TCM Schedule for Friday, October 11, 2019 -- TCM Spotlight: Monster of the Month: Godzilla

[Staph]

Today in the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films by one of the great all-time directors, George Stevens. Not his birthday, but a director of this quality should be seen any day and every day. Then in prime time, TCM continues their month-long salute to that awesome Japanese lizard, Godzilla. Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- I REMEMBER MAMA (1948)
Norwegian immigrants face the trials of family life in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka
BW-134 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Irene Dunne, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Oskar Homolka, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Barbara Bel Geddes, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ellen Corby, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Nicholas Musuraca

Producer Harriet Parsons initially brought in director George Cukor, hoping he could persuade Greta Garbo to come out of retirement. Marlene Dietrich sought the lead role, but was regarded as not maternal enough. Parsons then tried to cast recent Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou, even considering changing the family's origins to Greek. When RKO took over the project, Irene Dunne was cast, and she recommended George Stevens as director.


10:00 AM -- PENNY SERENADE (1941)
A woman on the verge of divorce recalls her heartbreaking attempts to adopt a child.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Cary Grant

Prior to hiring George Stevens as a director for Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, the big boss of the studio, promised him to never interfere in Stevens's directing job, but Cohn only asked him not to smoke on the set, Inside the studio. Stevens eventually followed the orders and smoked behind Cohn's back.


12:15 PM -- THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943)
The World War II housing shortage brings three people together for an unlikely romance.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn
BW-104 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Charles Coburn

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jean Arthur, Best Director -- George Stevens, Best Writing, Original Story -- Frank Ross and Robert Russell, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross and Robert Russell, and Best Picture

This was George Stevens' last picture for Columbia before he joined the Army as chief of the combat photographic unit.


2:15 PM -- A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
An ambitious young man wins an heiress' heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend's pregnancy.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters
BW-122 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- George Stevens, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Michael Wilson and Harry Brown, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- William C. Mellor, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head, Best Film Editing -- William Hornbeck, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Montgomery Clift, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shelley Winters, and Best Picture

The novel contains a scene in which Alice goes to a country doctor and tentatively asks about an abortion. Shelley Winters relates in her autobiography that George Stevens initially planned to drop the scene because "it's rather censorable, but I think if we handle it delicately, it will illuminate the factory girl's terrible plight." Winters was given the new script pages one morning and asked to memorize the lines; Stevens planned to rehearse once, then immediately film the scene for spontaneity. "When he called, ?Action!' I was already crying," Winters wrote. "I twisted my white handkerchief into a shredded ball. The scene was nine minutes long. A full camera load. Boy, did I ever act!" Stevens had Winters do the scene again after letting her realize that tears would only frighten the doctor, and that Alice must try and refrain from crying. "Of course, when we saw the two takes the next day, the one in which I followed his exact direction was remarkable, even if I say so myself. ...Every time I've seen that scene in a theater, every man in the audience groans and every woman weeps. George had taught me another lifelong acting lesson: don't indulge yourself ? make the audience weep."


4:30 PM -- GIANT (1956)
A Texas ranching family fights to survive changing times.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean
BW-201 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Director -- George Stevens

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was James Dean's second consecutive posthumous nomination.), Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Rock Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mercedes McCambridge, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Ralph S. Hurst, Best Costume Design, Color -- Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best, Best Film Editing -- William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson and Fred Bohanan, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

George Stevens had a hard time directing James Dean. The problem started with Stevens' ordering Dean to get rid of his Actor's Studio mannerisms like moving his head from side to side or hopping while walking. The two argued constantly, and at one point the actor went on strike for three days. Dean even ordered his agent to come to the location to help him deal with the director. He also referred to Stevens as "Fatso" behind his back. In defiance, Dean would often hold up production for hours, causing the film to go over schedule.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MONSTER OF THE MONTH: GODZILLA



8:00 PM -- GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964)
Mothra, Godzilla and Rodan join forces to take on a space invasion.
Dir: Inoshiro Honda
Cast: Yosuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi
C-93 mins, Letterbox Format

This was the first movie to feature King Ghidorah, who would later go on to be Toho's main villain monster, fighting both Godzilla and Mothra as well as making appearances on Japanese television.


9:45 PM -- INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER (1965)
Aliens try to use Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan to take over the planet.
Dir: Inoshiro Honda
Cast: Nick Adams, Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno
C-95 mins, Letterbox Format

Godzilla's famous/infamous "victory dance" after defeating King Ghidorah on Planet X was based upon the "shê" gag pose, a trademark of the mischievous character Iyami from the manga "Osomatsu-kun," created by famous Japanese cartoonist Fujio Akatsuka. Iyami would go into this pose every time he is surprised, and scream "shê!" This has become a famous pose in Japanese popular culture. Yoshio Tsuchiya (the actor playing the Controller of Planet X) was a big fan of the "Osomatsu-kun" comic-strip, and asked special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya if Godzilla could do a "shê" pose. Having already given Godzilla a more humorous and playful side, Eiji agreed, cleverly incorporating the pose into a "victory dance" for the monster. However, director Ishirô Honda was not impressed. After some debating, it was ultimately left in the final print.


1:00 AM -- SON OF GODZILLA (1967)
Scientists get caught in the middle when Godzilla fights to protect his newborn son from prehistoric monsters.
Dir: Jun Fukuda
Cast: Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo, Beverly Maeda
C-86 mins, Letterbox Format

A pool was set up on stage nine during the production (stage nine is one of the largest on Toho's lot in Setagaya). They used the pool, which was about five feet deep, to film the shot of Godzilla rising above the surface of the ocean. Haruo Nakajima (the actor in Godzilla suit) was on a cart on a rail. He held onto the handle of the cart while it was towed by a truck. As the cart moved forward, he slowly rose out of the water. He wore a very tiny air cylinder that contained enough air for about ten minutes. The water that rushed by his face while the cart was being towed made it very difficult for him to prevent the mouthpiece from coming out of his mouth.


2:45 AM -- DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1969)
Female aliens take control of Earth's monsters and begin using them to destroy the human race.
Dir: Ishiro Honda
Cast: Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yoshio Tsuchiya
BW-89 mins, Letterbox Format

The intent of Toho was that this was going to be the final Godzilla movie as the popularity or Kaiju films was losing steam. However, it was very successful and Toho changed their mind and went on to create more Godzilla films into the 70's.


4:30 AM -- GHOULIES (1985)
A young man's obsession with controlling demonic forces threatens all around him.
Dir: Luca Bercovici
Cast: Peter Liapis, Lisa Pelikan, Jack Nance
C-81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Mariska Hargitay's film debut.