TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 20, 2020 -- The Essentials: Aviators in the Afterlife

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM finally returns to the Essentials. Tonight, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird have a pair of films based on the rather unusual theme of dead pilots! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- LOVE CRAZY (1941)
A businessman concocts a series of harebrained schemes to keep his wife from divorcing him.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick
BW-99 mins, CC,

William Powell had a mustache for the entire length of his career, but he shaved it off for this movie for the sequences in which his character poses as a woman. Not entirely accurate. He also shaved it off for the prison scenes in Shadow of the Law (1930).


8:00 AM -- TOM AND JERRY: GARDEN GOPHER (1950)
When Spike tries to bury a bone he finds a belligerent gopher.
Dir: Tex Avery (Fred)
Cast: Bill Thompson
BW-6 mins, CC,

A censored version of this cartoon can be found in the Special Features on the Warner DVD release of "Two Weeks with Love."


8:08 AM -- BERMUDA COCKLESHELLS (1957)
This short film focuses on sailboat racing in Bermuda.
Dir: Harry W. Smith
BW-8 mins,


8:17 AM -- MODERN GUATEMALA CITY (1945)
This short film takes the viewer to Guatemala City, focusing on the sights, customs, and history.
C-8 mins,


8:26 AM -- THE CASE OF THE BLACK PARROT (1941)
A newspaperman sets out to catch a sea-going thief.
Dir: Noel M. Smith
Cast: William Lundigan, Maris Wrixon, Eddie Foy Jr.
BW-60 mins, CC,

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 27 November 1923 and had 159 performances. The opening night cast included Morris Ankrum and Claude King.


9:30 AM -- TERRY AND THE PIRATES: ANGRY WATERS (1940)
Dr. Herbert Lee, an archaeologist seeking to decipher ancient Mara inscriptions, is aided by his son, Terry, Terry's pal, Pat Ryan, and Normandie Drake.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: William Tracy, Jeff York, Joyce Bryant
BW-17 mins, CC,

Episode seven of fifteen.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: PEST PILOT (1941)
Pappy comes to Popeye's airport and wants to be a pilot, but Popeye tells him he's too old.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Dave Tendlar (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer
BW-7 mins, CC,

One of a number of Popeye shorts which were sent off to Asia in the 80's to undergo the infamous redraw and colorization process.


10:07 AM -- BOWERY TO BAGHDAD (1955)
The Bowery Boys unleash an Arabian nightmare when they find Alladin's magic lamp.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey
BW-64 mins, CC,

Final film of Eric Blore.


11:30 AM -- GOING TO BLAZES! (1947)
This short film emphasizes fire safety and fire prevention.
Dir: Gunther von Fritsch
BW-21 mins,


12:00 PM -- THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945)
A man remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed
BW-110 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr.

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Angela Lansbury, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar and Hugh Hunt

The name Dorian Gray is not a random choice. Dorian is a reference to the Dorians, who were the lowest and presumably the most depraved of the four states in ancient Greece. They are known for the destruction of the Minoans and for plunging the region into a dark age that lasted for three centuries. Gray, of course, is a reference to a tone that has no color, no passion and no emotion, which is the state that Dorian Gray assumes that makes it possible for him to endure the darkness in which he has enveloped himself.


2:00 PM -- BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955)
An idealistic teacher confronts the realities of juvenile delinquency.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Richard Brooks, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Russell Harlan, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis and Henry Grace, and Best Film Editing -- Ferris Webster

The original novel was based on author Evan Hunter's own experiences as a teacher in New York City's tough South Bronx area. Hunter (who found fame as crime writer Ed McBain) said, "I thought I was going to give these kids who want to be motor mechanics Shakespeare and they were going to appreciate it and they weren't buying it. I went home in tears night after night."


4:00 PM -- LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
A British military officer enlists the Arabs for desert warfare in World War I.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
C-227 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- David Lean, Best Cinematography, Color -- Freddie Young, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- John Box, John Stoll and Dario Simoni, Best Sound -- John Cox (Shepperton SSD), Best Film Editing -- Anne V. Coates, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Maurice Jarre, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter O'Toole, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Omar Sharif, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson (The nomination for Wilson was granted on 26 September 1995 by the Academy Board of Directors, after research at the WGA found that the then blacklisted writer shared the screenwriting credit with Bolt.)

On his first location scouting trip in Jordan, director Sir David Lean discovered the remains of the Turkish locomotives and railroad tracks Lawrence had destroyed during the Arab Revolution. After forty years in the sun, they hadn't even rusted.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: AVIATORS IN THE AFTERLIFE



8:00 PM -- A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1947)
An injured aviator argues in celestial court for the chance to go on living.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote
C-104 mins, CC,

The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called "Operation Ethel" by the firm of engineers who constructed her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board, took three months to make, and cost three thousand pounds sterling (in 1946). "Ethel" had one hundred six steps, each twenty feet wide, and was driven by a twelve horsepower engine. The full shot was completed by hanging miniatures.


10:00 PM -- A GUY NAMED JOE (1943)
A downed World War II pilot becomes the guardian angel for his successor in love and war.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- David Boehm and Chandler Sprague

There was no way to composite Spencer Tracy's image into the scenes where Van Johnson is flying, so he actually had to be standing behind Johnson and, later, Irene Dunne for the filming of these scenes. The same approach was used for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) (techniques for superimposing one image onto another were not invented until much later).


12:15 AM -- UNDERWORLD, U.S.A. (1961)
A bitter young man sets out to get back at the gangsters who murdered his father.
Dir: Samuel Fuller
Cast: Cliff Robertson, Dolores Dorn, Beatrice Kay
BW-98 mins, CC,

Hanging on the wall in Driscoll's office is a certificate bearing the symbol of the U.S. Army's First Infantry Division - the unit that Samuel Fuller served in during World War II and depicted in The Big Red One (1980). The same type style for the infantry's numeral "1" is also featured in a reading campaign poster in front of National Accounts, the gangster headquarters building.


2:15 AM -- ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)
Two Washington Post reporters investigate the Watergate break-in that ended Nixon's presidency.
Dir: Alan J. Pakula
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards Jr.
C-138 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jason Robards, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- William Goldman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- George Jenkins and George Gaines, and Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Rick Alexander (as Dick Alexander) and James E. Webb

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jane Alexander, Best Director -- Alan J. Pakula, Best Film Editing -- Robert L. Wolfe, and Best Picture

Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the break-in at the Watergate complex, played himself.


4:45 AM -- PRIMARY (1960)
The Wisconsin Primary of 1960 sets John Kennedy on the road to the White House.
Dir: Robert Drew
Cast: Robert Drew, Hubert H. Humphrey, Muriel Buck Humphrey
BW-53 mins,

Pierre Salinger is seen first 8 minutes in, at Kennedy headquarters speaking on the telephone about "moratorium on small nuclear arms testing." He worked on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign, becoming a leading figure in his campaign. When later John Kennedy was elected President, Mr. Salinger was appointed as his press secretary and, as such, was known for his wit, enthusiasm and considerable disdain for detail. Pierre Salinger also served as Lyndon Johnson's press secretary, and as a campaign manager for John's surviving brother, Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential run, during which he was assassinated.


5:45 AM -- THE KID (1921)
In this silent comedy, an adoptive father schemes to keep his son.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller
BW-53 mins,

Charles Chaplin decided to make a film around Jackie Coogan after seeing him in a vaudeville performance with his father Jack Coogan Sr.. The elder Coogan essentially put his career on hold to coach little Jackie through filming. Chaplin, in turn, rewarded Jack Sr.'s role in coaching the boy, as well as assuaged his performer's ego, by paying him $125 a week, almost double the $75 a week Jackie was getting to costar. Jack Sr. also played several roles in the film, as a bum who picks the Tramp's pocket, as the Devil in the Heaven sequence and as a party guest.

[dhill926]

1. I remember The Picture of Dorian Gray....

freaking me the fuck out when I was a wee lad. If I can remember to watch it, would be interesting to see the effect it has now. Thx for the heads up...

[Staph]

2. I first saw it as an adult.

But when the picture appears in color, in the middle of this black-and-white film, I got creeped out, too!

[Lord Ludd]

3. A Matter of Life and Death

by the British/Hungarian team of Sir Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (The Archers) & retitled Stairway to Heaven in the US, was a huge TV favorite of mine as a kid & remains so in my dotage (some say doltage).

Right after WWII, when Anglo-American relations were still strained due to the "friendly" Yankee invasion & occupation of the UK, the British government asked Powell & Pressburger to try to mend fences. This movie reflected their effort.

As the family TV was B&W back then, it was as an adult that I discovered that only the scenes in Heaven were filmed in black & white while the rest of the movie was in color.

The Archers wrote, produced & directed many great films including The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp; I Know Where I'm Going; & imo the all-time classic The Red Shoes, truly a masterpiece.

(Edited to insert "friendly" in 2nd graph)