TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 4, 2015 -- The Essentials: Marching Musicals

[Staph]

In the morning, it's a trio of all-American musicals (On The Town (1949), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)). In the afternoon, we've got a trio of films portraying the American Revolution, including one of my all-time favorite films, 1776 (1972). Then tonight's Essentials features a trio of musical films with great marching sequences, including Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), The Music Man (1962), and Rosalie (1937). Enjoy and have a happy Fourth!



6:15 AM -- On the Town (1949)
Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.
Dir: Gene Kelly
Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett
C-98 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton

A total of 5 days was spent filming in New York City. The 2 major problems faced by the crew was the weather (it rained for most of the shoot) and the popularity of Frank Sinatra. Gene Kelly explained that the movie was filmed at the height of Sinatra mania and Frank would be instantly recognized by people on the streets. To avoid crowds the cast insisted on taxis instead of limousines for transportation and that the camera be hidden inside a station wagon. During the finale of the "New York, New York" musical number, which takes place in the sunken plaza at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in front of the statue of Prometheus, you can see at the top of the frame of the last shot, the heads of hundreds of curious spectators staring at the three stars over the wall behind the statue.


8:00 AM -- Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Fanciful musical biography of wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern
C-107 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, and Best Film Editing -- James E. Newcom

Judy Garland and Frank Morgan, who appeared together in The Wizard of Oz (1939), were scheduled to reappear together in this film. Garland was fired because of health problems, and Frank Morgan died shortly after filming began. As a result of this, Betty Hutton took over Judy Garland's role as Annie Oakley, and Louis Calhern succeeded Frank Morgan as Buffalo Bill.


10:00 AM -- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
When their older brother marries, six lumberjacks decide it's time to go courting for themselves.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, and Best Picture

For the famous barn raising dance sequence, the cast rehearsed for three weeks in order to get the intricate choreography down. It was during one of these rehearsals that Russ Tamblyn wandered over to the set along with Jeff Richards to see how the scene was coming along. "Michael Kidd called me over and said, 'Rusty, somebody told me that you're a good tumbler, that you can do some flips'," said Tamblyn in a 2004 interview. "So I did a back flip for him. 'Fantastic!' he said. 'We'll put it in a number.' I told him I really wasn't a dancer, except for some tap dancing. But he said, 'Listen, this is just like square dancing. All you have to do is lift your legs high. You can do a lot of acrobatic stuff. It's perfect.' That's how I became a dancer in Seven Brides."


11:45 AM -- The Scarlet Coat (1955)
An American officer goes undercover to unmask a Revolutionary War traitor.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Cornel Wilde, Michael Wilding, George Sanders
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ironically, the narrator Paul Frees was a spy. According to author Peter Guralnick (in "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley&quot , Frees was an undercover narcotics agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the 1960s.


1:30 PM -- The Devil's Disciple (1959)
A preacher and a rebel leader change places during the Revolution.
Dir: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier
BW-83 mins,

The scene near the end of the movie where Gen. Burgoyne invites Richard Dudgeon and Mrs. Anderson to dine with him and his lady friend is based loosely on the historical fact that after the British surrender at Saratoga, Gen. Burgoyne and the American commander Gen. Horatio Gates and their staffs then ate a simple lunch together (shortly after 2 p.m. on Friday Oct.17, 1777).


3:00 PM -- 1776 (1972)
The founding fathers struggle to draft the Declaration of Independence.
Dir: Peter H. Hunt
Cast: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard
C-165 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography -- Harry Stradling Jr.

Director Peter H. Hunt and writer Peter Stone claim in the DVD commentary that President Richard Nixon was given a private screening of the movie before its release in 1972 by his friend, producer Jack L. Warner. The claim further goes on that the song "Cool, Considerate Men" offended Nixon (he thought that audiences would take it as a criticism of his presidency, even though the film was set two centuries earlier), so Warner removed it at Nixon's request. However, the documents from the Nixon Library (which lists all the movies viewed at the White House at the time) shows that "1776" was never previewed there. However, the documents do show that the Nixon family was given a performance of the stage play of "1776" at the White House on February 22, 1970, and this may be the cause of the confusion of about a private screening of the film. As Jack Warner was not in attendance for the 1970 performance, it remains an open question as to how much of the story behind Warner's cutting of the song is true. In any case, the song was restored on the deluxe wide screen presentation laserdisc and later was included on the restored director's cut DVD (and will, I hope, appear in TCM's version of the film today. It's a great number, and is an excellent portrayal of today's conservatives, too!).


6:00 PM -- Miss Firecracker (1989)
A small-town girl pins all her hopes on winning a local beauty pageant.
Dir: Thomas Schlamme
Cast: Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins, Mary Steenburgen
C-103 mins, CC,

Based on Beth Henley's 1984 play The Miss Firecracker Contest, and filmed on location in Yazoo City, Mississippi.


7:50 PM -- The United States Army Band (1943)
This patriotic wartime short showcases the U.S. Army Band along with war and peacetime footage of the U.S. Army. Vitaphone Release 1076A.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
BW-9 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: MARCHING MUSICALS



8:00 PM -- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Spirited musical biography of the song-and-dance man who kept America humming through two world wars.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston
BW-126 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Cagney, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Huston, Best Director -- Michael Curtiz, Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Buckner, Best Film Editing -- George Amy, and Best Picture

Walking down the stairs at the White House, James Cagney goes into a tap dance. According to TCM, that was completely ad-libbed.


10:15 PM -- The Music Man (1962)
A con artist hawks musical instruments and band uniforms to small-town America.
Dir: Morton DaCosta
Cast: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett
C-151 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Ray Heindorf

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Paul Groesse and George James Hopkins, Best Costume Design, Color -- Dorothy Jeakins, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Film Editing -- William H. Ziegler, and Best Picture

Shirley Jones learned she was pregnant with her son Patrick once the filming of had begun. She met with director Morton DaCosta over lunch to inform him of the situation. Her concern was that she would begin "showing" during its filming. He assured her that they could work through it with costumes and also by filming her from the waist up, if necessary. He did have one request, that she tell no one about it. Robert Preston did figure it out before filming had concluded, when Shirley's character, Marion, and his character, Professor Hill, kissed for the first time in the romantic footbridge scene. He leaned in for the kiss and jumped back, asking her, "What was that?" to which she replied, "That is Patrick Cassidy! Say, 'Hello!' " Years later, her son Patrick had the opportunity to meet Preston. He walked up and introduced himself saying, "Hello. I'm Patrick Cassidy." Preston replied, "Yes, I know. We've already met."


1:00 AM -- Rosalie (1937)
A West Point cadet falls for a European princess.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, Frank Morgan
BW-124 mins, CC,

Originally to be filmed with Marion Davies in 1928. The production was abruptly halted when MGM converted its studio to sound. The 1936 film incorporated footage from the unfinished 1928 production, mostly exterior shots.


3:15 AM -- Cleopatra Jones (1973)
A female drug agent locks horns with a violent drug dealer.
Dir: Jack Starrett
Cast: Tamara Dobson, Shelley Winters, Bernie Casey
C-89 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Cleo's ride in the film is a customized black and silver 1973 Corvette Stingray. When she opens the door to get out, the T-bar panel in the roof above the driver's seat automatically opens as well so she can get out without squashing her afro.


4:45 AM -- Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975)
A drug agent hunts down two colleagues taken hostage by a ruthless casino owner.
Dir: Chuck Bail
Cast: Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Norman Fell
C-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Tamara Janice Dobson (May 14, 1947 - October 2, 2006) was an African-American actress and fashion model. Though she appeared in a few films in Hollywood, she became best known for her title roles in the 1973 Blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones and its 1975 sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. She died at the age of 59 from complications of pneumonia and multiple sclerosis.

[elleng]

1. A GOOD one,

been looking forward to 1776 AGAIN!

[Staph]

3. We have a bit of a family tradition

of watching 1776 on the fourth of July. My sister and I can sing all of the songs (and know most of the dialogue as well).

I bought the DVD a few years ago, in the years when TCM lets me down and doesn't show 1776 on Independence Day.

[elleng]

4. Happening to me, Staph!

I/we used to go to The Mall every July 4, living in DC as we did, but kids grow up and out, life happens, we're spread around now, so I watch 1776 (along with some cyber-friends,) sing the songs, recite dialogue, and LEARN HISTORY!

[CBHagman]

2. I could watch the "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" barn-raising dance every day...

...and never tire of it.

Sorry about the scratchy sound in this, but it's the only full video I've found thus far online.

[url]

[/url]

[longship]

5. Great story about Shirley Jones in Music Man.

It is one of two musicals I can tolerate -- the other being "Singing in the Rain". (Please... no Judy Garland.)

What makes "The Music Man" great is, as with all great cinema, an ensemble cast working together. Plus, a rhythm to the film which just makes it work.

Even removing Buddy Hacket from Music Man decreases its perfection.

Love it.