TCM Schedule for Friday, July 24, 2020 -- TCM Special Theme: Directed by John Ford

[Staph]

From noon onward, TCM concludes the celebration the works of director John Ford, including his WWII dramas and documentaries. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- HOT SUMMER NIGHT (1957)
A hot-shot reporter risks his life to land an interview with a notorious crook.
Dir: David Friedkin Cast: Marianne Stewart, Claude Akins, Robert Wilke
BW-86 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The $50,000 ransom asked for is the equivalent of $422,000 in 2015.


7:29 AM -- QUEBEC IN SUMMERTIME (1949)
This short documentary that takes the viewer to southern Québec.
C-10 mins,


7:45 AM -- CLASH BY NIGHT (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband's best friend.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan
BW-105 mins, CC,

This movie was shot while Barbara Stanwyck was in the process of divorcing Robert Taylor. The movie also featured the rising young star Marilyn Monroe. Barbara gave a good performance in one of her most memorable films. Despite her emotional devastation, the crew noted Barbara's lack of a diva tantrum, Fritz Lang later said, "She's fantastic, unbelievable, and I liked her tremendously. When Marilyn missed her lines---which she did constantly---Barbara never said a word."


9:45 AM -- THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (1964)
A defrocked priest surrenders to the sins of the flesh in a Mexican hotel.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr
BW-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grayson Hall, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gabriel Figueroa, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen B. Grimes

Prior to shooting, in order to defuse the tensions of the isolated location they were working in, John Huston made each lead actor a gold-encrusted pistol with bullets -- each bullet engraved with one of the other actors' names. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they could use the designated bullet. This amused everyone, and proved successful. No problems arose among the cast.


11:45 AM -- ON THE TRAIL OF THE IGUANA (1964)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the on-location filming of "The Night of the Iguana" (1964).
Dir: Ross Lowell
C-14 mins,


12:00 PM -- THE LOST PATROL (1934)
A British army troop fights off Arab snipers while holed up in an oasis.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford
BW-72 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Max Steiner

Victor McLaglen actually served with the Irish Fusiliers in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during World War I at the same time this story takes place. He eventually rose to be Provost Marshal--equivalent of Police Chief--of Baghdad.


1:17 PM -- THE UNITED STATES NAVY BAND (1943)
This wartime short showcases the U.S. Navy Band performing naval and patriotic songs.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
BW-10 mins,

The submarine marked "D1" in this film is actually the U.S.S. Dolphin (SS-169). The footage is as she appeared in the Warner Bros. feature Submarine D-1 (1937).


1:30 PM -- THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (1942)
Actual battle footage documents the U.S.' heroic stand against the Japanese on Midway Island.
Dir: John Ford
BW-18 mins,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Documentary

Many of the shots of American soldiers displayed during the battle are from footage of the Torpedo Squadron 8 taken in the previous days. All 15 of its planes were shot down and most of its men died during the battle.


2:00 PM -- DECEMBER 7TH: THE MOVIE (1943)
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. fights to survive the early days of World War II.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Walter Huston, Harry Davenport, Dana Andrews
BW-84 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Turner Classic Movies showed the original uncut "censured" version of this movie on 15 September 2015. During the introduction with Ben Mankiewicz and Mark Harris, one of many reasons why the movie was censored was in 1943 it was considered too racist against the Japanese.


3:30 PM -- THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945)
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed
BW-135 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), and Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic), Donald Jahraus (photographic), R.A. MacDonald (photographic) and Michael Steinore (sound)

Though many had questioned John Wayne's getting an exemption from military service during World War II, it was not entirely his fault. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status, classified as 3-A (family deferment). He repeatedly wrote to John Ford, asking to be placed in Ford's military unit, but consistently postponed it until "after he finished one more film", Wayne did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but Republic Pictures was emphatically resistant to losing him; Herbert J. Yates, President of Republic, threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract and Republic intervened in the Selective Service process, requesting Wayne's further deferment.


6:00 PM -- THE WINGS OF EAGLES (1957)
Biography of Frank "Spig" Wead, the pioneer aviator who turned to writing after being grounded by an accident.
Dir: John Ford Cast: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara
C-110 mins, CC,

The real Frank Wead grew noticeably balder as he got older (World War II era). In order to be accurate about that, this is the only film in which John Wayne appears without his toupee. His toupee did briefly fall off during a fight scene in North to Alaska (1960).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPECIAL THEME: DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD



8:00 PM -- MISTER ROBERTS (1955)
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Lemmon

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros.), and Best Picture

When John Ford met James Cagney at the airport, the director warned that they would "tangle asses," which caught Cagney by surprise. Cagney later said: "I would have kicked his brains out. He was so goddamned mean to everybody. He was truly a nasty old man." The next day, Cagney was slightly late on set, and Ford became incensed. Cagney cut short the imminent tirade, saying: "When I started this picture, you said that we would tangle asses before this was over. I'm ready now - are you?" Ford backed down and walked away and he and Cagney had no further conflicts on the set.


10:15 PM -- MOGAMBO (1953)
In this remake of Red Dust, an African hunter is torn between a lusty showgirl and a married woman.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
C-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ava Gardner, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grace Kelly

Years of heavy drinking had left Clark Gable with a case of the shakes. John Ford, who suffered from the same problem, was sympathetic and tried to shoot around Gable's bouts of palsy. When the schedule got tight, however, he refused to re-take a scene between Gable and Ava Gardner. This led to a rift between the two. Though they were able to finish filming without any more problems, Gable would never work with the director again.


12:30 AM -- SEVEN WOMEN (1966)
The women staffing an isolated Chinese mission fight to survive a bandit attack.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Anne Bancroft, Sue Lyon, Margaret Leighton
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

For his last movie, Producer and Director John Ford cast nearly only women. Before this, he usually made men's movies.


2:15 AM -- HAZARD HOUSE (1952)
This short film presents the hazards children face in the home.
Dir: Harold Daniels Cast: Reed Hadley, James Brown, Cindy Crosby
C-11 mins,


2:30 AM -- THE BIG DOLL HOUSE (1971)
Female prisoners in the Philippines plot their escape from a sadistic warden.
Dir: Jack Hill Cast: Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, Pam Grier
C-95 mins, CC,

Pam Grier's first big acting role.


4:15 AM -- FOXY BROWN (1974)
When a government agent is shot down, his sexy girlfriend goes gunning for revenge.
Dir: Jack Hill Cast: Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas, Sid Haig
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to director Jack Hill this was originally intended to be a sequel to his Coffy (1973), also starring Pam Grier, and in fact the working title of the film was "Burn, Coffy, Burn!". However, American-International Pictures decided at the last minute it didn't want to do a sequel, even though "Coffy" was a huge hit. That's why it's never said exactly what kind of job Foxy Brown has--"Coffy" was a nurse and since this was no longer to be a sequel, they couldn't give Foxy Brown that job and didn't have time to rewrite the script to establish just what kind of job she had.