TCM Schedule for Friday, October 25, 2013 -- Friday Night Spooklight

[Staph]

The daylight theme is 20th century films with the same name as films made in the 21st century, and the evening's theme is more scary stuff. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- Tower Of London (1962)
A hunchback murders his way to the British throne.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Vincent Price, Michael Pate, Joan Freeman
BW-80 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Vincent Price appeared as the Duke of Clarence in the original version released by Universal Pictures Tower of London. In this version of the story, he plays . . . .




8:15 AM -- The Raven (1963)
A widowed sorcerer discovers his late wife is alive and living with his mortal enemy.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff
C-86 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

In casting his spells, Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre) uses several Latin phrases:
Veni vidi vici: I came, I saw, I conquered.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum: Do not speak ill of the dead.
Cave canem: Beware of the dog.
Si vis pacem parabellum: If you want peace, prepare for war.
Ceterum censio Carthaginem esse delendam: Furthermore, I believe that Carthage must be destroyed.


9:45 AM -- MGM Parade Show #23 (1955)
Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse perform in a clip from "Anchors Aweigh"; George Murphy, Dore Schary and Richard Brooks show a short film about the making of "The Last Hunt." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,


10:15 AM -- The Running Man (1963)
A man fakes his death to get back at the insurance company that denied an earlier claim.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, Alan Bates
C-104 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Last film score of William Alwyn.


12:15 PM -- The Fast and the Furious (1954)
A wrongly convicted man takes a young woman hostage while fighting to clear his name.
Dir: Edwards Sampson
Cast: John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruce Carlisle
BW-74 mins, TV-G,

The title rights, not the story rights, to this film were purchased so that the title could be used on The Fast and the Furious (2001), another film about racing.


1:30 PM -- Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
A quarrelsome couple discovers their marriage isn't legal.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond
BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC,

Carole Lombard was a devoted Democrat, while Robert Montgomery was a Republican. During breaks in filming, Lombard made a point of running into the studio parking lot and putting FDR re-election bumper stickers on Montgomery's car.


3:15 PM -- The Black Swan (1942)
When he's named governor of Jamaica, a former pirate sets out to clean up the Caribbean.
Dir: Henry King
Cast: Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar
C-85 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Fred Sersen (photographic), Roger Heman Sr. (sound) and George Leverett (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alfred Newman

Although it is supposed to be based on Rafael Sabatini's novel "The Black Swan", in fact the story is completely original, and the only character retained from the original novel is the historical personage Henry Morgan.


4:45 PM -- Million Dollar Baby (1941)
A young innocent's surprise inheritance causes problems with her poor but proud boyfriend.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Jeffrey Lynn, Ronald Reagan
BW-101 mins, TV-G, CC,

May Robson (about 82 in this film) was in fact over a decade older than Richard Carle (about 69), who plays George, the butler who grew up with Cornelia Wheelwright's (Robson's) father.


6:30 PM -- The Walking Dead (1936)
A framed man comes back from the dead to seek revenge.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn
BW-65 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Boris Karloff's character was originally conceived as 'Dopey' Ellman and was a drug addict and alcoholic.


7:49 PM -- Who'S Superstitious? (1943)
This short film examines the origins of several superstitions, including crossing one's fingers when lying and why opening an umbrella inside a building is bad luck.
BW-10 mins,

Another one of the more than 60 Passing Parade shorts.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOOKLIGHT



8:00 PM -- A Bucket of Blood (1959)
A jealous Bohemian wannabe resorts to murder to perpetuate his new-found success as a sculptor.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone
BW-65 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The line about how "artist" Walter Paisley "knows his anatomy" is apparently a nod to the similar themed House of Wax which used the same line about Vincent Price's character. Of course, a year later, Vincent Price became Roger Corman's favorite star.


9:15 PM -- Dementia 13 (1963)
Members of an Irish family are being killed off by one of their own who wishes to inherit the family fortune.
Dir: Francis Coppola
Cast: William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton
BW-75 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Francis Ford Coppola was assisting Roger Corman on the set of The Young Racers in Ireland. Corman allowed Coppola to use the same set, crew and actors Luana Anders, William Campbell and Patrick Magee for this film if he could shoot around the shooting schedule of Corman's film.


10:45 PM -- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
BW-134 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Norma Koch

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Victor Buono, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Haller, and Best Sound -- Joseph D. Kelly (Seven Arts-Warner Bros. Glen Glenn Sound Department)

Because she was then a member of the Pepsi-Cola board of directors, Joan Crawford managed to see that product placement shots of the soft drinks appeared in all of her later films. Although nearly imperceptible, Pepsi does show up in this one. During the last sequence, a guy runs up to the refreshment stand on the beach and tries to collect the deposit on some empty Pepsi bottles - a transaction that actually only happened in stores.


1:04 AM -- All Eyes On Sharon Tate (1966)
A behind-the-scenes promo short for "Eye of the Devil" (1966), showcasing the late Sharon Tate, then a young, 22-year-old hopeful at MGM.
Cast: Sharon Tate, David Niven,
BW-10 mins,

The scenes of Sharon Tate and David Hemmings dancing in a London discotheque were filmed by legendary cameraman and cinematographer Albert Maysles. There exists a longer version of this sequence as well as on-set footage from The Fearless Vampire Killers that have been part of a traveling festival of films made by the Maysles Brothers in recent years. Albert Maysles has also gone on record saying that Sharon Tate was the sexiest woman he ever filmed.


1:15 AM -- Sisters (1973)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
C-92 mins, TV-MA, Letterbox Format

Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt were roommates in Southern California in the early 1970s while they were struggling performers. They held parties for their friends and neighbors who included Paul Schrader, Blythe Danner, Bruce Paltrow and Brian De Palma. One year at Christmas, Kidder and Salt opened separate boxes under their Christmas tree and each one contained the script to this film. This project was De Palma's gift to them.


3:00 AM -- Spider Baby (1964)
Greedy relatives try to repossess the decaying mansion of an inbred Southern family.
Dir: Jack Hill
Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redeker
BW-84 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

The film was shot in August and September of 1964 with the title "Cannibal Orgy, or The Maddest Story Ever Told", but its release was held up for years because the producers went bankrupt, which tied up the film in legal limbo. Independent producer David L. Hewitt acquired it for distribution in 1968 and changed the title to "Spider Baby" and "The Liver Eaters."


4:30 AM -- Village Of The Damned (1961)
After a mysterious blackout, the inhabitants of a British village give birth to emotionless, super-powered offspring.
Dir: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
BW-77 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

The blond wigs that the children wear had a built-in dome to give the impression that they had a larger than normal cranium.