TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 28, 2015 -- The Essentials: Dual Roles

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features actors performing two parts in the same film, including Ronald Colman as King Rudolf and Major Rudolf Rassendyl in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 - my favorite version of this story), Lee Marvin as the drunken gunfighter Kid Shelleen and his evil twin brother Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965), and Danny Kaye as nightclub entertainer Buzzy Bellew and his bookworm twin brother Edwin Dingle in Wonder Man (1945). Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- Mata Hari (1931)
Romantic biography of World War I's notorious lady spy.
Dir: George Fitzmaurice
Cast: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore
BW-89 mins, CC,

Major Thomas Coulson's 1930 book, "Mata Hari: Courtesan and Spy", piqued interest in turning it into a movie, but an MGM executive said that no one book was the basis of their movie. Mata hari translates to "eye of the day" in Indonesian (and Malay), and is the most common word for "sun" in those languages. Censors of many cities required cuts in the movie, which was typical of many pre-code films. When MGM applied to the Hays Office for a certificate in 1936 for re-release, it was refused. However, a certificate was issued in 1939, when the movie was re-released.


8:30 AM -- Journey For Margaret (1942)
An American correspondent tries to adopt two children orphaned during the London blitz.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Robert Young, Laraine Day, Fay Bainter
BW-81 mins, CC,

This is the film from which Margaret O'Brien took her name. She was born Angela O'Brien, but she so identified with the character she played in this film that she decided to change her name to Margaret.


10:00 AM -- Batman: Slaves of the Rising Sun (1943)
Batman investigates a fake fortuneteller working with Japanese spies.
BW-18 mins,


10:30 AM -- Carry on Screaming! (1966)
A clueless police detective tries to stop a mad scientist.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Fenella Fielding
C-96 mins,

It is likely that the character name Doctor Watt was a play on the BBC character Doctor Who, who was huge in the UK at that time. Doctor Watt actually says "Who is my uncle or was, I haven't seen him for years I don't know what happened to him". Ironically, Jon Pertwee, who plays Doctor Fettle in the movie, later went on to become the third Doctor Who a few years later.


12:15 PM -- I Accuse! (1958)
True story of writer Emile Zola's defense of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer framed by anti-Semites.
Dir: Jose Ferrer
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Anton Walbrook, Viveca Lindfors
BW-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The first film of Charles Gray. I know that for many people he is best remembered as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), but for me, he will eternally be The Criminologist - An Expert, in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). "And crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time, and lost in space... and meaning."


2:00 PM -- Gandhi (1982)
The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.
Dir: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud
C-191 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ben Kingsley, Best Director -- Richard Attenborough, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Briley, Best Cinematography -- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing and Michael Seirton, Best Costume Design -- John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya, Best Film Editing -- John Bloom, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound -- Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye, Best Music, Original Score -- Ravi Shankar and George Fenton, and Best Makeup -- Tom Smith

No studio was interested in financing the film. Richard Attenborough cited that most of the financing were solicited from:
1. Joseph E. Levine whom agreed to finance in exchange of Attenborough directing A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Magic (1978).
2. The sale of the Attenboroughs' ownership share of "The Mousetrap".
3. Jake Eberts, a friend of Attenborough. The remaining of the money were solicited from major companies in England minus the BBC.


5:30 PM -- They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
Romanticized biography of General George Armstrong Custer and his last stand.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy
BW-140 mins, CC,

Louis Zamperini, Olympic athlete and subject of the famous movie Unbroken (2014), was an extra in this film just before being drafted to the United States Armed Forces during World War II.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: DUAL ROLES



8:00 PM -- The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937)
An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Lyle R. Wheeler, and Best Music, Score -- Alfred Newman (musical director)

In Salad Days, his first autobiography, Douglas Fairbanks Jr said that when Raymond Massey told Sir C. Aubrey Smith, who played Col. Zapt, that he didn't understand his own part of Black Michael, Smith said 'Ray, in my time I've played every part in Zenda except Princess Flavia, and I've never understood Black Michael either'.


10:00 PM -- Cat Ballou (1965)
A prim schoolteacher turns outlaw queen when the railroad steals her land.
Dir: Elliot Silverstein
Cast: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
C-96 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Lee Marvin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Walter Newman and Frank Pierson, Best Film Editing -- Charles Nelson, Best Music, Original Song -- Jerry Livingston (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "The Ballad of Cat Ballou", and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Frank De Vol

The film's horse trainer told Elliot Silverstein that the scene where a horse leans against a wall with its front legs crossed could not be shot because horses don't cross their legs, then that it might be possible if he had a couple of days. Silverstein invoked his rank as director and gave him an hour. The trainer plied the horse with sugar cubes while repeatedly pushing its leg into position, and they were able to get the shot.


12:00 AM -- Wonder Man (1945)
A murdered nightclub star possesses a mild-mannered look-alike to bring his killers to justice.
Dir: Bruce Humberstone
Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen
C-98 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- John P. Fulton (photographic) and Arthur Johns (sound)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Music, Original Song -- David Rose (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics) for the song "So in Love", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Louis Forbes and Ray Heindorf

Film debut of Vera-Ellen and Steve Cochran.


2:00 AM -- Bone (1972)
A burglar uncovers the lies beneath a Beverly Hills couple's life.
Dir: Larry Cohen
Cast: Yaphet Kotto, Andrew Duggan, Joyce Van Patten
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ida Berlin, the old woman on the bus who snarls an obscenity at Andrew Duggan, was the real-life mother of Elaine May and grandmother of Jeannie Berlin.


3:45 AM -- When You Grow Up (1973)
In this short film, children learn about the world of fun that awaits them when they grow up and go to work.
Dir: Jerry Kurtz
C-11 mins,


4:00 AM -- Baby Doll (1956)
A child bride holds her husband at bay while flirting with a sexy Italian farmer.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach
BW-115 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Carroll Baker, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mildred Dunnock, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Tennessee Williams, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Boris Kaufman

Feature film debuts of Eli Wallach and Rip Torn.