TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 17, 2015 -- The Essentials - Set In Arizona

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials are films that all take place in Arizona, though only Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) was filmed there. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- City for Conquest (1940)
A truck driver risks his eyesight when he boxes to pay for his brother's education.
Dir: Anatole Litvak
Cast: Frank Craven, Elia Kazan, George Lloyd
BW-104 mins, CC,

Frank Craven's role as the tramp who guides us through the story is a parody of his performance as the Stage Manager in "Our Town", which he had just filmed prior to this picture. He also created the role on Broadway.


8:00 AM -- The Brave One (1956)
A Mexican boy saves his pet bull from death in the bull ring by securing a pardon from the president.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Michel Ray, Elsa Cardenas, Carlos Navarro
C-100 mins, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Dalton Trumbo (Because he was not permitted to work due to the Hollywood blacklist, Trumbo wrote the story - and was nominated - under the pseudonym Robert Rich, who had nothing to do with the film industry and is a nephew of the King Brothers, producers of the film. Although there were rumors at the time that this was the case, the film's producer repeatedly denied the suggestion. It was not acknowledged until several years later that Trumbo had been the writer. He finally received his award on May 2, 1975, presented by then Academy president Walter Mirisch, shortly before his death - although the official screen credit was not changed until many years afterward.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Buddy Myers (RKO Radio), and Best Film Editing -- Merrill G. White

After "The Brave One' won the Oscar for Best Screenplay, independent producer Edward Nassour sued its producers the King Brothers over plagiarism. It seems the script for "The Brave One' bore an uncanny resemblance to that for "Ring Around Saturn," a stop-motion animation feature Nassour had been working on with a script written by Paul Rader. The rights were originally owned by Jesse L. Lasky, who had wanted to produce it as "Valley of the Mist." The King Brothers settled the dispute by paying out to Nassour the sum of $750,000 in an out-of-court settlement. It turned out that blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo had written the script for "The Brave One" using the pseudonym of Robert Rich.


9:49 AM -- Grandad Of Races (1950)
This short film presents the annual horse race held in the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Vitaphone Release 1950A.
Dir: André De La Varre Jr.
C-10 mins,


10:00 AM -- Batman and Robin: Robin's Ruse (1949)
Batman and Robin search for a machine stolen by a mysterious, cloaked-and-hooded figure known only as The Wizard.
BW-17 mins,


10:30 AM -- Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police (1939)
Bulldog Drummond discovers the house he's rented for his wedding hides a secret treasure.
Dir: James Hogan
Cast: Reginald Denny, E. E. Clive, David Clyde
BW-54 mins,

Fifteenth of 25 Bulldog Drummond films.


11:35 AM -- Weather Wizards (1939)
This short film focuses on how scientists predict changing weather to assist in giving several days' warning to farmers.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Alonzo Price, Robert Winkler, Will Stanton
BW-9 mins,


11:45 AM -- Lassie Come Home (1943)
A faithful collie undertakes an arduous journey to return to her lost family.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty
C-89 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leonard Smith

Elizabeth Taylor replaced Maria Flynn for the role of Priscilla. Some sources say Flynn was afraid of the dog on the set. Others say that she grew taller than Roddy McDowall or that the strong Technicolor lighting caused her eyes to water. In any case, production was halted. The producer was walking the 600 block of North Foothill Road in Beverly Hills doing his nightly patrol as an air raid warden when he met Francis Taylor, who patrolled the 700 block. Knowing he and Sara wanted to get their daughter into the movies, he asked him to bring Elizabeth to the studio. There she was introduced to Lassie and the production resumed.


1:30 PM -- Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Americans take a vital hill in Korea but have trouble holding it.
Dir: Ray Gosnell
Cast: James Edwards, Norman Fell, Biff Elliot
BW-98 mins, CC,

Film debuts of Martin Landau and Clarence Willliams III.


3:13 PM -- The Sun... The Sand... The Hill. (1965)
This promotional short presents a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "The Hill" (1965).
Dir: Roland Saland
BW-7 mins,


3:30 PM -- Brannigan (1975)
A Chicago police detective has to bring a crook home from London.
Dir: Douglas Hickox
Cast: John Wayne, John Vernon, James Booth
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Sir Ralph Richardson and Diana Rigg were offered major roles. Richardson reportedly bowed out at the last minute but was quoted as saying that Wayne should try Shakespeare. According to the renowned actor, "He is hypnotic. He conveys a sense of mystery, and that's invaluable in Shakespeare."


5:30 PM -- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
A free-spirited convict refuses to conform to chain-gang life.
Dir: Stuart Rosenberg
Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin
C-127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Kennedy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, and Best Music, Original Music Score -- Lalo Schifrin

Two hundred hard boiled eggs were provided for the one of the film's most famous sequences. Due to clever editing, Paul Newman only ate about 8 in total. The rest of the eggs were all consumed by the rest of the cast and crew which led to extreme cases of flatulence the next day.


7:48 PM -- On Location With Westworld (1973)
This promotional short shows what occurred behind-the-scenes during the shooting of "Westworld" (1973).
C-9 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: SET IN ARIZONA



8:00 PM -- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
A widow dreaming of a singing career ends up waiting tables in Phoenix.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Alfred Lutter, Dean Casper
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ellen Burstyn (Ellen Burstyn was not present at the awards ceremony. Martin Scorsese accepted the award on her behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Diane Ladd, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Robert Getchell

Coming hot off her success in The Exorcist (1973), the studio granted Ellen Burstyn total creative control over this project. She had two goals: to make a film about woman with real-life problems, and to secure an up-and-coming film maker as the director. Upon selecting this script, Brian De Palma brought Francis Ford Coppola to Burstyn's attention who suggested she consider Scorsese. While impressed with Scorsese's talent after viewing Mean Streets (1973), Burstyn still hesitated to hire the director, fearing he could only direct men. When she asked Scorsese what he knew about women, Scorsese replied "Nothing, but I'd like to learn." Satisfied with his enthusiasm, Burstyn immediately hired Scorsese.


10:00 PM -- The Petrified Forest (1935)
An escaped convict holds the customers at a remote desert cantina hostage.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Nina Campana, Gus Leonard, Jack Cheatham
BW-82 mins, CC,

Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart had played the same roles in the stage version. Warner Bros. wanted to put Howard in the film but replace Bogart with Edward G. Robinson. Howard insisted on Bogart, and Robinson was happy to step aside from yet another gangster role. Bogart would later name his second child with Lauren Bacall Leslie, in honor of Howard, the man who gave him his first big break.


11:30 PM -- The Baron of Arizona (1950)
A swindler forges documents to make himself the owner of an entire state.
Dir: Samuel Fuller
Cast: Margia Dean, Fred Kohler Jr., Terry Frost
BW-97 mins, CC,

James Addison Reavis (1843-1914) was a real person who, as depicted in the movie, was found guilty of attempting to steal most of Arizona by forging land grant documents. He paid a fine of $5,000 and served two years in jail.


1:15 AM -- Western Heritage (1948)
An outlaw leader uses a forged Spanish land grant to claim land from the local ranchers.
Dir: Wallace A. Grissell
Cast: Nan Leslie, Monte Montague, Rita Lynn
BW-61 mins, CC,

Filmed in Lone Pine, California, and at the RKO Encino Ranch, in Encino, California.


2:30 AM -- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
The L.A. punk scene is taken over by glam metal.
Dir: Penelope Spheeris
Cast: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, J Holmes
C-93 mins, CC,

In a 1999 interview, director Penelope Spheeris confessed that Ozzy Osbourne's orange juice pouring scene was faked, as some viewers suspected. The particular scene of the orange juice missing the glass was filmed at a different time and inserted into the clip.


4:15 AM -- Heavy Metal (1981)
In this five-part animated feature, an evil glowing green orb travels through space and time, spreading violence and discord in its wake
Dir: Gerald Potterton
Cast: Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The film was inspired by a long-running science fiction magazine of the same title, which began in Europe as Metal Hurlant. Most of the story segments are based on stories or characters featured in the magazine.