TCM Schedule for Friday, October 12, 2018 -- What's On Tonight -- The Old Man And The Gun

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is sailing away on rivers and oceans. Then in prime time, TCM is celebrating Robert Redford's announcement of his final film, The Old Man & The Gun (2018), by showing one of Redford's great early roles (The Candidate (1972)) and a couple of older films about cons adjusting to the world outside prison. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- FAST LIFE (1932)
An innocent man stands trial for killing the man who tried to steal his wife.
Dir: Harry Pollard
Cast: William Haines, Madge Evans, Conrad Nagel
BW-82 mins,

The large vessel the speed boats race around is the S.S. Catalina. Built in 1924, it provided ferry service for up to 2,000 passengers from Los Angeles to Catalina Island. During WWII it was requisitioned as a troop transport around San Francisco Bay, carrying over 800,000 servicemen and women from 1942 to 1945. It was returned to ferry service in 1946. It was retired in 1975 as newer and faster ships came into service. It was bought by a private individual in 1977, and several schemes to re-purpose it, including a disco and a bar & grill came to naught. In 1997 it broke its mooring in Ensenada, Mexico and partially sank. It was finally scrapped in 2009. It has been estimated that this ship has carried more passengers than any other in history - upwards of 25,000,000 over its 50 year service life.


7:30 AM -- NAVY BLUES (1941)
Honolulu days are far from peaceful for a boatload of amorous sailors.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Jack Oakie, Martha Raye
BW-108 mins, CC,

Film debut of Jackie Gleason.


9:30 AM -- TUGBOAT ANNIE (1933)
A lady tugboat captain tries to help two young lovers come together.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Robert Young
BW-86 mins, CC,

The tugboat used as the "Narcissus" in the film was then named the "Wallowa." It was leased to the filmmakers in Seattle by the Foss Launch & Tug Co. After the movie was filmed, the tugboat was refitted with a new engine and renamed the "Arthur Foss," after Thea Foss's son, who was then president of the Foss Co. Today, the tugboat "Arthur Foss" is owned by the Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center. It is docked on Lake Union in Seattle, next to the Museum of History and Industry, and is open for tours on weekends. The "Arthur Foss" is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


11:00 AM -- AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956)
A Victorian gentleman bets that he can beat the world's record for circling the globe.
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley
C-182 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- James Poe, John Farrow and S.J. Perelman, Best Cinematography, Color -- Lionel Lindon, Best Film Editing -- Gene Ruggiero and Paul Weatherwax, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young (Posthumously.), and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Anderson, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- James W. Sullivan, Ken Adam and Ross Dowd, and Best Costume Design, Color -- Miles White

Screenwriter S.J. Perelman didn't attend the Academy Awards ceremony. He sent Hermione Gingold to accept it if he won. He wrote a note for her to read when she accepted. She said the following: "I'm very proud to receive this object d'art on behalf of Mr. Perelman, who writes . . . "--she reads from the note--"...he cannot be here for a variety of reasons, all of them spicy. He's dumbfounded, absolutely flummoxed. He never expected any recognition for writing 'Around the World in Eighty Days'. And, in fact, only did so on the expressed understanding . . . "--flips note over--" . . . that the film would never be shown."


2:15 PM -- BARNACLE BILL (1941)
A fishing boat captain searches for romance in hopes of improving his financial picture.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Wallace Beery, Marjorie Main, Leo Carrillo
BW-92 mins, CC,

The schooner "We're Here" previously appeared in the 1937 film Captains Courageous, Some of the scenes with the schooner sailing under full canvas were taken from that film.


4:00 PM -- SHOW BOAT (1951)
Riverboat entertainers find love, laughs and hardships as they sail along "Old Man River."
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel
C-108 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Conrad Salinger

The showboat built for the film (known as the Cotton Blossom) became an amusement park attraction in 1973, after MGM sold many of its props at an auction. Unfortunately, in 1995, it was dismantled and torn apart. For this film, the Cotton Blossom was built on top of a flat-bedded barge so that it could be towed into position by underwater cables for the musical number which opens the film. Even though the Cotton Blossom was built to exact specifications and was fitted with a stern paddle-wheel, the thrust of the paddle wheel would have been too strong to maneuver the boat in the studio lake. Too little thrust would have moved the boat very slowly if it moved the boat at all. Hence, it was necessary to move the boat into position by underwater cables. This underwater towing technique also made it easier for the boat to move into its mooring position at exactly the right moment when the musical number came to an end.


6:00 PM -- THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET (1964)
A World War II 4-F saves the U.S. Navy when he's transformed into a dolphin.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Don Knotts, Carole Cook, Jack Weston
C-99 mins, CC,

The United States Destroyer used in the film was the USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) which was commissioned on Thursday, November 23rd, 1944. It served in World War II and the Korean War before being decommissioned in 1971. It was sunk as a target in 1979.


7:45 PM -- FISH TALES (1954)
Champion fisherman Ernie St. Claire is after a large fish in this short film.
Dir: Carl Dudley
Cast: Pete Smith, Ernie St. Claire
C-8 mins,

A rare Technicolor entry in the Pete Smith Speciality series.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN



8:00 PM -- THE CANDIDATE (1972)
A senate candidate's ideals weaken as his position in the polls gets stronger.
Dir: Michael Ritchie
Cast: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas
C-110 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Jeremy Larner

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound -- Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa

The Candidate was released a month prior to the 1972 California Presidential primary. Promotional sheets were put up in southern California resembling political posters. They had simply a photo of Robert Redford, with the slogan, "McKay: The Better Way!" - "McKay" got write-in votes in the June election.


10:15 PM -- STRAIGHT TIME (1978)
An ex-con struggles to go straight despite his malevolent parole officer.
Dir: Ulu Grosbard
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey
C-114 mins, CC,

Michael Mann was one of three writers who worked on the script for this movie. Mann wrote the original draft with Edward Bunker, who was an ex-convict and served as the film's Technical Consultant. Mann worked with Bunker for three months, during which time he visited Folsom prison and interviewed several inmates who had known Bunker during his time there. Mann's draft of the script was written when Dustin Hoffman was slated to direct the film. When Ulu Grosbard took over directorial duties, he hired Alvin Sargent and Jeffrey Boam to re-write Mann's script. Sargent, Boam, and Bunker all received writing credits, but Mann did not.


12:30 AM -- INVISIBLE STRIPES (1940)
On his release from prison, a crook tries to stop his brother from following in his footsteps.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: George Raft, Jane Bryan, William Holden
BW-81 mins, CC,

According to contemporary articles in The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the book as a vehicle for James Cagney and John Garfield. Humphrey Bogart replaced Cagney so that he could go on vacation, and William Holden was borrowed from Paramount.


2:06 AM -- CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME IN JAPAN (1936)
This short film focuses on the customs and rituals related to Japan's cherry blossom festivals.
C-9 mins,


2:15 AM -- FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES (1970)
The story follows Eddie and a group of transvestites in Japan.
Dir: Toshio Matsumoto
Cast: Peter, Osamu Ogasawara, Toyosaburo Uchiyama
BW-105 mins,

"The Funeral Parade of Roses" gave Stanley Kubrick most of his inspiration to adapt "A Clockwork Orange".


4:15 AM -- PORTRAIT OF JASON (1967)
An aspiring entertainer reveals what it means to be black and gay in the '60s.
Dir: Shirley Clarke
Cast: Jason Holliday,
BW-108 mins, CC,

This film was previously thought to have been lost, until a 16 mm print of the film was discovered at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research in 2013 and has since been restored by the Academy Film Archive, Milestone Films and Modern Videofilm.