TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 10 -- Starring Sabu

[Staph]

It's a day of animals, with Old Yeller (grab the tissues!), Lassie and Flipper. Then this evening we get the films of Sabu. Enjoy!


5:45am -- Old Yeller (1958)
A frontier boy develops close ties with a yellow dog.
Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, Jeff York, Chuck Connors
Dir: Robert Stevenson
C-84 mins, TV-G

The dog, Old Yeller, although described in the dialogue as a mongrel, is portrayed by a Yellow Labrador Retriever and, in the book, is a Black-Mouthed Cur, which is not recognized as a separate breed.


6:55am -- Short Film: Famous Movie Dogs (1940)
Well known canine performers of the 1930s vie for a part in an upcoming movie.
Narrator: John Deering
Dir: Del Frazier
BW-10 mins

The cast includes Asta (of The Thin Man series), Corky (The Garden of Allah (1936)), and Whiskers, who doubled as the Roosevelts' Fala in Princess O'Rourke (1943).


7:07am -- Short Film: Hollywood Scout (1945)
One of Pete Smith's assistants auditions animal acts for his short subjects.
Narrator: Pete Smith
BW-8 mins

The talented animals include dogs, a chimp, and a black bear.


7:30am -- Son Of Lassie (1945)
The beloved collie goes to war to help the resistance in occupied Norway.
Cast: Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp, June Lockhart, Nigel Bruce
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
C-100 mins, TV-G

The dog playing Laddie (the son of Lassie) is actually Pal - the dog who played the original Lassie in Lassie Come Home (1943).


9:15am -- Courage Of Lassie (1946)
A young girl tries to rehabilitate the famous collie after his return from combat service in World War II.
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, Tom Drake, Selena Royle
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
C-93 mins, TV-PG

Although the title of the film suggests it, there is no mention of the character Lassie anywhere in the movie.


11:00am -- Hills Of Home (1948)
Lassie helps a Scottish doctor deal with his patients' problems.
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Tom Drake, Janet Leigh
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
C-97 mins, TV-G

Pal, born in 1940 and died in 1958, was the original movie Lassie in Lassie, Come Home (1943). All dogs in the subsequent Lassie films, and television series, have been descendants of Pal.


12:45pm -- The Sun Comes Up (1949)
Lassie helps an embittered woman find happiness with an orphaned boy.
Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Lloyd Nolan, Claude Jarman Jr., Lewis Stone
Dir: Richard Thorpe
C-93 mins, TV-G

Jeanette MacDonald's final film.


2:19pm -- Short Film: Jeanette Macdonald Biography (1962)
BW-4 mins

In many of Judy Garland's concerts, she featured "San Francisco," a song that MacDonald sang in San Francisco (1936) with Clark Gable. When Garland sang it, she sometimes added to the beginning, "I never will forget Jeanette MacDonald. Just to think of her, it gives my heart a pang. I never will forget just how that brave Jeanette just stood there, in the ruins, and sang. And sang." And then Judy would sing it. Jeanette was approached about it, and she said, "Oh, I don't mind... As long as it's Judy!".


2:30pm -- Challenge To Lassie (1949)
A faithful dog changes the lives of all who know her after her master dies.
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Geraldine Brooks, Reginald Owen
Dir: Richard Thorpe
C-76 mins, TV-G

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


3:50pm -- Short Film: Glimpses Of Florida (1941)
Florida when Miami was still a small vacation community
Narrator: James A. FitzPatrick
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins

Silver Springs bathing beauties close out this Traveltalk displaying their swimming talents (plus other natural gifts) for the audience.


4:00pm -- Flipper (1963)
A fisherman in the Florida Keys opposes his son's friendship with a dolphin.
Cast: Chuck Connors, Luke Halpin, Kathleen Maguire, Connie Scott
Dir: James B. Clark
C-90 mins, TV-G

Filmed in 1961, but not released for two years.


5:32pm -- Short Film: Around The World, Under The Sea (1966)
C-8 mins

This short film serves as a promo reel for the feature film Around the World Under the Sea, starring Lloyd Bridges, Shirley Eaton, and David McCallum.


5:45pm -- Flipper's New Adventure (1964)
The heroic dolphin helps capture a group of escaped convicts.
Cast: Luke Halpin, Pamela Franklin, Helen Cherry, Tom Helmore
Dir: Leon Benson
C-98 mins, TV-G

Last film of Tom Helmore, most famous today as the man who hires James Stewart to shadow Kim Novak, in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958).


7:30pm -- MGM Parade Show #20 (1955)
Esther Williams performs in a clip from "Ziegfeld Follies"; Donna Reed introduces a clip from "Ransom." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G

Esther Williams, as usual, is performing in a water ballet.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: STARRING SABU


8:00pm -- The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
A young thief faces amazing monsters to return Bagdad's deposed king to the throne.
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin
Dir: Michael Powell
C-106 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction, Color -- Vincent Korda, Best Cinematography, Color -- Georges Périnal, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Lawrence W. Butler (photographic) and Jack Whitney (sound)

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Miklós Rózsa

Filming began in Britain, but because of the Blitz, the production relocated to Hollywood. When filming began in the USA, the stricter US censorship codes were applied. One of the most obvious differences between the scenes shot in the UK and those filmed in the USA is that the tops of the actresses' costumes were buttoned up all the way to satisfy the Hays Office. That kind of clue makes it easier to identify the US-shot scenes than trying to spot differences in the sets.


10:00pm -- The Drum (1938)
An Indian prince tries to save his British masters from a deadly revolt.
Cast: Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, Valerie Hobson
Dir: Zoltan Korda
BW-94 mins, TV-G

Known as Drums in the United States.


11:51pm -- Short Film: Ancient India (1952)
This travel short provides an insight into the ancient world of India, including its origins, customs, lifestyle and architecture. Specifically explored are the ancient cities of Bundi and Jaipur in the Northwest corner of the country. Visits to the palatial estates of the maharajas of these two cities are also included.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins

The travelogue includes the town of Bundy, little changed since 1342.


12:00am -- Song of India (1949)
A jungle prince stands against a maharajah's plan to capture and sell wild animals.
Cast: Sabu, Gail Russell, Turhan Bey, Anthony Caruso
Dir: Albert S. Rogell
BW-77 mins, TV-G

Marilyn Cooper was called in to replace Gail Russell, who was taken ill. This led to Cooper meeting her future husband, Sabu.


1:30am -- The End of the River (1947)
A South American Indian's move to civilization leads to tragic consequences.
Cast: Sabu, Maurice Denham
Dir: Derek N. Twist.
C-83 mins

Continuity problems: Young Manoel is only about 10 when he's forced to leave his village. Older Manoel is declared to be "about 21" during the rest of the film. But he says to Teresa that only a year ago he knew nothing of the white man.


3:00am -- The Jungle Book (1942)
A boy raised by wolves adjusts to life among humans.
Cast: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen, Frank Puglia
Dir: Zoltan Korda
C-102 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Vincent Korda and Julia Heron, Best Cinematography, Color -- W. Howard Greene, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Lawrence W. Butler (photographic) and William A. Wilmarth (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa

The 1942 Jungle Book was the first film for which original soundtrack recordings were issued. Previously, when record companies released music from a film, they had insisted on re-recording the music in their own studios with their own equipment. The "Jungle Book" records were taken from the same recordings used for the film's soundtrack, and their commercial success paved the way for more original-soundtrack albums.

[Staph]

1. Sabu Profile

A former stable boy who achieved international fame after being cast by Robert Flaherty as the delightfully engaging "Elephant Boy" (1937), Sabu was a hugely popular star of exotic adventures for two decades. He subsequently appeared in several Alexander Korda productions and a number of US films through the mid-1960s.

Boyishly handsome, with an outgoing personality and natural talent as an actor, Sabu did well in England in The Drum (1938) and especially the splendid The Thief of Bagdad (1940). His first American films, such as an adaptation of The Jungle Book (1942), were also worthy, but Sabu was soon typecast in a series of outlandish, exotic jungle and desert adventures alongside Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Turhan Bey.

His last really interesting film was Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger's stunning Black Narcissus (1947). Subsequent work was mostly in low-budget adventures right up until his premature death at 39 from a heart attack.

Films in bold play on September 10.