TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 31, 2014 -- What's On Tonight - Mel Brooks

[Staph]

Oh, joy! This evening, TCM is celebrating Melvin James Kaminsky, aka Mel Brooks. And as an extra treat, after showing Brooks' version of To Be Or Not To Be (1983), TCM is showing the Jack Benny version from 1942. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Min And Bill (1930)
Two crusty waterfront characters try to protect their daughter from a terrible secret.
Dir: George Hill
Cast: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Dorothy Jordan
BW-66 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Marie Dressler

Suggested from the book Dark Star by Frances Marion.


7:15 AM -- A Woman of Experience (1932)
A female con artist uses her skills against German spies.
Dir: Harry Joe Brown
Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, William Bakewell, Lew Cody
BW-74 mins,

Although the movie is based on a play, no production has been found.


8:30 AM -- A Wicked Woman (1934)
A woman kills her drunken husband to defend her children.
Dir: Charles Brabin
Cast: Mady Christians, Jean Parker, Charles Bickford
BW-73 mins,

From the book by Anne Austin.


9:48 AM -- Electrical Power (1939)
This short film looks at how electricity generated at Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) is sent to Hollywood movies studios to make films.
Cast: Jo Ann Sayers, Ray Bolger, Judy Garland
BW-10 mins,


10:00 AM -- Another Thin Man (1939)
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
BW-103 mins, CC,

The elegant car that Nick and Nora ride out to Col. MacFay's estate in is a 1935 Lincoln. These were an expensive, low-production car, with only about 1,400 made that year. The major movie studios kept a number of expensive cars around for executive purposes, and they often did double duty as props as required in production.


11:49 AM -- The Inside Passage (1941)
This short film takes a look at Seattle, Washington and Alaskan territories.
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins,


12:00 PM -- Lady Scarface (1942)
Police try to capture a murderous female gangster and her band of killers.
Dir: Frank Woodruff
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Judith Anderson, Frances Neal
BW-66 mins, CC,

Modern sources claim the screenplay was based on the movie, Wanted: Jane Turner (1936).


1:15 PM -- East Side, West Side (1949)
A chic New York couple is torn apart by a seductive model.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, James Mason, Van Heflin
BW-108 mins, CC,

Based on a novel by Marcia Davenport, who was daughter of recital and opera singer Alma Gluck (born Reba Feinsohn) and her first husband, Bernard Glick, older half-sister of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Marie Zimbalist, stepdaughter of Efrem Zimbalist Sr., and aunt of Stephanie Zimbalist.


3:15 PM -- A Lady Without Passport (1950)
A secret service agent falls in love with an illegal immigrant.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, John Hodiak, James Craig
BW-74 mins, CC,

Feature film debut of Steven Hill.


4:45 PM -- The Decks Ran Red (1958)
Dishonest seamen plan a murderous mutiny.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone
Cast: James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Broderick Crawford
BW-84 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Working title -- Infamy at Sea.


6:15 PM -- Penelope (1966)
A neglected wife turns to bank robbery to get her husband's attention.
Dir: Arthur Hiller
Cast: Natalie Wood, Ian Bannen, Dick Shawn
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

There seems to be a scene cut from the movie, perhaps a fantasy sequence. Some lobby cards show Natalie Wood and her husband in the film in their beds. The husband looks bored and uninterested in Natalie. In others from the same scene he reads a newspaper or has a boardroom meeting while Natalie sits in bed looking gorgeous.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MEL BROOKS



8:00 PM -- The Twelve Chairs (1970)
A fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs.
Dir: Mel Brooks
Cast: Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise
C-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Mel Brooks had problems with Yugoslavian extras who did not speak English. Some extras playing museum guards were to walk through the museum ringing a bell and shouting, "Closing time! Closing time!" The extras misunderstood and walked through the scene shouting "Cloakie Bye! Cloakie Bye!" Brooks decided "Cloakie Bye" was funnier, so he left it in the movie.


9:45 PM -- Silent Movie (1976)
A film director struggles to produce a major silent feature film.
Dir: Mel Brooks
Cast: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The logo for Big Picture Studios features the slogan "Ars est pecunia" which is "Art is money" in Latin. This is a takeoff on the MGM slogan "Ars gratia artis" which means "Art for art's sake."


11:16 PM -- 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,


11:30 PM -- High Anxiety (1977)
A man must come to terms with his own "high anxiety" in this loving parody of the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
Dir: Mel Brooks
Cast: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This tribute to Alfred Hitchcock contains references to more than 10 of his films: see the links to other titles. Mel Brooks held a private preview of the movie for Hitchcock to see his reaction. When Hitchcock walked out at movie's end without saying a word, Brooks feared that Hitchcock hated the movie. But days later, Hitchcock sent a congratulatory case of wine to Brooks, knowing that Brooks was a wine connoisseur.


1:15 AM -- The Dick Cavett Show: Mel Brooks (2006)
In this TCM world premiere interview, comedian Mel Brooks discusses his life and career with Dick Cavett.
C-58 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Mel Brooks is one of the few people to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony. He won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Producers (1967); three Emmys in a row (1997-1999) for his guest appearance as Uncle Phil in Mad About You (1992); three Tonys for The Producers- Best Musical, Original Music Score and Book (musical); and three Grammys- Best Spoken Comedy Album for "The 2000 Year Old Man In The Year 2000" (1998, with Carl Reiner) and two for The Producers (2001): Best Musical Show Album (as composer/lyricist) and Best Long Form Music Video (as artist).


2:15 AM -- To Be or Not to Be (1983)
An actor and his wife struggle to survive (and make a living) when the Nazi's invade Poland in this remake of "To Be or Not to Be" (1942).
Dir: Alan Johnson
Cast: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Tim Matheson
C-107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Charles Durning

In this remake of To Be or Not to Be (1942), all the main character names had at least some minor change from this original film. Mel Brooks plays the Jack Benny role with a character name change from Joseph Tura to Frederick Bronski; Anne Bancroft plays the Carole Lombard role and also with a character name change from Maria Tura to Anna Bronski; Charles Durning plays Colonel Erhardt which was the Sig Ruman role of Colonel Ehrhardt but now with a slight change in spelling; Tim Matheson plays the Robert Stack part, the character's first name being changed, from Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski to Lieutenant Andre Sobinski; and José Ferrer takes the part played by Stanley Ridges, the character name remaining the same except for a slight change in spelling again, from Professor Siletsky to Professor Siletski.


4:15 AM -- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A troupe of squabbling actors joins the Polish underground to dupe the Nazis.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
BW-99 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner R. Heymann

According to the book 'The United Artists Story' by Ronald Bergan, " Unfortunately, at its release, Pearl Harbor had been attacked, Germany was sweeping across Europe, and the film's star, Carole Lombard, was killed in a plane crash while on a war-bond selling tour. Therefore, neither critics nor public were in the mood to laugh, finding the picture tasteless and callous. Over the years, however, it recovered its production costs and became a classic."

[CBHagman]

1. Tune from "The Twelve Chairs"

I never heard this until the Kennedy Center honored Mel Brooks, but it would make a fitting DU theme song!