TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 21, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Jack Lemmon

[Staph]

In prime time, TCM is celebrating the amazing Jack Lemmon. It's not his birthday; Lemmon is worth celebrating every day and twice on Sunday. Lemmon was capable of brilliant comedy (see Some Like It Hot at 8:00 pm) and soul-searing drama (see The China Syndrome at 2:30 am). Oh, and he was nominated for an Oscar for both! At 4:45 am, you can see the first of his two Oscar-winning performances, in Mister Roberts. Enjoy!



7:45 AM -- Man Alive (1946)
A man thought dead returns as a ghost to scare off his wife's suitors.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Ellen Drew
BW-70 mins,

You know what? I can't find a single interesting bit of trivia about this film.


9:00 AM -- Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955)
A sister act in Paris tries to top their aunts' escapades there during the roaring twenties.
Dir: Richard Sale
Cast: Jane Russell, Jeanne Crain, Alan Young
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Not actually a sequel to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) since the film is about new characters in a completely different story line.


10:45 AM -- The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
A singer rises from sordid beginnings to fame and fortune... only to lose it all.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Ann Blyth, Paul Newman, Richard Carlson
BW-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This movie was originally planned for Doris Day to star in. This is one of the few planned projects that Day vehemently refused to play. She did not feel she wished to portray the sordid aspects of Helen Morgan and it would be totally different from her screen image.


1:00 PM -- The Loved One (1965)
An Englishman in Hollywood moves into the funeral business.
Dir: Tony Richardson
Cast: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer
BW-121 mins, CC,

After WWII, Evelyn Waugh came to Hollywood to work on a movie adaptation of his novel "Brideshead Revisited". While in Hollywood he went to a funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Waugh was offended by the pretense of both the American film industry and the American funeral industry, and wove the two together into the novel on which this film was based.


3:08 PM -- Milton Fox, Esq. (1964)
This promotional short for the feature "Quick Before It Melts" (1964) focuses on its smallest performer, Milton Fox, a penguin.
BW-5 mins,


3:15 PM -- Honeymoon Hotel (1964)
Two bachelors on the prowl accidentally book a vacation at a resort for newlyweds.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Robert Goulet, Nancy Kwan, Robert Morse
C-89 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The working title for this film was His And His. My, how things have changed in 50 years!


5:00 PM -- The Cardinal (1963)
A Boston priest deals with illicit love, racism and war as he rises in the church.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Tom Tryon, Carol Lynley, Dorothy Gish
C-175 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Huston, Best Director -- Otto Preminger, Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Lyle R. Wheeler and Gene Callahan, Best Costume Design, Color -- Donald Brooks, and Best Film Editing -- Louis R. Loeffler

The Vatican bankrolled some of the film, and the Vatican liaison was a young Joseph Ratzinger, who in 2005 became the 265th Catholic Pope as Benedict XVI.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: JACK LEMMON



8:00 PM -- Some Like It Hot (1959)
Two musicians on the run from gangsters masquerade as members of an all-girl band.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
BW-122 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Orry-Kelly

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Ted Haworth and Edward G. Boyle

When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon first put on the female make-up and costumes, they walked around the Goldwyn Studios lot to see if they could "pass" as women. Then they tried using mirrors in public ladies rooms to fix their makeup, and when none of the women using it complained, they knew they could be convincing as women. There is a scene on the train recreating this moment.


10:15 PM -- The Odd Couple (1968)
A divorced neat freak moves in with his sloppy best friend.
Dir: Gene Saks
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Neil Simon, and Best Film Editing -- Frank Bracht

Walter Matthau, who played Oscar in both the original Broadway play and the movie, asked the play's author, Neil Simon, if he could play Felix instead. This was because Matthau thought Oscar's personality was too similar to his own and the role would be too easy; whereas playing the persnickety Felix would be a real acting challenge. Simon replied, "Walter, go and be an actor in somebody else's play. Please be Oscar in mine." Matthau finally agreed to it.


12:15 AM -- The Apartment (1960)
An aspiring executive lets his bosses use his apartment for assignations, only to fall for the big chief's mistress.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
BW-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Kruschen, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, and Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Billy Wilder gave Jack Lemmon free rein to fill in the character of C.C. "Bud" Baxter in performance. He compared the actor favourably to Charles Chaplin and thought he could do no wrong.


2:30 AM -- The China Syndrome (1979)
A television newswoman stumbles onto deadly secrets at a nuclear power plant.
Dir: James Bridges
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Fonda, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Mike Gray, T.S. Cook and James Bridges, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- George Jenkins and Arthur Jeph Parker

The first script for the film was written in the mid-1970 Michael Douglas initially wanted to produce this film immediately after One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Jack Lemmon agreed to play his role as early as 1976. Douglas was enormously grateful to Lemmon as he remained ready to start work at very short notice for over a year before production started and in the process cost himself a lot of other work. To return the favor, Douglas amended the shooting schedule to allow Lemmon to attend rehearsals for the Broadway stage play of Tribute (1980) which Lemmon would later star in the film version.


4:45 AM -- Mister Roberts (1955)
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Lemmon

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros.), and Best Picture

Jack Lemmon started a long-time friendship with James Cagney which lasted until Cagney's death in 1986. Prior to his appearance in his first film, years before, he started in live television. In one particular performance, Lemmon decided to play his character differently. He decided to play the character left-handed, which is opposite to his own way of movement. With much practice, he pulled off the performance without anyone noticing the change. This change even fooled Lemmon's wife at the time. A few years went by and Jack met Cagney on their way to Midway Island to film this movie. They introduced themselves, and Cagney chimed in, "Are you still fooling people into believing you're left handed?" They had a great laugh and a strong friendship was born.

[longship]

1. Oh boy! "The Loved One"

Add to the cast, Rod Steiger as Mr. Joy Boy, an incredible and outlandish performance as the cemetery's cosmetologist.

The film itself is outlandish, over the top black humor at its best.