TCM Schedule for Friday, February 24 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- New Mexico

[Staph]

It's around the world today -- first Australia, then Arizona, and finally New Mexico. Enjoy!



7:15 AM -- Captain Fury (1939)
An Irish convict escapes an Australian prison to organize a revolution.
Dir: Hal Roach
Cast: Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen, Paul Lukas
92 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction -- Charles D. Hall

Director Hal Roach did a bit of cross promotion for this film in Of Mice And Men (1939), also produced by his production company. The title of Captain Fury is shown on a small theatre playbill that Candy's wife holds.


9:00 AM -- Sister Kenny (1946)
True story of the Australian nurse who fought to gain acceptance for her polio-treatment methods.
Dir: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, Dean Jagger
116 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Rosalind Russell

Among those treated for polio by the Kenny treatment are Alan Alda - actor, Robert Anton Wilson - writer, Marjorie Lawrence - Australian opera singer, Rosalind Russell's nephew, and Peg Kehret (née Schulze) - American author.


11:00 AM -- The Sundowners (1960)
An Australian sheepherder and his wife clash over their nomadic existence and their son's future.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov
C- 133 min, TV-PG, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Glynis Johns, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Isobel Lennart, and Best Picture

The definition of 'sundowner' given in the film is not the most common one used in Australia. A 'sundowner' was the term used for a swagman who arrived at a homestead/ farm just on sundown, in time to ask for a meal or food but too late to be asked to do any work. The sundowner usually departed early in the morning, before anyone else was up and before being asked to do some work.


1:30 PM -- In Old Arizona (1929)
The Cisco Kid's faithless lover plots to turn the bandit in for the reward.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Edmund Lowe, Dorothy Burgess, Warner Baxter
99 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Warner Baxter

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Arthur Edeson (No official nominees had been announced this year.), Best Director -- Irving Cummings (No official nominees had been announced this year.), Best Writing, Achievement -- Tom Barry (No official nominees had been announced this year.) and Best Picture
(No official nominees had been announced this year.)

Raoul Walsh was cast as the Cisco Kid, as well as being the director; but during a return drive to Los Angeles from Utah, a jackrabbit jumped through the windshield of Walsh's car, with both the rabbit and the broken glass hitting Walsh in the face. (Safety glass was added to cars the following year.) The damage to Walsh's right eye necessitated replacing him in the lead role, re-writing the script and re-shooting some scenes with a different director while Walsh recuperated; Walsh thereafter wore the eye patch for which he was known, and eventually lost the eye entirely. Some footage of Walsh, in chase scenes and long shots, remains in the film.


3:30 PM -- Arizona (1940)
A tough pioneer woman needs a young man's help in fighting land grabbers and finding love.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William
122 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Lionel Banks and Robert Peterson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Victor Young

The set still stands outside Tucson Arizona and is an active studio and Old West theme park called Old Tucson. Since it was built in 1939, Old Tucson has served as the set for many famous Westerns such as Rio Bravo and Tombstone. Little House on the Prairie also used the studios.


6:00 PM -- Bless the Beasts and Children (1971)
Troubled children on a dude ranch set out to save a buffalo herd.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Bill Mumy, Barry Robins, Miles Chapin
C- 102 min, TV-14, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr. for the song "Bless the Beasts and the Children".

Filmed on location at the Hidden Valley Ranch, Prescott, Arizona



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



8:00 PM -- The Harvey Girls (1946)
Straitlaced waitresses battle saloon girls to win the West for domesticity.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger
C- 101 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe"

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

In the big production number "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", from Judy Garland's entrance until the tempo change is one very long take. Rumor has it they only shot it twice and she was dead on both times.


10:00 PM -- Ace In the Hole (1951)
A small-town reporter milks a local disaster to get back into the big time.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Bob Arthur
111 min, TV-14, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman

The studio constructed a replica cliff dwelling at a cost of $30,000. The set was located behind the Lookout Point Trading Post on U.S. Route 66, west of Gallup, New Mexico. After filming was completed, the set was left intact and the owner of the trading post used it to draw tourists to his store.


12:00 AM -- The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Scientists race to find the cure for a deadly space virus.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson
C- 131 min, TV-14, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Boris Leven, William H. Tuntke and Ruby R. Levitt, and Best Film Editing -- Stuart Gilmore and John W. Holmes

Michael Crichton wrote the rough draft for the novel from which this film is adapted while he was still a medical student. He was inspired after a conversation with one of his teachers about the concept of crystal-based life-forms. Crichton was invited to take a tour of Universal Studios during the production of the film. His guide was none other than Steven Spielberg, who went on to adapt his most successful novel, Jurassic Park.


2:30 AM -- Them! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
93 min, TV-PG, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- (Warner Bros.).

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.


4:30 AM -- Pieces of Dreams (1970)
A young priest falls in love with a social worker.
Dir: Daniel Haller
Cast: Robert Forster, Lauren Hutton, Will Geer
C- 100 min, TV-14

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Michel Legrand (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "Pieces of Dreams".

Based on William E. Barrett's novel The Wine and the Music.