TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 15, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Swimming with Sharks

[Staph]

Stay out of the water! Tonight's films are the three Jaws films. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- THE KILLER SHREWS (1959)
A maniacal scientist creates a formula that turns your average shrew into a giant, man-killing beast.
Dir: Ray Kellogg
Cast: James Best, Ingrid Goude, Ken Curtis
BW-68 mins, CC,

This low budget feature is still regarded as one of the most successful "regional films." Unlike other regional films, it not only received national distribution, it also had some foreign sales.


8:00 AM -- THE DEVIL BAT (1940)
A mad scientist trains killer bats to respond to a special scent.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien
BW-68 mins,

This low-budget thriller, boosted by Bela Lugosi, was one of the biggest successes for the poverty row Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). After the war, the studio tried to recapture this success by producing an in-name-only sequel, Devil Bat's Daughter (1946), and a virtual shot-by-shot remake, The Flying Serpent (1946).


9:15 AM -- THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943)
A girl's search for her missing sister puts her in conflict with a band of satanists.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell
BW-71 mins, CC,

Notable cast members include Hugh Beaumont (Gregory Ward), who played the father, Ward Cleaver in the TV series 'Leave It To Beaver'; Barbara Hale (uncredited subway passenger), who played secretary Della Street in 'Perry Mason', pioneering celebrity chef Joseph "Chef" Milani, who ran the famous Hollywood Canteen during WWII, and character actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr (cult henchman), whose best-known role was as the mad monk Jorge De Burgos in 'The Name of the Rose' (and the Old Man (Grandfather) in Moonstruck (1987)).


10:30 AM -- JUNGLE GENTS (1954)
The Bowery Boys go diamond hunting in Africa.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey
BW-63 mins, CC,

Film debut of Clint Walker, best remembered as Cheyenne Bodie from the television series Cheyenne (1955-1962).


11:41 AM -- BEAUTY AND THE BULL (1954)
In this short film, a group of models attend a bullfight. Vitaphone Release 2454A.
Dir: Larry Lansburgh
Cast: Bette Ford,
C-17 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel -- Cedric Francis

Film debut of Bette Ford. No, not the one that was married to Gerald Ford. The one started as a model and became a working actress with more than 50 credits to her name.


12:00 PM -- SEVEN SEAS TO CALAIS (1962)
Sir Francis Drake fights to take over Spain's treasure routes for Queen Elizabeth I.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Rod Taylor, Keith Michell, Irene Worth
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Final film of director Rudolph Maté.


2:00 PM -- ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939)
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
BW-103 mins, CC,

Two tragedies befell William Powell before the making of this film: the unexpected death of his fiancé Jean Harlow, and a difficult battle with colon cancer that required colon bypass surgery and new radiation treatments. Production of this "Thin Man" movie was delayed as a result, but Powell and Loy were given a standing ovation when he finally returned to join her on the set for filming.


4:00 PM -- CHALLENGE TO LASSIE (1949)
A faithful dog changes the lives of all who know her after her master dies.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Geraldine Brooks
C-76 mins, CC,

This story is based loosely on that of "Greyfriars Bobby", which has appeared in several film versions.


5:30 PM -- NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
C-136 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Ernest Lehman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Robert F. Boyle, Merrill Pye, Henry Grace and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Film Editing -- George Tomasini

Alfred Hitchcock filmed Cary Grant's entrance into the United Nations building from across the street with a hidden camera. When he gets to the top of the stairs a man about to walk down does a double take upon seeing the movie star.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS



8:00 PM -- JAWS (1975)
The sheriff of an island town takes to the seas when a bloodthirsty shark invades the local waters.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Sound -- Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman Jr., Earl Madery and John R. Carter, Best Film Editing -- Verna Fields, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- John Williams

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

When composer John Williams originally played the score for Steven Spielberg, Spielberg laughed and said, "That's funny, John, really; but what did you really have in mind for the theme of Jaws (1975)?" Spielberg later stated that without Williams's score, the movie would only have been half as successful and according to Williams, it jumpstarted his career.


10:15 PM -- JAWS 2 (1978)
On the eve of a new resort's opening, Amity's police captain discovers another giant shark on the prowl.
Dir: Jeannot Szwarc
Cast: Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The film's tagline, "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...", has become one of the most famous in film history. Andrew J. Kuehn, who developed the first film's trailer, is credited with coining the phrase.


12:15 AM -- JAWS 3 (1982)
A great white shark devastates an oceanic theme park.
Dir: Joe Alves
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett, Bess Armstrong
C-98 mins, CC,

According to the book "Roy Scheider: a film biography" (2002) by Diane C. Kachmar, Scheider, who starred in the first two Jaws movies, once said, "Mephistopheles....couldn't talk me into doing [it]...They knew better than to even ask". Reportedly, Scheider agreed to make Blue Thunder (1983) in order to ensure that he was definitely and contractually unavailable for this film. Scheider had made Jaws 2 (1978) reluctantly due to a contract issue with Universal Studios whereby he owed the studio two films after withdrawing from The Deer Hunter (1978). To get out of this situation, he opted to make to do Jaws 2 (1978), a picture he didn't want to work on, in exchange for the studio releasing him from his contract.


2:00 AM -- LADY SNOWBLOOD (1973)
A young girl is raised to kill the criminals who destroyed her family.
Dir: Toshiya Fujita
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon
C-97 mins, Letterbox Format

Along with its sequel, this movie served as one of the main inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's movies Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2.


3:45 AM -- LADY SNOWBLOOD: LOVE SONG OF VENGEANCE (1974)
Japan's secret police enlist a female assassin to squelch a revolution.
Dir: Toshiya Fujita
Cast: Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
C-89 mins, Letterbox Format

Original title -- Shurayuki-hime: Urami koiuta


5:22 AM -- STRAUSS AND VIENNA: ON LOCATION THE GREAT WALTZ (1972)
This short promotional film presents the making of "The Great Waltz" (1972).
C-7 mins,


5:30 AM -- CHANGING (1971)
A young family tries to cope with shifting social values in this short film.
Dir: Hubert Smith
C-28 mins,