TCM Schedule for Friday, January 5, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight - Survival Movies

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, it's a celebration of A. Edward (Eddie) Sutherland, born January 5, 1895, in London, England. He started in vaudeville and acted in films from 1914 at Keystone (he was one of the original Keystone Kops). He became a director in 1925, first with Paramount (1925-31), then at United Artists (1931-32), again with Paramount (1933, 1935-37), then Universal (1940-41) and RKO (1942). He hit his stride in the 1930s and 1940s with a string of well-received comedies starring Laurel & Hardy and W.C. Fields, but his Abie's Irish Rose (1946), an adaptation of the often-filmed stage play, which he also produced, was such a critical and financial disaster that he could not find work as a director in Hollywood again. In the 1950s he went to Britain and ended his career directing episodic television.

In prime time, TCM is beginning a month of survival movies on Friday nights. From the TCM website (with movies in boldface featured during the month):

It's a matter of life and death! In addition to offering high adventure, survival movies have a way of raising the stakes and putting our own day-to-day challenges into perspective.

TCM's selection of survival movies through the decades also offers helpful tips for living through life-threatening situations, whether it's enduring a plane crash in the Amazon rain forest (Five Came Back, 1939); facing the dangers of an expedition to Antarctica (The Secret Land, 1948); suffering through the heat of the Mojave Desert (Inferno, 1953); confronting fellow schoolboys who revert to savagery on a remote island (Lord of the Flies, 1963); overcoming a bear attack and the treachery of companions (Man in the Wilderness, 1971); or learning to adapt in the Alaskan wilderness (Into the Wild, 2007).

Our other survival films offer a wide range of locales and threatening situations. Daniel O'Herlihy stars in Robinson Crusoe (1954), an adaptation of Daniel Defoe's famous tale of a 17th century castaway who--for 28 years--makes a life for himself on a deserted island in the Atlantic Ocean. Robert Ryan and Anita Ekberg are among the jungle survivors in Back From Eternity (1956), a remake of Five Came Back. In Abandon Ship! (1957), Tyrone Power plays a captain forced to jettison some passengers in an overcrowded lifeboat after his luxury-liner sinks in the Atlantic.

Ray Milland directs and stars in Panic in Year Zero (1962), the story of a family that finds refuge in a cave in the mountains of California after a nuclear attack. Peter Finch and Richard Attenborough head the cast of Flight of the Phoenix (1965), which tells of the struggles of the crew whose aircraft has crashed into the Sahara Desert. My Side of the Mountain (1969) tells of a 12-year-old boy (Teddy Eccles) who leaves his home in Toronto to live in the Canadian wilderness, where his friends include a raccoon and a falcon.

Cornel Wilde directed No Blade of Grass (1970), an adaptation of John Cristopher's sci-fi novel The Death of Grass, about a virus that attacks farm crops in the London area leading a family to seek refuge in Scotland. Walkabout (1971) is Nicolas Roeg's well-regarded film about a brother and sister left to their own resources in the Australian outback where they are aided by an Aboriginal boy. The Poseidon Adventure (1972) concerns a luxury liner overturned by a tsunami in the Atlantic, with an all-star cast that includes Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons.

By Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- Break of Hearts (1935)
An unknown composer tries to save the conductor she loves from his drinking problem.
Dir: Philip Moeller
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer, John Beal
BW-78 mins,

The character of Franz Roberti was based on two real-life conductors of the period: Leopold Stokowski, who was well known for his rearrangements of music by Bach, Wagner and other composers; and Arturo Toscanini, who was notorious for insulting his musicians during rehearsals the way Roberti does in the film.


8:15 AM -- Red-Headed Woman (1932)
An ambitious secretary tries to sleep her way into high society.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone
BW-79 mins, CC,

Jean Harlow's first line is "So gentlemen prefer blondes, do they?" which was written by Anita Loos for the movie. Loos' most famous work was the 1925 novel "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".


9:45 AM -- Secrets of the French Police (1932)
Strange crimes committed by a hypnotized woman are solved by a French detective.
Dir: Edward Sutherland
Cast: Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff, Frank Morgan
BW-58 mins, CC,

Based on H. Ashton Wolfe's series of stories titled Secrets of French Police Inspectors.


10:45 AM -- The Flying Deuces (1939)
Two bumblers join the Foreign Legion to forget a beautiful woman.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker
BW-69 mins,

On the set of this film, Oliver Hardy met his future wife, script supervisor Virginia Lucille Jones.


12:00 PM -- Zenobia (1939)
When he cures a circus elephant, a country doctor gets an unwanted friend.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke
BW-73 mins,

This film was originally developed as a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy vehicle, but was re-scripted after Stan Laurel, whose contract with Hal Roach had run out, declined to re-sign with the producer. Hardy's contract was still in force, and the team believed that if they waited until it expired, they could re-sign as a team and be in a stronger bargaining position. Ultimately that is what happened.


1:30 PM -- Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941)
A reporter tries to solve a series of boardinghouse murders.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Joan Perry, James Gleason
BW-63 mins, CC,

Based on the novel by Jerome Odlum.


2:45 PM -- Steel Against the Sky (1941)
Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: Alexis Smith, Lloyd Nolan, Craig Stevens
BW-68 mins,

The Professor calls his secret formula "Samsonite," but there is no connection with the famous luggage brand. The Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company named one of its cases "Samson", after the Biblical strongman, and only began using the trademark "Samsonite" the same year this film was made.


4:00 PM -- Army Surgeon (1942)
A female surgeon pretends to be a nurse so she can serve on the front line.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: James Ellison, Jane Wyatt, Kent Taylor
BW-63 mins,

Based on a story by John Twist.


5:15 PM -- Secret Command (1944)
A surprise visit from his brother almost blows an undercover agent out of the water.
Dir: Eddie Sutherland
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Carole Landis, Chester Morris
BW-82 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- David Allen (photographic), Ray Cory (photographic), Robert Wright (photographic), Russell Malmgren (sound) and Harry Kusnick (sound)

Based on brothers John and Ward Hawkins story The Saboteurs.


6:45 PM -- Having Wonderful Crime (1945)
Three amateur detectives try to find a missing magician.
Dir: Eddie Sutherland
Cast: Pat O'Brien, George Murphy, Carole Landis
BW-70 mins,

Based on a story by Craig Rice.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: SURVIVAL MOVIES



8:00 PM -- The Naked Prey (1966)
A captive hunter in Africa has one chance to survive, if he can outrun a native tribe.
Dir: Cornel Wilde
Cast: Cornel Wilde, Gert van den Bergh, Ken Gampu
C-96 mins, Letterbox, ins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Clint Johnston and Don Peters

The script was originally a true historical incident about a trapper named John Colter being pursued by Blackfoot Indians in Wyoming, but lower shooting costs, tax breaks and material and logistical assistance offered by South Africa convinced Cornel Wilde and the other producers to shoot the film there.


10:00 PM -- Deliverance (1972)
During a hunting vacation, four men fight against a murderous clan of backwoodsmen.
Dir: John Boorman
Cast: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty
C-109 mins, Letterbox,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- John Boorman, Best Film Editing -- Tom Priestley, and Best Picture

Billy Redden didn't know how to play banjo. To simulate realistic chord playing during "Duelling Banjos," another boy, a skilled banjo player, played the chords with his arm reaching around Redden's side while Redden picked. Musicians Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel play on the soundtrack.


12:00 AM -- The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
A big game hunter decides to stalk human prey.
Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong
BW-63 mins, CC,

The actor playing "Ivan the Cossack" was Noble Johnson, a multi-talented African-American who was a childhood friend of Lon Chaney. This is the earliest known instance of a black actor working in "whiteface" to play a Caucasian character.


1:15 AM -- Run for the Sun (1956)
A British traitor hunts humans in the jungles of Mexico.
Dir: Roy Boulting
Cast: Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard, Jane Greer
BW-99 mins, Letterbox, CC,

When Latimer (Richard Widmark) is speculating about Browne's (Trevor Howard) background, he talks about a British citizen broadcasting for the Germans during World War 2. This is a reference to Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce). Browne himself is probably based on an amalgam of Lord Haw Haw and John Amery, leader of the British Freikorps.


3:15 AM -- The Wild North (1952)
A Mountie tracks an accused killer through the Canadian wilderness.
Dir: Andrew Marton
Cast: Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse
C-97 mins,

The character of Constable Pedley was inspired by early 20th century Canadian North West Mounted Police officer Albert Pedley.The officer was sent to capture a criminal in 1904 during a harsh winter.He suffered months of loneliness and cruel weather, falling victim to the white madness of snow country. Nevertheless, Pedley brought his prisoner to justice.


5:00 AM -- Hollywood My Hometown (1965)
In this special, Ken Murray hosts his own behind-the-scenes home movies of some of Hollywood's greatest stars.
BW-53 mins, CC,

Features archive footage of Ben Alexander, Richard Arlen, Mary Astor, Lew Ayres, Baby LeRoy, John Barrymore, Ralph Bellamy, Edgar Bergen, Charles Bickford, Sally Blane, Monte Blue, Ward Bond, Pat Boone, Shirley Boone, El Brendel, Johnny Mack Brown, David Butler, Eddie Cantor, Frank Capra, Jack Carson, Charles Chaplin, Syd Chaplin, Maurice Chevalier, Lew Cody, Russ Columbo, Gary Cooper, Charles J. Correll, Dolores Costello, Lou Costello, Bing Crosby, Gary Crosby, Lindsay Crosby, Phillip Crosby, Robert Cummings, Daisy, Viola Dana, Bette Davis, Marie Dressler, Jimmy Durante, Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Farrell, W.C. Fields, Larry Fine, Eddie Fisher, Errol Flynn, Glenn Ford, Clark Gable, Janet Gaynor, James Gleason, Freeman F. Gosden, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Sid Grauman, Jon Hall, Mickey Hargitay, Jean Harlow, Susan Hayward, Frances Heflin, Van Heflin, Armin Hoffman, Bob Hope, Curly Howard, Leslie Howard, Moe Howard, Allyn Joslyn, Boris Karloff, Burt Lancaster, Hope Lange, Jack Lemmon, Charles A. Lindbergh. Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Jayne Mansfield, Chico Marx, Thomas Mitchell, Tom Mix, Betty Lou Murray, Cort Murray, Janie Murray, Pamela Ann Murray, Frances E. Neal, Harriet Nelson, Jack Oakie, Mary Pickford, Dick Powell, Tyrone Power, Verna Raymond, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Will Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Charles Ruggles, Andy Russell, Jane Russell, Randolph Scott, Frank Sinatra, Alison Skipworth, Robert Stack, James Stewart, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Thomson, Spencer Tracy, Sonny Tufts, Lana Turner, Rudolph Valentino, and Rudy Vallee