TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 5, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: William Holden

[Staph]

Robert Osborne and Sally Field's version of The Essentials has been delayed, due to some sort of production delay. In the mean time, Ben Mankiewicz is filling in, with a nice selection of films starring William Holden. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- West Of Shanghai (1937)
A Chinese warlord holds three fugitives prisoner.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Boris Karloff, Beverly Roberts, Ricardo Cortez
BW-64 mins, CC,

The original play takes place in the heart of bandit-infested Mexico, but to capitalize on the interest in China, the location was changed to China.


7:30 AM -- Trade Winds (1938)
A private eye falls for the murderess he's pursuing.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Fredric March, Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy
BW-94 mins, CC,

Ann Sothern's character proved so popular in this movie, it was spun off to create series of "Maisie" films.


9:15 AM -- Rusty Saves a Life (1949)
A faithful dog rescues his master from a life of delinquency.
Dir: Seymour Friedman
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Gloria Henry, Stephen Dunne
BW-68 mins, CC,

Seventh of the eight films about Rusty the dog.


10:30 AM -- Fighting Fools (1949)
The Bowery Boys help a boxer break up a fight-fixing gang.
Dir: Reginald Le Borg
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell
BW-69 mins, CC,

The thirteenth of forty-eight Bowery Boys movies.


11:48 AM -- Rowan & Martin At The Movies (1969)
This public service short has two comedians, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, host a show utilizing stock clips of famous celebrities.
Dir: Jack Arnold
C-11 mins,


12:00 PM -- Young Frankenstein (1974)
A descendant of Dr. Frankenstein sets out to make a man.
Dir: Mel Brooks
Cast: Terry Garr, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder
BW-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material -- Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, and Best Sound -- Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa

The shifting hump on Igor's back was an ad-libbed gag of Marty Feldman's. He had surreptitiously been shifting the hump back and forth for several days when cast members finally noticed. It was then added to the script.


2:00 PM -- No Way Out (1950)
A racist gangster forces a black doctor to tend to his injuries.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally
BW-107 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels

Richard Widmark was apparently very uncomfortable with some of the racist comments his character, Ray Biddle, made, especially given his friendship with Sidney Poitier. As a result, after some of the takes involving particularly venomous remarks, Widmark actually apologized to Poitier for the remarks his character had made.


4:00 PM -- Cape Fear (1962)
An ex-convict plots to destroy the district attorney who sent him to prison.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen
BW-106 mins, CC,

According to Robert Mitchum, during the filming of the final fight scene between him and Gregory Peck, Peck once accidentally punched him for real. Mitchum, knowing that Peck didn't mean to and ever the professional, refused to break character and continued filming the scene. However, upon entering his trailer, Mitchum said he "literally collapsed" due to the impact of the punch and said that he felt it for days after wards. According to Mitchum: "I don't feel sorry for anyone dumb enough who picks a fight with him (Peck)."


6:00 PM -- The Ipcress File (1965)
Secret agent Harry Palmer fights to survive brainwashing when a traitor hands him over to the enemy.
Dir: Sidney J. Furie
Cast: Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman
C-107 mins, Letterbox Format

Palmer is the first action hero to wear glasses (Michael Caine is myopic in real life). Caine chose to wear glasses because he expected the film to be the first of a series, similar to the Bond movies. He feared being over-identified with the character of Harry Palmer and so he wore the glasses so that he could remove them for other roles.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: WILLIAM HOLDEN



8:00 PM -- Sabrina (1954)
Two wealthy brothers fall for the chauffeur's daughter.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
BW-114 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor and Ernest Lehman, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hal Pereira, Walter H. Tyler, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer

Humphrey Bogart was a last minute replacement for Cary Grant (supposedly, Grant rejected the part because he did not want to carry an umbrella onscreen). Bogart and William Holden couldn't stand each other. Bogart disapproved of Audrey Hepburn (he wanted his wife Lauren Bacall in the role), while Holden fell in love with her. Bogart got $300,000, Holden got $150,000, and Hepburn only $15,000.


10:00 PM -- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Japanese Army forces World War II POWs to build a strategic bridge in Burma.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
C-161 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness was not present at the awards ceremony. Jean Simmons accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Director -- David Lean, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson were blacklisted at the time and received no screen credit. They were posthumously awarded Oscars in 1984. Pierre Boulle was not present at the awards ceremony. Kim Novak accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Cinematography -- Jack Hildyard, Best Film Editing -- Peter Taylor, Best Music, Scoring -- Malcolm Arnold, and Best Picture

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sessue Hayakawa

During shooting, Alec Guinness continued to have doubts about his performance and the direction he was getting from David Lean. To put Guinness at ease, Lean decided to show the actor a rough cut of certain sequences. One night, Lean ran over an hour's worth of footage for Guinness with the actor's wife and son also attending. During the screening, nothing was said. At the end, the Guinness family thanked Lean and promptly walked out, leaving the director without a clue as to what to think of their reaction (or lack of). Later that night, Lean received a visit from his lead actor who told him that he and his family had decided that Nicholson was the best thing that Guinness had ever done.


12:49 AM -- So Your Wife Wants To Work (1956)
This comedic short involves a wife who wants to work, but her husband isn't too keen on the idea. Vitaphone Release 2607A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Phyllis Coates, Emory Parnell
BW-9 mins,


1:00 AM -- Picnic (1956)
A handsome drifter ignites passions at a small-town Labor Day picnic.
Dir: Joshua Logan
Cast: William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William Flannery, Jo Mielziner and Robert Priestley, and Best Film Editing -- Charles Nelson and William A. Lyon

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Arthur O'Connell, Best Director -- Joshua Logan, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- George Duning, and Best Picture

William Holden didn't want to do the dance sequence with Kim Novak, fearing it would make him look foolish. He told co-star Cliff Robertson, "I just don't know how to dance." Hoping to persuade the studio to cut the dance scene, Holden insisted on being paid an $8,000 "stuntman premium." To his surprise, the studio paid up and Holden was forced to do the dance scene, although he was allowed to do it under the influence of alcohol. In that scene, he is actually intoxicated, and it still remains one of only four movies that he ever danced in (the others being Sabrina (1954), Dear Ruth (1947) and Sunset Blvd. (1950)), and one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.


3:00 AM -- The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Documentary cameras capture the thriving Los Angeles punk scene of the early 1980s.
Dir: Penelope Spheeris
Cast: Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Eugene
C-100 mins, CC,

After the film was screened in Los Angeles, punk music fans got into so many fights and caused so much trouble that then-L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates wrote the filmmakers a letter asking them not to screen the film again.


4:45 AM -- Booked for Safekeeping (1960)
In this short documentary, police officers are trained in the assistance and management of mentally ill and confused persons.
Dir: George C Stoney
BW-32 mins,


4:45 AM -- Changing (1971)
A young family tries to cope with shifting social values in this short film.
Dir: Hubert Smith
C-28 mins,


5:49 AM -- The Rainbow Pass (1937)
A wife challenges her husband's murderer to combat in this short film that introduces audiences to Chinese theater.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Bessie Loo, Chingwah Lee, Walter Soo Hoo
BW-11 mins,

[CBHagman]

1. Geez, sexism in spades on "Sabrina."

Confession: I'm not even really an Audrey Hepburn fan, but I wanted to smack the screen when I read how cheaply they got Audrey Hepburn for Sabrina. She's the whole reason to see the thing.

Yeah, I know it's early in her career, but still...