, due to possession of a tome of mystic information.
Dir: Dennis Muren
Cast: Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Boers Jr.
C-82 mins,

Film debut of Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlick from WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982)).


3:31 AM -- The Moviemakers - Wild Rover's Featurette (1971)
This promotional short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Wild Rovers" (1971).
Dir: Ronald Saland
C-12 mins,


3:45 AM -- Bloody Birthday (1980)
Three children born at the height of a total eclipse become heartless killers.
Dir: Ed Hunt
Cast: Lori Lethin, Melinda Cordell, Julie Brown
C-85 mins,

Despite popular belief that the film was shelved for five years after being shot it has been confirmed that it was shot in early 1980 and released the following year.


5:15 AM -- Perversion For Profit (1965)
This anti-porn short film shows a floodtide of filth engulfing the country in the form of newsstand obscenity.
Cast: Damian O'Flynn,
C-31 mins,


5:55 AM -- A Report From Miss Greer Garson (1944)
In this short film, Greer Garson asks moviegoers to donate to a fight against infantile paralysis fund.
BW-4 mins,