TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 17, 2015 -- TCM Spotlight: Condemned

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[font color="green"]In the daylight hours, it's Lá Fhéile Pádraig! But don't drink the green beer.... In prime time, TCM is continuing this month's theme of films that were in some way condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. Enjoy, you decadent film fans!



7:15 AM -- The Key (1934)
A British officer stationed in Ireland falls for the wife of an intelligence man.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: William Powell, Edna Best, Colin Clive
BW-71 mins,

Colin Clive replaced Warren William.


8:31 AM -- Goofy Movies Number Eight (1934)
In this short film, Pete Smith provides comedic narration over several silent films.
BW-9 mins,


8:45 AM -- The Irish In Us (1935)
The sons of an Irish family have to choose among police work, prize fighting and love.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Olivia De Havilland
BW-84 mins, CC,

Reportedly filmed in 18 days!


10:15 AM -- Irene (1940)
An Irish shop girl falls in love with a high-society boy.
Dir: Herbert Wilcox
Cast: Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, Roland Young
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Anthony Collins

This was adapted from a popular Broadway musical that originally opened at the Vanderbilt Theater on Nov. 18, 1919 and ran for 675 performances. Irene Dunne and Jeanette MacDonald were replacement cast members during its long run. The musical was later revived with Debbie Reynolds in the lead. This version opened at the Minskoff Theater in New York on March 13, 1973 and ran for 594 performances.


12:00 PM -- Three Cheers for the Irish (1940)
A Scottish lad and Irish lass risk their families' wrath by marrying.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Thomas Mitchell, Dennis Morgan
BW-99 mins, CC,

Thomas Mitchell was a great choice as the Irish immigrant Peter Casey, as Mitchell's parents were also immigrants from Ireland.


1:45 PM -- The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950)
Against her widowed father's wishes vaudeville star's daughter takes to the stage.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: June Haver, Gordon MacRae, James Barton
C-105 mins, CC,

This film was the speaking debut of Debbie Reynolds; she had been in June Bride (1948) previously, but without dialogue.


3:30 PM -- Young Cassidy (1965)
True story of playwright Sean O'Casey's involvement with the Irish rebellion of 1910.
Dir: Jack Cardiff
Cast: Rod Taylor, Flora Robson, Jack MacGowran
C-110 mins, CC,

Director John Ford fell ill during production and was replaced by Jack Cardiff. In an interview Cardiff said that only four minutes and five seconds of the footage shot by John Ford ended up in the finished film. The riot scene was cited by critics as the obvious work of Ford, yet it was completely done by Cardiff who admitted that he found inspiration from Battleship Potemkin (1925).


5:30 PM -- Finian's Rainbow (1968)
A leprechaun follows the Irishman who stole his pot of gold to the U.S. South.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele
C-145 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, and Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Ray Heindorf

Because of its satire on racism, this popular 1947 Broadway musical was considered such a hot potato in Hollywood that studios would not touch it unless they were allowed to change the story. Its original creators, E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane and Fred Saidy, held out and by 1968 it was able to be filmed with very few changes.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: CONDEMNED



8:00 PM -- Viridiana (1961)
When she inherits a fortune young nun tries to help the poor.
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey
BW-91 mins, Letterbox Format

The script was initially approved by the Spanish authorities with a few minor changes. They had no opportunity to view the finished film until it played at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d'Or. Nevertheless they were sufficiently horrified by what they saw to ban the film.


9:45 PM -- Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
A small-town songwriter tries to sell his work to a stranded singing star.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston
BW-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Crooner Dino is played by Dean Martin, in a role where he essentially is playing himself. Dino is asked at one point in the film what he thinks of the new rock group The Beatles, and he replies in a derogatory manner, with the script imitating Martin's feelings about the band in real life. Dino is then told that they are the new sound and that Dino's sound is obsolete. Ironically, and in reality, soon after the filming of this movie began, Martin recorded his soon-to-be signature song, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime," which knocked the Beatles' "A Hard Days' Night" single from the Billboard #1 spot in August 1964, one month after filming wrapped on this movie. Martin therefore became the first easy-listening performer to achieve a #1 Billboard single after the Beatles arrived in America, and did this by usurping the Beatles themselves from the top chart position.


12:00 AM -- Blow-Up (1966)
A photographer discovers a murder in the background of a candid photo.
Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
Cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, David Hemmings
C-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Michelangelo Antonioni, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay/story), Tonino Guerra (screenplay) and Edward Bond (screenplay)

As a way of bypassing the Production Code (i.e. censors), MGM created "Premiere Productions". This was a dummy company which had no agreement or affiliation with the Production Code and, therefore, did not have to adhere to its standards. MGM did not have to cut the full frontal nudity or other sexually explicit scenes and maintained all rights to the film. When the film opened to rave reviews and excellent box office, this defeat was considered the final blow for the Production Code's credibility and was replaced with a ratings system less than two years later.


2:00 AM -- Never On Sunday (1960)
An American scholar in Greece tries to reform a local prostitute.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, George Foundas
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Manos Hatzidakis (For "Ta paidia tou Peiraia" ("Never on Sunday&quot . Manos Hatzidakis was not present. The Academy accepted the Oscar on his behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Melina Mercouri, Best Director -- Jules Dassin, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Jules Dassin, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Theoni V. Aldredge

About 20 minutes in, Homer says "Homer Thrace, of Middletown, Connecticut" to himself; That's the town where Jules Dassin was born.


3:45 AM -- Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967)
A military officer becomes obsessed with an enlisted man.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Originally released in a version in which all scenes were suffused with the color gold, with one object in each scene (such as a rose) normally-colored. This was in reference to the houseboy's drawing of a golden peacock in whose eye the world is a mere reflection. But that version puzzled audiences, so it was withdrawn and a normally-colored version released.


5:41 AM -- Merry Mirthquakes (1953)
This short film features Liberace performing various musical arrangements on the piano.
BW-15 mins,
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