TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 28, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Deep Sea Cinema

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM takes us Into The Woods. Then in prime time, it's the last of the three weeks of Deep Sea Cinema and today's subject is Sea Monsters. Tell us more, Sean!

Night three of the series is devoted to sea monsters: fantastical creations, mythological creatures, and impossible beings. And who doesn't enjoy a giant monster rising up from the depths? At least on the screen, where it all comes to an end when the credits roll and we can safely remind ourselves that it's only a movie.

The sea creature of Mysterious Island (1961) is only one of the magnificent beasts brought to life by Ray Harryhausen. Based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name, the author's sequel to "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," it sends a group of soldiers from the American Civil War thousands of miles by balloon to the mysterious island of the title, "a mixture of the strange and the beautiful," in the words of one character. Among the mutated creatures the party encounters is a prehistoric cephalopod with tentacles reaching out from a massive protective shell. Herbert Lom plays the visionary Captain Nemo, the mastermind behind the island's strange and wonderful (and dangerous) menagerie.

You could call Godzilla (1954) the godfather of creatures that rise from the depths to threaten the world. It spawned sequels, spin-offs, knock-offs and remakes but the 1954 original (especially the longer Japanese cut of the film) is a dark nuclear parable in a solemn key. Godzilla’s devastating rampage and radioactive breath leaves behind thousands of casualties and a city aflame, recalling nothing less than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It resonated profoundly with Japanese audiences. The rest of the world reveled in the dark spectacle of destruction. Godzilla relied on age-old technology, specifically a man in a latex suit, but the painstaking execution set it apart from the cheap American B-movie monsters. Special effects artists constructed a miniature Tokyo at 1/25 scale, complete with interior walls and floors, and the march of destruction was filmed with high-speed cameras to give the footage, when played back, the illusion of weight and magnitude. The screaming roar of anger and anguish was created by composer Akira Ifukube by dragging a leather glove coated in pine-tar along the lowest string of a double bass. The combination made Godzilla the lizard king of the atomic age and the most menacing of giant monsters in the 1950s.

The Lost Continent (1968) was Hammer Films' entry into the weird and dangerous menaces from the sea and, true to the studio's sensibility, this sea adventure is as much eerie horror as monster movie spectacle. A creeping undersea jungle of unnervingly aggressive seaweed drags a decrepit cargo ship into a swampy patch of the Sargasso Sea that time forgot. It's a twilight world of monstrous mollusks and snake-like vines with a taste for human flesh where survivors of previous wrecks have formed their own society.

Sea monsters invaded the drive-in movie in the wake of It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Godzilla, and they were a varied menagerie. Despite the claims of the title, the massive prehistoric mollusk of The Monster that Challenged the World (1957) leaves the Sargasso Sea for the hunting grounds of California aqueducts. Roger Corman, the king of the B movies himself, produced and directed Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), an ultra-low-budget production that mixes Cold War spy movie, double-crossing gangster thriller and sea monster spectacle with one of the cheapest monsters to rear its shabby trunk from the sea. The radioactive dinosaur of The Giant Behemoth (1959), which unleashes its fury in a rampage through London, is one of the final screen creatures brought to life by the godfather of stop-motion animation: Willis H. O'Brien, the creator of the original King Kong (1933) and mentor to Ray Harryhausen.

The fest ends on the greatest of all undersea creatures with Moby Dick (1930), a remake of the silent film The Sea Beast (1926) and the first sound era version of Herman Melville's classic novel of whaling and obsession. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, a reliable jack-of-all-trades at Warner Bros., this rather free adaptation becomes a swashbuckling maritime adventure with a love story shoehorned into Captain Ahab's pursuit of the great white whale. The Great Profile John Barrymore reprises his role from the silent version and the special effects, primitive by modern standards but state of the art for 1930, are still impressive for their scale and imagination. As created by the Warner Bros. effects department, this whale really is a kind of sea monster. Just don't expect to find any of Melville's novel on the screen.

Stay out of the water, and enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
1h 9m | Documentary | TV-MA
Cameras capture the backstage drama as acting students audition for a film.
Director: William Greaves
Cast: Patricia Ree Gilbert, Don Fellows, Jonathan Gordon

After completing the film in 1971, William Greaves believed that he had made a masterpiece, and that the only place to première it was the Cannes Film Festival. So he carried the print to France himself, where it was screened for programmers. However, the projectionist made the mistake of showing the reels out of order. The film was turned down. Greaves came home, figured he had made a mistake, and put the film in his closet.


7:15 AM -- You Have To Run Fast (1961)
1h 13m | Crime | TV-G
A doctor gets mixed up with gangsters and has to escape through the back woods.
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: Craig Hill, Elaine Edwards, Grant Richards

Also known as Man Missing.


8:30 AM -- Dangerous Mission (1954)
1h 15m | Musical | TV-G
A woman flees westward after witnessing a mob killing.
Director: Louis King
Cast: Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, William Bendix

The hotel featured in the movie is the Glacier Park Hotel in East Glacier Park, MT, now called the Glacier Park Lodge. My father had a summer job there, mowing the lawns and taking care of the flowers in that huge front lawn that leads to the train station.


10:00 AM -- River's End (1940)
1h 9m | Drama | TV-G
In the Canadian wilderness, an accused murderer takes the place of a dead Mountie.
Director: Ray Enright
Cast: Dennis Morgan, Elizabeth Earl, George Tobias

Based on the novel The River's End, by James Oliver Curwood.


11:15 AM -- Heart of the North (1938)
1h 23m | Adventure | TV-PG
A Canadian Mounted Policeman searches for the outlaws who robbed a freighter.
Director: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson, Gale Page

Based on the novel by William Byron Mowery.


12:45 PM -- Timber Stampede (1939)
59m | Western | TV-G
Cattlemen fight corrupt railroad men out to destroy the forest.
Director: David Howard
Cast: George O'Brien, Chill Wills, Marjorie Reynolds

Although Scott is identified as a cattle rancher, neither his ranch nor any cattle are ever shown; so it's a bit odd that "Stampede" is in the title of this film.


2:00 PM -- Valley of the Giants (1938)
1h 19m | Adventure | TV-G
A lumberman takes on pirates out to plunder the forest.
Director: William Keighley
Cast: Wayne Morris, Claire Trevor, Frank Mchugh

This film was remade in a black&white version in 1940 with the title "King of Lumberjacks". The two stories are very similar. They use all of the action footage from the train wreck. While substituting the 1940 actors for the 1938 actors during close-ups. In the 1940's version there wasn't bad guy as such. Just two men in love with the same woman. And one of the men is much older and only has one arm.


3:30 PM -- The Big Trees (1952)
1h 29m | Western | TV-PG
An unscrupulous lumber baron has to join forces with former enemies to keep even bigger businessmen from taking over.
Director: Felix Feist
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller, Patrice Wymore

According to Kirk Douglas in his autobiography "The Ragman's Son", he agreed to act in this film for free, in order to end his contract with Warner Bros. He later said, "It's a bad movie."


5:15 PM -- God's Country and the Woman (1936)
1h 20m | Adventure | TV-PG
A lady lumberjack falls for one of her workers, not realizing it's a business rival in disguise.
Director: William Keighley
Cast: George Brent, Beverly Roberts, Barton Maclane

The filming location was in the vicinity of Mount St. Helens, a then dormant volcano in Washington State, which was prominent in the background in several scenes in the movie. In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, reducing the height of the summit by about 1300 feet and leaving a one mile wide horseshoe shaped crater.


6:45 PM -- Sequoia (1934)
1h 11m | Adventure | TV-G
A wilderness girl raises a deer and a mountain lion to be friends.
Director: Chester M. Franklin
Cast: Jean Parker, Russell Hardie, Samuel S. Hinds

Based on the novel, Malibu, by Vance Hoyt.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- DEEP SEA CINEMA



8:00 PM -- Mysterious Island (1961)
1h 41m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-G
Escaped Civil War POWs end up on an island populated by giant animals.
Director: Cy Endfield
Cast: Michael Craig, Joan Greenwood, Michael Callan

Producer Charles H. Schneer claimed that he chose this story after reading an article stating that Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" was the most-looked-at book at public libraries.


10:00 PM -- Gojira (1954)
1h 19m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A 400-foot monster reptile is revived, thanks to nuclear testing and goes on a mad rampage, destroying Tokyo.
Director: Ishiro Honda
Cast: Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata

A common misconception is that the name "Godzilla" was Americanized by its US distributors. The name was actually the idea of Tôhô and its international sales division, who would transliterate "Gojira" (Go-ji-ra) into English as "Godzilla" (Go-dzi-lla&quot . Tôhô used the title "Godzilla" in their 1955 English language sales catalogue, a full year before finding an American distributor and when it played briefly in Japanese-American owned theaters in Los Angeles and New York. Producer Joseph E. Levine would purchase the rights and create Transworld to distribute and released the film as Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956) So, while the American distributors did not create the name, they did create the English pronunciation of ("God-zill-a&quot . Tôhô has since been the sole owners of the name Godzilla in both languages.


11:45 PM -- The Monster that Challenged the World (1957)
1h 23m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
An earthquake unleashes a horde of giant prehistoric monsters.
Director: Arnold Laven
Cast: Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton, Hans Conried

The magazine and story told in this movie is real and true. When Dr. Jess Rodgers (Hans Conried) is explaining how it is possible that the Monsters came into existence suddenly in the Salton Sea, he shows a "Life Magazine" dated October 17, 1955. This magazine actually does have a article about fresh-water shrimp that suddenly appeared in a once dry Mojave desert lake. David Duncan had read the article when it was first published and used it as the basis for his screen story.


1:15 AM -- The Lost Continent (1968)
1h 29m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
When a tramp steamer is attacked by a mass of living seaweed, the occupants are forced to take refuge on a strange island.
Director: Michael Carreras
Cast: Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh

Dana Gillespie talked about seeing this film in a theater and why she prefers music to acting. "I do remember when THE LOST CONTINENT (1968) first came out, I went to the premiere. But I thought I'd go and see the film again sort of anonymously in the local ABC in the Fulharn Road. And I went in and sat up the back to watch it and, the moment when I come on with these balloons on my shoulders, the whole audience fell about with laughter. Then I realized there's no point ever being taken seriously in the film world. But you know, if you're born with a particular shape, you're judged on how you look. It's a nuisance, and that's why I've always preferred music for my profession- because it really doesn't matter what color or shape or size you are."


2:45 AM -- Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961)
1h | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A killer blames a legendary sea monster for his deeds and is surprised when the real beast shows up.
Director: Roger Corman
Cast: Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Edward Wain

The scene of the Cuban officers saluting as the little boat they are floating in sinks was not planned; it actually began sinking as they were completing the shot. Roger Corman told the actors to stand and salute as the boat sank and filmed every moment, later stating that it "wasn't very deep" there. He also gave high praise for the Mexican actors who played the officers for taking direction so well.


4:00 AM -- The Giant Behemoth (1959)
1h 19m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A radioactive dinosaur plots a deadly path to London.
Director: Eugene Lourie
Cast: Gene Evans, André Morell, John Turner

To save money on an already tiny budget,the attacks on London and the ferry were filmed without sound. Many people are seen talking but there is no dialog. Sound effects were added later. The reporter at the ministry is shown in close up, but his mouth movements and dialog don't match. He also has a distinct American accent.


5:30 AM -- Moby Dick (1930)
1h 15m | Adventure | TV-G
A mad sea captain sails for vengeance against the white whale that crippled him.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: John Barrymore, Joan Bennett, Lloyd Hughes

For this film, the producers decided not to use the storyline of Herman Melville's original novel, but that of the John Barrymore silent film, The Sea Beast (1926). "Moby Dick" would not be filmed as Melville wrote it until 1956.