TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 1, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Street Gangs

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. And just before primetime, one of my favorite guilty pleasures from my college days, The Gumball Rally (1976). After seeing the film in the theatre, we hoped in a friend's car and made a little 60-mile drive at midnight. Speed limits may have been broken!

In primetime, The Essentials is back! (or should that be The Essentials are back?), with trailblazing producer, director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay, who will join primetime host Ben Mankiewicz to discuss the films she has chosen. DuVernay, who is based in Los Angeles, is a winner of Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody awards. Tonight's theme seems to be juvenile delinquents, with West Side Story (1961), Violent Playground (1958), and The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- SMALL TOWN GIRL (1936)
After marrying a drunken playboy, a young girl tries to capture his heart while he's sober.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Binnie Barnes
BW-106 mins,

Was originally set to star Jean Harlow as Kay and Robert Montgomery as Bob.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: A RAINY DAY (1940)
Mrs. Bear persuades her reluctant husband to fix the leaky roof, but the job proves larger than it first appeared.
Dir: Hugh Harman
Cast: Rudolf Ising, Martha Wentworth
BW-7 mins, CC

Also known as A Rainy Day With The Bear Family.


8:09 AM -- LET'S DANCE (1936)
In this short film, choreographer Dave Gould and his students demonstrate various tap dancing steps.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Pete Smith, Dave Gould
BW-8 mins, CC


8:18 AM -- GLIMPSES OF AUSTRALIA (1939)
This short film takes the viewer to Australia.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick, Joseph Lyons
C-9 mins,

Filming locations include Bondi Beach, Sydney, the Blue Mountains, and Melbourne.


8:28 AM -- STAGE TO CHINO (1940)
A retired postal inspector gets back in the saddle to prevent a stagecoach robbery.
Dir: Edward Killy
Cast: George O'Brien, Virginia Vale, Hobart Cavanaugh
BW-59 mins,

Based on a story by Norton S. Parker.


9:30 AM -- LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE: WAVE LENGTH FOR DOOM (1946)
Episode three of thirteen.
Dir: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Cast: Russell Hayden, Jane Adams, Lionel Atwill
BW-19 mins, CC


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: PROTEK THE WEAKERIST (1937)
Olive asks Popeye to walk her dog Flyppy, but Popeye is embarrassed because Fluffy is as weak looking as the name implies.
Directors: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel (uncredited)
Stars: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
BW-8 mins, CC

Fleischer's Tabletop process is used while Popeye walks Olive's dog down the street. The cels are animated vertically between set pieces, in order to create the feeling of depth. The whole effect is lost in the color version, as the backgrounds is a flat redraw.


10:08 AM -- THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale
BW-64 mins,

When Bates turns off the recording of Tex using a remote control, what is shown is actually a Philco "Mystery Control" with the Philco brand name covered up with "Hills". It was the first wireless remote control unit, introduced in 1939 using radio frequency waves to operate Philco radios by tuning preset stations or raising or lowering the volume.


11:30 AM -- MEN OF THE SKY (1942)
This short film, produced in cooperation with the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII, focuses on a group of fledgling pilots receiving their wings. Vitaphone Release 1017-1018A.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Tod Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Don DeFore
C-20 mins, CC

On November 22, 1942, the B-17 in this film with tail number 12536 (serial 41-2536) was lost along with its crew on a mission attacking Japanese ships 60 miles off Lae, New Guinea, when it caught fire and crashed into the sea. No trace of the plane or crew was found.


12:00 PM -- TULSA (1949)
A cattle owner's daughter risks everything to drill for oil.
Dir: Stuart Heisler
Cast: Susan Hayward, Robert Preston, Pedro Armendariz
C-88 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Aside from a few quick shots of downtown landmarks, none of this movie was actually filmed in Tulsa. Most of the location work took place on the 10,000-acre ranch of Oklahoma Gov. Roy J. Turner in the town of Sulphur, 145 miles from Tulsa.


1:45 PM -- SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (1956)
True story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Everett Sloane
BW-113 mins, CC

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown, Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Film Editing -- Albert Akst

Originally, the movie was to be filmed on-location in New York City in Technicolor with James Dean in the lead role. However, after James Dean's death, it was decided the film should be in black and white, and filmed on studio sets. Director Robert Wise felt the sets looked very fake, and only used them for night scenes, while filming the daytime scenes on-location.


3:45 PM -- THE MISFITS (1961)
A sensitive divorcee gets mixed up with modern cowboys roping mustangs in the desert.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift
BW-125 mins, CC

Clark Gable was leery of the film's New York actors - Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Kevin McCarthy - who were known for their "Method acting." They, in turn, weren't sure what to expect from a legendary movie star like Gable. Frank Taylor's wife, Nan, broke the ice for them by throwing a dinner party for the cast shortly before location shooting started. The New York actors arrived first and made some disparaging comments about their leading man. Then Gable and his wife arrived, deliberately late (the actor was noted for his punctuality). After making a grand entrance, he held court, but also impressed the rest of the cast with his appreciation of the script. He also expressed interest in Clift's working methods. When Clift asked him how he approached a role, Gable replied, "I bring to it everything I have been, everything I am, and everything I hope to be." That won the Method actors over.


6:00 PM -- THE GUMBALL RALLY (1976)
A bored businessman spearheads a madcap race from coast to coast.
Dir: Chuck Bail
Cast: Michael Sarrazin, Norman Burton, Gary Busey
C-107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

They wanted a shot of the Ferrari speedometer but the helicopter couldn't keep up. They finally got the shot by mounting the camera on the AC Cobra.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: THE ESSENTIALS: STREET GANGS


8:00 PM -- WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
C-154 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Chakiris, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Rita Moreno, Best Director -- Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (For the first time a directing award is being shared.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Victor A. Gangelin, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, Best Sound -- Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Film Editing -- Thomas Stanford, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Lehman

The stage version was originally planned as a story about a Catholic boy falling in love with a Jewish girl. The working title was "East Side Story". After a boom of Puerto Rican immigration to New York in the late 1940s and 1950s, the story was changed, and the show opened on Broadway in 1957 as "West Side Story". The working title of 'East Side Story' was later used as the title to Mexican-American rapper Kid Frost's second album released in 1992 - with the placement of the 'East Side Story' title reminiscent of the West Side Story movie posters.


10:45 PM -- VIOLENT PLAYGROUND (1958)
A delinquent's sister falls for a police officer.
Dir: Basil Dearden
Cast: Stanley Baker, Anne Heywood, David McCallum
BW-106 mins, CC

Stanley Baker and David McCallum had starred together as brothers in the previous years Hell Drivers.


12:45 AM -- THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen
BW-112 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sam Jaffe, Best Director -- John Huston, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ben Maddow and John Huston, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson

John Huston first met Sterling Hayden in Washington, DC, during a protest against the House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of "subversives" in the film industry. When the pair met to discuss the project, Huston said to Hayden, "I've admired you for a long time, Sterling. They don't know what to make of a guy like you in this business." Huston was honest with Hayden about his chance for the lead role. Hayden recounts in his autobiography Huston's pitch: "Now, Sterling, I want you to do this part. The studio does not. They want a top name star. They say you mean nothing when it comes to box-office draw--I told them there aren't five names in this town [that] mean a damn thing at the box office. Fortunately, they're not making this picture. I am. Now let me tell you about Dix Handley . . . Dix is you and me and every other man who can't fit into the groove." Rumored to be fighting severe alcohol and psychiatric problems, Hayden landed the role of Handley, his first major starring role, over the objection of MGM chief Dore Schary. Hayden's gritty performance proved many Hollywood naysayers flat wrong. For instance, Hayden himself was nervous about the climactic scene in the picture, when Dix breaks down in tears in front of Jean Hagen. According to the director, though, Hayden did not have anything to worry about. After the actor delivered the scene beautifully, Huston took Hayden aside and said, "The next time somebody says you can't act, tell them to call Huston."


2:45 AM -- VANISHING POINT (1971)
A car delivery driver leads the police on a merry chase to win a bet.
Dir: Richard C. Sarafian
Cast: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The color white was chosen for the car simply so the car would stand out against the background scenery in the movie. White was not symbolic in any way. The director says this in the DVD commentary.


4:30 AM -- THREE (1969)
A pretty female hitchhiker creates tension between two friends touring France.
Dir: John J. Sughrue
Cast: Antonio Fargas, Joseph Sirola, David Bailey
C-105 mins, CC

[SCantiGOP]

1. Thanks for posting these

Couple of times a month I’ll see something that triggers a memory of growing up in the 60s and record it; it seems usually at 4:00 am or some other time I would never be watching.

[Staph]

2. I know exactly what you mean!

Movies were a large part of my childhood and of my growing up. I've taught my nieces, nephews and godchildren about American and world culture by introducing them to movies. Not just the recent stuff -- I enjoy overcoming their antipathy to black-and-white by making them sit down and watch a classic. They tell me that they didn't even notice that it wasn't in color!