TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 29 -- What's On Tonight: Variations on a Theme

[Staph]

There are two different themes today -- in the daylight hours, TCM is serving up a variety of Westerns, including the excellent The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and The Searchers (1956). Don't let a dislike of John Wayne's politics tempt you to avoid The Searchers. I believe it is his best work, and proof that he was capable of real acting.

In prime time, the variations are on the theme of East vs. West, of romance between Soviets and Westerners. If you have never seen Ninotchka (1939), fire up the DVR. Garbo doing comedy is a revelation. Enjoy!


7:00 AM -- The Vanishing American (1925)
A Native American man returning from college meets racial intolerance upon returning to his reservation.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, Noah Beery
BW-109 mins, TV-G,

The legend that John Ford "discovered" Monument Valley (or John Wayne did and Ford took credit for it), or Harry Goulding (the trading post owner there) introduced Ford to this unique location in 1938 for Stagecoach, is disproved by the fact that this movie was filmed there in 1925.


9:00 AM -- The Last Hunt (1956)
Two frontiersmen clash over the slaughter of a buffalo herd.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Lloyd Nolan
C-104 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

US government marksmen actually shot and killed buffalo during production as part of a scheduled herd-thinning.


11:00 AM -- Apache Territory (1958)
A cowboy sets out to try to stop an Indian war.
Dir: Ray Nazarro
Cast: Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates, John Dehner
C-71 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

The music theme from 3:10 To Yuma (1957), was used in the closing scene of this movie. Also the theme is used as a background in some of the quieter conversation scenes between the hero and one of the leading ladies.


12:30 PM -- Santa Fe (1951)
Four brothers end up on opposite sides of a shootout.
Dir: Irving Pichel
Cast: Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, Jerome Courtland
C-87 mins, TV-G, CC,

After the Indian Chief ran the train, Scott told the Chief someday they will name a train after him. They did: the Santa Fe Super Chief.


2:00 PM -- The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
A loner gets caught up in a posse's drive to find and hang three suspected rustlers.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes
BW-75 mins, TV-14, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Henry Fonda was generally unhappy with the quality of the films he had to do while under contract with 20th Century Fox. This was one of only two films from that period that he was actually enthusiastic about starring in. The other was The Grapes of Wrath.


3:30 PM -- The Searchers (1956)
An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
C-119 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

According to John Wayne in a 1974 interview, John Ford hinted throughout the movie that Ethan had had an affair with his brother's wife, and was possibly the father of Lucy and Debbie. This meant Ethan's thirst for vengeance stemmed not from the murder of his brother, but of the woman Ethan had loved. This was so subtle that many viewers at the time missed it altogether.


5:30 PM -- Cimarron (1960)
A pioneer couple plays a major role in the settling of Oklahoma.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter
C-148 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, Addison Hehr, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt and Otto Siegel, and Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer SSD)

In her memoir "Intermission," Anne Baxter hints that Ford and Schell had become very close during production, but by the time the movie premiered in Oklahoma, the two were not speaking to each other.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: VARIATIONS ON A THEME


8:00 PM -- The Iron Petticoat (1956)
Against their better judgment, a romance develops between an Air Force officer and a Soviet aviatrix.
Dir: Ralph Thomas
Cast: Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Noelle Middleton
C-94 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Based on a story by Harry Saltzman, and filmed on location in and around London.


9:45 PM -- Silk Stockings (1957)
A straitlaced Soviet agent is seduced by Paris and a high-stepping film producer.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige
C-118 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Cole Porter's original lyrics were slightly bowdlerized for the movie. For example, Astaire sings a line in "Stereophonic Sound" about how audiences don't want to see a kiss "unless her lips are scarlet/and her mouth is five feet wide." In the original Broadway musical, the lyrics were "unless her lips are scarlet/and her bosom's five feet wide."


11:45 PM -- Comrade X (1940)
An American warms up an icy Russian streetcar conductor.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, Oscar Homolka
BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Walter Reisch

At the time this film was released, in 1940, World War II had already begun in Europe, but the Soviet Union still had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. In the film, Mac is able to fool a character by pretending to hear news that Germany has broken the pact and launched an invasion of the USSR. Of course, that's exactly what happened the very next year when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in summer 1941.


1:30 AM -- Ninotchka (1939)
A coldhearted Soviet agent is warmed up by a trip to Paris and a night of love.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire
BW-110 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greta Garbo, Best Writing, Original Story -- Melchior Lengyel, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Billy Wilder, and Best Picture

The tagline "Garbo laughs!" came before the screenplay was written; the film was built around that single, now legendary, slogan.


3:45 AM -- British Agent (1934)
An Englishman falls in love with a Russian spy.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, William Gargan
BW-81 mins, TV-G,

Producer Jack L. Warner wanted to send a film crew to Russia for location shots, but his request was denied.


5:15 AM -- MGM Parade Show #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,

[CBHagman]

1. I'd never even heard of "The Iron Petticoat."

But then there are reasons for that. It's only recently become available. See link for the complications!

[url]http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/with_little_help_from_petticoat_8PrE2OAhnSxCn1B5RbvIMM#axzz2DcDV6THG[/url]