TCM Schedule for Saturday, January 17, 2015 -- The Essentials - WWII Spy Stories

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials feature stories about World War II spies, in films made during the war. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- ANTHONY ADVERSE (1936)
An orphan runs off to a life of adventure, then returns to France in search of the girl he left behind.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Woods
BW-141 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gale Sondergaard, Best Cinematography -- Tony Gaudio, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department), score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Anton Grot, Best Assistant Director -- William H. Cannon, and Best Picture

Tony Curtis was a huge fan of the book. He changed his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis in homage to the title character and was even buried with a copy of the novel.


8:45 AM -- ON BORROWED TIME (1939)
An old man and his grandson trap Death in a tree.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Beulah Bondi
BW-99 mins, CC,

The original Broadway production of "On Borrowed Time" by Paul Osborn opened at the Longacre Theater on February 3, 1938, closing in November 1938 after 321 performances. The major players (with their character names) were Dudley Digges (Julian Northrup - Gramps -- played by Lionel Barrymore in this film), Frank Conroy (Mr. Brinks -- played by Cedric Hardwicke), Dorothy Stickney (Nellie - Granny -- played by Beulah Bondi), Jean Adair (Demetria Riffle -- played by Eily Malyon) and Peter Miner (Pud -- played by Bobs Watson).


10:30 AM -- CARRY ON CRUISING (1962)
Five incompetents replace the departed crew of a passenger ship.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Kenneth Connor, Liz Fraser, Sid James
C-89 mins,

During the film Haines, the cook, gave the task of breaking a large number of eggs to bake a large cake. After the underling complained it would take a long time to complete the task, Haines asked him to place all the eggs in a large container, drop it on the ground, then strain out the egg shells. This technique, called the Haines Technique, plays an important part in modern-day data processing and systems design. It describes any simple low-tech solution or method which would normally be overlooked because it is counter-intuitive.


12:00 PM -- WHITE PERIL (1956)
This short film shows members of a "snow patrol" at work in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.
Dir: Don Horter
BW-8 mins,


12:15 PM -- THE STORY OF G.I. JOE (1945)
War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins an Army platoon during World War II to learn what battle is really about.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Mitchum, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore and Philip Stevenson, Best Music, Original Song -- Ann Ronell for the song "Linda", and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell

The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa - the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner - never having seen the movie in which they appeared.


2:15 PM -- SAHARA (1943)
An international platoon fights off Nazis in World War II Africa.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carroll Naish
BW-98 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- J. Carrol Naish, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, and Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD)

The Sahara desert in this movie was portrayed by the California desert's Borego Desert which is located in the Imperial Valley, north of the American-Mexican border as well as Brawley, Imperial County, California; Chatsworth, California and the sand dunes of Yuma, Arizona.


4:00 PM -- THE HORSE SOLDIERS (1959)
A Union cavalry officer leads his men on a vital mission behind Confederate lines.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers
C-120 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Listen carefully during the first scene and you can hear Gen. Hurlburt say "Hello Cump" as he shakes hands with Gen. Sherman. Sherman was named Tecumseh after the Shawnee chief, but the minister who later baptized him refused to do so with a "heathen" name, so the minister arbitrarily added "William" to Sherman's name, as he was baptized in St. William's church. Sherman was called Cump by his closest friends, including Gen. Grant, his entire life, and was never referred to as William or Bill.


6:15 PM -- THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS (1956)
When four outlaw brothers are killed, a con man tries to win the confidence of their widows.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Clark Gable, Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes
C-84 mins, Letterbox Format

Clark Gable formed a production company with his The Tall Men (1955) co-star Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield in order to produce this film. However, the stress of producing took such a toll on the 55-year-old Gable's already guarded health that he never produced another movie.


7:51 PM -- THE ART DIRECTOR (1949)
This short film offers a backstage look at the job of the motion picture art director.
Dir: Otto Lang
BW-7 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: WWII SPY STORIES



8:00 PM -- FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


10:15 PM -- CONTRABAND (1940)
While held up in a British port, a Danish sea captain tussles with German spies.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie
BW-87 mins,

When Michael Powell and the crew went on location to Ramsgate (Eastgate in the film), they sent all their luggage and equipment in cases boldly marked "Contraband". Luckily the local wartime Contraband Controllers saw the funny side and when they arrived at the hotel they found their cases had stamps and stencils all over them saying things like "Explosives", "Examined", "Condemned".


12:00 AM -- ABOVE SUSPICION (1943)
A honeymooning couple are asked to spy on the Nazis in pre-war Europe.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt
BW-91 mins, CC,

Crawford always said she wished Hitchcock had directed this film. And indeed, the film contains many Hitchcockian touches (mistaken identity, music as a plot cue, innocents recruited to do dangerous tasks, etc.)


1:36 AM -- PHANTOMS, INC. (1945)
This short film focuses on fake "spiritualists" and psychics who con innocent people out of their money.
Dir: Harold Young
Cast: Ralph Dunn, Crane Whitley, Lloyd Ingraham
BW-17 mins,


2:00 AM -- MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986)
A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.
Dir: Stephen King
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington
C-98 mins, Letterbox Format

When asked why he hasn't directed a movie since "Maximum Overdrive", Stephen King responded "Just watch Maximum Overdrive." (And, yes, it is that Stephen King.


3:50 AM -- A LOOK INTO THE 23RD CENTURY (1976)
This promotional short gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the science fiction classic "Logan's Run" (1976).
Dir: Ronald Saland
C-9 mins,


4:00 AM -- LOGAN'S RUN (1975)
A future police officer uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: Michael York, Richard Jordan, Jenny Agutter
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar Special Achievement Award for L.B. Abbott, Glen Robinson and Matthew Yuricich for visual effects

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Ernest Laszlo, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Dale Hennesy and Robert De Vestel

When the Old Man is showing Logan some of the portraits that used to hang on the walls of the capital, one of them was originally to have been of President Richard Nixon; "They used to call him tricky... something". According to director Michael Anderson, the gag was considered too controversial at the time and was dropped.