TCM Schedule for Friday, February 3 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- India

[Staph]

This year's 31 Days of Oscar has a geographic theme, and today's edition covers the Indian sub-continent. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- Viva Villa! (1934)
Rousing biography of the bandit chief who led the battle for Mexican independence.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo, Fay Wray
110 min, TV-PG, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Assistant Director -- John Waters

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (sound director) and (M-G-M Studio Sound Department), Best Writing, Adaptation -- Ben Hecht, and Best Picture

On 19 November 1933, during location filming in Mexico, Lee Tracy, originally cast as Johnny Sykes, got drunk and urinated from his hotel balcony onto a passing military parade. He was arrested, fired from the film and replaced by Stuart Erwin. Original director Howard Hawks was also fired for refusing to testify against Tracy, and replaced by Jack Conway. However, in his autobiography, Charles G. Clarke, the cinematographer on the picture, said that he was standing outside the hotel during the parade and the incident never happened. Tracy, he said, was standing on the balcony observing the parade when a Mexican in the street below made an obscene gesture at him. Tracy replied in kind, and the next day a local newspaper printed a story that said, in effect, Tracy had insulted Mexico, Mexicans in general and the Mexican flag in particular. The story caused an uproar in Mexico, and MGM decided to sacrifice Tracy in order to be allowed to continue filming there.


9:00 AM -- The Night Of The Iguana (1964)
A defrocked priest surrenders to the sins of the flesh in a Mexican hotel.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr
118 min, TV-14, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grayson Hall, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen B. Grimes, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gabriel Figueroa

In order to defuse the tension prior to shooting (due mainly to the isolated location the stars would be working in together), John Huston made each lead actor a gold-encrusted pistol with bullets--one with each actor's name on it. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they would use the designated bullet. This proved to be successful. No problems among the cast arose.


11:00 AM -- The Champ (1931)
A broken-down prizefighter battles to keep custody of his son.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich
86 min, TV-G, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Wallace Beery (Tied with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Frances Marion

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- King Vidor, and Best Picture

Wallace Beery actually got one less vote than Fredric March in the 1931/1932 Academy Awards voting for best actor, but the rules at the time considered anyone with one or two votes less than the leader as being in a tie. So both got Academy Awards.


12:30 PM -- The Invisible Woman (1940)
A mad scientist makes a beautiful model invisible so she can get back at the man who fired her.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: John Barrymore, Virginia Bruce, John Howard
72 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- John P. Fulton (photographic) and John D. Hall (sound)

Margaret Sullavan, who owed Universal one picture on an old contract, was originally assigned the starring role. With more attractive roles being floated her way, she balked at appearing in the film, feeling it was beneath her. When she failed to appear for the rehearsals, the studio slapped her with a restraining order preventing her from working anywhere. Eventually she agreed to fulfill her contract by appearing in Back Street and Virginia Bruce stepped into the role.


1:45 PM -- The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Musical biography of the backwoods girl who struck it rich in Colorado and survived the Titanic.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley
C- 129 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Debbie Reynolds, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt, Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Costume Design, Color -- Morton Haack, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson and Leo Shuken, and Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD)

In real life, Margaret Brown was never called "Molly." She was called "Maggie" or "Mrs. Brown." Composer Meredith Willson changed her name to Molly Brown for the Broadway musical because he thought "Molly" sounded better than "Maggie."


4:00 PM -- The Happy Ending (1969)
A middle-aged woman leaves her husband and children in search of herself.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Shirley Jones
C- 112 min, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jean Simmons, and Best Music, Original Song -- Michel Legrand (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life?"

Filmed in part in Denver, Colorado.


6:00 PM -- The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
The famed bandleader fights to establish himself and keep his family going.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Henry Morgan
C- 116 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Leslie I. Carey (U-I)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Joseph Gershenson and Henry Mancini, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney

The mystery of Glenn Miller's disappearance may have been resolved in recent years by the discovery of a RAF pilot's flight log. He was part of a flight returning from an aborted bombing raid that was ordered to drop their used bombs over the Channel. A small plane was observed straying into their path and was destroyed. That plane is now believed to be Miller's.



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



8:00 PM -- Gandhi (1982)
The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.
Dir: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud
C- 191 min, TV-PG, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ben Kingsley, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing and Michael Seirton, Best Cinematography -- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Best Costume Design -- John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya, Best Director -- Richard Attenborough, Best Film Editing -- John Bloom, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Briley, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Makeup -- Tom Smith, Best Music, Original Score -- Ravi Shankar and George Fenton, and Best Sound -- Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye

300,000 extras appeared in the funeral sequence. About 200,000 were volunteers and 94,560 were paid a small fee (under contract). The sequence was filmed on 31st Jan 1981, the 33rd anniversary of Mohandas K. Gandhi's funeral. 11 crews shot over 20,000 feet of film, which was pared down to 125 seconds in the final release.


11:30 PM -- A Passage to India (1984)
A false rape charge threatens British-Indian relations.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft
C- 164 min, TV-PG, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Peggy Ashcroft (Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Angela Lansbury accepted the award on her behalf.), and Best Music, Original Score -- Maurice Jarre

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Judy Davis, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John Box and Hugh Scaife, Best Cinematography -- Ernest Day, Best Costume Design -- Judy Moorcroft, Best Director -- David Lean, Best Film Editing -- David Lean, Best Sound -- Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter and John W. Mitchell, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- David Lean, and Best Picture

David Lean's first (and last) film after a 14-year hiatus from the industry. He was so devastated by the negative reviews of Ryan's Daughter, he dropped out of the filmmaking scene.


2:30 AM -- The Rains Came (1939)
A Hindu doctor's affair with a British noblewoman is disrupted by a violent flood.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent
104 min, TV-PG, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Fred Sersen (photographic) and Edmund H. Hansen (sound)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- William S. Darling and George Dudley, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur C. Miller, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman, and Best Sound, Recording -- Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD)

The Ranchipur of novelist Louis Bromfield was built on 18 acres of the 20th Century-Fox back lot. The maharajah's palace, which was wrecked room by room in the earthquake, cost $75,000. The breaking of the dam was shot in two nights using 14 cameras.


4:30 AM -- The Jungle Book (1942)
A boy raised by wolves adjusts to life among humans.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen
C- 106 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Vincent Korda and Julia Heron, Best Cinematography, Color -- W. Howard Greene, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Lawrence W. Butler (photographic) and William A. Wilmarth (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa

The Jungle Book was the first film for which original soundtrack recordings were issued. Previously, when record companies released music from a film, they had insisted on re-recording the music in their own studios with their own equipment. The "Jungle Book" records were taken from the same recordings used for the film's soundtrack, and their commercial success paved the way for more original-soundtrack albums.

[CBHagman]

1. Back-to-back epics set in India.

I've never been to India, and never been to Asia, but the country and the continent intrigue me.



A Passage to India



Gandhi