TCM Schedule for Friday, March 1, 2013 -- 31 Days Of Oscar -- United Artists

[Staph]

Today is the first of three days of films from United Artists, founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D. W. Griffith and Mary Pickford. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Circus (1928)
In this silent film, the Little Tramp joins a circus to hide from the police.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Betty Morrissey
72 min, TV-G

Won an Honorary Academy Award for Charles Chaplin for versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus. Though nominated for best actor, the academy decided to remove Chaplin's name from the competitive classes and instead award him a Special Award.

In October 2010, a clip from this movie was featured on several network morning shows because of speculation that it showed definitive evidence of "time travel." In the scene, an extra appears to be walking down the sidewalk, talking on, of all things, a cell phone.


7:30 AM -- The Moon and Sixpence (1942)
Loosely inspired by the life of Gauguin, a man abandons his middle-classed life to start painting.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Herbert Marshall, Doris Dudley
C-89 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham.


9:00 AM -- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A troupe of squabbling actors joins the Polish underground to dupe the Nazis.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
99 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner R. Heymann

According to the book 'The United Artists Story' by Ronald Bergan, " Unfortunately, at its release, Pearl Harbor had been attacked, Germany was sweeping across Europe, and the film's star, Carole Lombard, was killed in a plane crash while on a war-bond selling tour. Therefore, neither critics nor public were in the mood to laugh, finding the picture tasteless and callous. Over the years, however, it recovered its production costs and became a classic."


10:45 AM -- I Married A Witch (1942 )
A 300-year-old witch wreaks havoc when she falls in love with a young politician.
Dir: René Clair
Cast: Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley
77 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

Veronica Lake and Fredric March did not like one another, due in part to some disparaging remarks March made about her. During filming, Lake delighted in playing pranks on March. In one scene in which the two were photographed only from the waist up, Lake stuck her foot in March's groin. In another incident, Lake hid a 40-pound weight under her costume when March had to carry her in his arms. After that incident, March nicknamed the film "I Married a Bitch."


12:15 PM -- Brewster's Millions (1945)
A veteran has to spend $1 million in two months to inherit a fortune.
Dir: Allan Dwan
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, June Havoc
79 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Louis Forbes

Based on a novel by George Barr McCutcheon, made into a play by Winchell Smith. Filmed in 1914 (with Edward Abeles as Brewster), in 1921 (with Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle), in 1926 (with Bebe Daniels as Miss Brewster), in 1935 (with Jack Buchanan), in 1961 (as Three On A Spree, starring Jack Watling), and in 1985 (starring Richard Pryor).


1:45 PM -- The Southerner (1945)
A sharecropper fights the elements to start his own farm.
Dir: Jean Renoir
Cast: Zachary Scott, Betty Field, J. Carrol Naish
91 min, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Jean Renoir, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner Janssen, and Best Sound, Recording -- Jack Whitney (Sound Services Inc.)

Based on the novel "Hold Autumn in your Hand", by George Sessions Perry, which won the first National Book Award in 1941.


3:30 PM -- Hangmen Also Die (1943)
When a Nazi officer is assassinated, Czech patriots band together to protect his killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: H. H. v. Twardowski, Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan
134 min, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hanns Eisler, and Best Sound, Recording -- Jack Whitney (Sound Service Inc.)

During the Joseph McCarthy-inspired "Red Scare" era in the 1950s, this was one of the films labeled "subversive" by the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) because it was alleged to have contained dialog that might be construed as pro-communist. Writer John Wexley was even "blacklisted". It wasn't seen again in the United States until the mid-'70s.


6:00 PM -- The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins an Army platoon during World War II to learn what battle is really about.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele
109 min, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Mitchum, Best Music, Original Song -- Ann Ronell for the song "Linda", Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore and Philip Stevenson

The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa - the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner - never having seen the movie in which they appeared.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: UNITED ARTISTS



8:00 PM -- Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
A man woos and murders rich widows to support his invalid wife.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan
124 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Chaplin

Charles Chaplin hired famed press agent Russell Birdwell to publicize this film. Just prior to the premiere, Birdwell wrote columnist Hedda Hopper a note saying: "I contend that Charlie Chaplin's 'Monsieur Verdoux' is the greatest and most controversial picture that has ever come from the Hollywood mills. If I lose I will publicly eat the negative of the film in front of the Chaplin studios. Sincerely, Bird." After she'd seen the film, Hopper wired back: "DEAR BIRD: START EATING. HOPPER."


10:15 PM -- Red River (1948)
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru
133 min, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Christian Nyby, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Borden Chase

Texas Longhorn cattle had been nearly extinct as a breed for about 50 years when this film was made. Only a few dozen animals were available. In the herd scenes most of the cattle are Hereford crosses with the precious Longhorns prominently placed in crucial scenes.


12:45 AM -- Witness For The Prosecution (1957)
A British lawyer gets caught up in a couple's tangled marital affairs when he defends the husband for murder.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
116 min, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Laughton, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Elsa Lanchester, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), and Best Picture

The film was shown in London for a Royal Command Performance, but beforehand the Royal Family had to promise not to reveal the surprise ending to anyone else.


3:00 AM -- Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
A swordsman and poet helps another man woo the woman he loves.
Dir: Michael Gordon
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince
114 min, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- José Ferrer

The false nose that José Ferrer wore as Cyrano was reported to have cost United Artists $1,500.


5:00 AM -- A Hole in the Head (1959)
A single father's bohemian lifestyle could cost him custody of his son.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker
C-120 min, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "High Hopes"

Nearly all of the characters' names were changed from the original play.

[narnian60]

1. Absolutely love Monsieur Verdoux.

Sorry, Hedda, you were wrong on this one.