TCM Schedule for Tuesday, April 5, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Gregory Peck's 100th Birthday Tribute

[Staph]

Throughout the day, TCM is celebrating the 100th birthday of Gregory Peck, born Eldred Gregory Peck, on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla (now San Diego), California. According to IMDB, "In 1967 Peck received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He was also been awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. Always politically progressive, Peck was active in such causes as anti-war protests, workers' rights and civil rights." Our kind of guy! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Days Of Glory (1944)
Russian freedom fighters battle the Nazi occupying forces.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lowell Gilmore, Maria Palmer
BW-86 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Vernon L. Walker (photographic), James G. Stewart (sound) and Roy Granville (sound)

Film debut of Gregory Peck.


7:30 AM -- Man With A Million (1953)
On a bet man tries to see how much he can get without breaking a million-pound bank note.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ronald Squire, Joyce Grenfell
C-89 mins,

The prop £1,000,000 note was larger in both size (about 7 x 9 inches) and value than any real note produced by the Bank of England up to that time, even notes for internal use. However, the bank still imposed strict regulations, which were violated when posters advertising the movie showed a reproduction of the note. This had to be covered over before the posters were allowed to be used.


9:00 AM -- A Letter From A Soldier (1951)
In this excerpt from the feature film "It's A Big Country" (1951) U.S. GI back stateside from Korea delivers a letter to the mother of a dead fellow soldier.
Dir: Don Weis
Cast: Keefe Brasselle, Marjorie Main,
BW-9 mins,


9:15 AM -- The Macomber Affair (1947)
A wealthy playboy and his wife hire a great white hunter to guide them to the African hunting grounds.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Gregory Peck, Joan Bennett, Robert Preston
BW-89 mins, CC,

For the African scenes, Reginald Denny invented the first radio-controlled model airplane and, with Osmond Borradaile, put a camera on board in 1946.


10:50 AM -- The Merchandise Mart (1956)
This short documentary focuses on The Merchandise Mart, one of the largest buildings for the display and sale of wholesale goods.
Dir: Larry O'Reilly
BW-8 mins,


11:00 AM -- Designing Woman (1957)
A sportswriter and a fashion designer have a lot of adjusting to do when they marry in haste.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Gray
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- George Wells

James Stewart and Grace Kelly were intended to be the co-stars of this movie, but when Kelly became betrothed to Prince Rainier of Monaco, Stewart decided not to do it (a decision he later said he regretted), and the leading roles went to Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall.


1:05 PM -- Desert Killer (1952)
In this short film hunter tracks a sheep-killing cougar. Vitaphone Release 2222A.
Dir: Larry Lansburgh
C-10 mins,


1:15 PM -- The Valley of Decision (1945)
An Irish housemaid's romance with the boss's son is complicated by labor disputes in the Pittsburgh mills.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp
BW-119 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greer Garson, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Herbert Stothart

Despite her youthful appearance, Greer Garson was twelve years older than her leading man, Gregory Peck.


3:30 PM -- The Yearling (1946)
A Florida boy's pet deer threatens the family farm.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr.
C-128 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur E. Arling, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse and Edwin B. Willis

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman, Best Director -- Clarence Brown, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Picture

Jane Wyman's daughter refused to speak to her for two weeks after she saw the film. If you have seen the film, you will understand. If you haven't, you need to watch this, with a box of tissues nearby.


5:45 PM -- On the Beach (1959)
After a nuclear war, U.S. sailors stationed in Australia deal with the end of civilization.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire
BW-134 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Frederic Knudtson, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Ernest Gold

Gregory Peck was a lifelong opponent of nuclear weapons, and made On the Beach (1959) for this reason. Peck believed atomic weapons should not have been used during World War II, and the reason for Japan's surrender was the Soviet Union's declaration of war on 9 August 1945 and simultaneous invasion of Manchuria.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: GREGORY PECK'S 100TH BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE



8:00 PM -- Cape Fear (1962)
An ex-convict plots to destroy the district attorney who sent him to prison.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
BW-106 mins, CC,

According to Robert Mitchum, during the filming of the final fight scene between him and Gregory Peck, Peck once accidentally punched him for real. Mitchum, knowing that Peck didn't mean to and ever the professional, refused to break character and continued filming the scene. However, upon entering his trailer, Mitchum said he "literally collapsed" due to the impact of the punch and said that he felt it for days after wards. According to Mitchum: "I don't feel sorry for anyone dumb enough who picks a fight with him (Peck)."


10:00 PM -- To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
A young girl grows up fast when her lawyer father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Dir: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Gregory Peck, Frank Overton, John Megna
BW-129 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Horton Foote (Horton Foote was not present at the awards ceremony. Alan J. Pakula, the film's producer, accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead and Oliver Emert

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mary Badham, Best Director -- Robert Mulligan, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Russell Harlan, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Elmer Bernstein, and Best Picture

The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character's law office while his children ran to greet him. Author Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. He asked Lee why she was crying, and she responded that Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus. Lee explained that Peck even had a little round pot belly like her father's. "That's not a pot belly, Harper," Peck told her, "That's great acting."


12:15 AM -- A Conversation with Gregory Peck (1999)
Gregory Peck discusses his life and career during a series of personal appearances and family outings.
Dir: Barbara Kopple
Cast: George Peck,
C-98 mins, CC,

This documentary, a part of the American Masters series, is featured on the 2-Disc Legacy Series DVD for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), released in 2005.


2:00 AM -- The Guns of Navarone (1961)
A team of Allied saboteurs fight their way behind enemy lines to destroy a pair of Nazi guns.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn
C-157 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Bill Warrington (visual) and Chris Greenham (audible)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- J. Lee Thompson, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Carl Foreman, Best Sound -- John Cox (Shepperton SSD), Best Film Editing -- Alan Osbiston, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

The plot went through so many twists that Gregory Peck finally submitted his own version to Carl Foreman: "David Niven really loves Anthony Quayle and Gregory Peck loves Anthony Quinn. Tony Quayle breaks a leg and is sent off to hospital. Tony Quinn falls in love with Irene Papas, and Niven and Peck catch each other on the rebound and live happily ever after."


4:45 AM -- Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
The famed 19th century hero defeats enemy fleets and courts an admiral's widow.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty
C-117 mins, CC,

The rights to the novel were originally acquired by Warners with Errol Flynn in mind, but after the financial failure of Adventures of Don Juan (1948) and growing difficulties with the actor, he was not cast. Warners was already building up Burt Lancaster as its new swashbuckler, but the role of a British sea captain seemed out of his range, so Gregory Peck was ultimately cast.