TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 3, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Political Comedies

[Staph]

In prime time, TCM has a selection of political comedies. I have vague memories of seeing the first of tonight's films, Kisses for My President (1964), in a theater as a ten year old. I remember being so excited about the idea of a woman president. Fifty-two years later . . . . Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- THE RACK (1956)
A Korean War veteran is accused of cracking under enemy torture.
Dir: Arnold Laven
Cast: Paul Newman, Wendell Corey, Walter Pidgeon
BW-100 mins, CC,

With "The Rack", Walter Pidgeon ended a nineteen year association with MGM that had begun in 1937 with "Saratoga," ironically Jean Harlow's last film.


7:45 AM -- THE IRON PETTICOAT (1956)
Against their better judgment, a romance develops between an Air Force officer and a Soviet aviatrix.
Dir: Ralph Thomas
Cast: Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Noelle Middleton
C-94 mins, CC,

Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn had a difficult and wary relationship during production as Hepburn became aware that the film was being changed to a typical Hope comedy leaving nearly fifty percent of her work on the film on the cutting room floor. As a result writer Ben Hecht unsuccessfully tried to have his name removed from the film.


9:30 AM -- CONSPIRATOR (1949)
A newlywed suspects her husband of being a Communist spy.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Flemyng
BW-87 mins, CC,

Robert Taylor, though American, plays an Englishman, whilst Elizabeth Taylor, English by birth, plays an American. She had unhappy memories of making this film, later claiming that Robert Taylor had made clumsy efforts to seduce her.


11:00 AM -- BRASS TARGET (1978)
Gold thieves plot to assassinate General Patton in the days following World War II.
Dir: John Hough
Cast: Sophia Loren, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Many of the extras are actually U.S. Army personnel who were serving in Munich at the time of the filming. Most of the soldiers on the train at the beginning are active duty MP's who took leave to go on location in the Black Forest to make money as extras.


1:00 PM -- JAMAICA INN (1939)
A young woman on the British coast stumbles onto a ring of bloodthirsty scavengers.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Charles Laughton, Horace Hodges, Hay Petrie
BW-100 mins, CC,

In the original script written by Sidney Gilliat and Joan Harrison, the villain was a hypocritical preacher. However, the villain was changed to a squire because unsympathetic portrayals of the clergy were forbidden by the Production Code in Hollywood. Charles Laughton was originally cast as the uncle, but he cast himself in the role of villain. Since Laughton was the co-producer and the star of this film, he demanded that Hitchcock give his character, Squire Pengallon, greater screen time. This forced Hitchcock to reveal that Pengallon was a villain in league with the smugglers earlier in the film than he had planned. Laughton's acting was a problem as well for Hitchcock. Laughton played the Squire as having a mincing walk, to the beat of a German waltz which he played in his head, while Hitchcock thought it was out of character.


2:45 PM -- THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934)
A British family gets mixed up with spies and an assassination plot while vacationing in Switzerland.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Nova Pilbeam
BW-75 mins, CC,

When Peter Lorre arrived in Great Britain, his first meeting with a British director was with Alfred Hitchcock. By smiling and laughing as Hitchcock talked, the director was unaware that Lorre, a Hungarian, had a limited command of the English language. Hitchcock subsequently decided to cast Lorre in this film, and the young actor learned much of his part phonetically.


4:15 PM -- EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973)
Rogue intelligence agents, politicians, greedy capitalists, and assassins plot and carry out an assassination.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Will Geer, Gilbert Green
C-91 mins, CC,

The first film to openly question the veracity of the Warren Commission's report into the death of John F. Kennedy.


6:00 PM -- NIGHT MOVES (1975)
An L.A. private detective puts aside his own marital woes while tracing a topless nymphet to the Florida Keys.
Dir: Arthur Penn
Cast: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark
C-100 mins, CC,

Paula (Jennifer Warren) tells Harry (Gene Hackman) that the first boy who touched her breasts was named Billy Dannreuther, which is the name of Humphrey Bogart's character in Beat the Devil (1953).


7:49 PM -- ZHIVAGO BEHIND THE CAMERA WITH DAVID LEAN (1965)
A behind-the-scenes look with legendary director David Lean showcasing the development and filming of "Dr. Zhivago" (1965).
C-10 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: POLITICAL COMEDIES



8:00 PM -- KISSES FOR MY PRESIDENT (1964)
The first female president has to deal with her husband's bruised ego.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Polly Bergen, Arlene Dahl
BW-113 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Howard Shoup

Polly Bergen was born in 1930 and would only have been 33 or 34 years old when this movie was released. The minimum age for the United States President is set by the Constitution as 35.


10:00 PM -- THE GREAT MCGINTY (1940)
A hobo rises to town mayor when he hooks up with a crooked political boss.
Dir: Preston Sturges
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff
BW-82 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Preston Sturges

On August 19, 1939, Paramount issued a check to contract writer Preston Sturges to buy the story and screenplay of this movie, in the amount of $10. Sturges promised to sell the script for that amount if he could direct. The studio took him up on it and the film was a hit and won an Academy Award for the screenplay, probably making it the cheapest Oscar-winning script in history.


11:30 PM -- 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-74 mins, CC,

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


1:00 AM -- I MARRIED A WITCH (1942)
A 300-year-old witch wreaks havoc when she falls in love with a young politician.
Dir: René Clair
Cast: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley
BW-77 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

Veronica Lake was best known for her iconic hair style of having her right eye covered. Many women copied the style which caused problems since they were working in war plants and their hair kept getting caught in the machinery. Lake was asked to change her style until after the war. When she did she lost her iconic look and her popularity soon faded along with her career.


2:30 AM -- THE REFORMER AND THE REDHEAD (1950)
A small-town politician falls for an idealistic zookeeper.
Dir: Norman Panama
Cast: June Allyson, Dick Powell, David Wayne
BW-90 mins, CC,

In early 1949, Lana Turner was set to star.


4:15 AM -- YOU CAN'T BEAT LOVE (1937)
An eccentric playboy tries politics only to get mixed up with the mayor's daughter.
Dir: Christy Cabanne
Cast: Preston Foster, Joan Fontaine, Herbert Mundin
BW-62 mins,

Based on the story Quintuplets to You by Olga Moore. I can't for the life of me figure out what quintuplets have to do with this!


5:18 AM -- YOU CAN'T WIN (1948)
In this comedic short, a series of mishaps happen to a homeowner while he takes a day off from the office.
Dir: Dave O'Brien
Cast: Dave O'Brien,
BW-8 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Pete Smith


5:30 AM -- TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE: LAURENCE FISHBURNE (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-27 mins, CC, Letterbox Format