TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 7, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Blake Edwards

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is showing films starring and/or directed by Ida Lupino, a pioneer filmmaker and the second woman admitted to the Director's Guild. In prime time, TCM has a selection of films by writer / producer / director Blake Edwards. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- They Drive by Night (1940)
Truck driving brothers are framed for murder by a lady psycho.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino
BW-95 mins, CC,

The wife of producer Mark Hellinger, Gladys Glad, a former showgirl for Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., was responsible for getting this film made. Hellinger had brought home a large stack of scripts that he was to read for filming consideration. He had leafed through the script and read the summary, but felt that "nobody would pay money to see a bunch of truck drivers". His wife read this script, liked it and pressured Hellinger to read it. Reluctantly, he did, the film eventually got made and became the sleeper hit of the year for Warners. It was made for an estimated $400,000 and grossed more than $4,000,000. (Source: Book "The Mark Hellinger Story" by Jim Bishop, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1952)


8:00 AM -- Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A widow discovers her handyman is an escaped mental patient.
Dir: Harry Horner
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes
BW-77 mins, CC,

This story was originally done on the CBS radio show Suspense as "To Find Help" on 18 January 1945 with Frank Sinatra as Howard and Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Gillis (Mrs. Gordon in the film). This was Sinatra's "dramatic debut" on radio. It was done again on Suspense (1949) with Gene Kelly and Ethel Barrymore on 6 January 1949.


9:30 AM -- High Sierra (1941)
An aging ex-con sets out to pull one more big heist.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis
BW-100 mins, CC,

This was the last movie Humphrey Bogart made where he did not receive top billing. The studio thought that Ida Lupino should have top billing given the fact that she had been such a big hit in They Drive by Night (1940) and so her name ended up above Bogart's on the title card. Bogart was reportedly unhappy about receiving second billing but never complained.


11:15 AM -- On Dangerous Ground (1952)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond
BW-82 mins, CC,

Ida Lupino directed the film for several days when Nicholas Ray fell ill.


12:45 PM -- The Bigamist (1953)
A woman discovers her husband has another family in another city.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Joan Fontaine, Ida Lupino, Edmund Gwenn
BW-79 mins, CC,

This would be the last feature film directed by Ida Lupino for more than 12 years until The Trouble with Angels (1966).


2:15 PM -- Outrage (1950)
A rape victim runs away to escape her horrible memories.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Mala Powers, Tod Andrews, Robert Clarke
BW-75 mins, CC,

American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1941-1950 claims Tod Andrews made his screen debut in this film; actually, he has at least a dozen and a half previous credits while under contract to Warner Bros. as Michael Ames.


3:45 PM -- Hard, Fast, and Beautiful (1951)
A domineering mother tries to turn her daughter into a tennis star.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Claire Trevor, Sally Forrest, Carleton G. Young
BW-78 mins,

At the 34 minute mark of the movie, Florence is playing a match in Seabright, New Jersey. In the crowd shot, there is a cameo by director, Ida Lupino, and fellow actor, Robert Ryan, who are shown applauding for Florence.


5:15 PM -- Never Fear (1949)
A dancer who has just gotten engaged to her partner is devastated to learn that she has contracted polio.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Sally Forrest, Keefe Brasselle, Hugh O'Brian
BW-82 mins,

Like the protagonist of the film, director/writer Ida Lupino also contracted polio at a young age. This film was also Lupino's first credited film as the director.


6:45 PM -- The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman
BW-71 mins, CC,

In an interview Talman recalled an incident that happened shortly after the release of The Hitch-Hiker (1953), in which he gave a chilling portrayal of escaped murderer and serial killer Emmett Meyers. He was driving his convertible in Los Angeles with the top down, and he stopped at a red light. Another driver in a convertible who was stopped next to him stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "You're the hitchhiker, right?" Talman nodded, indicating that he was. The other driver got out of his car, went over to Talman's car and slapped him across the face, then got back in his car and drove off. In recalling the story, Talman said, "You know, I never won an Academy Award but I guess that was about as close as I ever will come to one."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BLAKE EDWARDS



8:00 PM -- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
A husband and wife fight to conquer alcoholism.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford
BW-117 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Days of Wine and Roses"

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Lee Remick, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Joseph C. Wright and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Donfeld

Bill Wilson, co-founder of AA, was on set as technical adviser.


10:15 PM -- The Party (1968)
An Indian actor turns a swank Hollywood party into a disaster.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet, Marge Champion
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The only Blake Edwards/Peter Sellers collaboration that was not a Pink Panther film.


12:03 AM -- A Look At The World Of "Soylent Green" (1973)
This short film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the science fiction film "Soylent Green" (1973).
C-10 mins,


12:15 AM -- S.O.B. (1981)
A movie producer who made a huge flop tries to salvage his career by revamping his film as an erotic production.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Final film of William Holden. Shortly after completing this movie, he slipped and fell in his living room, cutting his head open, and bled to death. He had been drinking heavily.


2:30 AM -- Victor Victoria (1982)
An unemployed female singer poses as a female impersonator and becomes a star.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Lesley Ann Warren, Julie Andrews, James Garner
C-134 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score -- Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Julie Andrews, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Preston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lesley Ann Warren, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Blake Edwards, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Rodger Maus, Tim Hutchinson, William Craig Smith and Harry Cordwell, and Best Costume Design -- Patricia Norris

The costume worn by Julie Andrews, in the number "The Shady Dame From Seville", is in fact the same costume worn by Robert Preston at the end of the film. The costume was made to fit Preston, and then, using a series of hooks and eyes at the back, it was drawn in tightly to fit Andrews' shapely figure. Additional black silk ruffles were also added to the bottom of the costume, to hide the differences in height. It's a pleasure to watch the costume being purposefully damaged by Preston. Now in a private collection, the rips and tears are still present. The fabric is a black and brown crepe, with fine gold threads woven into it, which when lit, appears to have an almost wet look about it.


5:00 AM -- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
A young writer gets caught up in a party girl's carefree existence.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal
BW-115 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Moon River", and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Henry Mancini

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- George Axelrod, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer

In the 2006 short documentary Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic (2006), Blake Edwards said that when the movie was made, he didn't think about the implications of casting a white actor, Mickey Rooney, in a role as a Japanese person, but "looking back, I wish I had never done it... and I would give anything to be able to recast it."