TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 23, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Hospital Dramas

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has more Saturday matinee programming. Then in prime time, we're off the the hospital - stat! Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- THE DRUM (1938)
An Indian prince tries to save his British masters from a deadly revolt.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey
BW-94 mins, CC,

At the time of its 1948 USA re-release, this film was most often shown on the top half of a double bill, along with the USA re-release of The Four Feathers (1939) on the lower half of the program.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: THE THREE LITTLE PUPS (1953)
A cartoon variation on the Three Little Pigs.
Dir: Tex Avery
Cast: Daws Butler, Bill Thompson
BW-7 mins, CC,

The title and plot are based on the fairy tale "Three Little Pigs" featuring talking animals and the Big Bad Wolf. The story dates to the 1840s, but the story itself is thought to be much older. The most famous cinema version was made by Walt Disney.


8:00 AM -- COME ON DANGER! (1932)
A woman turns outlaw to save her ranch.
Dir: Robert Hill
Cast: Tom Keene, Julie Haydon, Rosco Ates
BW-54 mins,

Remake of The Texas Ranger (1931), and remade as The Renegade Ranger (1938), Fugitive Valley (1941), Come on Danger (1942), Oklahoma Raiders (1944) and Alias Billy the Kid (1946).


8:00 AM -- COLOR SCALES (1932)
This short film shows various species of tropical fish at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California.
Dir: Zion Myers
C-8 mins,

From a series called A Fisherman's Paradise.


8:00 AM -- HOW TO EAT (1939)
In this comedic short, Robert Benchley discusses how different situations can affect one's ability to consume and digest food.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Forbes Murray, Robert Benchley, Ruth Lee
BW-10 mins,


9:30 AM -- TAILSPIN TOMMY IN THE GREAT AIR MYSTERY: ROARING FIRE GOD (1935)
A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs as he foils a plan by corrupt profiteers to steal an island's oil reserves.
Dir: Ray Taylor
Cast: Clark Williams, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr.
BW-21 mins,

Part two.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: A DREAM WALKING (1934)
Popeye and Bluto each wants to save Olive as she sleepwalks onto a construction site.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel (uncredited)
Cast: William Costello, William Pennell, Mae Questel
BW-8 mins, CC,


10:00 AM -- TARZAN'S PERIL (1951)
The jungle king tries to catch gunrunners.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Cast: Lex Barker, Virginia Huston, George Macready
BW-79 mins, CC,

First Tarzan film to be shot in Africa, where it was set. The company arrived just before winter set in. The chimps wouldn't perform, so Cheetah's part had to be cut. The area around Mount Kenya was so cloudy that Lex Barker's tan disappeared and he had to use body makeup. The first time Barker showed up in a loin cloth the native extras burst out laughing.


11:30 AM -- PIRATE PARTY ON CATALINA ISLE (1935)
This short film presents a musical and comedy revue staged as a pirate party on Catalina Island.
Cast: Leon Errol, Monica Bannister, Lynn Bari
C-19 mins,

Guests at the party include Marion Davies, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn, Lili Damita, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Bruce, and Robert Armstrong. Of these, only Rooney and Bruce were under contract to MGM in 1935.


12:00 PM -- FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
BW-121 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


2:15 PM -- FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
A group of space troopers investigates the destruction of a colony on a remote planet.
Dir: Fred McLeod Wilcox
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie, Irving G. Ries and Wesley C. Miller

This film marked one of the first times a science-fiction project had received a large budget. The genre had rarely been taken seriously by studio executives, and sci-fi films generally received the most meager of budgets. The critical success of this film convinced many in the film industry that well-funded science-fiction projects could be successful. Film historian Ben Mankiewicz has claimed that this film's success made future big-budget science-fiction films possible.


4:00 PM -- GET CARTER (1971)
A small-time gangster searches for the truth behind his brother's death.
Dir: Mike Hodges
Cast: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland
C-112 mins, CC,

In the first shot in the long bar, the second local man to stare at Jack Carter actually has five fingers and a thumb. This was a genuine abnormality of the 'extra' who played the part. It can be seen as he raises his glass of beer to drink.


6:00 PM -- CAHILL, UNITED STATES MARSHAL (1973)
A tough lawman has to bring in his own sons for a train robbery.
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: John Wayne, Gary Grimes, George Kennedy
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

John Wayne was sixty-five years old at the time the movie was filmed. He had already had a cancerous lung removed and was suffering from emphysema. Wayne was so weakened that he had to use a stepladder to climb onto his horse in the film. In addition to his own declining health, news that his friend and mentor John Ford was dying of cancer forced the actor to consider his own mortality. After Ford's death in August 1973, Wayne told reporters, "I'm pretty much living on borrowed time."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: HOSPITAL DRAMAS



8:00 PM -- THE CAREY TREATMENT (1972)
A doctor uncovers a hotbed of corruption when he tries to clear a colleague of a murder charge.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Pat Hingle
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on a novel entitled A Case of Need, published in 1968 and credited to Jeffrey Hudson. Decades later, Hudson was revealed to be a pseudonym for Michael Crichton.


10:00 PM -- THE YOUNG DOCTORS (1961)
An aging doctor's resentment of his young assistant could lead to tragedy.
Dir: Phil Karlson
Cast: Fredric March, Ben Gazzara, Dick Clark
BW-103 mins, CC,

Filmed in Poughkeepsie, NY, at Vassar Hospital and within the city.


12:00 AM -- THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950)
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Dir: Felix E. Feist
Cast: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall
BW-82 mins, CC,

Lisa Howard, who was married to director Felix Feist, went on to greater fame as a journalist who scored key early interviews with Khrushchev and Castro.


1:45 AM -- THE CHAMP (1979)
A washed-up prizefighter fights to keep his son.
Dir: Franco Zeffirelli
Cast: Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Ricky Schroder
C-123 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Dave Grusin

According to a July 21, 2011 article by Richard Chin published on "The Smithsonian" website, "The Champ (1979) has been used in experiments to see if depressed people are more likely to cry than non-depressed people (they aren't). It has helped determine whether people are more likely to spend money when they are sad (they are) and whether older people are more sensitive to grief than younger people (older people did report more sadness when they watched the scene). Dutch scientists used the scene when they studied the effect of sadness on people with binge eating disorders (sadness didn't increase eating)".


4:00 AM -- THE ALL-AMERICAN BOY (1973)
Episodic story in six acts about young boxer Vic Bealer in search for some direction in his life.
Dir: Charles Eastman
Cast: Jon Voight, Nancie Phillips, Art Metrano
BW-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The character of Vic Bealer was based on a man that lived in Vacaville, California named Michael Dennis Galbraith.