TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 20, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Ed Begley

[Staph]

Tonight's non-Essentials Essentials features a pair of films of actor Ed Begley. Yes, he's the father of Ed Begley, Jr., but he is so much more than just a famous father. He was a great character actor, and the second of tonight's films shows his Oscar winning turn as Boss Finley in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE (1952)
A kidnapped beauty gets caught between feuding pirates.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix
C-99 mins, CC,

Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1950) and of Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952) created a persona that was so indelible that his vocal intonations created the paradigm for scores of people who want to "Talk Like a Pirate."


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: ONE DROOPY KNIGHT (1957)
Sir Droopalot and Sir Butchalot (Droopy and Butch) vie with each other to kill a dragon that is terrorizing their kingdom.
Dir: Michael Lah
Cast: Bill Thompson
BW-7 mins, CC, Letterbox Format


8:08 AM -- ROUGH RIDING (1954)
This short film showcases various events on display at a rodeo in Casper, Wyoming.
Cast: Pete Smith
C-9 mins,


8:17 AM -- HOW TO WATCH FOOTBALL (1938)
In this short film, Robert Benchley tries to watch a football game at a stadium but soon realizes he should have stayed at home.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Robert Benchley, Eddie Acuff, Ernie Alexander
BW-9 mins,


8:27 AM -- BRAND OF FEAR (1949)
Two cowboys try to help the new schoolteacher when she's accosted by bandits.
Dir: Oliver Drake
Cast: Jimmy Wakely, "Cannonball" Taylor, Tom London
BW-56 mins, CC,


9:30 AM -- MANDRAKE, THE MAGICIAN: CITY OF TERROR (1939)
A 12-episode serial, with Mandrake the Magician taking on the masked crime lord known as the Wasp.
Dir: Norman Deming, Sam Nelson
Cast: Warren Hull, Doris Weston, Al Kikume
BW-19 mins,


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: THE SPINACH OVERTURE (1935)
Popeye's work in a musical ensemble is terrible until he unlocks the previously unexplored artistic benefits of spinach.
Dir: Dave Fleischer
Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
BW-8 mins, CC,

One of the band members is Olive Oyl's brother Castor, in a nonspeaking role. He is the short man who plays the flute.


10:09 AM -- THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940)
Reformed jewel thief Simon Templar lands in hot water when a look-alike smuggles stolen goods out of Egypt.
Dir: Jack Hively
Cast: George Sanders, Helene Whitney, Jonathan Hale
BW-67 mins, CC,

Filmed November-late December 1939. Bela Lugosi completed this feature after "Ninotchka," and before "Black Friday."


11:30 AM -- THE VOICE THAT THRILLED THE WORLD (1943)
This short film traces the history of sound in the movies, featuring snippets from early sound pictures. Vitaphone Release 1179A.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Sheldon Jett,
BW-18 mins,

Features clips from Don Juan (1926), Vesti la giubba (1926) (Short), The Jazz Singer (1927), Lights of New York (1928), On with the Show! (1929), Disraeli (1929), Show of Shows (1929), Moulin Rouge (1934), Dangerous (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Declaration of Independence (1938) (Short), Sergeant York (1941), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).


12:00 PM -- ELMER THE GREAT (1933)
A country hick bats his way to baseball stardom.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, Frank McHugh
BW-72 mins, CC,

Gale Gordon's first film.


1:30 PM -- PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945)
A blinded Marine tries to adjust to civilian life.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Maltz

On the train to Philadelphia, Al (John Garfield) talks to Lee (Dane Clark) about the difficulty he anticipates in getting a job for a blind man. Lee responds that because he, Lee, is Jewish, he has trouble finding a job as well and then waxes philosophic about a day when people aren't discriminated against for any reason. Both Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkel) and Clark (born Bernard Elliot Zanville) were both New York-born sons of Russian Jewish immigrants.


3:45 PM -- THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (1957)
Charles Lindbergh risks his life to complete his historic flight from New York to Paris.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith
C-135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Louis Lichtenfield

In Charles Lindberghs first view of Ireland, he flies over Skellig Island, the same island featured in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), when Rey (Daisy Ridley) meets Luke (Mark Hamill) for the first time.


6:15 PM -- SLITHER (1973)
An ex-con and his misfit team search the underbelly of American life for a cache of embezzled loot.
Dir: Howard Zieff
Cast: James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman
C-96 mins, CC,

This film opened in Great Britain at the same time as another Sally Kellerman film, the 1973 musical remake of Lost Horizon (1937), which was that year's Royal Command Film Performance, attended by Queen Elizabeth II. Sally Kellerman told several interviewers that she thought the Queen would have a far better time at this movie, although whether, as legend suggests, she said the same thing to the monarch herself, is not certain.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ED BEGLEY



8:00 PM -- PATTERNS (1956)
A replacement in a large corporation encounters loyalty and power struggles.
Dir: Fielder Cook
Cast: Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley
BW-84 mins,

Based on a teleplay by Rod Serling that ran on "Kraft Television Theatre" (1947) in January 1955. It featured several of the same actors that would appear in the movie, including Everett Sloane and Ed Begley. However the part of Fred Staples, the lead, was originated by Richard Kiley. Begley's character, Bill Briggs, was called Andy Sloane in the original version. Serling's teleplay won him the first of his six Emmy Awards.


9:45 PM -- SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH (1962)
A young gigolo returns to his southern hometown in search of the lost love of his youth.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight
C-120 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ed Begley

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Geraldine Page, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Shirley Knight

Because of its then-shocking subject matter, this film was given a pre-rating advisory of restricted by the MPAA, prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from attending. This was pre-rating equivalent of an X (later NC-17) rating. By today's standards, the film is so tame that, when shown on Turner Classic Movies, it's rated TV-PG.


12:00 AM -- THE HUNTED (1948)
A police detective investigating a jewel robbery discovers evidence that points to his girlfriend as the culprit, although she claims she was framed.
Dir: Jack Bernhard
Cast: Preston Foster, Belita, Pierre Watkin
BW-84 mins, CC,

Final film of Cathy Carter.


2:00 AM -- THE WANDERERS (1979)
Set against the urban jungle of 1963 New York's gangland subculture, this coming of age teenage movie is set around the Italian gang the Wanderers.
Dir: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Ken Wahl, John Friedrich, Karen Allen
BW-117 mins, Letterbox Format

The gangs whose names are introduced early in the film (including The Wanderers) were based on real street gangs in the New York City area. However, they did not all exist at the same point in time. Many of the Wanderers did actually belong to a local football team, named "The Stingers".


4:00 AM -- BLOODBROTHERS (1978)
A young man's drive to teach causes a rift with his family of construction workers.
Dir: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Richard Gere, Tony LoBianco, Paul Sorvino
C-116 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Walter Newman

Although he is only twelve years older than Richard Gere, Tony Lo Bianco played his father.