TCM Schedule for Friday, September 7, 2018 -- What's On Tonight - Saturday Evening Post Stories

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is taking us to N'orleans. And in prime time, we've got a trio of movies based on stories originally published in the Saturday Evening Post. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- THE TOY WIFE (1938)
A Southern belle finds herself torn between two suitors.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Luise Rainer, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young
BW-96 mins,

The year 1938 was a year of renewed interest in the American Civil War with the release of Jezebel (1938) from Warner Bros. and the success of the novel "Gone with the Wind" which was also being adapted for the screen. MGM did not want to miss the fad, so they rushed this film into production.


8:00 AM -- MY FORBIDDEN PAST (1951)
A beauty with a skeleton in her closet seeks revenge on the suitor who jilted her.
Dir: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas
BW-70 mins, CC,

The box office failure of the film involved 700,000 dollars losses for RKO.


9:30 AM -- OLD NEW ORLEANS (1940)
This short film gives the viewer a tour of New Orleans, Louisiana.
C-9 mins,


9:45 AM -- SARATOGA TRUNK (1945)
A woman with a past returns to 19th-century New Orleans for revenge.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson
BW-135 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Flora Robson

Jack L. Warner purchased the rights to the novel with the hopes to star Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn. But scheduling conflicts with both performers caused them to turn down the project.


12:15 PM -- TWO SMART PEOPLE (1946)
In New Orleans, lady crook tries to steal a con man's hidden loot.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Lucille Ball, John Hodiak, Lloyd Nolan
BW-93 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Ralph Wheelwright and Allan Kenward.


2:00 PM -- MODERN NEW ORLEANS (1940)
This short film examines the modernized areas of New Orleans against the historic backdrops and traditions of the city.
C-8 mins,


2:15 PM -- HOLIDAY FOR SINNERS (1952)
Three old friends reunite during Mardi Gras and try to forget their problems.
Dir: Gerald Mayer
Cast: Gig Young, Keenan Wynn, Janice Rule
BW-72 mins, CC,

Based on the novel by Hamilton Basso.


3:45 PM -- A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
A fading southern belle tries to build a new life with her sister in New Orleans.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter
BW-125 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh (Vivien Leigh was not present at the awards ceremony. Greer Garson accepted on her behalf.), Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Karl Malden, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Kim Hunter (Kim Hunter was not present at the awards ceremony. Bette Davis accepted on her behalf.), and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day and George James Hopkins

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Tennessee Williams, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Lucinda Ballard, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros.), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alex North, and Best Picture

Mickey Kuhn, who plays the young sailor who helps Vivien Leigh onto the streetcar at the beginning of the film, had previously appeared with Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939) as Beau Wilkes (the child of Olivia de Havilland's character Melanie), toward the end of that film when the character was age 5. When Mickey Kuhn mentioned this to someone else on the set of "A Streetcar Named Desire," word got back to Leigh and she called him into her dressing room for a half-hour chat. In an interview in his seventies, Kuhn stated that Leigh was extremely kind to him and was "one of the loveliest ladies he had ever met."


6:00 PM -- JEZEBEL (1938)
A tempestuous Southern belle's willfulness threatens to destroy all who care for her.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent
BW-104 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (On 19 July 2001 Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscar statuette at a Christie's auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This was the second time in five years Spielberg did so to protect an Oscar from further commercial exploitation.), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Fay Bainter

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Ernest Haller, Best Music, Scoring -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Bette Davis came to the realization that William Wyler was a very special director when he insisted she come view the dailies with him, something she had never done with any other director before. They watched a scene where her character was coming down a staircase, a scene that had really irritated Davis as she couldn't understand why Wyler wanted to film it over 30 times. Watching the rushes however, she saw one of the takes in which he had captured a fleeting, devil-may-care expression that summed her character up perfectly. After that, she happily accepted however many takes Wyler wanted.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SATURDAY EVENING POST STORIES



8:00 PM -- THE BIG HEAT (1953)
A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster's moll to bring down a powerful gangster.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando
BW-90 mins, CC,

Based on the "Saturday Evening Post" serial (December 1952 to February 1953) and breakout novel "The Big Heat" (New York, 1953) by former Philadelphia crime reporter William P. McGivern.


9:36 PM -- THE FRIENDSHIP TRAIN (1947)
This short film details the history of the "Friendship Train," created to travel across the U.S. to collect food for war ravaged countries in Europe.
BW-14 mins,


10:00 PM -- TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949)
A married woman's discovery of stolen money changes her character for the worse.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Cast: Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea
BW-101 mins,

Author and screenplay writer Roy Huggins was greatly influenced by author Raymond Chandler.


12:00 AM -- DARK PASSAGE (1947)
A man falsely accused of his wife's murder escapes to search for the real killer.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett
BW-106 mins, CC,

Warner Bros. paid $25,000 for the rights to the David Goodis novel, which was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post from July 20-September 7, 1946.


2:00 AM -- MOTEL HELL (1980)
A brother and sister use their remote motel to turn tourists into sausage.
Dir: Kevin Connor
Cast: Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons
C-101 mins,

In 2007 & 2008 interviews, director Kevin Connor once explained his involvement on this movie: "In March 1980. I'd been in Los Angeles for three months and was getting nowhere when I decided to collect some tapes from an agent, Bobby Litman. As I walked in to the agency, he came out of his office to refill his coffee mug and saw me. He asked me how I was getting on. "Not so good," I replied. "Come into the office and I'll get you a job," he said. He called another agent who just happened to have had an enquiry for a young director to helm a horror movie. This was Motel Hell!...I told the Jaffe Brothers that I would love to direct the movie as long as it was a black comedy and removing all the unnecessary crudeness. They agreed and that is the movie that you see today... I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was tongue in cheek but you have to play these scenes, and if you notice you never see any gratuitous violence...The black humor appealed to me and it wasn't in response to any other movie trend...Very pleasant shoot. Nancy Parsons and Rory Calhoun were a delight, as were the rest of the cast and crew. The most challenging thing was probably the dueling chainsaws, the idea for which came up at the last moment. This may have been the greatest victory too...Rory and Nancy were naturals. They loved each other and they certainly didn't have to work at it".


4:00 AM -- SCARECROWS (1988)
Criminals hijack a plane and force the pilot and his daughter to fly them to Mexico. However, an unexpected landing finds them in a cemetery inhabited by killer scarecrows.
Dir: William Wesley
Cast: Ted Vernon, Michael David Simms, Richard Vidan
BW-83 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Actor Ted Vernon hated director William Wesley, as Vernon felt that Wesley was wasting money for the budget. When the film was half done, Wesley said to Vernon that he needed more money for the budget, Ted replied no, he had given him $300,000 for the film, that was enough. Wesley found the rest of the budget from the father of his girlfriend, and co-producer, Cami Winikoff. When the film was almost done, Wesley said to Vernon that would he give an executive producer credit to his girlfriend's father. Ted became furious and grabbed Wesley's neck and yelled "I'm the executive producer, you credit me or I'll kill you".


5:25 AM -- TEAR GAS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT (1962)
Vintage training short film used by police to show tear gas techniques.
C-27 mins,