TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 5, 2017 -- Star of the Month - Jane Wyman

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is showing films of World Wars One and Two. I have no idea why -- there aren't any famous battles that were fought on January 5. However, in prime time, TCM begins showing the films of Star of the Month Jane Wyman. To kick off the month, they are celebrating Jane's birthday. She was born Sarah Jane Mayfield on January 5, 1917, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Enjoy!


7:00 AM -- THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967)
A renegade officer trains a group of misfits for a crucial mission behind enemy lines.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson
C-150 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- John Poyner

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Cassavetes, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing -- Michael Luciano

Lee Marvin referred to this movie as "crap" and "just a dummy moneymaker", although he enjoyed the film. The movie has nothing to do with war, he stressed, and he was very pleased that he got to do The Big Red One (1980), which mirrored his own wartime experiences. Marvin also said many of the actors in this film were too old to play soldiers.


9:30 AM -- ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (1943)
A Merchant Marine crew fights off enemy attacks at the start of World War II.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale
BW-127 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Guy Gilpatric

Very few early World War II films featured African-Americans in the US military. Star Humphrey Bogart was quoted in 'The Pittsburgh Courier' on 26 September 1942 as saying that he wanted to have a black Merchant Marine captain in this film. He said, "In the world of the theatre or any other phase of American life, the color of a man's skin should have nothing to do with his rights in a land built upon the self-evident fact that all men are created equal."


11:45 AM -- THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (1942)
Actual battle footage documents the U.S.' heroic stand against the Japanese on Midway Island.
Dir: John Ford
BW-18 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Documentary

The few places where the film jumps its sprockets and goes out of frame were caused by the concussion of exploding bombs or shrapnel hitting the camera. Those scenes were left in by director Ford to demonstrate the intensity of the battle.


12:15 PM -- SERGEANT YORK (1941)
True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
BW-134 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, and Best Film Editing -- William Holmes

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Brennan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Wycherly, Best Director -- Howard Hawks, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston and Howard Koch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sol Polito, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Gary Cooper was initially reluctant about playing a seemingly too-good-to-be-true character. It was only after he met the real Sergeant Alvin C. York that he reconsidered.


2:30 PM -- THE LONGEST DAY (1962)
The Allied forces launch the D-Day invasion of German-occupied France.
Dir: Andrew Marton
Cast: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda
BW-178 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- R.A. MacDonald (visual) and Jacques Maumont (audible)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Ted Haworth, Léon Barsacq, Vincent Korda and Gabriel Béchir, Best Film Editing -- Samuel E. Beetley, and Best Picture

Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort was 27 at D-Day. He was very disappointed to find that he was being played in the movie by John Wayne, since even 17 years after D-Day Vandervoort was still a decade younger than the 54-year-old Wayne.


5:30 PM -- TORA! TORA! TORA! (1970)
The Japanese take advantage of American blunders to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Martin Balsam, So Yamamura, Jason Robards Jr.
C-149 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- A.D. Flowers and L.B. Abbott

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Charles F. Wheeler, Osamu Furuya, Shinsaku Himeda and Masamichi Satoh, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Jack Martin Smith, Yoshirô Muraki, Richard Day, Taizô Kawashima, Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett and Carl Biddiscombe, Best Sound -- Murray Spivack and Herman Lewis, and Best Film Editing -- James E. Newcom, Pembroke J. Herring and Shinya Inoue

The African-American mess attendant firing the machine gun on the West Virginia was Seaman First Class Doris 'Dorie' Miller. He was the first African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor in the U.S. Armed Forces Order of Precedence. Without any training he fired the unattended machine gun at the Japanese aircraft until it was out of ammunition. He was portrayed by Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in Pearl Harbor (2001).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: JANE WYMAN



8:00 PM -- PUBLIC WEDDING (1937)
Out-of-work show folk stage a fake wedding to generate publicity.
Dir: Nick Grinde
Cast: Jane Wyman, William Hopper, Dick Purcell
BW-58 mins,

The $7.90 restaurant bill would be the equivalent of $130 in 2016.


9:15 PM -- TORCHY PLAYS WITH DYNAMITE (1939)
A female reporter gets herself arrested so she can interview a gangster's moll.
Dir: Noel Smith
Cast: Jane Wyman, Allen Jenkins, Tom Kennedy
BW-59 mins, CC,

Jane Wyman, who plays Torchy in this film (the last of the Torchy Blane series), appeared as the hat check girl in the first Torchy Blane feature.


10:30 PM -- BROTHER RAT (1938)
A military cadet and his friends try to keep his marriage a secret.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Eddie Albert, Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman
BW-89 mins, CC,

Four years after this film Eddie Albert would join the U.S. Navy. He would achieve the rank of Lieutenant in the Naval reserves. At Tarawa he would go on to save nearly 50 marines and help with the rescue of 30 others, all while under fire. He received the Bronze Star for his actions. Reagan spent his entire military career in the United States, reportedly because his poor eyesight meant he was classified for limited service.


12:15 AM -- BROTHER RAT AND A BABY (1940)
Three naval cadets graduate and help each other find jobs.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan
BW-87 mins, CC,

Last movie appearance for both Jane Bryan and Mayo Methot. Bryan later married Justin Dart, head of the Rexall Drug empire and behind-the-scenes Republican who persuaded Ronald Reagan to change to the Republican party and get into politics. Methot was Humphrey Bogart's third wife, the one just before Lauren Bacall.


2:00 AM -- AN ANGEL FROM TEXAS (1940)
A pair of slick Broadway producers con a wealthy cowboy into backing their show.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Eddie Albert, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris
BW-69 mins, CC,

Based on the play The Butter and Egg Man, by George S. Kaufman, and also filmed as The Butter and Egg Man (1928), The Tenderfoot (1932), Hello, Sweetheart (1935), Dance Charlie Dance (1937), and Three Sailors and a Girl (1953).


3:15 AM -- TUGBOAT ANNIE SAILS AGAIN (1940)
A veteran lady captain fights off competition.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Marjorie Rambeau, Alan Hale, Jane Wyman
BW-77 mins, CC,

This is the only movie that brothers Neil Reagan and Ronald Reagan ever made together. Jane Wyman was also pregnant with their daughter Maureen during filming.


4:45 AM -- GAMBLING ON THE HIGH SEAS (1940)
A reporter tries to nail a gambling-ship owner for murder.
Dir: George Amy
Cast: Wayne Morris, Jane Wyman, Gilbert Roland
BW-55 mins, CC,

Remake of Special Agent (1935), starring Bette Davis and George Brent.


5:45 AM -- HE COULDN'T SAY NO (1938)
A timid advertising man learns to fight for the girl of his dreams.
Dir: Lew Seiler
Cast: Frank McHugh, Jane Wyman, Cora Witherspoon
BW-57 mins,

The play by Joseph Schrank opened in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1936.

[longship]

1. Tora, Tora, Tora is an incredible film.

It is tightly edited, and keeps ones attention. The US and Japanese cast is altogether wonderful. Martin Balsam as Admiral Husband Kimmel, an historic character often forgotten, who took the blame, unjustifiably, IMHO.

As Hollywood historic flicks, this is one is quite accurate.

Recommended.