TCM Schedule for Saturday, February 5, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Cinematography by Michael Coulter

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM is featuring Scottish cinematographer Michael Coulter, with two of his films, Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and The Long Day Closes (1992). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- A Yank at Oxford (1938)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-G
A cocky American student runs into trouble when he transfers to the famed British college.
Director: Jack Conway
Cast: Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'sullivan

In a scene shortly after arriving at Oxford, Sheridan meets with his assigned tutor, who asks him, "What are you reading?" by which he means what is your field of study. Sheridan, confused, replies, "Well, I am reading 'Gone With The Wind', but I am only halfway through it." Vivien Leigh, also in this movie, would of course portray Scarlett in Gone with the Wind (1939) which was released the year after this movie. Reportedly, it was known as early as 1937 from a David O. Selznick memo that Leigh had secured the role.


8:00 AM -- Out-Foxed (1949)
8m | Animation | TV-G
A kennel club unleashes a group of hunting hounds but they get more than they bargain for.
Director: Tex Avery
Cast: William H. Thompson, Daws Butler

Reginald Fox is reading the newspaper "Fox News." The actual Fox Network would not be launched until 1986.


8:10 AM -- COLOR SCALES (1932)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This shows various species of tropical fish at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California.
Director: Zion Myers
Cast: Pete Smith


8:19 AM -- Paris on Parade (1938)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer to the Paris International Exposition of 1937.
Director: James A. Fitzpatrick
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick

The Paris Exhibition of 1937 was officially known as "Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne" (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life). It was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937.


8:29 AM -- Rider from Tucson (1950)
1h | Western | TV-G
Dave and Chito rescue a woman who was kidnapped to force her sweetheart to give away his gold mine.
Director: Lesley Selander
Cast: Tim Holt, Elaine Riley, Douglas Fowley


9:30 AM -- Buck Rogers: Tomorrow's World (1939)
21m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-G
In Chapter One of Buck Rogers, a flyer and his best friend awaken from suspended animation.
Director: Ford Beebe, Saul Goodkind
Cast: Buster Crabbe, Constance Moore, Jackie Moran

In the original comic strip, Buck Rogers is actually a former World War One pilot who was working as a mine surveyor at the time he came to fall into his long (500 years long) sleep. For some reason, the regulations would not allow the screenwriters to use the comic strip's continuity, so the serial is actually a completely original story with the comic strip characters added.


10:00 AM -- Popeye and the Pirates (1947)
7m | Animation | TV-PG
Popeye and Olive find themselves tangling with a king-size Captain Kidd.
Director: Seymour Kneitel
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

When this short aired on television, the sequence where Popeye removes the disguise was cut presumably due to topless nudity (the chest was designed feminine inside the dress Popeye was wearing as he strips to his underwear). It is unclear if the cut scene still exists, as the scene is missing from all television prints.


10:08 AM -- Crazy Over Horses (1951)
1h 5m | Comedy | TV-G
The Bowery Boys get mixed up with a race horse and the gambling racket.
Director: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Ted Decorsia

The first Bowery Boys film that used caricatures of Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) in the opening credits.


11:30 AM -- A Small Town Idol (1939)
18m | Comedy | TV-G
This comedic short was extracted from the longer feature "A Small Town Idol" (1921).
Cast: Ben Turpin, Phyllis Haver, Ramon Novarro

Edited from the Mack Sennett silent feature film A Small Town Idol (1921) with added music, sound effects and comedic narration.


12:00 PM -- Foreign Correspondent (1940)
1h 59m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel Mccrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White --Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which director Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


2:15 PM -- Rancho Notorious (1952)
1h 29m | Western | TV-G
A cowboy infiltrates a bandit hideout in search of his girlfriend's killer.
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer

Director Fritz Lang had originally planned to call this film Chuck-a-Luck. However, studio head Howard Hughes insisted that its name be changed to Rancho Notorious, and when Lang asked why, he was told that it was because non-Americans (Europeans) wouldn't understand what Chuck-a-Luck (a gambling game commonly played in saloons in the Southwest) meant. Lang replied, "Well, it's a good thing that they all know what 'Rancho Notorious' (which has nothing to do with anything in the film) means!"


4:00 PM -- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
2h 6m | Western | TV-PG
Seven American gunmen hire themselves out to protect a Mexican village from bandits.
Director: John Sturges
Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

Although the film received only mixed reviews, John Sturges got a rave from the one source that really mattered to him. After seeing the picture, Akira Kurosawa was so impressed, he sent the American director a ceremonial sword as a gift.


6:15 PM -- Point Blank (1967)
1h 32m | Crime | TV-14
A gangster plots an elaborate revenge on the wife and partner who did him dirty.
Director: John Boorman
Cast: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn

When James Sikking auditioned for the role of the assassin, John Boorman rejected him and told him that his face was too nice for a killer. For the next week, though, Boorman would look out his office window at MGM and see Sikking standing outside, partially concealed by a bush or a column, just watching him menacingly. The director eventually walked out and offered him the part.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- CINEMATOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL COULTER



8:00 PM -- Four Weddings and A Funeral (1994)
1h 56m | Comedy | TV-MA
A young man's chance encounters with a beautiful woman are complicated by his close-knit extended family.
Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Hugh Grant, Andie Macdowell, James Fleet

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Richard Curtis, and Best Picture

Inspiration for this movie came when co-executive producer and writer Richard Curtis was flipping through some old diaries and realized that he had been to seventy-two weddings in ten years.


10:15 PM -- The Long Day Closes (1992)
1h 22m | Biography
Autobiographical film based on the director's happiest years of childhood.
Director: Terence Davies
Cast: Leigh Mccormack, Marjorie Yates, Anthony Watson

The film uses 35 pieces of original music - often in their entirety - in its brief 85 minute running time.


12:00 AM -- The Turning Point (1952)
1h 25m | Crime
Special prosecutor John Conroy hopes to combat organized crime in his city, and appoints his cop father as chief investigator.
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: William Holden, Edmond O'brien, Alexis Smith

First feature film appearance of Carolyn Jones, television's Morticia Addams in The Addams Family (1964-1966).


2:00 AM -- Time Bandits (1981)
1h 50m | Adventure | TV-PG
A curious boy named Kevin is whisked away from his dreary English home by six mischievous dwarfs.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall

In the original script, King Agamemnon was introduced as: "The warrior took off his helmet, revealing someone that looks exactly like Sean Connery, or an actor of equal but cheaper stature." To writer, producer, and director Terry Gilliam's surprise, the script ended up in Connery's hands. He expressed interest in the part, and his agent approached them for the role.


4:00 AM -- Damon and Pythias (1962)
1h 39m | Adventure | TV-PG
Two men from different cultures forge a strong friendship.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Guy Williams, Don Burnett, Ilaria Occhini

The legend of Damon and Pythias can be sourced to the writings of philosopher Aristoxenus (4th century BC) who wrote extensively about the Pythagoreans, followers of Pythagoras' philosophy. The legend has the two as two Pythagoreans in Sicily. When Pythias was accused of plotting against Dionysius I, he was sentenced to death. Accepting his sentence, Pythias asked to be allowed to return home one last time, to settle his affairs and bid his family farewell. Dionysius believed this was simply an excuse and that the man wanted to escape. But when Damon offered to take Pythias' place in captivity, Dionysius agreed to set the prisoner free. When Pythias failed to return, Dionysius prepared to execute Damon. But then Pythias returned and offered his life instead. Dionysius was so pleased and astonished with their friendship that he pardoned them both. The tale attested to the supposed loyalty of Pythagoreans to each other and their moral strength in a time of crisis.