TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 26, 2014 -- The Essentials - Karl Freund Tribute

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features the works of Karl Freund, innovative director and cinematographer who invented the three camera system used for filming most television comedies since the days of I Love Lucy. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Julius Caesar (1953)
An all-star adaptation of Shakespeare's classic about Julius Caesar's assassination and its aftermath.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: John Doucette, George Macready, Michael Pate
BW-121 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Edward C. Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

John Gielgud was cast after director Joseph L. Mankiewicz saw him play Cassius in a stage production at Stratford-on-Avon. Mankiewicz was in Stratford to see Paul Scofield, whom he was considering casting as Marc Antony, until Marlon Brando's screen test turned out so well.


8:02 AM -- Capriccio Italien (1953)
In this short film, The MGM Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien."
BW-10 mins,

This short was first shown immediately preceding the premiere engagement of MGM's 1953 film version of William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".


8:15 AM -- The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
A blacksmith's rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son's Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.
Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Preston Foster, Alan Hale, Basil Rathbone
BW-96 mins,

According to the book The RKO Story, this film cost $237,000 more than it grossed in its original release, but finally broke even with the box office from a 1949 re-release, paired with She (1935).


9:52 AM -- Crew Racing (1935)
This short film focuses on the training process for the freshman squad of the University of California rowing team.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Pete Smith, Ky Ebright
BW-10 mins,

Full title -- A Sports Parade Subject: Crew Racing.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Dudley Moore (5/18/79) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Dudley Moore from 5/18/79.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:33 AM -- Vincent Lopez And His Orchestra (1939)
This musical short showcases the talent of Vincent Lopez and his orchestra performing with Betty Hutton. Vitaphone Release B228.
Dir: Joseph Henabery
BW-10 mins,

Also known as Three Kings and a Queen.


10:45 AM -- Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase (1939)
A teen-aged sleuth helps two old ladies deal with the "haunting" of their mansion.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel
BW-60 mins, CC,

The last of the four Nancy Drew films starring Bonita Granville.


12:00 PM -- Valley of the Dragons (1961)
A comet transports two enemies to a jungle on the moon.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Cesare Danova, Sean McClory, Joan Staley
BW-82 mins, Letterbox Format

Uses stock footage from One Million B.C. (1940) and Rodan (1956).


1:30 PM -- The Winning Team (1952)
Baseball great Grover Cleveland Alexander fights his way back from a blinding injury.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy
BW-98 mins, CC,

The opening credits show Grover Cleveland Alexander's plaque at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It is accurate in all respects except one: it shows Ronald Reagan's likeness instead of the real Grover Cleveland Alexander.


3:15 PM -- The Nun's Story (1959)
A headstrong girl fights the strictures of the Catholic church in Europe and the Belgian Congo.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Peter Finch, Dame Edith Evans
C-152 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Anderson, Best Cinematography, Color -- Franz Planer, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Film Editing -- Walter Thompson, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman, and Best Picture

Audrey Hepburn met the real Marie-Louise Habets - inspiration for the novel and film - while she was preparing for the role. The two actually became great friends and Habets later nursed Hepburn back to health after her near-fatal horse-riding accident on the set of The Unforgiven (1960).


6:00 PM -- King Solomon's Mines (1950)
A spirited widow hires a daredevil jungle scout to find a lost treasure in diamonds.
Dir: Compton Bennett
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger, Richard Carlson
C-103 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Surtees, and Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters and Conrad A. Nervig

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

The scene in which Deborah Kerr cuts her own hair and then cuts to her sunning with a perfectly coiffed hairstyle got such a big laugh at the initial screenings of the film that producers debated removing the scene. However, they couldn't figure out another way to explain Kerr's change of hairstyle, so they kept the improbable scenes intact.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: KARL FREUND TRIBUTE



8:00 PM -- Metropolis (1926)
In this silent film, a city of the future is threatened with destruction when a wealthy corporate leader enlists a mad scientist to put down labor reformers.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
BW-149 mins,

Much to Fritz Lang's dismay, Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were big fans of the film. Goebbels met with Lang and told him that he could be made an honorary Aryan despite his Jewish background. Goebbels told him "Mr Lang, we decide who is Jewish and who is not". Lang left for Paris that very night.


10:45 PM -- The Seventh Cross (1944)
Seven men escape from a concentration camp and fight their way to freedom.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn
BW-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Hume Cronyn

First film appearance of real life couple Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.


12:45 AM -- The Mummy (1932)
An Egyptian mummy returns to life to stalk the reincarnation of his lost love.
Dir: Karl Freund
Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners
BW-73 mins, CC,

Screenwriter John L. Balderston is credited with the Egyptian mummy theme for the film. At its earliest stages, the film was simply envisaged as a horror vehicle for Boris Karloff with no connection to Egypt at all. Balderston was a history enthusiast and had covered the opening of Pharaoh Tutankhamen as a foreign correspondent. His experiences in Egypt and love of ancient history influenced him to change the setting and plot of the film to feature an Egyptian mummy.


2:15 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, Letterbox Format

Quinn K. Redeker would sometimes sit in Lon Chaney Jr.'s trailer while Chaney told him stories and anecdotes about his films. Chaney would often be making his specialty - homemade mustard - while doing so.


3:45 AM -- The Rain People (1969)
A housewife who feels trapped leaves home and takes up with a hitchhiker.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Some of this film was shot in and around Clarksburg, WV. They spent several days in the area. The drive in scene was filmed at the old Skyline Drive In on Rt. 19 south of Clarksburg. I grew up about 30 miles north of there!


5:30 AM -- Time Out for Trouble (1961)
The spirit of an evil mantle clock examines various household accidents in this short film.
Dir: David S. Glidden
Cast: Bonnie Hammett, Loren Brown, Fritz Woyna
BW-19 mins,

[CBHagman]

1. "The Seventh Cross" deserves to be better known.

I stumbled on it back when stores still rented videotapes and one of our local chains had an amazing collection of classic movies.

Aside from being yet another sample of Fred Zinnemann's remarkably varied career (From Here to Eternity, High Noon, A Man for All Seasons, and Oklahoma! are all his), it's worth watching for perspective during the run-up to the fall election. Yes, the things you do matter, very much.

[avebury]

2. I totally agree.

I stumbled across it several years ago in a video store. It is an awesome movie (and has a very young Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronum and start Spence Tracy.

I really wish that it was on earlier in the evening. I'd love to watch it again. Maybe Cox Cable will put it on demand.