TCM Schedule for Saturday, January 25, 2014 -- The Essentials - 70s Thrills

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features a pair of thriller films of the 1970s, Jaws (1975) and Alien (1979). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- MGM Parade Show #25 (1955)
Jeanette MacDonald and Allan Jones perform in a clip from "The Firefly"; Dan Dailey introduces a clip from "Meet Me in Las Vegas." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,


6:30 AM -- The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson
BW-101 mins, TV-G, CC,

This movie was to begin production in 1942, but Myrna Loy refused the part. Instead, she went to New York to marry car rental heir John Hertz, Jr., and worked for the Red Cross war-relief effort. The movie almost began shooting with Irene Dunne as Nora Charles.


8:30 AM -- Double Wedding (1937)
A dress designer tries to break her sister's engagement to a free-living artist, only to discover the man is falling for her instead.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Florence Rice
BW-87 mins, TV-G, CC,

Production was partially shut down because of the death (7 June 1937) of Jean Harlow, to whom William Powell was engaged.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Robin Williams (10/14/81) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Robin Williams from 10/14/81.
C-10 mins, TV-PG, CC,


10:30 AM -- Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)
A schoolteacher jumps into detective mode when a fellow airplane passenger gets sick and dies.
Dir: Lloyd Corrigan
Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane
BW-74 mins, TV-G, CC,

Based on the novel "The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree" by Stuart Palmer.


12:00 PM -- Huckleberry Finn (1974)
Mark Twain's famed tale of a Missouri bad boy who helps a runaway slave escape to the North.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Jeff East, Gary Merrill, Paul Winfield
C-114 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Odessa Cleveland's movie debut, as Jim's wife.


2:00 PM -- Welcome To Hard Times (1967)
A broken-down sheriff tries to help his town stand against a mysterious outlaw.
Dir: Burt Kennedy
Cast: Henry Fonda, Janice Rule, Keenan Wynn
C-103 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Originally made for television in 1966, but released to theaters first before being shown on TV, because of its violent content.


4:00 PM -- Robin and Marian (1976)
An aging Robin Hood comes home to resume his relationship with Maid Marian and his battles against the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Dir: Richard Lester
Cast: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw
C-107 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Audrey Hepburn's first film in nine years after she had taken a break to raise her family. Audrey Hepburn was convinced to take the role of Marian, in part, from the insistence of her sons. Once her young sons learned that Sean Connery had been cast as Robin Hood, they begged their mother to take the part so she could act with "James Bond." She happily complied.


6:00 PM -- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The legendary bank robbers run riot in the South of the 1930s.
Dir: Arthur Penn
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
C-111 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Estelle Parsons, and Best Cinematography -- Burnett Guffey

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Warren Beatty, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Faye Dunaway, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Hackman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Michael J. Pollard, Best Director -- Arthur Penn, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- David Newman and Robert Benton, Best Costume Design -- Theadora Van Runkle, and Best Picture

Gene Hackman was on the set one day when he noticed a guy standing behind him and staring. The man said, "Hell, Buck would've never wore a hat like that." Hackman turned around and looked at him and said, "Maybe not." He looked like an old Texas farmer. The man introduced himself and said, "Nice to meet you - I'm one of the Barrows."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: '70S THRILLS



8:00 PM -- Jaws (1975)
The sheriff of an island town takes to the seas when a bloodthirsty shark invades the local waters.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
C-124 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Sound -- Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman Jr., Earl Madery and John R. Carter, Best Film Editing -- Verna Fields, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- John Williams

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

The mechanical shark spent most of the movie broken-down, and was unavailable for certain shots. This led Steven Spielberg to use the camera as the "shark", and film from the shark's point of view. Many think this added to the "chilling/haunting" quality in the final release saying that it would have made it too "cheesy" had they shown the shark as much as originally planned.


10:15 PM -- Alien (1979)
The crew of a broken down space ship accidentally picks up a deadly alien life form.
Dir: Ridley Scott
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm
C-116 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects -- H.R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder and Dennis Ayling

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Michael Seymour, Leslie Dilley, Roger Christian and Ian Whittaker

To get Jones the cat to react fearfully to the descending Alien, a German Shepherd was placed in front of him with a screen between the two, so the cat wouldn't see it at first, and came over. The screen was then suddenly removed to make Jones stop, and start hissing.


12:15 AM -- Rollercoaster (1977)
A terrorist spreads a climate of fear by attacking amusement parks across the U.S.
Dir: James Goldstone
Cast: George Segal, Richard Widmark, Timothy Bottoms
C-118 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

The three amusement Parks featured in the film included Ocean View Park in Norfolk, Virginia; Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia and Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California.


2:30 AM -- The Baby (1973)
A social worker investigates a strange family.
Dir: Ted Post
Cast: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill
C-85 mins, TV-14,

The re-mastered edition of the audio track is not the original track from the film. The original track contained the actual sounds made by David Mooney during the filming. The baby sounds came from his performance and not canned baby sounds. The original track must have been lost and later baby sounds were added.


4:30 AM -- Spider Baby (1964)
Greedy relatives try to repossess the decaying mansion of an inbred Southern family.
Dir: Jack Hill
Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker
BW-84 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

The film was shot in August and September of 1964 with the title "Cannibal Orgy, or The Maddest Story Ever Told", but its release was held up for years because the producers went bankrupt, which tied up the film in legal limbo. Independent producer David L. Hewitt acquired it for distribution in 1968 and changed the title to "Spider Baby" and "The Liver Eaters."

[CBHagman]

1. I had forgotten "Alien" was made in the '70s.

Of course it was just barely a '70s movie, but still...