TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 25, 2013 -- What's On Tonight -- Amazing Races

[Staph]

Tonight's theme is Amazing Races, and TCM has a quartet of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films about competitive travel. Enjoy!


7:30 AM -- Conquest Of The Air (1940)
Documentary footage traces humanity's efforts to fly.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Franklin Dyall, Henry Victor
BW-66 mins, TV-G,

First film of Alan Wheatley and John Abbott.


8:45 AM -- Murder on the Blackboard (1934)
A schoolteacher matches wits with a police detective when they both try to solve a pretty music teacher's murder.
Dir: George Archainbaud
Cast: James Gleason, Edna May Oliver, Bruce Cabot
BW-72 mins, TV-G,

This was the second of 3 films Edna May Oliver made at RKO starring as that indomitable school teacher/sleuth, Miss Hildegarde Withers.


10:00 AM -- Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
A secretary becomes so valuable to her boss that it jeopardizes his marriage.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy
BW-88 mins, TV-G, CC,

The name of one of the screenwriters, Alice Duer Miller, is seen as the author of an article in a magazine, and Clark Gable remarks, "Hey, Alice has written a very nice article here."


11:30 AM -- Between Two Women (1937)
A nurse with an alcoholic husband falls for a doctor, only to find his interests lie elsewhere.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Franchot Tone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Virginia Bruce
BW-88 mins, TV-PG,

Based on a story by actor/writer/director/producer Erich von Stroheim.


1:00 PM -- Too Many Husbands (1940)
When her long lost husband returns after her re-marriage, a woman decides to try life with two mates.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas
BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD)

Released at about the same time as My Favorite Wife. "My Favorite Wife" deals with a husband, a wife, and a fiancé. This one deals with a wife with two husbands. Both did well at the box office.


2:30 PM -- Rage In Heaven (1941)
A jealous man plots to fake his death and incriminate his wife's suspected lover.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders
BW-85 mins, TV-PG, CC,

W.S. Van Dyke took over the direction of the movie from Robert B. Sinclair, who became ill shortly after shooting began. Van Dyke was in the Marines, but was granted a 14-day leave to finish the picture. Neither Sinclair nor Van Dyke was available for retakes, which were then directed by Richard Thorpe.


4:00 PM -- The Secret Heart (1946)
A recent widow tries to help her emotionally disturbed stepdaughter.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson
BW-97 mins, TV-PG, CC,

After filming The Secret Heart together, Claudette Colbert and co-star June Allyson became such great friends in real life Colbert became godmother to Allyson's daughter Pamela.


6:00 PM -- Dream Wife (1953)
For state reasons, a diplomat fakes an engagement to a Middle Eastern princess.
Dir: Sidney Sheldon
Cast: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Walter Pidgeon
BW-99 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose and Herschel McCoy

First of three movies that paired Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant. The others are An Affair To Remember (1957) and The Grass In Greener (1960). Kerr also had an uncredited voice role in Grant's film Kiss Them For Me (1957).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: AMAZING RACES



8:00 PM -- Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965)
An international air race is threatened by sabotage.
Dir: Ken Annakin
Cast: Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox
C-138 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Jack Davies and Ken Annakin

The 1910-era airplanes used in the film were replicas built using the authentic materials of the originals, but with slightly more powerful engines. About 20 planes were built at a cost of about 5,000 pounds each.


10:30 PM -- Bite The Bullet (1975)
Cowboys compete in a grueling horse-riding marathon.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn
C-131 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Alex North, and Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Richard Tyler and Al Overton Jr.

The film was inspired by the 1908 700-mile cross-country horse race from Evanston, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado. It was sponsored by the Denver Post, which offered $2,500 prize money to the winner.


1:00 AM -- The Great Race (1965)
A bumbling villain plots to win an early 20th-century auto race.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood
C-160 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- Treg Brown

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Russell Harlan, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "The Sweetheart Tree", and Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD)

Features the largest pie fight ever staged, with a running gag that The Great Leslie remains clean while everyone else is covered in pie. Tony Curtis was required to change clothes several times when he was accidentally splattered with debris from a pie that had hit someone else. The pies used during the pie throwing scene were real, containing fruit, custard, whipped cream and other ingredients. Following this scene the crew devoured more than 300 leftover pies.


4:15 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, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for 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), Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- James Poe, John Farrow and S.J. Perelman, and Best Picture

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

The following famous people appear in small parts in the film, and are credited: A.E. Matthews, Alan Mowbray, Andy Devine, Basil Sydney, Beatrice Lillie, Buster Keaton, Cesar Romero, Charles Boyer, Charles Coburn, Tim McCoy, Edmund Lowe, Edward R. Murrow, Evelyn Keyes, Fernandel, Finlay Currie, Frank Sinatra, George Raft, Gilbert Roland, Glynis Johns, Harcourt Williams, Hermione Gingold, Jack Oakie, Joe E. Brown, John Carradine, John Mills, José Greco, Luis Miguel Dominguín, Martine Carol, Marlene Dietrich, Melville Cooper, Mike Mazurki, Noel Coward, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Reginald Denny, Richard Wattis, Robert Morley, Ronald Colman, Ronald Squire, Cedric Hardwicke, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard and Victor McLaglen.