TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 5, 2014 -- The Essentials - The Battling Burtons

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials celebrates Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, working together before and during their first marriage. Each of the three films is Oscar-winning or Oscar-nominated. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- Of Human Bondage (1934)
A medical student falls prey to a sluttish waitress.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee
BW-83 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (This was a write-in nomination.)

Bette Davis wanted the role of Mildred Rodgers because she thought it would be her breakout role after years of starring in films that were getting her nowhere. She begged Warner Brothers studio chief Jack L. Warner to let her out of her contract so she could make the film. He relented because he was sure she would fail, but when her performance sparked talk of an Oscar, Warner began a spite campaign by encouraging academy members not to vote for her. At the time, the voting campaigns and the tabulation of the results were handled by the heads of the academy (of which Warner had a membership) and it worked in his favor when Davis was left out of the Best Actress competition. Supporters of Davis, shocked by her omission, petitioned the academy for a write-in vote. She was added to the nominees as a write-in but she lost to Claudette Colbert for her performance in It Happened One Night (1934). As a result of this incident, write-in votes were henceforth disallowed. Also, as a result of Warner's coup, the academy decided to change it's voting practices and hand over the counting of the results to the independent accounting firm of PriceWaterhouse who still does the official counting to this day.


7:54 AM -- Happy Times And Jolly Moments (1943)
This short film offers a nostalgic look at the Mack Sennet comedies of 1914. Vitaphone Release 1134A.
BW-18 mins,


8:15 AM -- Carbine Williams (1952)
True story of the convicted bootlegger who fought for his freedom by inventing a new rifle.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: James Stewart, Jean Hagen, Wendell Corey
BW-93 mins, CC,

James Stewart actively sought the lead role, despite being too old for it, because the film reflected his right-wing views.


10:00 AM -- Carson on TCM: James Stewart (7/21/76) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with James Stewart from 7/21/76.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Nancy Drew...Detective (1938)
A teen-aged sleuth investigates a wealthy woman's disappearance.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Bonita Granville, John Litel, James Stephenson
BW-66 mins, CC,

Adapted from the "Nancy Drew" novel, "The Password to Larkspur Lane," first published in 1933. The original author of the novel was Walter Karig (using the Stratemayer Syndicate house pseudonym, "Carolyn Keene&quot . In the "Nancy Drew" books, Nancy's boyfriend is named Ned Nickerson. For the 1938-39 movie series, his name was changed to Ted Nickerson (played by Frankie Thomas).


11:37 AM -- Slapsie Maxie's (1939)
In this comedic short, a waiter accidentally knocks out a boxing champion leading to a humorous "rematch." Vitaphone Release 9384-9385.
Dir: Noel Smith
Cast: John Ridgely, Frank Faylen, Sol Gorss
BW-16 mins,


12:00 PM -- Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
A space visitor's touch turns an unhappy heiress into a vengeful giant.
Dir: Nathan Hertz
Cast: Allison Hayes, William Hudson, Yvette Vickers
BW-66 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This film was made right after the success of Sputnik. The alien spacecraft is called a "satellite" because the writer thought that meant any spherical shaped spacecraft.


1:15 PM -- The Story Of Seabiscuit (1949)
Fictionalized account of the legendary racehorse's training and triumphs.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Shirley Temple, Barry Fitzgerald, Lon McCallister
C-93 mins, CC,

In the close-ups, Seabiscuit was played by Sea Sovereign, his son.


3:00 PM -- Guys And Dolls (1955)
A big-city gambler bets that he can seduce a Salvation Army girl.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra
C-149 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Oliver Smith, Joseph C. Wright and Howard Bristol, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Jay Blackton and Cyril J. Mockridge

Very few contractions--"aren't" for "are not" or "wouldn't" for "would not", for example--are used in the dialogue in this movie (the songs are a different story). While it makes the language seem stilted and excessively formal at times, this is true to the writings of Damon Runyon. He also eschewed the use of contractions, and this characteristic gave his works a very recognizable style.


5:45 PM -- No Time For Sergeants (1958)
A hillbilly draftee turns the Air Force upside down.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, Nick Adams
BW-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This was Don Knotts' film debut. He met Andy Griffith when Knotts had a small part in Broadway's "No Time For Sergeants". Griffith remembered Knotts when he was looking for someone to play bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). The two formed a lifelong friendship. After Knotts left Andy Griffith Show, he later made guest appearances on it and another Andy Griffith TV series, Matlock (1986). In 2006, Griffith even broke the news of Knotts' passing to the media.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: THE BATTLING BURTONS



8:00 PM -- Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
An academic couple reveal their deepest secret to a pair of newcomers during an all-night booze fest.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal
BW-131 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Taylor (Elizabeth Taylor was not present at the awards ceremony. Anne Bancroft accepted the award on her behalf.), Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Sandy Dennis (Sandy Dennis was unable to attend the Academy Awards presentations, because she was working on a new film, Sweet November (1968), being shot in New York. Mike Nichols accepted the award on her behalf.), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Haskell Wexler, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Sylbert and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Irene Sharaff

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Richard Burton, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Segal, Best Director -- Mike Nichols, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Lehman, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Film Editing -- Sam O'Steen, Best Music, Original Music Score -- Alex North, and Best Picture

According a 2005 interview with Edward Albee, the original writer of the play which the film is based, producer Ernest Lehman hired himself to write the screenplay for $250,000. Also, Albee says that when director Mike Nichols and stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor read the script, they hated it so much that, unknown to Lehman, they changed all of the dialog back to Albee's play save two lines: "Hey, let's go to the roadhouse!" and "Hey, let's come back from the roadhouse!" Albee said, "Two lines for $250,000, $125,000 a piece. That's pretty good."


10:30 PM -- The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
A fortune hunter agrees to wed a temperamental woman so his friend can court her sister.
Dir: Franco Zeffirelli
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Lorenzo Mongiardino, John DeCuir, Elven Webb, Giuseppe Mariani, Dario Simoni and Luigi Gervasi, and Best Costume Design -- Irene Sharaff and Danilo Donati

After Cleopatra (1963) had failed at the box office, nearly bankrupting 20th Century Fox, when director Franco Zeffirelli suggested casting Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton his this film, he was told it would never happen by Fox executives. However, Zeffirelli was persistent, and in the end, he was able to convince Fox that the couple still had box office potential. Ultimately, he was proved correct, as the film was a huge box office success.


12:45 AM -- The V.I.P.S (1963)
Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials.
Dir: Anthony Asquith
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Rutherford

Margaret Rutherford was not present at the awards ceremony. Peter Ustinov accepted the award on her behalf.

Based on a true story, the movie was a thinly disguised account of screenwriter Terence Rattigan's life friend Vivien Leigh and her attempt to leave her husband Laurence Olivier for Australian actor Peter Finch. Leigh and Finch made it to the London airport, but their plane was delayed by incoming fog giving Olivier time to confront the two and bring Leigh home. Leigh abandoned the plan after hours of fog delay.


3:00 AM -- Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
A group of individuals trapped in a police station fight off a horde of murderous gang members.
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer
C-91 mins, Letterbox Format

Following the release of his first feature, Dark Star (1974), John Carpenter was approached by a group of investors who gave him carte blanche to make whatever kind of picture he wanted, albeit with a very limited budget. Although Carpenter wanted to make a Western, he knew he wouldn't have the resources to make a period piece. He wrote this film as a highly stylized, modern-day western, essentially remaking Rio Bravo (1959), which was directed by Carpenter's hero, Howard Hawks. Carpenter acknowledges this debt to Hawks and "Rio Bravo" by using the pseudonym of John T. Chance for his film editor's credit, which was the name of John Wayne's character in "Rio Bravo".


4:30 AM -- The Super Cops (1974)
Two rogue cops enlist a streetwalker to help them stop a deadly drug ring.
Dir: Gordon Parks
Cast: Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote this filmed adaptation of the "Super Cops" book by L.H. Whittemore, where the two central characters are nick-named Batman and Robin, actually wrote the original Batman TV pilot episode Batman: The Movie (1966), and was also a script consultant to the Batman (1966) television series.

[edbermac]

1. Assault on Precinct 13

Great flick, made back when John Carpenter was a decent director