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TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 7, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Tyrone Power
There's another daylight schedule looking like an old-time movie house's Saturday matinee -- cowboy movies, cartoons, and a short travelogue. Then in prime time, it's all about the handsome and talented Tyrone Power. From the TCM website:Acting was in Tyrone Power's blood. His great-grandfather, William Tyrone Power, who was also known as "Tyrone Power the First," had been a highly successful actor in the United Kingdom, and was the first prominent European actor to tour the United States in the 1830s, before disappearing at sea in 1841. His grandfather, Harold, had been a concert pianist and his father, Frederick Tyrone Power II (known professionally as Tyrone Power II) became an actor who later came to the US. Tyrone Power II became a Broadway star before marrying Helen Reaume, who would give birth to Tyrone Edmund Power III in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 5, 1914, the same year Tyrone Power II would appear in his first silent film. He was described in 1913 by his biographer William Winter, as "an actor of the artistic lineage of Forrest, Brooke, Dillon, Edwin Booth, Barrett, and John McCullough."
Young Tyrone was a sickly child and a doctor suggested a move to California for his health. The family settled in Alhambra, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, where Tyrone made his stage debut at 7, appearing with his mother in La Golondrina, a Spanish mission play performed in nearby San Gabriel. In 1920, the Powers divorced, and Helen and the children returned to Ohio a few years later, although Tyrone continued to stay in touch with his father. In Ohio, he attended elementary school while being coached in dramatics and voice by his mother, who was now working as a drama teacher at the Schuster-Martin School.
While in high school, where he was considered too slight for the football team, Tyrone played the lead in the school play, Officer 666, and worked as a soda jerk at a local pharmacy after school. Following graduation, he went to Quebec to stay with his father and to study Shakespearian acting. In the fall, the two traveled to Chicago, and the 17-year-old Tyrone met radio personality Don Ameche; they worked on the "Little Theater Off Time Square" program together. The two would become lifelong friends and costars a few years later at Twentieth Century-Fox.
Through his father's influence, Power was given a job in Fritz Lieber's Shakespearian company, appearing in a small role on Broadway with his father in The Merchant of Venice in November, 1931. A month later, Tyrone Power, Sr., was shooting a film, The Miracle Man, in Hollywood when he suffered a massive heart attack at the studio and collapsed. His son, who was on the set that day, held his father in his arms before he was taken to the hospital and died.
Following his father's death, Power returned to Southern California and tried to get into the movies. Despite his supreme good looks, he found it difficult to find parts. Eventually, he landed a bit role in Tom Brown of Culver (1932), billed as "Tyrone Power, Jr.," a name he would use for the next four years, until Lloyd's of London (1936) made him a star. Tom Brown of Culver did nothing for his career and he went back to the theater, including a stint at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. He also worked as a chauffeur to his father's friend, screenwriter Arthur Caesar and at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, where his mother had moved. Caesar suggested that he leave Hollywood and get more stage experience before trying again to break into the movies and in 1934, he took that advice, stopping off in Chicago to visit his friend, Don Ameche, on the way to New York. That stop in Chicago lasted for several months, when Ameche suggested that Power get a job at an exhibit at the World's Fair that demonstrated how films were produced. He stayed in Chicago and worked for a stock company, but the roles were scarce. When he was reduced to reading comic strips over the radio, he realized it was time to try his luck in New York.
It was a wise career move and soon Power won the role of Benvolio in Katharine Cornell's production of Romeo and Juliet. Movie talent scouts always watched plays to look for potential film talent and since Cornell was such a huge star, the scouts came to see the show. Universal offered him a contract, but Cornell told him to get more theatrical experience. Power agreed with her and turned down Universal's offer. A few months later, while appearing with Cornell in St. Joan, 20th Century-Fox, the same studio where his friend Don Ameche was now under contract, approached Power and asked him to make a screen test. Although Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck didn't think Power was right for films, his wife, Virginia, did. She convinced her husband to offer Power a contract. This time, Katharine Cornell told Power that he was ready to go back to Hollywood, where he made another screen test with Alice Faye. The actress wanted him for Sing, Baby, Sing (1936), but director Sidney Lanfield, like Zanuck, didn't think Power would be successful and recast the role. Faye then asked Zanuck to put him in another film, and he was given a small role in Girls' Dormitory (1936). He only had a few lines at the end of the film, but soon the studio was receiving mail from film fans, wondering who the handsome Power was. He was given another supporting role in Ladies in Love (1936) before he was cast in Lloyd's of London. That film changed everything.
Despite his looks and his stage experience, the studio didn't have a lot of confidence in Power, who knew that Lloyd's of London was going to be an important film and wanted to be in it. He went to see director Henry King, who had directed his father in Hell Harbor (1930). King was impressed with Power and took the risk of going to Zanuck and suggesting Power for the lead role, even though Don Ameche was already being publicized as the star. Zanuck trusted King's opinion enough to test Power, but the other executives still wanted Ameche. In the end, Zanuck went with Power and the role made him an instant star, earning him the title of "The Best Find of 1936".
Within a year, he had a seven-year contract with the studio, his hand and footprints had been placed in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater, he was dating his fellow Fox stars Sonja Henie and Loretta Young, and, in the tradition of the studio system in the Golden Age, he was put into film after film to capitalize on his newfound success. The following year, he was loaned out to MGM to make Marie Antoinette (1938) and began an affair with the much older star Norma Shearer. The gossip columnists suggested that they would marry, but then Power met French star Annabella while filming Suez (1938) and the following year, after she divorced her husband, French actor Jean Murat, the two were married and moved to the Brentwood section of West Los Angeles.
These were the most successful days of Power's career; he starred in prestigious films like Jesse James (1939) and The Mark of Zorro (1940), the film for which he is most famous. A Yank in the RAF (1941) was released three months before the United States entered into World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor spurred Power, as it would millions of other Americans, to join the military. He enlisted with the Naval Reserves - or thought he did. Three months after he signed up, he went into a Naval recruitment office to ask when he would be called up. There was no record of his enlistment. It is believed that the studio conspired with the Navy to keep him out of the service. Instead, Power, who had earned his pilot's license in 1937, joined the Marine Corps. In November, 1942, he was being interviewed by a reporter when a friend came over and asked if he had asked for an officer's commission. Power replied, "Why in hell should I ask for a commission? What the hell do I know about being an officer?" Despite this refreshing candor, Power would eventually reach the rank of Major and served as a pilot, ferrying supplies and wounded men out of dangerous areas in the South Pacific; his duties also included delivering supplies to the Marines following the bombing of Hiroshima. During the war, Fox re-released several of his films, to keep his name in front of the public.
Following the war, Power returned to Hollywood and 20th Century-Fox, signing a new contract and starring in films such as The Razor's Edge (1946), which was the studio's biggest money-maker of the year. Power and Annabella separated and he was rumored to be dating Lana Turner. During filming of Captain from Castile, (1947), he met actress Linda Christian and they were wed when his divorce from Annabella was final in 1949. After several miscarriages, the couple would have two daughters, Romina (who later became a famous singer) and Taryn, an actress.
Power, like Errol Flynn, often discussed his desire to break away from heroic roles and in 1947 he made Nightmare Alley, in which he plays a conniving carnival barker. Power told a reporter, "I've never come across a character who was so thoroughly heartless and ruthless. He ruined women, destroyed every chance of his own for love, swindled all those who came near him, and would even have committed murder if it served his purpose. He was the perfect example of the perfect heel - an acting challenge that intrigued me. [...] I've finally gotten a chance to play a character unlike any other I've done before. That's one reason I wanted to do the part."
By 1949, his marriage was strained, as was his relationship with 20th Century-Fox, and in 1952, he asked permission to find his own roles as he was unhappy with the scripts he was being given. Fox agreed, as long as he finished the films in his contract. Power went to Universal, where he made The Mississippi Gambler (1953), which was a success and Power, with a percentage agreement, made a million dollars on the film. In 1953, he returned to the stage in John Brown's Body with Raymond Massey and Dame Judith Anderson on Broadway. It was a sell-out and went out on tour, with his Fox costar Anne Baxter substituting for Anderson. The same year, Power and Christian separated and were divorced in 1955.
Now in his forties, Power continued to make films like The Long Gray Line (1955), which was a sizeable hit, and The Eddy Duchin Story (1956). In 1957, Fox asked him to take the lead in The Sun Also Rises. Although still a handsome man, he had aged in the twenty years since becoming a star. This does not seem to have bothered Power, who had become tired early in his career of playing dashing young men of action.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) was Power's last completed film and allowed him another rare opportunity to play the villain, and he received excellent notices for his work. In March 1958, he met Debbie Minardos and the two were married only two months later. A few weeks after the wedding, she became pregnant with his only son, Tyrone Power, Jr. In September, Power and his wife flew to Madrid to begin filming Solomon and Sheba (1959) with George Sanders and Gina Lollobrigida. He began to complain of aches and pains, which he associated with being 44 and filming physically demanding scenes. On November 15th, 1958, he gave a radio interview to NBC on the set and then filmed a long dueling scene with George Sanders. At the end of shooting, he returned to his trailer and complained of pain in his arm. A short while later, just like his father, Tyrone Power suffered a heart attack on a film set. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he soon died. Ironically, he had filmed a public service announcement about the dangers of heart disease shortly before he left for Spain.
After his death Life magazine paid him a tribute of which he would certainly have been proud. "Women loved him extravagantly. Newspapers followed every turn of his heart. People forgot that he was not just a handsome matinee idol. He was more, and over the years, he gave many fine and sensitive performances in difficult roles." His friend, director Henry King said, "It seems almost incredible to me that one of the most brilliant of all screen careers could so abruptly and tragically come to a close - because Tyrone Power was a man surcharged with a love of life."
by Lorraine LoBianco
SOURCES:
"Tyrone Power Dies on Solomon Set." The Age 17 Nov 58
"Tyrone Power Back in Movies After War." Deseret News. 16 Dec 46
"Tyrone Power is a Man of Paradoxes." Deseret News. 16 Nov 51
"A Dashing Actor's Last Duel: Tyrone Power is Buried in Hollywood After Sudden Death in Spain." Life Dec 1, 1958.
Myers, Robert. "Tyrone Power Hopes For Come-Back After the War." St. Petersburg Times 2 Dec 42.
www.tyrone-power.com
"Tyrone Power Plays a New Role as Three-Timer Stan Carlisle." The Montreal Gazelle 8 Mar 48.
Winter, William. Tyrone Power
IMDB
Young Tyrone was a sickly child and a doctor suggested a move to California for his health. The family settled in Alhambra, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, where Tyrone made his stage debut at 7, appearing with his mother in La Golondrina, a Spanish mission play performed in nearby San Gabriel. In 1920, the Powers divorced, and Helen and the children returned to Ohio a few years later, although Tyrone continued to stay in touch with his father. In Ohio, he attended elementary school while being coached in dramatics and voice by his mother, who was now working as a drama teacher at the Schuster-Martin School.
While in high school, where he was considered too slight for the football team, Tyrone played the lead in the school play, Officer 666, and worked as a soda jerk at a local pharmacy after school. Following graduation, he went to Quebec to stay with his father and to study Shakespearian acting. In the fall, the two traveled to Chicago, and the 17-year-old Tyrone met radio personality Don Ameche; they worked on the "Little Theater Off Time Square" program together. The two would become lifelong friends and costars a few years later at Twentieth Century-Fox.
Through his father's influence, Power was given a job in Fritz Lieber's Shakespearian company, appearing in a small role on Broadway with his father in The Merchant of Venice in November, 1931. A month later, Tyrone Power, Sr., was shooting a film, The Miracle Man, in Hollywood when he suffered a massive heart attack at the studio and collapsed. His son, who was on the set that day, held his father in his arms before he was taken to the hospital and died.
Following his father's death, Power returned to Southern California and tried to get into the movies. Despite his supreme good looks, he found it difficult to find parts. Eventually, he landed a bit role in Tom Brown of Culver (1932), billed as "Tyrone Power, Jr.," a name he would use for the next four years, until Lloyd's of London (1936) made him a star. Tom Brown of Culver did nothing for his career and he went back to the theater, including a stint at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. He also worked as a chauffeur to his father's friend, screenwriter Arthur Caesar and at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, where his mother had moved. Caesar suggested that he leave Hollywood and get more stage experience before trying again to break into the movies and in 1934, he took that advice, stopping off in Chicago to visit his friend, Don Ameche, on the way to New York. That stop in Chicago lasted for several months, when Ameche suggested that Power get a job at an exhibit at the World's Fair that demonstrated how films were produced. He stayed in Chicago and worked for a stock company, but the roles were scarce. When he was reduced to reading comic strips over the radio, he realized it was time to try his luck in New York.
It was a wise career move and soon Power won the role of Benvolio in Katharine Cornell's production of Romeo and Juliet. Movie talent scouts always watched plays to look for potential film talent and since Cornell was such a huge star, the scouts came to see the show. Universal offered him a contract, but Cornell told him to get more theatrical experience. Power agreed with her and turned down Universal's offer. A few months later, while appearing with Cornell in St. Joan, 20th Century-Fox, the same studio where his friend Don Ameche was now under contract, approached Power and asked him to make a screen test. Although Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck didn't think Power was right for films, his wife, Virginia, did. She convinced her husband to offer Power a contract. This time, Katharine Cornell told Power that he was ready to go back to Hollywood, where he made another screen test with Alice Faye. The actress wanted him for Sing, Baby, Sing (1936), but director Sidney Lanfield, like Zanuck, didn't think Power would be successful and recast the role. Faye then asked Zanuck to put him in another film, and he was given a small role in Girls' Dormitory (1936). He only had a few lines at the end of the film, but soon the studio was receiving mail from film fans, wondering who the handsome Power was. He was given another supporting role in Ladies in Love (1936) before he was cast in Lloyd's of London. That film changed everything.
Despite his looks and his stage experience, the studio didn't have a lot of confidence in Power, who knew that Lloyd's of London was going to be an important film and wanted to be in it. He went to see director Henry King, who had directed his father in Hell Harbor (1930). King was impressed with Power and took the risk of going to Zanuck and suggesting Power for the lead role, even though Don Ameche was already being publicized as the star. Zanuck trusted King's opinion enough to test Power, but the other executives still wanted Ameche. In the end, Zanuck went with Power and the role made him an instant star, earning him the title of "The Best Find of 1936".
Within a year, he had a seven-year contract with the studio, his hand and footprints had been placed in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theater, he was dating his fellow Fox stars Sonja Henie and Loretta Young, and, in the tradition of the studio system in the Golden Age, he was put into film after film to capitalize on his newfound success. The following year, he was loaned out to MGM to make Marie Antoinette (1938) and began an affair with the much older star Norma Shearer. The gossip columnists suggested that they would marry, but then Power met French star Annabella while filming Suez (1938) and the following year, after she divorced her husband, French actor Jean Murat, the two were married and moved to the Brentwood section of West Los Angeles.
These were the most successful days of Power's career; he starred in prestigious films like Jesse James (1939) and The Mark of Zorro (1940), the film for which he is most famous. A Yank in the RAF (1941) was released three months before the United States entered into World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor spurred Power, as it would millions of other Americans, to join the military. He enlisted with the Naval Reserves - or thought he did. Three months after he signed up, he went into a Naval recruitment office to ask when he would be called up. There was no record of his enlistment. It is believed that the studio conspired with the Navy to keep him out of the service. Instead, Power, who had earned his pilot's license in 1937, joined the Marine Corps. In November, 1942, he was being interviewed by a reporter when a friend came over and asked if he had asked for an officer's commission. Power replied, "Why in hell should I ask for a commission? What the hell do I know about being an officer?" Despite this refreshing candor, Power would eventually reach the rank of Major and served as a pilot, ferrying supplies and wounded men out of dangerous areas in the South Pacific; his duties also included delivering supplies to the Marines following the bombing of Hiroshima. During the war, Fox re-released several of his films, to keep his name in front of the public.
Following the war, Power returned to Hollywood and 20th Century-Fox, signing a new contract and starring in films such as The Razor's Edge (1946), which was the studio's biggest money-maker of the year. Power and Annabella separated and he was rumored to be dating Lana Turner. During filming of Captain from Castile, (1947), he met actress Linda Christian and they were wed when his divorce from Annabella was final in 1949. After several miscarriages, the couple would have two daughters, Romina (who later became a famous singer) and Taryn, an actress.
Power, like Errol Flynn, often discussed his desire to break away from heroic roles and in 1947 he made Nightmare Alley, in which he plays a conniving carnival barker. Power told a reporter, "I've never come across a character who was so thoroughly heartless and ruthless. He ruined women, destroyed every chance of his own for love, swindled all those who came near him, and would even have committed murder if it served his purpose. He was the perfect example of the perfect heel - an acting challenge that intrigued me. [...] I've finally gotten a chance to play a character unlike any other I've done before. That's one reason I wanted to do the part."
By 1949, his marriage was strained, as was his relationship with 20th Century-Fox, and in 1952, he asked permission to find his own roles as he was unhappy with the scripts he was being given. Fox agreed, as long as he finished the films in his contract. Power went to Universal, where he made The Mississippi Gambler (1953), which was a success and Power, with a percentage agreement, made a million dollars on the film. In 1953, he returned to the stage in John Brown's Body with Raymond Massey and Dame Judith Anderson on Broadway. It was a sell-out and went out on tour, with his Fox costar Anne Baxter substituting for Anderson. The same year, Power and Christian separated and were divorced in 1955.
Now in his forties, Power continued to make films like The Long Gray Line (1955), which was a sizeable hit, and The Eddy Duchin Story (1956). In 1957, Fox asked him to take the lead in The Sun Also Rises. Although still a handsome man, he had aged in the twenty years since becoming a star. This does not seem to have bothered Power, who had become tired early in his career of playing dashing young men of action.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) was Power's last completed film and allowed him another rare opportunity to play the villain, and he received excellent notices for his work. In March 1958, he met Debbie Minardos and the two were married only two months later. A few weeks after the wedding, she became pregnant with his only son, Tyrone Power, Jr. In September, Power and his wife flew to Madrid to begin filming Solomon and Sheba (1959) with George Sanders and Gina Lollobrigida. He began to complain of aches and pains, which he associated with being 44 and filming physically demanding scenes. On November 15th, 1958, he gave a radio interview to NBC on the set and then filmed a long dueling scene with George Sanders. At the end of shooting, he returned to his trailer and complained of pain in his arm. A short while later, just like his father, Tyrone Power suffered a heart attack on a film set. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he soon died. Ironically, he had filmed a public service announcement about the dangers of heart disease shortly before he left for Spain.
After his death Life magazine paid him a tribute of which he would certainly have been proud. "Women loved him extravagantly. Newspapers followed every turn of his heart. People forgot that he was not just a handsome matinee idol. He was more, and over the years, he gave many fine and sensitive performances in difficult roles." His friend, director Henry King said, "It seems almost incredible to me that one of the most brilliant of all screen careers could so abruptly and tragically come to a close - because Tyrone Power was a man surcharged with a love of life."
by Lorraine LoBianco
SOURCES:
"Tyrone Power Dies on Solomon Set." The Age 17 Nov 58
"Tyrone Power Back in Movies After War." Deseret News. 16 Dec 46
"Tyrone Power is a Man of Paradoxes." Deseret News. 16 Nov 51
"A Dashing Actor's Last Duel: Tyrone Power is Buried in Hollywood After Sudden Death in Spain." Life Dec 1, 1958.
Myers, Robert. "Tyrone Power Hopes For Come-Back After the War." St. Petersburg Times 2 Dec 42.
www.tyrone-power.com
"Tyrone Power Plays a New Role as Three-Timer Stan Carlisle." The Montreal Gazelle 8 Mar 48.
Winter, William. Tyrone Power
IMDB
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- THINGS TO COME (1936)
Two generations of philosophers try to bring an end to war.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson
BW-97 mins, CC,
According to an article published in Variety, this was the first million-dollar picture produced in England. The budget for the film was close to 300,000 British pounds, but with an approximate exchange rate of 5 US dollars for every 1 British pound at the time, the budget easily exceeded the million-dollar mark.
8:00 AM -- WHAT DO YOU THINK? (1937)
This short film poses the question, "does extrasensory perception really exist?"
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: William Henry,
BW-10 mins,
8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: LITTLE TINKER (1948)
A young skunk looks for a girlfriend but his odor is too much for most of them to handle.
Dir: Tex Avery
Cast: William Roberts, Bea Benaderet, June Foray
C-7 mins, CC,
The original working title was Smellbound.
8:00 AM -- SAGEBRUSH LAW (1943)
A Western bank president is framed on embezzlement charges.
Dir: Sam Nelson
Cast: Tim Holt, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Joan Barclay
BW-56 mins,
One of six films Tim Holt made for RKO between May 11-July 17, 1942, before he went into the US Army Air Forces--where he became an officer and bombardier on B-29 Superfortresses in the Pacific Theater, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart.
8:00 AM -- HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE (1936)
Robert Benchley attempts to teach the audience what it takes to be a successful detective in this short film.
Dir: Felix E. Feist
Cast: Robert Benchley, Dewey Robinson, Arthur Hoyt
BW-9 mins,
9:30 AM -- RED BARRY: DESPERATE CHANCES (1938)
The fifth chapter in the Red Barry serial. An undercover detective must uncover the truth and figure out who stole two million dollars in bonds.
BW-18 mins,
10:00 AM -- POPEYE: SEASIN'S GREETINKS! (1933)
Popeye and Olive Oyl go ice skating and are interrupted by Bluto¿s troublemaking antics.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel
Cast: William Costello, William Pennell, Bonnie Poe
BW-6 mins, CC,
Fifth of six Popeye shorts produced by Fleischer Studios.
10:00 AM -- TARZAN'S SECRET TREASURE (1941)
Prospectors kidnap Jane and Boy to force the jungle king to reveal the location of a golden treasure.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, John[ny] Sheffield
BW-81 mins, CC,
Due to many budget cutbacks following the death of Irving Thalberg many stock shots from former movies were used.
11:30 AM -- HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER (1935)
In this short film, a man runs over a young couple on a deserted road, then tries to cover up the incident.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: William Tannen, Sam Flint, Morgan Wallace
BW-20 mins,
From the Crime Does Not Pay series.
12:00 PM -- RACHEL AND THE STRANGER (1948)
A mail-order bride finds herself attracted to a handsome drifter.
Dir: Norman Foster
Cast: Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum
BW-79 mins, CC,
Loretta Young was famous for placing a "swear jar" on the sets of all of her films, charging anyone in the cast or crew who used foul language 25 cents for doing so, then giving the funds to one of her favorite charities. Whilst making this film with her, Robert Mitchum reputedly held his tongue about his pious co-star until shooting was completed. As he exited the set on the final day of production, Mitchum smiled, dropped a $20 bill into the jar, and said, "This should just about cover everything I've been wanting to say to Loretta."
1:30 PM -- RED RIVER (1948)
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru
BW-133 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Borden Chase, and Best Film Editing -- Christian Nyby
After seeing John Wayne's performance in the film, directed by rival director Howard Hawks, John Ford is quoted as saying, "I never knew the big son of a bitch could act." This led to Ford casting Wayne in more complex, multi-layered, and dramatic roles in films like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).
4:00 PM -- THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968)
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Michel Legrand (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind"
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Michel Legrand
After watching a five hour rough cut of the film, composer Michel Legrand took a six week vacation during which he wrote 90 minutes of music. The film was then reedited to the music, instead of the other way around. If this experiment had failed, Legrand would have written a second score in the traditional way free of charge.
6:00 PM -- HEARTS OF THE WEST (1975)
An aspiring western novelist in thirties Hollywood becomes a low-budget cowboy star.
Dir: Howard Zieff
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Donald Pleasence
C-102 mins, CC,
The song that plays over the ending credits is "I'll See You in My Dreams" sung by Nick Lucas, a popular entertainer and recording artist of the 1920s. It was written in 1924 by Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TYRONE POWER
8:00 PM -- THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940)
A Spanish nobleman becomes a masked outlaw by night to battle a local tyrant.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone
C-94 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman
During filming, Tyrone Power was in the habit of taking an early morning swim in a pool that he insisted on being carefully pre-heated. Darryl F. Zanuck played a prank on him by arranging for the heating to be turned off. Power dived in and got such a shock that he later claimed he nearly had a heart attack. He got his revenge. Zanuck watched the dailies every day with a critical eye and one evening saw something unexpected; the cast and crew collaborated to film a spoof version of the hold-up scene where Zorro robs a coach carrying the Governor and his wife. When Zorro is supposed to slash his trademark "Z" into the coach's seat cushion, the reverse angle reveals an uncharacteristic "DZ" instead, to a shocked gasp of "Zanuck!" from J. Edward Bromberg, as the evil Alcalde. Power declares snidely, "Let that be a lesson to you, damn it!"
10:00 PM -- THE RAINS CAME (1939)
A Hindu doctor's affair with a British noblewoman is disrupted by a violent flood.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent
BW-104 mins, CC,
Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Fred Sersen (photographic) and Edmund H. Hansen (sound)
Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur C. Miller, Best Art Direction -- William S. Darling and George Dudley, Best Sound, Recording -- Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD), Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, and Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman
Initially budgeted at $2,500,000, an additional $100,000 was added to film a new ending. $500,000 was allotted for the sets, and $500,000 for the flood and earthquake scenes. 350 grips, carpenters and laborers worked for more than a month on those scenes.
12:00 AM -- SUDDENLY (1954)
Gunmen take over a suburban home to plot a presidential assassination.
Dir: Lewis Allen
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason
BW-77 mins, CC,
Contrary to popular belief this film was NOT withdrawn from circulation at Frank Sinatra's behest, as he had no say in the matter. His own family has gone to great lengths through the years to dispel this rumor.
1:30 AM -- PROTOCOL (1984)
A naïve waitress bumbles into a job with the diplomatic corps in the Middle East.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, Richard Romanus
C-95 mins, CC,
The movie was inspired by the old Hollywood screwball comedies such as those directed by Frank Capra, particularly Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). The film was made and released about forty-five years after that Capra comedy classic. The movie has often been labeled with unofficial titles like "Goldie Goes to Washington".
3:30 AM -- BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE (1972)
A blind man trying to escape his protective mother falls for an aspiring actress.
Dir: Milton Katselas
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart
C-109 mins, CC,
Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eileen Heckart
Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Charles Lang, and Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi and Charles T. Knight
The picture's source stage play was loosely based on the life of attorney and former Harvard law student Harold Krents who was blind. Lawyer Krents, whose struggle to overcome blindness and become independent, was the inspiration for this film's source Broadway play "Butterflies Are Free" (1969). Krents also acted as a technical advisor for the movie's production.
5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #7 (1955)
Ray Bolger performs in a clip from "The Great Ziegfeld"; Debbie Reynolds introduces a clip from "The Tender Trap." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,
