TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 15, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Fredric March Gets Political

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring an interesting selection of Gary Cooper's film. Nope, it's not his birthday. And in prime time, TCM is showing the surprisingly political side of Fredric March. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE: RICHARD GERE (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-27 mins, CC, Letterbox Format


6:30 AM -- TODAY WE LIVE (1933)
An aristocratic English girl's tangled love life creates havoc during World War I.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young
BW-113 mins, CC,

Film debut of Franchot Tone.


8:30 AM -- TASK FORCE (1949)
A naval officer devotes his life to the development of the aircraft carrier.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Gary Cooper, Jane Wyatt, Wayne Morris
C-117 mins, CC,

Wayne Morris who portrayed Lt.McKinney was the only actor in the cast who had actual combat experience as a carrier pilot in WWII. As a fighter pilot, Morris shot down seven enemy planes and contributed to the sinking of five enemy ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. He was the only combat "ace" of all the Hollywood actors who went to war.


10:30 AM -- FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956)
A peaceful Quaker family's sanctity is tested during the Civil War.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Marjorie Main
BW-138 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Anthony Perkins, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Michael Wilson (Due to being blacklisted Michael Wilson did not receive a screen credit, which under special Academy by-law made him ineligible personally although the writing achievement itself could be eligible. In early 1957 AMPAS instructed Price Waterhouse & Co. not to list any nomination declared ineligible under the by-law and thus this nomination was not included on the final voting ballot. The by-law was laster declared unworkable in January 1959. In December 2002 the Academy reinstated Mr. Wilson's nomination.), Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon R. Glennan (Westrex Sound Services) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Music, Original Song -- Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)", and Best Picture

Gary Cooper originally did not want to play a father of grown children. This was despite the fact that he was 55 in real life. Ironically, many critics in 1956 felt he looked too old to play Jess Birdwell.


1:00 PM -- A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1932)
An American serving in World War I falls for a spirited nurse.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou
BW-89 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Charles Lang, and Best Sound, Recording -- Franklin Hansen (sound director)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Hans Dreier andRoland Anderson, and Best Picture

Ernest Hemingway hated this interpretation of his novel, as he felt it was overly romantic. That didn't stop him, however, from becoming lifelong friends with Gary Cooper, whom he met several years later. In fact, it was Hemingway who would insist that Cooper be cast in the lead of the adaptation of his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) 11 years later. However, the two made a point of never discussing this film.


2:30 PM -- FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (1943)
A U.S. mercenary and an army of peasants fight for Spain.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff
BW-165 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Katina Paxinou

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ingrid Bergman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Akim Tamiroff, Best Cinematography, Color -- Ray Rennahan, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Hans Dreier, Haldane Douglas and Bertram C. Granger, Best Film Editing -- Sherman Todd and John F. Link Sr., Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young, and Best Picture

When Ernest Hemingway told Ingrid Bergman she would have to cut off her hair for the role of Maria, she shot back, "To get that part, I'd cut my head off!" She would rehearse tirelessly until all hours of the night, begging to repeat a scene long after the director was satisfied.

That hair cut the famous love song "As Time Goes By" from being removed from Casablanca (1942). Ingrid Bergman began filming this movie immediately after completing "Casablanca". Warner Brothers wanted to substitute another song for "As Time Goes By" and re-shoot some scenes with Bergman. However, since her hair had been cut, there would be a problem with continuity (even if Bergman wore a wig), so the idea was dropped.


5:30 PM -- SERGEANT YORK (1941)
True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie
BW-134 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, and Best Film Editing -- William Holmes

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Brennan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Wycherly, Best Director -- Howard Hawks, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston andHoward Koch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sol Polito, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Alvin C. York himself was on the set for a few days during filming. When one of the crew members tactlessly asked him how many "Jerries" he had killed, York started sobbing so vehemently he threw up. The crew member was nearly fired, but the next day, York demanded that he keep his job.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FREDRIC MARCH GETS POLITICAL



8:00 PM -- I MARRIED A WITCH (1942)
A 300-year-old witch wreaks havoc when she falls in love with a young politician.
Dir: René Clair
Cast: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley
BW-77 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

Veronica Lake and Fredric March did not like one another, due in part to some disparaging remarks March made about her. During filming, Lake delighted in playing pranks on March. In one scene in which the two were photographed only from the waist up, Lake stuck her foot in March's groin. In another incident, Lake hid a 40-pound weight under her costume when March had to carry her in his arms. After that incident, March nicknamed the film "I Married a Bitch."


9:30 PM -- SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964)
An American military officer discovers his superiors are planning a military coup.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March
BW-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Edmond O'Brien, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cary Odell and Edward G. Boyle

An important plot point in the film involves the attempted coup taking place on the same day as the Preakness Stakes horse race. However, the seven-day timeline for the film would have had the coup taking place on Sunday while the Preakness is always run on a Saturday. John Frankenheimer said that the problem was solved by a scriptwriting acquaintance of his. This man worked as a script doctor and liked to gamble but wagered his professional services instead of money. Frankenheimer had won some work from the man and gave him the problem. The solution? In one scene a character walks by a poster which says "First Ever Sunday Running of the Preakness".


11:45 PM -- TOMORROW, THE WORLD! (1944)
An American family takes in a young German relative and discovers he's been indoctrinated with Nazi propaganda.
Dir: Leslie Fenton
Cast: Fredric March, Betty Field, Agnes Moorehead
BW-82 mins,

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 14 April 1943 and closed 17 June 1944 after 500 performances. The opening night cast included Skip Homeier as Emil and Edit Angold as Frieda, each of whom later reprised their stage roles for the film,, and Ralph Bellamy as Mike Frame (played by Fredric March in this film), Shirley Booth as Leona Richards (Betty Field) and Kathryn Givney as Jessie Frame (Agnes Moorehead). Producer Lester Cowan bought the rights to the play for $75,000 plus 25% of the gross, not to exceed $350,000. He wanted to change the title of the movie to "The Intruder," but a poll of exhibitors voted him down.


1:15 AM -- ...TICK...TICK...TICK (1970)
A black sheriff's arrival sets off racial fireworks in a small southern town.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Fredric March
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

There is no Colusa County in the Deep South. Colusa County is in Northern California.


3:00 AM -- IT'S A BIG COUNTRY (1952)
Seven stories celebrate the glorious diversity of American life.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Ethel Barrymore, Keefe Brasselle, Gary Cooper
BW-89 mins, CC,

This film did poorly at the box office, resulting in a loss for MGM of $677,000 ($6.3M in 2016) according to studio records.


4:30 AM -- MARY OF SCOTLAND (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge
BW-123 mins, CC,

Both Ginger Rogers and Bette Davis were interested in playing Queen Elizabeth I. Director John Ford wanted Tallulah Bankhead for the part, but Florence Eldridge. Fredric March's real-life wife, won the part.

[longship]

1. Wow! Frederic March!

And Seven Days in May is a scary, great film.

BTW, I am a huge Edmond O'Brien fan.