TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 7, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Colonial Adventures

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has more Saturday matinee programming. Then in prime time, TCM is headed out into the colonies of the British Empire. Pip-pip and enjoy!



6:00 AM -- THE CROWD ROARS (1938)
A fighter's hard-drinking father gets his son mixed up with the underworld.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold, Frank Morgan
BW-90 mins,

Robert Taylor has more bare-chest scenes here than in any of his other movies. Successfully resisting the usual waxing forced upon other hairy chested gentlemen of his era, he compromised by accepting a modest manicure.


8:00 AM -- PICTURESQUE MASSACHUSETTS (1942)
This short film takes the viewer to historic sites in Massachusetts.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Charles Alden, Hazel French
C-9 mins,


8:00 AM -- LET'S SING AN OLD TIME SONG (1947)
This short film focuses on songs that have become standards in American music, such as "The Band Played On" and "Bicycle Built for Two." Vitaphone Release 1593A.
Dir: Jack Scholl
Cast: The Melody Makers, Art Gilmore
BW-9 mins,


8:00 AM -- DUDE COWBOY (1941)
A U.S. Treasury agent takes on a band of counterfeiters.
Dir: David Howard
Cast: Tim Holt, Marjorie Reynolds, Ray Whitley
BW-59 mins,

Final film of director David Howard.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: HOMESTEADER DROOPY (1954)
Homesteaders are not popular in cattle country, so when the cows complain to Dishonest Dan, The Cattle Man, he makes it tough on the Droopy family.
Dir: Tex Avery
Cast: Bill Thompson, Paul Frees
BW-7 mins, CC,

The score for this cartoon was featured on the audio CD "Tom & Jerry & Tex Avery Too!".


9:30 AM -- TAILSPIN TOMMY IN THE GREAT AIR MYSTERY: A BOLT FROM THE BLUE (1935)
A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs as he foils a plan by corrupt profiteers to steal an island's oil reserves.
Director: Ray Taylor
Stars: Clark Williams, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr.
BW-21 mins,

Part four.


10:00 AM -- TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL (1953)
The king of the jungle fights off ivory poachers.
Dir: Kurt Neumann
Cast: Lex Barker, Joyce MacKenzie, Raymond Burr
BW-76 mins, CC,

This was Lex Barker's fifth and final appearance as Tarzan. He spent much of the rest of his film career making movies in Europe, where his having played Tarzan (and his marriage to Lana Turner) had made him a household name.


11:30 AM -- GIVE ME LIBERTY (1936)
This short film presents a dramatization of Patrick Henry's speech before the Virginia legislature in which he argues for colonial independence. Vitaphone Release 7766-7767.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Nedda Harrigan, Paul Panzer, Cyril Ring
C-21 mins,

Later edited into The Bill of Rights (1939) (Short), March On, America! (1942) (Short), and My Country 'Tis of Thee (1950) (Short).


12:00 PM -- GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE (1933)
A crooked president reforms mysteriously.
Dir: Gregory LaCava
Cast: Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone
BW-86 mins, CC,

The protest march of the "army of the unemployed" in the story was no doubt a reference to the protest march of the "Bonus Army" in 1932, where veterans of WWI marched on Congress to demand payment of promised bonuses. They were attacked with tanks and tear gas by the U.S. Army led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur on orders of President Herbert Hoover. William Randolph Hearst, who railed against that action in his newpapers, saw to it that the President in this film helped the people. Meanwhile, Louis B. Mayer, a staunch Republican, delayed the movie until Hoover was out of office.


1:45 PM -- CITIZEN KANE (1941)
The investigation of a publishing tycoon's dying words reveals conflicting stories about his scandalous life.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
BW-119 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles (On Friday, July 19th, 2003, Orson Welles' Oscar statuette went on sale at an auction at Christie's, New York, but was voluntarily withdrawn so the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences could buy it back for just 1 dollar. The statuette, included in a large selection of Welles-related material, was going to be sold by Beatrice Welles, the youngest of the filmmaker's three daughters and the sole heir of his estate and was expected to sell at over 300,000 dollars.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Orson Welles, Best Director -- Orson Welles, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gregg Toland, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Perry Ferguson, Van Nest Polglase, A. Roland Fields and Darrell Silvera, Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD), Best Film Editing -- Robert Wise, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Bernard Herrmann, and Best Picture

One subplot discarded from the final film concerned Susan Alexander Kane having an affair that Kane discovers, said to be based on Marion Davies' rumored affair with Charles Chaplin. There were scenes written and storyboards designed for this sequence, though as rumors of William Randolph Hearst's ire grew, Orson Welles ordered the sequence deleted from the script. He refused to discuss the real reasons for its removal in any public forum throughout his life, even long after Hearst's death, as he claimed elements of the subplot were so scandalous they could cost him his life. Privately, however, he did discuss the subject with his close friend Peter Bogdanovich. According to Bogdanovich, the danger of the subplot stemmed not from the affair, but of its result: Welles claimed that Davis did in fact have an affair with Chaplin, and Hearst learned of it while on a trip on Hearst's yacht with Davies, Chaplin and a number of other celebrity guests. Welles asserted that Hearst walked into a room and saw Davies and Chaplin having sex. He pulled a gun, and Chaplin ran out of the room onto the deck. Hearst fired at Chaplin, but accidentally shot pioneering producer/director Thomas H. Ince, who shortly afterward died from the wound. An elaborate cover-up followed (supposedly, columnist Louella Parsons was on board and witnessed the killing, and Hearst promised her a job with him for life if she kept her mouth shut. She did.).The legend became the basis for Bogdanovich's own film The Cat's Meow (2001).


4:00 PM -- THE SEARCHERS (1956)
An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
C-119 mins, CC,

According to John Wayne in a 1974 interview, John Ford hinted throughout the movie that Ethan had had an affair with his brother's wife, and was possibly the father of Debbie. This meant Ethan's thirst for vengeance stemmed not from the murder of his brother, but of the woman Ethan had loved. This was so subtle that many viewers at the time missed it altogether.


6:15 PM -- 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley
BW-96 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Sidney Lumet, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Reginald Rose, and Best Picture

Speaking at a screening of the film during the 2010 Fordham University Law School Film festival, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor stated that, seeing the film while she was in college influenced her decision to pursue a career in law. She was particularly inspired by immigrant Juror #11's monologue on his reverence for the American justice system. She also told the audience of law students that, as a lower-court judge, she would sometimes instruct juries to not follow the film's example, because most of the jurors' conclusions are based on speculation, not fact. Sotomayor noted that events such as Juror #8 entering a similar knife into the proceedings, doing outside research into the case matter in the first place, and ultimately the jury as a whole making broad, wide-ranging assumptions far beyond the scope of reasonable doubt (such as the inferences regarding the "Old Woman" wearing glasses) would never be allowed to occur in a real-life jury situation, and would, in fact, have resulted in a mistrial (assuming, of course, that applicable law permitted the content of jury deliberations to be revealed).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: COLONIAL ADVENTURES



8:00 PM -- THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (1935)
Three British soldiers in India fight invaders when not fighting each other.
Dir: Henry Hathaway
Cast: Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, Richard Cromwell
BW-109 mins,

Winner of Oscars for Best Assistant Director -- Clem Beauchamp, and Best Assistant Director -- Paul Wing

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Henry Hathaway, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Achmed Abdullah, John L. Balderston, Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt and Waldemar Young, Best Art Direction -- Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson. Best Sound, Recording -- Franklin Hansen (sound director), Best Film Editing -- Ellsworth Hoagland, and Best Picture

One of Adolf Hitler's favorite films. He watched it at least three times. Hitler, an Anglophile, never wanted war with the British Empire. The UK and France rejected a joint German-Soviet peace proposal on 28 September 1939. Hitler personally offered to end the war with France and the British Empire on 6 October 1939, following the German-Soviet conquest of Poland. Winston Churchill nearly accepted Hitler's peace offers on 26 May 1940. On 19 July 1940, after the Fall of France, and again in May 1941 before the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union, he repeatedly offered to end the war in the West, stating he had no interest in destroying the British Empire. He only authorized the London Blitz in September 1940 after the RAF had already bombed German cities for four months.


10:00 PM -- THE DRUM (1938)
An Indian prince tries to save his British masters from a deadly revolt.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey
BW-94 mins, CC,

The film caused protests when shown in Bombay and Madras, as it was considered by many to be British propaganda.


12:00 AM -- PARTY GIRL (1958)
A showgirl and a crooked lawyer try to break with a powerful mob boss.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Director Nicholas Ray was certainly impressed with Robert Taylor's commitment. "He worked for me like a true Method actor," said Ray, who remembered Taylor going to an osteologist, poring over X-rays and asking probing questions so that he would have an understanding of where in his body the pain would be from his character's crippled leg.


2:00 AM -- ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)
A crusading attorney is assigned to defend a judge accused of rape.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Al Pacino, Jack Warden, Lee Strasberg
C-119 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Al Pacino, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson

During filming, actor Al Pacino frequently ad libbed and improvised. Pacino like to do this because he was slow learning lines as well as to be spontaneous. This however can interfere with another actor's performance. Reportedly, Pacino's mentor, Lee Strasberg, said "Al, learn your lines, dollink!". Pacino years later recognized that this was good advice.


4:15 AM -- REVOLUTION (1985)
New York trapper Tom Dobb becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his son Ned is drafted into the Army.
Dir: Hugh Hudson
Cast: Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland, Nastassja Kinski
BW-127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Scenes were filmed in Norway at the behest of a group of Norwegian dentists who invested in the film.