TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 18, 2017 -- TCM Spotlight - Creature Features

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, it's arrrrrrr about pirates, from a 1934 version of The Count of Monte Cristo to 1984's Ice Pirates (pirates in space!) Then in prime time, TCM has more creature features. Ugh, but try to enjoy!


6:59 AM -- HOW TO READ (1938)
This comedic short makes light of the proper reading technique.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Robert Benchley, Barbara Bedford, Marie Blake
BW-9 mins,


7:15 AM -- THE BOY AND THE PIRATES (1960)
Magic transports a boy to the days of cutthroats and buccaneers.
Dir: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Charles Herbert, Susan Gordon, Murvyn Vye
C-84 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Timothy Carey was fired from this movie because he threw Charles Herbert across the deck of the pirate ship.


8:45 AM -- THE SPANISH MAIN (1945)
Dutch rebels in the Caribbean turn pirate and kidnap the corrupt Spanish governor's bride-to-be.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, Paul Henreid, Walter Slezak
C-101 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- George Barnes

The inspiration for the " Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland.


10:30 AM -- THE ICE PIRATES (1984)
Two space pirates are dragooned into helping a princess find her father.
Dir: Stuart Raffill
Cast: Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael D Roberts
C-94 mins, CC,

The film was intended to be a serious sci-fi film with a $20 million budget, but MGM slashed the budget to $8 million and had the script rewritten as a comedy.


12:15 PM -- TREASURE ISLAND (1934)
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a young boy out to foil pirates and find a buried treasure.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore
BW-103 mins, CC,

MGM boss Louis B. Mayer insisted on a happy ending, so there had to be a re-shoot. Wallace Beery so resented this that he sabotaged the extra work by blowing his lines, staying in his dressing room for hours or taking long breaks. As a result, what was scheduled as a one day shoot took four days.


1:59 PM -- NIGHT DESCENDS ON TREASURE ISLAND (1940)
This short film focuses on the nighttime festivities for the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition.
C-8 mins,

Filmed concurrently with the short films "Cavalcade of San Francisco" and "A Day on Treasure Island."


2:15 PM -- SEVEN SEAS TO CALAIS (1962)
Sir Francis Drake fights to take over Spain's treasure routes for Queen Elizabeth I.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Rod Taylor, Keith Michell, Irene Worth
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Final film of director Rudolph Maté.


4:02 PM -- NOSTRADAMUS SAYS SO! (1953)
This short film presents the life and several predictions made by Nostradamus.
Dir: Peter Ballbusch
BW-11 mins,

Includes archive footage of the Duke of Windsor, Hermann Goring, Adolf Hitler, King George V, Pope Pius XII, and Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II).


4:15 PM -- THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE (1953)
A Scottish lord rebels against the British by taking up piracy.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel
C-89 mins, CC,

Stuntman Bob Anderson doubled for both actors in a sword fight and therefore "killed" himself.


6:00 PM -- THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934)
After escaping prison, an innocent man seeks revenge on the men who framed him.
Dir: Rowland V. Lee
Cast: Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern
BW-113 mins, CC,

Robert Donat made his only trip to Hollywood during the production of this film. Due mainly to his poor health, he was unable to travel to Hollywood again to film any of his other roles.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: CREATURE FEATURES



8:00 PM -- THEM! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
BW-92 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.


9:45 PM -- GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! (1956)
Nuclear tests awaken a prehistoric monster.
Dir: Ishiro Honda
Cast: Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kochi
BW-80 mins, CC,

In the American version, Godzilla's size was increased from 150 feet to nearly 400 feet because of the disparity between Japanese buildings (built short to meet earthquake codes) and American skyscrapers. It was felt that Godzilla's original size would be lost among the tall buildings of New York, the city most often compared to Tokyo.


11:19 PM -- AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA (LONGER FEATURETTE) (1966)
This promotional short offers a look at the feature film "Around the World Under the Sea" (1966).
C-8 mins,


11:30 PM -- IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955)
A giant octopus attacks San Francisco.
Dir: Robert Gordon
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis
BW-79 mins, CC,

Because the budget was so low, Ray Harryhausen saved money by building his octopus model with six rather than the correct eight tentacles. He tried to pose the creature so this lack of the right number of arms wasn't apparent.


1:00 AM -- THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959)
A radioactive dinosaur plots a deadly path to London.
Dir: Eugene Lourie
Cast: Gene Evans, Andre Morell, John Turner
BW-80 mins, CC,

Willis H. O'Brien and Pete Peterson completed a significant amount of the stop motion animation on a table in Peterson's garage.


2:30 AM -- THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES (1955)
A mutated sea creature attacks people along the beach.
Dir: Earl Harper
Cast: Kent Taylor, Kathy Downs, Michael Whalen
BW-81 mins, Letterbox Format

The underwater scenes were filmed at Santa Catalina Island, California.


4:00 AM -- THE MAGNETIC MONSTER (1953)
A new radio-active element could destroy the world by absorbing the planet's energy.
Dir: Curt Siodmak
Cast: Richard Carlson, King Donovan, Jean Byron
BW-75 mins, CC,

Uses stock footage of the underground magneto-dynamo from the German science fiction thriller Gold (1934).


5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #29 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon introduces Part Three of "Captains Courageous" and a clip from "Tribute to a Badman."
BW-29 mins, CC,