TCM Schedule for Saturday, November 22, 2014 -- The Essentials - In The Ring

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials are all about the sweet science. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Great Dictator (1940)
A Jewish barber takes the place of a war-hungry dictator.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
BW-125 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Chaplin, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Oakie, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Chaplin, Best Music, Original Score -- Meredith Willson, and Best Picture

Charles Chaplin got the idea when a friend, Alexander Korda, noted that his screen persona and Adolf Hitler looked somewhat similar. Chaplin later learned they were both born within a week of each other (Chaplin 4/16/1889, Hitler 4/20/1889), were roughly the same height and weight and both struggled in poverty until they reached great success in their respective fields. When Chaplin learned of Hitler's policies of racial oppression and nationalist aggression, he used their similarities as an inspiration to attack Hitler on film.


8:07 AM -- You, The People (1940)
This short film focuses on a gangster who tries to get a cooked mayor re-elected.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Will Wright, Byron Shores, C. Henry Gordon
BW-21 mins,


8:30 AM -- Larceny, Inc. (1942)
An ex-convict and his gang try to use a luggage store to front a bank robbery, but business keeps getting in the way.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford
BW-95 mins, CC,

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 10 April 1941 and closed 27 April 1941 after 22 performances. The opening cast included Shelley Winters.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: George C. Scott (11/3/87) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with George C. Scott from 11/3/87.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Three Men In White (1944)
Young doctors compete for a prestigious position as Dr. Gillespie's assistant.
Dir: Willis Goldbeck
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Marilyn Maxwell
BW-85 mins, CC,

The fourteenth of the sixteen films originally about Dr. Kildare, later starring his mentor Dr. Gillespie (played by Lionel Barrymore). Dr. Kildare was essentially written out of the film series after Lew Ayres declared himself as a conscientious objector in the early years of WWII. Although he eventually joined the army as a medic and chaplain's aide in the South Pacific, his career was strongly affected.


12:00 PM -- King Kong (1933)
A film crew discovers the "eighth wonder of the world," a giant prehistoric ape, and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.
Dir: Merian C. Cooper
Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot
BW-104 mins, CC,

Merian C. Cooper's first vision for the film was of a giant ape on top of the world's tallest building fighting airplanes. He worked backward from there to develop the rest of the story.


2:00 PM -- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telekinetic humans.
Dir: Ted Post
Cast: James Franciscus, Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

James Franciscus had largely spent most of his career playing doctors and lawyers so welcomed the opportunity to wear a costume that could best be described as minimal. Franciscus was a natural athlete and keen tennis player in real life so was in great shape for the shoot.


3:48 PM -- Rowan & Martin At The Movies (1969)
This public service short has two comedians, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, host a show utilizing stock clips of famous celebrities.
Dir: Jack Arnold
C-11 mins,


4:00 PM -- Them! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
BW-93 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.


5:47 PM -- The Comedians In Africa (1967)
A behind the scenes short film detailing the making of "The Comedians" (1967).
Dir: Peter Glenville
C-11 mins,


6:00 PM -- Five Million Years To Earth (1968)
Subway excavations unearth a deadly force from beyond space and time.
Dir: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

When Dr. Roney is picking at the eyeball of the dead Martian creature in his laboratory the pupils of the compound eye are a rectangular slot shape rather then round like a human eye. This is reminiscent of a goat's eye, a creature that has for centuries been associated with witchcraft and sorcery.


7:50 PM -- Tennis Technique (1931)
A professional tennis champion offers advice to tennis players on how to improve their game.
Dir: Ray McCarey
BW-8 mins,



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



8:00 PM -- The Champ (1931)
A broken-down prizefighter battles to keep custody of his son.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich
BW-86 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Wallace Beery (Tied with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Frances Marion

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- King Vidor, and Best Picture

Wallace Beery actually got one less vote than Fredric March in the 1931/1932 Academy Awards voting for best actor, but the rules at the time considered anyone with one or two votes less than the leader as being in a tie. So both got Academy Awards.


9:45 PM -- The Kid From Brooklyn (1946)
A shy milkman gets into boxing when he turns out to have a killer punch.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen
C-114 mins,

When this film was shown on TCM Dena Kaye, the daughter of Danny Kaye, said that her father said the hardest thing about this movie was learning to appear so bad as a boxer, stating that "being good enough to act inept" was the hardest acting he had ever done.


11:45 PM -- The Prizefighter And The Lady (1933)
A boxing champion falls for a gangster's moll.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Primo Carnera
BW-102 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Frances Marion

Film debuts of Max Baer and Primo Carnera. Baer was the main contender at the time for the Heavyweight Champion of the World title, which was held by Carnera. In an interview, Myrna Loy stated that Max Baer carefully watched Primo Carnera's boxing style during the filming and used this information to beat him in their real-life match for the title in March, 1934.


1:30 AM -- Seasoned Greetings (1933)
In this short film, an innovative greeting card shop owner attempts to beat out neighboring competition by inventing talking greeting cards. Vitaphone Release 1564-1565.
Dir: Roy Mack
Cast: Harlan Briggs, Robert Cummings, George Haggerty
BW-20 mins,


2:00 AM -- Cat O' Nine Tails (1971)
A blind man and a reporter investigate a break-in at a center for genetic research.
Dir: Dario Argento
Cast: Karl Malden, James Franciscus, Catherine Spaak
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Although it's one of his most successful films, this is the least favorite of Dario Argento among his pictures.


4:00 AM -- Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
A mad scientist uses an ape to murder his enemies.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina
C-84 mins,

The famous "gorilla performer" Charles Gemora, who plays the gorilla, also played the gorilla in the original Universal version Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).


5:30 AM -- Changing (1971)
A young family tries to cope with shifting social values in this short film.
Dir: Hubert Smith
C-28 mins,