TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 15, 2014 -- The Essentials - Goldie Hawn

[Staph]

Tonight's edition of The Essentials features a trio of films starring Goldie Hawn, including The Sugarland Express (1974), Butterflies Are Free (1972), and Shampoo (1975). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Jack And The Beanstalk (1952)
A baby-sitter dreams himself and his best friend into the famous fairy tale.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough
Cast: [Bud] Abbott, [Lou] Costello, Buddy Baer
C-78 mins, CC,

The car Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are driving in the early black-and-white section of the movie is a 1951 Henry J, which was manufactured by the Kaiser-Frazer Motor Co. and named for founder Henry J. Kaiser. In addition to being bought from an authorized dealer, the car could also be ordered through the Sears-Roebuck mail-order catalog, although its name was changed from "Henry J" to "Allstate".


7:45 AM -- Now Playing March (2014)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
C-19 mins, CC,


8:15 AM -- The Wreck Of The Mary Deare (1959)
The skipper of a sunken ship stands trial for negligence.
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The task of bringing this novel to the screen was originally assigned to writer Ernest Lehman and director Alfred Hitchcock. Lehman eventually went to Hitchcock and told him that he couldn't come up with anything. Hitchcock told him not to worry about it, that they'd do something else. Lehman said, "But what about MGM?" Hitchcock replied "We won't tell them." That "something else" that they came up with was North by Northwest (1959). The screenplay was eventually written by Eric Ambler.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Charlton Heston (3/2/76) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Charlton Heston from 3/2/76.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- The Plot Thickens (1936)
Schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers suspects a deadly link between two seemingly unrelated murders.
Dir: Ben Holmes
Cast: James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Owen Davis Jr.
BW-69 mins, CC,

In the previous series entry "Murder on the Bridle Path" Louise Latimer and Owen Davis Jr. play Barbara Foley and Eddie Fay, a couple hoping to elope. In this episode they reappear, and although Hildegarde recognizes them, their names have inexplicably changed to Alice Stevens and Robert Wilkins.


12:00 PM -- Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
The head of a World War II bomber squadron cracks under the pressure.
Dir: Henry King
Cast: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill
BW-132 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Dean Jagger, and Best Sound, Recording

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, and Best Picture

This film is used by the U.S. Navy as an example of leadership styles in its Leadership and Management Training School. The Air Force's College for Enlisted Professional Military Education also uses this film as a education aid in its Noncommissioned Officer Academies. The film has also been used for leadership training in civilian non-military seminars.


2:30 PM -- Maya (1966)
An American boy runs away in the Indian jungle after a fight with his father.
Dir: John Berry
Cast: Clint Walker, Jay North, I. S. Johar
C-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on the novel by Jalal Din and Lois Roth.


4:15 PM -- It Happens Every Spring (1949)
A scientist invents a baseball that can't be hit.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas
BW-87 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies

Ray Milland coats a majority of baseballs he pitches with his special chemical solution from a pad hidden inside his glove. Although the movie never indicates how long the coating on a ball remains effective, baseball fans know that the umpire replaces the baseball after about each foul ball and approximately six pitches. So, there was little chance that Milland's coated baseballs might accidentally end up in the hands of the opposing team's pitcher, allowing him pitch the same hopping curve balls that Milland was able to throw.


6:00 PM -- Hills Of Home (1948)
Lassie helps a Scottish doctor deal with his patients' problems.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Tom Drake
C-97 mins, CC,

The third of the original five Lassie films, starring the male collie Pal as the female collie Lassie -- crossdressing in fur!



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: GOLDIE HAWN



8:00 PM -- The Sugarland Express (1974)
An ex-convict springs her husband from prison to keep their child from being adopted.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This filmed marked the beginning of Spielberg's friendship with John Williams. As of 2012, Williams has scored every Spielberg-directed theatrical film except The Color Purple (1985) and the anthology film Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).


10:00 PM -- Butterflies Are Free (1972)
A blind man trying to escape his protective mother falls for an aspiring actress.
Dir: Milton Katselas
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eileen Heckart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Charles Lang, and Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi and Charles T. Knight

Eileen Heckart and Paul Michael Glaser reprise the roles they created in the original 1969 Broadway production.


12:00 AM -- Shampoo (1975)
A hairdresser expresses his fear of commitment by seducing his female clients.
Dir: Hal Ashby
Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Lee Grant
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lee Grant

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Warden, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Robert Towne and Warren Beatty, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Richard Sylbert, W. Stewart Campbell and George Gaines

Loosely based on "The Country Wife," a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley, whose protagonist Horner feigns impotence in order to be allowed into the company of married women, who he then seduces. George in "Shampoo" would be considered non-threatening due to the stereotype that hair-dressers are gay, such as the scene in Jackie's bathroom when Lester walks in and the bistro sequence when George is fluffing Lester's hair. "Shampoo" only retains a distant reflection of the Horner character, but reportedly, the screenplay was inspired by the 1969 Chichester Festival production, according to a 2003 edition of the play edited by James Ogden.


2:00 AM -- Sonny Boy (1990)
A small-town crook and his cross-dressing "wife" abuse their adopted son to make him the perfect criminal accomplice.
Dir: Robert Martin Carroll
Cast: David Carradine, Paul L Smith, Brad Dourif
C-97 mins,

Brad Dourif once referred to the movie as "the first real heavy-metal fable." He admitted that he didn't understand the movie, yet he was drawn to its strangeness.


3:45 AM -- The Baby (1973)
A social worker investigates a strange family.
Dir: Ted Post
Cast: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill
C-85 mins,

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.


5:30 AM -- Keep Off The Grass (1969)
The dangers of marijuana are outlined in this educational short film.
Dir: Ib Melchior
Cast: J. Edward McKinley,
C-21 mins,