TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 9, 2015 -- The Essentials: Irene Dunne

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features a trio of the films of Irene Dunne, including I Remember Mama (1948), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), and Show Boat (1936). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Sinbad The Sailor (1947)
The Arabian Nights hero sets off to find the lost treasure of Alexander the Great.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak
C-117 mins, CC,

RKO had to scuttle its plan to present this film as a 1946 Christmas-season attraction when a strike at the Technicolor processing plant delayed the making of prints. The wide-release date would be moved up to January 13, 1947, with the Manhattan opening at the Palace Theatre following on January 22, 1947. Needing a black-and-white movie for its 1946 yuletide schedule, RKO chose a film destined to become a holiday perennial: Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946).


8:03 AM -- La Gazza Ladra Overture (1954)
In this short film, Johnny Green leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Gioachino Rossini's overture to "La Gazza Ladra."
C-9 mins, Letterbox Format


8:15 AM -- Thunderbird 6 (1968)
Puppet aviators fight to save a beautiful woman from kidnappers.
Dir: David Lane
Cast: Sylvia Anderson, David Graham, Geoffrey Keen
BW-89 mins, Letterbox Format

Production on this film began after Gerry Anderson began work on Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967), a series that used far more realistic-looking Supermarionation puppets. Anderson reportedly considered making Thunderbird Six in the same style, but decided for reasons of continuity to retain the big-head style of puppets for the film. Apparently, some of the new style puppets are visible in some scenes.


10:00 AM -- Batman: Flying Spies (1943)
The Caped Crusader battles a Japanese scientist turning people into zombies.
BW-18 mins,


10:30 AM -- The Lost Volcano (1950)
Bomba the Jungle Boy arrives to rescue a child just as a volcano is about to erupt.
Dir: Ford Beebe
Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Donald Woods, Marjorie Lord
BW-76 mins,

Third of the twelve Bomba the Jungle Boy films.


12:00 PM -- Rio Bravo (1959)
A sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
C-141 mins, CC,

The last movie in which John Wayne wore the hat he had worn since Stagecoach (1939).


2:30 PM -- The Wild North (1952)
A Mountie tracks an accused killer through the Canadian wilderness.
Dir: Andrew Marton
Cast: Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse
C-97 mins, CC,

First film made with Ansco color film.


4:15 PM -- Blackbeard, the Pirate (1952)
A kidnapped beauty gets caught between feuding pirates.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, William Bendix
C-99 mins, CC,

Robert Newton is best remembered for his portrayal of the feverish-eyed Long John Silver in the 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island, the film that became the standard for screen portrayals of historical pirates. He would continue to portray Blackbeard in 1952 and Long John Silver again in the 1954 film of the same name, which spawned a miniseries in the mid 50s. Hailing from the West Country, his exaggeration of his West Country accent is credited with popularising the stereotypical "pirate voice" and he has become the "patron saint" of the annual International Talk Like a Pirate Day.


6:00 PM -- Hearts Of The West (1975)
An aspiring western novelist in thirties Hollywood becomes a low-budget cowboy star.
Dir: Howard Zieff
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Donald Pleasence
C-102 mins, Letterbox Format

Donald Pleasence's character, "A.J. Neitz", is named after prolific western / "B" picture director Alan James (real name Alvin J. Neitz), who started out in silent films and lasted through the talkie era, and who directed westerns with such stars as Ken Maynard, Jack Hoxie and Tim McCoy, among others.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: IRENE DUNNE



8:00 PM -- I Remember Mama (1948)
Norwegian immigrants face the trials of family life in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka
BW-134 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Irene Dunne, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Oskar Homolka, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Barbara Bel Geddes, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ellen Corby, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Nicholas Musuraca

The previous play was produced on Broadway by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The film's producers purchased the rights for $2500 for each week of the play's run, up to $150,000, on the condition that the film would not be made until the play closed. The stage version ended up running for nearly two years. The original Broadway production opened on October 19, 1944 at the Music Box Theater and ran for 713 performances with a cast that included Marlon Brando in his Broadway debut.


10:30 PM -- The White Cliffs Of Dover (1944)
An American woman with a British husband fights to keep her family together through two world wars.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowall
BW-126 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George J. Folsey

Irene Dunne reads a telegram from her Anglophobe father to a group of English people. Her father begs her not to marry an Englishman she is in love with and tells her "You're a Yankee through and through! Think of Paul Revere! Think of the Old North steeple! Remember the Alabama!" The viewer may become confused at this point. "Remember the Alabama"? Shouldn't it be "Remember the Alamo"? However, since the context of the telegram is anti-British any mention of the Alamo would be irrelevant. What Irene Dunne's father is apparently taking about is the C.S.S. Alabama, one of several Confederate warships that were built in British shipyards over United States protest during the Civil War. These ships attacked U.S. shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. Since Irene Dunne arrives in England in April of 1914 and married just before August 4, 1914 when Great Britain declared war on Germany, the telegram was probably sent close to the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Alabama by the U.S.S. Kearsarge on June 19, 1864 in the English Channel. The United States sued Great Britain in 1869 over the building of the Confederate warships and was awarded $15,500,000.


12:45 AM -- Show Boat (1936)
Riverboat entertainers find love, laughs and hardships as they sail along "Old Man River."
Dir: James Whale
Cast: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger
BW-113 mins, CC,

Special permission had to be granted from the Hays Office in order to retain the famous "miscegenation" sequence in the film. Miscegenation was banned as a film subject and the scene had been excluded from the 1929 film version.


2:45 AM -- It's Alive (1974)
A couple's use of an experimental fertility drug produces a monstrous infant.
Dir: Larry Cohen
Cast: Guy Stockwell, Sharon Farrell, Andrew Duggan
C-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

"It's Alive" was filmed and edited simultaneously with another Larry Cohen feature, Hell Up in Harlem (1973), which was shot on the weekends during the production of "It's Alive." This means that many of the cast and crew put in consecutive 7 day work weeks to create the films.


4:30 AM -- The Baby (1973)
A social worker investigates a strange family.
Dir: Ted Post
Cast: Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill
C-85 mins,

The re-mastered edition of the audio track is not the original track from the film. The original track contained the actual sounds made by David Mooney during the filming. The baby sounds came from his performance and not canned baby sounds. The original track must have been lost and later baby sounds were added.