TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 10, 2021 -- Primetime Theme: Outlaw Bikers

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, we get a trio of biker films. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Count Your Blessings (1959)
1h 42m | Comedy | TV-PG
After a wartime separation, an Englishwoman discovers her French husband is a womanizer.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Rossano Brazzi, Maurice Chevalier

This film bombed at the box office, resulting in a loss to MGM of $1,688,000 according to studio records.


8:00 AM -- Hound Hunters (1947)
7m | Animation
The hobos George and Junior try to get jobs as dog-catchers but one of them is afraid of dogs.
Director: Tex Avery (fred)
Cast: Tex Avery, Dick Nelson


8:09 AM -- Canoeman's Holiday (1956)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes a look at the Loon Bay Lodge in St. Stephen, Canada.
Director: Douglas Sinclair
Cast: Jean Wheelock, Harry Wismer, George Wheelock


8:18 AM -- Exotic Mexico (1942)
8m | Short | TV-PG
This travel short focuses on Mexico and presents a bullfight, as well as the Mexican branch of MGM.
Director: James A. Fitzpatrick
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:27 AM -- Petticoat Larceny (1943)
1h 1m | Comedy | TV-G
A radio actress researches a role by mixing with gangsters.
Director: Ben Holmes
Cast: Ruth Warrick, Joan Carroll, Walter Reed

The $100,000 "reward" is worth over $1.5 million in 2019.


9:30 AM -- Batman: The Phoney Doctor (1943)
16m | Crime | TV-G
Batman and Robin try to track down a kidnapped mine owner.
Director: Lambert Hillyer
Cast: Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish

Initially, J. Carrol Naish was cast as The Joker; this is evident in some of the early posters for the serial, which show Batman punching his arch-nemesis (later changed to Dr. Daka). If you look at Naish's costume and makeup as well as his hideout being in a carnival, it is as all of The Joker elements were retained and only his name and nationality were changed. It's assumed the change was made because at the time this was written, in late 1942 early 1943, the Allies were in danger of losing World War II after many early setbacks, and patriotism was strongly encouraged of all of Hollywood's films at the time.


10:00 AM -- Popeye and the Pirates (1947)
7m | Animation | TV-PG
Popeye and Olive find themselves tangling with a king-size Captain Kidd.
Director: Seymour Kneitel
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

When this short aired on television, the sequence where Popeye removes the disguise was cut presumably due to topless nudity (the chest was designed feminine inside the dress Popeye was wearing as he strips to his underwear). It is unclear if the cut scene still exist, as all television prints have the scene missing.


10:08 AM -- The Falcon in Mexico (1944)
1h 10m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer's murder.
Director: William Berke
Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha Vickers

The "woody" station wagon in which Martha Vickers sneaks off from the station was also seen in The Falcon and the Co-eds, where it appeared as the "school bus" for the Blue Cliff Girls' Academy. With the cessation of automobile production during World War II, even movie studios had to hold onto their pre-war production cars longer than usual.


11:30 AM -- Torture Money (1937)
20m | Short | TV-G
The police track down a fraud operation that stages automobile accidents to collect insurance money.
Director: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Edwin Maxwell, George Lynn

Opening credits:
]This picture exposes a crime situation as unbelievable as it is grim. These crimes are more widespread than the public realizes, and I am happy to endorse this film with the hope that it will help destroy a vicious racket.
James E. Davis
Chief of Police,
Los Angeles, California


12:00 PM -- The Four Feathers (1939)
2h 10m | Adventure | TV-PG
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
Director: Zoltan Korda
Cast: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith

The action scenes, photographed by Osmond Borradaile, were not only filmed where the historical battles had taken place, but also included among the many extras, people who had witnessed or participated in the fighting more than forty years earlier. These battle scenes further benefitted from Director Zoltan Korda's expertise at large-scale action and his early experience as a cavalry officer.


2:15 PM -- The Big Country (1958)
2h 46m | Western | TV-PG
Feuding families vie for water rights in the old West.
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Burl Ives

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Jerome Moross

According to Gregory Peck, director William Wyler intended the film to be a left-wing allegory for the Cold War. Peck believed the United States should have retained good relations with the Soviet Union and China after World War II.


5:15 PM -- Ice Station Zebra (1968)
2h 28m | Adventure | TV-PG
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Director: John Sturges
Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick Mcgoohan

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Daniel L. Fapp, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Hal Millar and J. McMillan Johnson

Most of the film was shot on the soundstages at Universal, but the scene where Rock Hudson leaves the pub and drives towards the sub base is actually, "Hunters Quay" at the mouth of the real US Submarine Base, located at Holy Loch, Scotland. (where the film takes place). Years later, American actor/screenwriter Beau Dare, who was once stationed there in the US Navy, wrote a screenplay (2008) on a naval reunion that takes place at "Holy Loch".



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- OUTLAW BIKERS



8:00 PM -- The Wild One (1953)
1h 19m | Crime | TV-14
A vicious biker gang terrorizes a small town while their leader falls for a local girl.
Director: Laslo Benedek
Cast: Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith

Director Stanley Kramer hired real biker gangs to play themselves. When Kramer asked one of them what they were rebelling against, one cyclist cracked, "Well, what ya got?" That was incorporated into the script and became one of the film's most quoted lines.


9:30 PM -- The Glory Stompers (1967)
1h 25m | Adventure | TV-MA
A tough motorcycle gang leader abducts a rival and his girlfriend.
Director: Anthony M. Lanza
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Jody Mccrea, Chris Noel

In an interview with Quentin Tarantino, Dennis Hopper claimed that this film was his first real directorial effort, in that his behavior drove director Anthony M. Lanza to quit, after which Hopper ended up directing the film.


11:00 PM -- Devil's Angels (1967)
1h 24m | Crime | TV-MA
Rival motorcycle gangs take over a small town and fight it out.
Director: Daniel Haller
Cast: John Cassavetes, Beverly Adams, Mimsy Farmer

When the Skulls MC decide they want revenge on the town, they enlist the aid of the Stompers MC, a much larger biker gang. This alludes to another film also released by AIP, The Glory Stompers (1967), in which Dennis Hopper plays Chino, the leader of the Stompers MC.


12:30 AM -- The Bribe (1949)
1h 38m | Crime | TV-PG
A sultry singer tries to tempt a federal agent from the straight-and-narrow.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton

Some scenes were re-purposed in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982).


2:30 AM -- Mary Mary (1963)
2h 6m | Comedy | TV-PG
A man on the verge of divorce is shocked by his wife's glamorous makeover.
Director: Mervyn Leroy
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Barry Nelson, Michael Rennie

The original Broadway production of "Mary, Mary" by Jean Kerr opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on March 8, 1961 and ran for 1572 performances. This is one of the few instances when a movie was released while the Broadway play was still running.


4:45 AM -- Midnight Mary (1933)
1h 11m | Drama | TV-PG
An abused orphan sinks into a life of crime.
Director: William Wellman
Cast: Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone

The original working title "Lady of the Night" was changed after the Hayes Office objected (the title was thought to be obscene).

[Blue Dawn]

1. Thanks, Staph!

I just shared with my husband the biker movies on TCM tonight. My husband still rides his motorcycle occasionally and has enjoyed these films a long time. We've seen all three of them many times and they never grow old. I'm sure we'll be watching them tonight.

I will be sure to get the popcorn ready!