TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 8, 2015 -- Summer Under The Stars - Raymond Massey

[Staph]

Last edited Wed Aug 5, 2015, 09:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Today's star is Raymond Massey, born August 30, 1896, in Toronto, Ontario, the younger brother of Canadian politician Vincent Massey (1887-1967), who was the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada (1952-1959). Massey said the British thought he was American and the Americans thought he was British. He was actually Canadian. But his mother and paternal grandmother were both Americans and his branch of the Massey family migrated from England to Canada via the United States. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Things To Come (1936)
Two generations of philosophers try to bring an end to war.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson
BW-97 mins,

Before filming started, author H.G. Wells told everyone connected with the movie how much he'd hated Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927) and how he wanted them to do the opposite of what Lang (whom he called "Lange&quot and his crew had done.


8:00 AM -- The Drum (1938)
An Indian prince tries to save his British masters from a deadly revolt.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Sabu, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey
BW-94 mins,

At the time of its 1948 USA re-release, this film was most often shown on the top half of a double bill, along with the USA re-release of The Four Feathers (1939) on the lower half of the program.


9:45 AM -- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935)
A British aristocrat's effete facade masks a swashbuckling hero rescuing victims of the French revolution.
Dir: Harold Young
Cast: Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey
BW-98 mins,

Percy Blakeney refers to one of the boxers as "Mendoza", a reference to Daniel Mendoza, the 18th-century British Jew who revolutionized boxing. Mendoza was the heavyweight champion of England (1792-5), despite being a middleweight.


11:30 AM -- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
Romantic rivals get caught in the battle to stop abolitionist John Brown.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Raymond Massey
BW-110 mins, CC,

Raymond Massey starred as John Brown again in Seven Angry Men (1955), the main story of which is also the trial and hanging of the abolitionist.


1:30 PM -- Seven Angry Men (1955)
A fanatical abolitionist leads a personal war against slave owners in Kansas.
Dir: Charles Marquis Warren
Cast: Raymond Massey, Debra Paget, Jeffrey Hunter
C-92 mins, CC,

When one of Brown's sons is shot standing next to campfire, the shooter quickly draws his pistol and fires one shot, supposedly through Brown's son. The bullet flash can actually be seen passing just to the left of Brown's son in the film. It is amazing that such a shot would be allowed so close to the actor.


3:15 PM -- The Naked And The Dead (1958)
A green lieutenant comes up against incompetent officers and a sadistic sergeant during World War II.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey
C-131 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This film was originally to be released by RKO Radio Pictures, but by the time it was ready for release, that studio had closed down and the film was distributed by Warner Bros. It may be the only instance where the logos of both companies appear on the same film.


5:45 PM -- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
BW-118 mins, CC,

On stage, Boris Karloff played the monstrous Jonathan Brewster, Raymond Massey's film character, who, in eerie-looking screen makeup, resembled Karloff, which was a running gag throughout the picture. Because Karloff was still appearing in the Broadway play during the film's production, he was unable to do the picture.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: RAYMOND MASSEY



8:00 PM -- East Of Eden (1955)
Two brothers compete for their father's approval and a woman's love.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jo Van Fleet

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was the first posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards history.), Best Director -- Elia Kazan, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paul Osborn

The conflict between James Dean and Raymond Massey came to a boiling point in the scene where Cal angers his father because of the way he reads from the Bible. Elia Kazan, who found Massey to be a rather rigid and unemotional "stiff" off screen and on, wasn't happy with the way it was going, so he took Dean aside and whispered some suggestions. Dean came back and read the Old Testament passages interlaced with the most offensive curses and crude sexual expressions. The very religious Massey became incensed, storming off the set and threatening to call his lawyers. But before the outburst, Kazan was able to capture the heightened anger he was going for.


10:15 PM -- Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)
An exploration into the domestic and political life of this past president.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart, Ruth Gordon
BW-110 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Raymond Massey, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- James Wong Howe

After his success playing Lincoln in the film and on Broadway, Raymond Massey began to assume the character in real life. He often appeared at social gatherings dressed in Lincoln-esque attire, assuming a Lincoln-like manner and speech. His friend, the playwright George S. Kaufman, observed, "Massey won't be satisfied until someone assassinates him."


12:15 AM -- Desperate Journey (1942)
American pilots stranded in Germany during World War II fight their way to freedom.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Coleman
BW-108 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Byron Haskin (photographic) and Nathan Levinson (sound)

One of the few times that Australian Errol Flynn actually played an Australian.


2:15 AM -- God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)
A flyer dismissed as too old fights to prove himself against the Japanese.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Dennis Morgan, Dane Clark, Raymond Massey
BW-88 mins, CC,

Both "God is My Copilot" and "Flying Tigers" had major footage filmed in the same area of Southern California, Iverson's Ranch in the Thousand Oaks area, due to it's resemblance to portions of China.


4:00 AM -- Chain Lightning (1950)
A reckless jet pilot goes to work for a demanding aviation tycoon.
Dir: Stuart Heisler
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Eleanor Parker, Raymond Massey
BW-95 mins, CC,

Based on the story These Many Years, by Lester Cole, writting as J. Redmond Prior.

[Califonz]

1. Great actor!

Particularly good also in Stairway to Heaven (1946) as the US Continental Army soldier/British flyer prosecutor Abraham Farlan.

Interestingly, Massey joined the Canadian Army during WW1 and was wounded in combat in France before becoming an actor.