TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 15, 2015 -- Summer Under The Stars - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

[Staph]

Today's star is Douglas Fairbanks Junior, born Douglas Elton Ulman Fairbanks Junior on December 9, 1909, in New York City, son of swashbuckling actor Douglas Fairbanks Senior. Swoon! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Chances (1931)
When brothers fighting World War I together fall for the same girl, it spells danger.
Dir: Allan Dwan
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Rose Hobart, Anthony Bushell
BW-71 mins,

First National constructed its largest set up to that time, for the exterior, interior and garden of an English country home.


7:15 AM -- Union Depot (1932)
An out-of-luck con artist discovers a suitcase full of money at a train station.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee
BW-67 mins,

Unlike the films of the period, "Union Depot" displays its credits at the end, not the beginning.


8:30 AM -- It's Tough To Be Famous (1932)
Fame complicates a naval hero's private life.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Brian, Harold Minjir
BW-79 mins,

In this early 1930s Pre-Code film, a "double entendre" is used when Scotty (Fairbanks) and Janet (Mary Brian) discuss the antique clock in the living room. As Janet starts to enter the bedroom, she tells Scotty to fix "his clock", a careful listener can hear a message with a totally different meaning, than what was implied earlier.


10:00 AM -- The Narrow Corner (1933)
A man on the run for murder tries to escape fate in the Pacific islands.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Patricia Ellis, Ralph Bellamy
BW-69 mins,

Both after the opening and before the ending credits, the following quotation of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus - (121-180), Meditations. iii. 10 - is depicted on-screen: "Short, therefore, is man's life; and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells."


11:15 AM -- Captured! (1933)
While in a POW camp, a man discovers his best friend was his wife's lover.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks, Paul Lukas
BW-69 mins,

The airplane escape sequence at the end used 75 biplanes and 1,500 people, and was filmed at night.


12:30 PM -- Having Wonderful Time (1938)
A New York girl finds love at a summer resort.
Dir: Alfred Santell
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Douglas Fairbanks, Peggy Conklin
BW-70 mins, CC,

In the original Broadway play, all the principle characters were Jewish. (In the early and mid 20th century, Catskill Mountain resorts like the one depicted in the story were vacation hot spots for East Coast Jews.) Because of anti-Semitism in America at the time, all references to Jewish-American culture (including the last names of many of the characters) were either removed or altered. For instance, in the adaptation process, the play's lead characters, Teddy Stern and Chick Kessler, were among a half dozen or so characters who were given names that were more Christian-sounding -- Teddy Shaw and Chick Kirkland. As Leonard Maltin puts it in his yearly movie guide: "The original's satiric depiction of Jewish New Yorkers is completely homogenized."


1:45 PM -- 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, 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).


4:00 PM -- Gunga Din (1939)
Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks
BW-117 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph H. August

Sabu was first choice to play Gunga Din; when it became clear he was unavailable, Sam Jaffe was hired in his place. In an interview years later, Jaffe (a Jewish Russian-American) was asked how he so convincingly played an Indian Muslim. Jaffe replied he kept telling himself to "Think Sabu."


6:15 PM -- The Exile (1947)
A deposed king, Charles II of England, fights for his life while hiding out at a farm.
Dir: Max Opuls
Cast: Maria Montez, Paule Croset, Henry Daniell
BW-92 mins,

Because of contractual requirements, Maria Montez receives star billing even though her role only demands she be on screen for about ten minutes, forty minutes into the film, after which time she is never seen again.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR.



8:00 PM -- The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937)
An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Lyle R. Wheeler, and Best Music, Score -- Alfred Newman

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. initially wanted the double role for himself and actually tested for it. He was devastated when it was awarded to Ronald Colman. Instead he was offered the part of Rupert of Hentzau and, according to David O. Selznick, "Nobody else stood a chance!" His father, Douglas Fairbanks convinced his son that it was a blessing in disguise, as it was the best part in the piece, and advised him on billing and costume.


10:00 PM -- The Corsican Brothers (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents' murder.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

In many scenes, there appear to be two of Fairbanks in the medium shot without trick photography. The director did it by having a stuntman wear a special Fairbanks mask, complete with mustache.


12:00 AM -- Flight Commander (1930 - originally released as The Dawn Patrol)
A hotshot World War I flyer almost cracks under the pressure of sending his men on perilous missions.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks, Neil Hamilton
BW-108 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- John Monk Saunders

Director Howard Hawks, who was a pilot in the US Army during World War I, flew in the battle scenes as a German pilot.


2:00 AM -- Parachute Jumper (1933)
A gangster victimizes three friends trying to get jobs.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Bette Davis, Frank McHugh
BW-72 mins,

In his autobiography Douglas Fairbanks Jr. claims that Bette Davis thought Director Alfred E. Green's sense of humor as infantile. Fairbanks characterized his co-star as "not particularly pretty; in fact, I thought her quite plain, but one didn't easily forget her unique personality." He also remembered her as "always conscientious, serious... devoid of humor of any kind." Despite this, Producer Fairbanks hired her two decades later to star in "Another Man's Poison."


3:15 AM -- Little Caesar (1930)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Glenda Farrell
BW-78 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee

Clark Gable was originally considered for the part of Joe Massara, but Jack L. Warner decided that Gable's ears were too big, and the role went to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. instead. Gable ultimately signed with MGM, where he would become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history.


4:45 AM -- Success at Any Price (1934)
A young man ruthlessly climbs the corporate ladder only to attempt suicide when the stock market crashes.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Genevieve Tobin, Frank Morgan
BW-74 mins,

The play, "Success Story," opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 26 September 1932 and closed in January 1933 after 121 performances. The opening night cast included Stella Adler as Sarah, Franchot Tone as Raymond, Luther Adler and Morris Carnovsky. Adler and Carnovsky are among the founders of the acting theory called the Method.