TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 25, 2013 -- What's On Tonight -- Controversial Teachers

[Staph]

It's a day of twins and an evening of teachers. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- The Black Room (1935)
An evil twin brother disposes of his enemies in a secret death chamber on his estate.
Dir: R. William Neill
Cast: Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh, Robert Allen
BW-68 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Karloff's performance was voted runner-up to the best performance for the month of August, 1935, by the Screen Actors' Guild. Henry Fonda in "The Farmer Takes a Wife" and Will Rogers in "Steamboat 'Round the Bend" tied for the top award.


8:00 AM -- Our Relations (1936)
Two sailors get caught in a mountain of mix-ups when they meet their long-lost twins.
Dir: Harry Lachman
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale
BW-73 mins, TV-G, CC,

King Edward VIII (aka Duke of Windsor) of Great Britain requested a command performance screening of the film in October of 1936, before it was released.


9:30 AM -- Two-Faced Woman (1941)
A woman pretends to be her own twin sister to win back her straying husband.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Constance Bennett
BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC,

Greta Garbo's last film.


11:15 AM -- Dead Men Walk (1943)
A small-town doctor's twin returns from the grave seeking vengeance.
Dir: Sam Newfield
Cast: George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young
BW-63 mins, TV-PG,

In the film, George Zucco differentiates the two characters by wearing glasses for the good doctor, and none for the evil one. Apart from when he forgets - most notably when, as the good doctor, he bends over not wearing any glasses, but when he stands up again (different cut) he suddenly is wearing them again.


12:30 PM -- A Stolen Life (1947)
A twin takes her deceased sister's place as wife of the man they both love.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- William C. McGann (visual) and Nathan Levinson (audible)

Because of her constant insistence for better productions to work on, and an overall better atmosphere on set, Jack L. Warner asked Bette Davis to produce the film. It would be the first and only time she would be able to do this. Reportedly, she was so overworked and also intrigued by this job that she started a relationship with the director of this film to iron out her mind.


2:30 PM -- The Woman In White (1948)
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-109 mins, TV-G, CC,

Wilkie Collins' 'The Woman in White' published in 1860, is considered to be the first modern mystery employing a crime-detecting hero.


4:30 PM -- The Scapegoat (1959)
A man is tricked into trading places with a look-alike nobleman with murderous plans.
Dir: Robert Hamer
Cast: Alec Guinness, Bette Davis, Nicole Maurey
BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier.


6:30 PM -- The Old Dark House (1963)
An eccentric millionaire invites a car salesman to visit his decaying family home.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The drawings in the title sequence were by Charles Addams, whose whole career was inspired by the 1932 version of The Old Dark House (of which this is a remake).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CONTROVERSIAL TEACHERS



8:00 PM -- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
A headstrong young teacher in a private school ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable charges with her world view.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin
C-116 mins, TV-14, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Maggie Smith (Maggie Smith was not present at the awards ceremony. Alice Ghostley accepted the award on her behalf.)

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Rod McKuen for the song "Jean"

The original play was offered to Maggie Smith first. Because of film commitments she declined and Vanessa Redgrave played Miss Brodie on stage. However, when the movie was being made, the role of Miss Brodie was offered to Redgrave first. This time, she had prior commitments and declined and Maggie Smith took the role, offered her originally, and won an Oscar for playing it.


10:00 PM -- Dead Poets Society (1989)
An English teacher inspires his students to seize the day with sometimes disastrous results.
Dir: Peter Weir
Cast: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke
C-129 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Tom Schulman

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robin Williams, Best Director -- Peter Weir, and Best Picture

Director Peter Weir chose to shoot the film in chronological order to better capture the development of the relationships between the boys and their growing respect for Mr. Keating.


12:15 AM -- These Three (1936)
Scandal destroys the lives of two small-town schoolteachers.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea
BW-93 mins, TV-14,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Bonita Granville

The play was partly inspired by an actual case in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1810, "Miss Pirie and Miss Woods vs. Dame Cumming Gordon." Two school teachers, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, were falsely accused of having a lesbian affair by a pupil, Jane Gordon. Under the influence of Jane's grandmother, Dame Cumming Gordon, the school's students were removed by their parents and the school was shut down. Pirie and Woods filed a libel suit against Dame Cumming Gordon, and won the case, but given the destruction of their lives and standing in the community, it was considered a hollow victory.


2:00 AM -- Where Angels Go...Trouble Follows! (1968)
A young progressive nun creates headaches for the Mother Superior.
Dir: James Neilson
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Stella Stevens, Binnie Barnes
C-94 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Milton Berle's performance as the 'Director' is a parody of John Ford, with the eye patch, the sunglasses, and the style of hat, as well as the fact that he is directing a western movie.


4:00 AM -- The Explosive Generation (1961)
A high school teacher's attempts to teach sex education creates a furor.
Dir: Buzz Kulik
Cast: William Shatner, Patty McCormack, Lee Kinsolving
BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Director Buzz Kulik's first feature film. Ten years later he directed the amazing TV movie Brian's Song (1971).


5:30 AM -- TCM Presents Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence: Ed Norton (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-26 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format