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TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 25, 2019 -- TCM Memorial Tribute: Albert Finney
In the daylight hours, TCM has a buncha folks marrying for money. Then in prime time, TCM is remembering the late Albert Finney. Take it away, Roger!Albert Finney, who passed away in February of this year, was the last of a generation of great British actors that also included Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris and Alan Bates. Virile and earthy, with a charisma that brought sympathy to his rough-hewn characters, Finney projected a working-class vitality and directness.
Finney enjoyed a long and fruitful career in film, television and theater, and he was beloved by audiences everywhere. He was invariably the bright spot of any project he undertook. The distinguished British actor Sir Alec Guinness once described him as "a shiny English apple."
Finney was born in Salford, Lancashire in England, on May 9, 1936. He was the third child and first son of Albert Finney Sr., an illegal bookmaker; and Alice Hobson Finney, who had left school at age 14 to work in a mill and help support her family.
Finney Jr. graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1956, whereupon he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. After acting roles on the BBC and with the Birmingham Rep, he made his first appearance on the London stage in 1958 in Charles Laughton's production of Jane Arden's The Party. Following more television work, including playing Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1959, Finney replaced an ailing Laurence Olivier at Stratford in the title role of Coriolanus. His breakthrough year was 1960: He made his film debut playing Olivier's son in The Entertainer, secured movie stardom in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and played the lead role in Billy Liar on stage and British television.
Finney's prolific and illustrious career included more than 40 movies. He earned five Oscar nominations (although never the award itself) for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), Under the Volcano (1984) and Erin Brockovich (2000, Supporting Actor). The full list of his major acting awards and nominations is voluminous, containing more than 50 entries.
In addition to those shown below, many of his other significant films include: Two for the Road (1967), Charlie Bubbles (1968), Scrooge (1970), Shoot the Moon (1982), Orphans (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994) and Big Fish (2003). His final film was Skyfall (2012).
Finney had at least 15 major theater credits including such titles as Luther, Black Comedy, Miss Julie, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard, Orphans and Art. His many impressive TV roles include that of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm, which brought him a slew of awards including an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actor.
He was married three times. With first wife Jane Wenham (1957-61) he had a son, Simon, who works in the film industry as a camera operator and has a long list of movie and TV credits. Finney's other marriages were to French actress Anouk Aimée (1970-78) and travel agent Penelope Delmage (2006-his death).
Diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007, Finney underwent surgery and chemotherapy. He died of a chest infection on February 7, 2019. On the occasion of his death, his friend and fellow actor Tom Courtenay commented that "Albert didn't need any tricks as an actor. He just came on with a bit of sunshine."
Here are the movies in TCM's tribute.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), starring Finney as Arthur, a young machinist in Nottingham who spends his weekends carousing, was a significant entry in the British New Wave of filmmaking. Tony Richardson produced, Karel Reisz directed and Alan Sillitoe wrote the screenplay and the novel on which it is based. Shirley Anne Field costars as Finney's girlfriend, and Rachel Roberts is the older, married woman with whom he has an affair. Critic Philip Horne writes in The Telegraph that, as conveyed by Finney, Arthur's "mixture of aggression and decency makes him one of the great characters of British cinema."
Tom Jones (1963) affords Finney another great role as the title character of Henry Fielding's classic 18th century novel, which was adapted by John Osborne and directed with great imagination by Tony Richardson. A lovable rascal who is stigmatized as a bastard, Tom loves the gentle Sophie (Susannah York) but becomes entangled with the lusty Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood). This bawdy classic was nominated for 10 Oscars (including one for Finney and three for supporting actresses) and won four (including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay).
Night Must Fall (1964) is a reworking of the Emlyn Williams classic stage thriller, originally filmed in 1937 with Robert Montgomery as the ingratiating bellhop who is really a psychopathic killer. Finney takes on the role in this remake, adapted by Clive Exton and directed by Karel Reisz. Reaction was divided between those who resented changes made to the original and others who appreciated Reisz's more explicit style and Finney's compelling performance.
Annie (1982), a big-screen version of the Broadway hit based on Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie comic strip, stars Finney as Daddy Warbucks, along with Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, Tim Curry as Rooster and Bernadette Peters as Lily. The film marks the only time in John Huston's 40-year directing career that he helmed a musical. Critic Roger Ebert wrote that, "If there is a center to the film, it belongs to Albert Finney."
The Dresser (1983) is a British film version of Ronald Harwood's stage success, adapted by Harwood himself and directed by Peter Yates. Finney plays Sir, a once-great, now faltering old-school actor performing at a regional theater in Britain during World War II. His slavishly devoted and longsuffering dresser, Norman, is played by Tom Courtenay. These two brilliantly matched actors were nominated for Oscars, BAFTA Awards and Golden Globes for their performances.
by Roger Fristoe
Finney enjoyed a long and fruitful career in film, television and theater, and he was beloved by audiences everywhere. He was invariably the bright spot of any project he undertook. The distinguished British actor Sir Alec Guinness once described him as "a shiny English apple."
Finney was born in Salford, Lancashire in England, on May 9, 1936. He was the third child and first son of Albert Finney Sr., an illegal bookmaker; and Alice Hobson Finney, who had left school at age 14 to work in a mill and help support her family.
Finney Jr. graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1956, whereupon he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. After acting roles on the BBC and with the Birmingham Rep, he made his first appearance on the London stage in 1958 in Charles Laughton's production of Jane Arden's The Party. Following more television work, including playing Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1959, Finney replaced an ailing Laurence Olivier at Stratford in the title role of Coriolanus. His breakthrough year was 1960: He made his film debut playing Olivier's son in The Entertainer, secured movie stardom in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and played the lead role in Billy Liar on stage and British television.
Finney's prolific and illustrious career included more than 40 movies. He earned five Oscar nominations (although never the award itself) for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), Under the Volcano (1984) and Erin Brockovich (2000, Supporting Actor). The full list of his major acting awards and nominations is voluminous, containing more than 50 entries.
In addition to those shown below, many of his other significant films include: Two for the Road (1967), Charlie Bubbles (1968), Scrooge (1970), Shoot the Moon (1982), Orphans (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), A Man of No Importance (1994) and Big Fish (2003). His final film was Skyfall (2012).
Finney had at least 15 major theater credits including such titles as Luther, Black Comedy, Miss Julie, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard, Orphans and Art. His many impressive TV roles include that of Winston Churchill in The Gathering Storm, which brought him a slew of awards including an Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actor.
He was married three times. With first wife Jane Wenham (1957-61) he had a son, Simon, who works in the film industry as a camera operator and has a long list of movie and TV credits. Finney's other marriages were to French actress Anouk Aimée (1970-78) and travel agent Penelope Delmage (2006-his death).
Diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007, Finney underwent surgery and chemotherapy. He died of a chest infection on February 7, 2019. On the occasion of his death, his friend and fellow actor Tom Courtenay commented that "Albert didn't need any tricks as an actor. He just came on with a bit of sunshine."
Here are the movies in TCM's tribute.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), starring Finney as Arthur, a young machinist in Nottingham who spends his weekends carousing, was a significant entry in the British New Wave of filmmaking. Tony Richardson produced, Karel Reisz directed and Alan Sillitoe wrote the screenplay and the novel on which it is based. Shirley Anne Field costars as Finney's girlfriend, and Rachel Roberts is the older, married woman with whom he has an affair. Critic Philip Horne writes in The Telegraph that, as conveyed by Finney, Arthur's "mixture of aggression and decency makes him one of the great characters of British cinema."
Tom Jones (1963) affords Finney another great role as the title character of Henry Fielding's classic 18th century novel, which was adapted by John Osborne and directed with great imagination by Tony Richardson. A lovable rascal who is stigmatized as a bastard, Tom loves the gentle Sophie (Susannah York) but becomes entangled with the lusty Lady Bellaston (Joan Greenwood). This bawdy classic was nominated for 10 Oscars (including one for Finney and three for supporting actresses) and won four (including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay).
Night Must Fall (1964) is a reworking of the Emlyn Williams classic stage thriller, originally filmed in 1937 with Robert Montgomery as the ingratiating bellhop who is really a psychopathic killer. Finney takes on the role in this remake, adapted by Clive Exton and directed by Karel Reisz. Reaction was divided between those who resented changes made to the original and others who appreciated Reisz's more explicit style and Finney's compelling performance.
Annie (1982), a big-screen version of the Broadway hit based on Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie comic strip, stars Finney as Daddy Warbucks, along with Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, Tim Curry as Rooster and Bernadette Peters as Lily. The film marks the only time in John Huston's 40-year directing career that he helmed a musical. Critic Roger Ebert wrote that, "If there is a center to the film, it belongs to Albert Finney."
The Dresser (1983) is a British film version of Ronald Harwood's stage success, adapted by Harwood himself and directed by Peter Yates. Finney plays Sir, a once-great, now faltering old-school actor performing at a regional theater in Britain during World War II. His slavishly devoted and longsuffering dresser, Norman, is played by Tom Courtenay. These two brilliantly matched actors were nominated for Oscars, BAFTA Awards and Golden Globes for their performances.
by Roger Fristoe
Enjoy!
8:15 AM -- GUNPLAY (1951)
Two cowboys hunt down the killers of a young boy's parents.
Dir: Lesley Selander
Cast: Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, Harper Carter
BW-61 mins,
10:00 AM -- EXPENSIVE HUSBANDS (1937)
A rising film star pays a steep price when she marries a prince for publicity.
Dir: Bobby Connolly
Cast: Patric Knowles, Beverly Roberts, Allyn Joslyn
BW-62 mins,
The 200 Austrian shillings the prince says he needs to earn at his job as a waiter would equal about $37.50 at the time or around $670 in 2019.
11:15 AM -- SEVEN DAYS LEAVE (1942)
A serviceman has one week to wed an heiress and inherit $100,000.
Dir: Tim Whelan
Cast: Victor Mature, Lucille Ball, Harold Peary
C-87 mins, CC,
Harold Peary plays Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a character he first introduced in 1939 on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show.
1:00 PM -- LIVING ON VELVET (1935)
A guilt-ridden pilot finds a new outlook on life when he falls for a society girl.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Kay Francis, Warren William, George Brent
BW-75 mins, CC,
The "wavishing Kay Fwancis" actually mocked herself in this film for her well-known trouble in pronouncing the letter "R." When George Brent's character notices that her "april" comes out sounding like "apwil," he forces her to repeat "around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran," which comes out "awound the wugged wocks the wagged wascals wan."
2:30 PM -- THE GAY SISTERS (1942)
A New York aristocrat marries for the money to save the family mansion.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald
BW-110 mins, CC,
Byron Barr took his character's name, Gig Young, as his screen name.
4:30 PM -- THE HARDYS RIDE HIGH (1939)
A small-town family inherits a fortune but has trouble adjusting to society life.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker
BW-81 mins, CC,
The sixth of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.
6:00 PM -- THE HEIRESS (1949)
A plain young woman's money makes her prey to fortune hunters.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson
BW-115 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Olivia de Havilland, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Meehan, Harry Horner and Emile Kuri, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Gile Steele, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Aaron Copland
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ralph Richardson, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Leo Tover, and Best Picture
To help Olivia de Havilland achieve the physically and emotionally weary and worn effect that he wanted, Producer and Director William Wyler packed books into the suitcases that the actress lugged up the staircase in the scene where her character realizes that she has been jilted by her lover.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: ALBERT FINNEY
8:00 PM -- ANNIE (1982)
An orphan attracts the attention of a Wall Street tycoon and a con artist.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Aileen Quinn
C-127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Dale Hennesy and Marvin March, and Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score -- Ralph Burns
As Daddy Warbucks, Albert Finney is doing a voice-impression of his director, John Huston.
10:15 PM -- TOM JONES (1963)
In this adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel, a country boy in 18th-century England becomes a playboy.
Dir: Tony Richardson
Cast: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith
C-122 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- Tony Richardson (Tony Richardson was not present at the awards ceremony. Edith Evans accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- John Osborne, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- John Addison (John Addison was not present at the awards ceremony. Elmer Bernstein accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Picture
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Albert Finney, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Hugh Griffith, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Diane Cilento, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Edith Evans, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Joyce Redman, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Ralph W. Brinton, Edward Marshall, Jocelyn Herbert and Josie MacAvin
It took two nights to film the sequence in which Squire Western chases after Tom. The second night, Hugh Griffith managed to undo the wiring on his riding crop, and actually hit Albert Finney with it, drawing blood. In character, Finney turned on Griffith and said, "I can't abide to be whipped, Squire," then punched him in the face. Each stalked off the set, swearing never to work with the other again.
12:30 AM -- SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1960)
A factory worker lives for the chance to have fun on the weekends.
Dir: Karel Reisz
Cast: Albert Finney, Shirley Field, Rachel Roberts
BW-89 mins, CC,
British rock band the Arctic Monkeys were heavily influenced by this film. The title of their debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" is a direct quote from the movie, and many of the songs were inspired by Albert Finney's character. Also the art design of the album was influenced by the realist images of British working class neighborhoods and night life in "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning".
2:15 AM -- THE DRESSER (1983)
A theatrical dresser tries to get an aging star through one more performance of King Lear.
Dir: Peter Yates
Cast: Llewellyn Rees, John Sharp, Tom Courtenay
C-118 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Tom Courtenay, Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Albert Finney, Best Director -- Peter Yates, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ronald Harwood, and Best Picture
Sir Tom Courtenay said of this movie: "The play is about the interaction of the two men, and without denigrating the actors I played opposite in the stage versions (Freddie Jones and Paul Rogers) the fact that Albert is what he is (a true theatrical giant) makes it work better as a piece. I know that."
4:30 AM -- NIGHT MUST FALL (1964)
A psychopath worms his way into an elderly woman's household.
Dir: Karel Reisz
Cast: Albert Finney, Mona Washbourne, Susan Hampshire
BW-101 mins, CC,
Karel Reisz and Albert Finney had spent a year, including 10 weeks scouting Australian locations, developing a "Ned Kelly" project, but when Columbia finally pulled the plug, they quickly set up " Night Must Fall" at MGM.