TCM Schedule for Saturday, January 31, 2015 -- The Essentials - John Barrymore

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features The Great Profile, John Barrymore. It will be interesting to see if Drew Barrymore has any family stories to share about her grandfather. During the daylight hours, don't miss The Lion In Winter (1968), one of my all time favorite films. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- Madame Curie (1943)
The famed female scientist fights to keep her marriage together while conducting early experiments with radioactivity.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers
BW-124 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Pidgeon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greer Garson, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt, Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Herbert Stothart, and Best Picture

In her final years at MGM, Joan Crawford was handed weak scripts in the hopes that she'd break her contract. Two films she hungered to appear in were Random Harvest (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Both films went to bright new star Greer Garson instead, and Crawford left the studio soon after.


8:30 AM -- They Shall Have Music (1939)
A runaway tries to help the students at a school for musical prodigies.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: Jascha Heifetz, Andrea Leeds, Joel McCrea
BW-102 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring -- Alfred Newman

In the movie, the newspaper account lists Jascha Heifetz's stolen Violin as a Stradivarius. Heifetz actually used a Guarnarius in the picture and favored that violin in real life, but the producers felt that the name of Stradivarius would be more recognizable.


10:13 AM -- Martin Block's Musical Merry-Go-Round No. 6 (1948)
In this musical short film, Tex Beneke, Les Brown, and their Orchestras perform several musical numbers.
BW-10 mins,


10:30 AM -- Carry On Jack (1964)
A bumbling seaman gets mixed up with pirates on the bounding main.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Bernard Cribbins, Kenneth Williams, Donald Houston
C-91 mins,

The picture is a spoof of swashbuckling epics and "Mutiny on the Bounty", particularly the second version of the latter, Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), as that had only been released about a couple of year earlier, and was still in the public consciousness.


12:05 PM -- Operation Dirty Dozen (1967)
This promotional short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "The Dirty Dozen" (1987).
C-9 mins,


12:15 PM -- Wise Blood (1979)
An ambitious Southern boy tries to set himself up as a street preacher.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Brad Dourif, Ned Beatty, Harry Dean Stanton
C-106 mins, Letterbox Format

Brad Dourif was orginally sent the script to audition for the character Enoch Emery. But Brad had such a good feeling about Hazel Motes, he asked to audition for that instead; problem was, actor Tommy Lee Jones was currently Huston's first choice. However, things didn't go as plan - Tommy Lee Jones had to drop out, giving Brad the chance to audition like he wanted, landing him the role of Hazel.


2:15 PM -- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
An overlooked gold transporter with twenty years service plots to steal a million pounds of gold.
Dir: Charles Crichton
Cast: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James
BW-81 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- T.E.B. Clarke

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness

Audrey Hepburn was considered for a larger role in this film, but stage work made her unavailable. Alec Guinness was impressed with the young actress and arranged for her to appear in a bit part. This is considered to be Hepburn's first appearance in a major film.


3:45 PM -- The Lion In Winter (1968)
England's Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.
Dir: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow
C-134 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn (Tied with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968). Hepburn became the third performer to win consecutive awards, and the first to win three awards for lead roles. Anthony Harvey, the film's director, accepted the award on her behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- James Goldman, and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- John Barry

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter O'Toole, Best Director -- Anthony Harvey, Best Costume Design -- Margaret Furse, and Best Picture

Peter O'Toole said that his first choice for Eleanor of Aquitaine was Katharine Hepburn, but he was not sure she would do the film so soon after the death of her long time partner Spencer Tracy. As the only two other actresses he could think of for the part, he mentioned Vivien Leigh and Margaret Rutherford. According to Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn's reaction to receiving the script for the film and the offer to play Eleanor of Aquitaine was "Do it before I die."


6:15 PM -- Born Free (1965)
A game warden and his wife face a wrenching decision when the lion cub they've raised becomes too big to keep.
Dir: James Hill
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- John Barry (music) and Don Black (lyrics) for the song "Born Free" (John Barry was not present at the awards ceremony.), and Best Music, Original Music Score -- John Barry

The lions "Boy", "Girl" and "Ugas" were freed upon completion of filming. Under protest by the film studio who wanted to sell the lions to zoos to get some money back from filming.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: JOHN BARRYMORE



8:00 PM -- Twentieth Century (1934)
A tempestuous theatrical director tries to win back the star he created and then drove away.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly
BW-91 mins, CC,

When asked by John Barrymore why he should play the role of Oscar, Howard Hawks replied, "It's the story of the biggest ham on earth and you're the biggest ham I know." Barrymore accepted at once.


9:45 PM -- Counsellor at Law (1933)
A successful lawyer struggles to deal with his wife's unfaithfulness and his own hidden past.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon
BW-82 mins,

Although this film is frank about some matters, the Production Code of the Hays Office - i.e., censorship - was still in effect. In one 16mm print there is a curious moment of dead air at the end of Lillian Larue's parting speech to George Simon. She says (approximately), "Well, for God's sake, what do they expect for fifteen thousand dollars?" John Barrymore keeps looking at Larue (Thelma Todd as if she is still speaking, and she must be, but there is no sound. Her last words in the text of the play are, "A virgin?"


11:15 PM -- Topaze (1933)
A simple schoolteacher gets caught up in a wealthy baron's crooked schemes.
Dir: D'Abbadie D'Arrast
Cast: John Barrymore, Myrna Loy, Reginald Mason
BW-79 mins, CC,

From National Board of Review: The committee has chosen "TOPAZE" as the best American film of the year, a film which in addition to its excellence of production, and John Barrymore's memorable characterization, exercises remarkably the true function of comedy in cutting deep into the oddities of human nature that makes life what it is.


12:45 AM -- Svengali (1931)
A hypnotist falls in love with a girl using his powers to turn her into a great singer.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Crisp
BW-81 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Barney McGill, and Best Art Direction -- Anton Grot

This pre-Code movie caused controversy about its nude modeling scene. Seventeen year old Marian Marsh wore a body stocking, and in one shot where she was running from the room, an older girl was used instead of her.


2:15 AM -- Twice Upon A Time (1983)
A despot tries to turn the world into a non-stop nightmare.
Dir: John Korty
Cast: Lorenzo Music, Judith Kaham Kampmann, Marshall Efron
C-74 mins, CC,

The credits sequence features a photo of voice actor Lorenzo Music, who was notorious for not allowing pictures of himself to be seen. He's probably best remembered as the voice of Carlton the Doorman on the television series Rhoda (1974-1978).


3:31 AM -- 100 Years At The Movies (1994)
This short documentary celebrates the centennial of American filmmaking through a montage of clips of influential motion pictures.
Dir: Chuck Workman
C-9 mins,


3:45 AM -- The 5,000 Fingers Of Dr. T. (1953)
A young boy dreams that his piano teacher is a super-villain out to rule the world.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried
C-89 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Friedrich Hollaender and Morris Stoloff

According to Dr. Seuss, the film's creator and co-writer, one of the 150 boys vomited on the piano while filming. This caused a chain reaction and they were left with 150 vomiting boys. Dr. Seuss said that the film's reviews were similar.


5:15 AM -- Holiday From Rules? (1959)
In this educational short film, a group of young children understand why rules are important.
Dir: William H. Murray
C-11 mins,


5:15 AM -- One Got Fat (1963)
Children wearing monkey masks pay the price for bad bicycle safety habits in this instructional short.
Dir: Dale Jennings
Cast: Ralph Hulett, Charles Hagens, Diane Chambers
C-15 mins,


5:15 AM -- When You Grow Up (1973)
In this short film, children learn about the world of fun that awaits them when they grow up and go to work.
Dir: Jerry Kurtz
C-11 mins,

[CBHagman]

1. "The Lion in Winter" is one of my favorites too.

Just the most watchable, quotable of movies, and what a cast. Hepburn moves right in and makes it her home, but everyone else holds his own, thank you very much, especially Peter O'Toole, almost unrecognizable, at least to my eyes.

It's strange that TCM gives Jane Merrow a place in the cast list. Though she has a key role, which I will not give away here, she's surrounded by Henry and Eleanor's brood of vipers, as it were, played by some quite impressive people.

The only other thing I ever saw Jane Merrow do was a guest spot on The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan.