TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 10, 2015 -- What's On Tonight: Claude Chabrol

[Staph]

Chalk up another evening of the Turner Classic Movies cinematic advanced education. I have never heard of writer/director Claude Chabrol, but he is considered the Balzac of Cinema and the French Hitchcock. In prime time, we will find out if he deserves those nicknames. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Suddenly (1954)
Gunmen take over a suburban home to plot a presidential assassination.
Dir: Lewis Alln
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason
BW-77 mins, CC,

This is the film that Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly watched just a few days before assassinating President John F. Kennedy.


7:30 AM -- None but the Brave (1965)
During World War II, American and Japanese soldiers stranded on a remote island call a truce in order to survive.
Dir: Frank Sinatra
Cast: Tatsuya Mihashi, Takeshi Kato, Homare Suguro
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Frank Sinatra's only film as director and his 6th out of nine films as producer.


9:30 AM -- The Pride and the Passion (1957)
A British naval officer helps Spanish peasants haul a large cannon cross-country to battle Napoleon.
Dir: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren
C-132 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

By all accounts, Frank Sinatra was at his most obstreperous throughout the making of this film. Among other things, he refused to use the car supplied him by the studio, insisting upon having his Ford Thunderbird flown all the way to Spain at the studio's expense. In addition, he almost caused an international incident when he hung a banner from his hotel room window reading "Franco is a Fink", referring to Spain's dictator, Francisco Franco. In hindsight, Sinatra referred to the whole experience as "underwhelming".


11:45 AM -- Never So Few (1959)
A U.S. military troop takes command of a band of Burmese guerillas during World War II.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford
C-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This movie is based on the real-life story of World War II's OSS Detachment 101. This was an OSS Operations Group designed to specialize in activities in the China-Burma-India region in collaboration with the Kachin Rangers and other Allied special operations units.


2:00 PM -- Cast A Giant Shadow (1966)
True story of U.S. officer Mickey Marcus, who joined the Israeli fight against the Arabs.
Dir: Melville Shavelson
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Angie Dickinson
C-138 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Michael Douglas' movie debut. I wonder if his daddy got him the job? Just kidding!


4:30 PM -- The Extraordinary Seaman (1969)
Marooned sailors discover a World War II ship haunted by its late captain.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda
C-80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Last film of Barry Kelley.


6:00 PM -- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
A spirited widow rents a haunted cottage and builds an emotional bond with the resident ghost.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders
BW-104 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang

The word "muir" means "the sea" in Gaelic. Many times sailors are said to have been "married" to the sea, or that the only woman they ever loved was the sea.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CLAUDE CHABROL



8:00 PM -- Les Cousins (1958)
The relationship between two cousins with different personalities is challenged when one falls in love with the other's friend.
Dir: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Gerard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Juliette Mayniel
BW-110 mins,

Two ends were filmed, one optimistic (the reconciliation between the two cousins, which was discarded, and the other pessimistic (which was finally chosen).


10:00 PM -- Le Beau Serge (1958)
An ailing city dweller makes a therapeutic return visit to his home town in the country.
Dir: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Gerard Blain, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michele Meritz
BW-95 mins,

This was the first feature film to be directed by Claude Chabrol, who made it in the village which was his birthplace, using local people in small parts. Part of the financing for the film came from an inheritance of his first wife's; later, after a divorce, Chabrol would sometimes jokingly claim that he had married her primarily to use her money for the film.


11:43 PM -- The Shoes Of The Fisherman (1968)
This promotional short film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the political drama "The Shoes of the Fisherman" (1968).
C-9 mins,


12:00 AM -- Story of Women (1988)
A working class woman in occupied France makes ends meet by performing abortions.
Dir: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, François Cluzet, Marie Trintignant
C-108 mins,

Based upon the true story of Marie-Louise Giraud, one of the last women to be guillotined in France.


2:00 AM -- La Ceremonie (1995)
A small-town postmistress inspires a maid to rebel against her employers.
Dir: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Bonnaire, Jacqueline Bisset
C-112 mins,

The film Jaqueline Bisset and Valentin Merlet watching is Wedding in Blood (1973).


4:00 AM -- Masques (1987)
A writer spends the weekend with a TV star and uncovers his deepest secrets.
Dir: Claude Chabrol
Cast: Philippe Noiret, Robin Renucci, Bernadette Lafont
C-100 mins,

The theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "Funeral Dance of a Marionette", plays during a suspenseful scene.