TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 28, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Sophia Loren

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, after a couple of Doris Day films, TCM is celebrating the birth of Ann-Margret Olsson, born April 28,1941, in Valsjöbyn, Jämtlands län, Sweden. Her first film was Pocketful of Miracles (1961), with Bette Davis, and she has a couple of films coming out in 2016. In prime time, it's opening day of the TCM Classic Film Festival, and TCM is featuring an interview and films of last year's special guest Sophia Loren. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- The Winning Team (1952)
Baseball great Grover Cleveland Alexander fights his way back from a blinding injury.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy
BW-98 mins, CC,

The opening credits show Grover Cleveland Alexander's plaque at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It is accurate in all respects except one: it shows Ronald Reagan's likeness instead of the real Grover Cleveland Alexander.


8:45 AM -- The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
A woman writing a scientist's biography is mistaken for a spy.
Dir: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Alice Pearce and George Tobias appear as a married couple. They were also husband and wife in Bewitched (1964) (1964). Paul Lynde, who plays Homer Cripps, also appeared in the show as Samantha's zany Uncle Arthur. This was Alice Pearce's last film -- she died of ovarian cancer three months before the film's premiere.


10:45 AM -- Made in Paris (1966)
A young fashion designer is transformed by her first trip to Paris.
Dir: Boris Sagal
Cast: Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna
BW-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

As pre-release publicity MGM sent costume designer Helen Rose to New York City and Chicago with "25 Fabulous Helen Rose Fashion Creations" from the $250,000 wardrobe designed for the film. The first fashion show was presented at the National Press Fashion Show sponsored by The New York Couture Group in January 1966. A week later the famous Pump Room in The Ambassador East Hotel was the scene for the Chicago show, followed by the world premiere of the film at The Chicago Theatre on January 28, 1966. A vial of the Robert Piguet fragrance "Bandit" was handed out to the ladies for the first three days of the movies run in Chicago.


12:45 PM -- Once A Thief (1965)
A young ex-con trying to go straight gets caught up in another criminal scheme.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Alain Delon, Ann-Margret, Van Heflin
BW-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Production was delayed several days while the crew waited for cloudy daytime weather to add atmosphere to the big finale. This was just fine with star Ann-Margret. She had been introduced for the second time to future-husband Roger Smith, who was performing in a Frisco nightclub, and she wasn't looking forward to leaving him.


2:45 PM -- The Train Robbers (1973)
A bandit's widow enlists a famed gunman to return the gold her husband had stolen.
Dir: Burt Kennedy
Cast: John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Bobby Vinton
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

John Wayne's and Ann-Margret's character names, "Lane" and "Mrs. Lowe," are the same as Wayne's and Geraldine Page's characters' names in Hondo (1953).


4:30 PM -- Viva Las Vegas (1964)
A race-car driver falls for a pretty swimming instructor who wants him to slow down his career.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova
C-85 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Surprisingly, according to Variety, "Viva Las Vegas" earned more in distributors rentals than "A Hard Day's Night" despite both films being released in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania. "Viva Las Vegas" grossed $9,442,967 compared to $6,165,000 for the Beatles' debut feature.


6:00 PM -- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
A rock star's personal appearance turns a small town into a disaster area.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound -- Charles Rice (Columbia SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Johnny Green

Supposedly at a dinner party celebrating the completion of the film, either Maureen Stapleton or Paul Lynde (the story would make sense featuring either of them) stood up and said, "Ann-Margret, I want you to know that I'm the only person who worked on this film who doesn't want to {have carnal relations with} you.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SOPHIA LOREN



8:00 PM -- Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival: Sophia Loren (2016)
Sophia Loren discusses her career with her son Edoardo Ponti and a live audience.
C-66 mins, CC,

Her birth name was Sofia Villani Scicolone. In her early films, under the direction of her (later husband) Carlo Ponti, she was billed as "Sofia Lazzaro" because people joked her beauty could raise Lazzarus from the dead.


9:15 PM -- Human Voice (2014)
An aging beauty tries desperately to win back a lover drawn to a younger woman.
Dir: Edoardo Ponti
Cast: Enrico Lo Verso, Sophia Loren,
C-26 mins, Letterbox Format

Human Voice is based on Jean Cocteau's iconic one woman play of the same name (Voce umana).


9:45 PM -- Marriage - Italian Style (1964)
A businessman's discarded mistress refuses to tell him which of her three sons is his.
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
Cast: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Puglisi
C-102 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for a 1966 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- Italy, and for a 1965 Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Sophia Loren

And no, I don't know have any idea why this film was nominated for Oscars in two different years. It's a mystery!


11:30 PM -- Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival: Sophia Loren (2016)
Sophia Loren discusses her career with her son Edoardo Ponti and a live audience.
C-66 mins, CC,

Loren may have been the voluptuous sex goddess as an adult, but until age 14, she was a skinny child and considered an ugly duckling, nicknamed "The Stick" and "Toothpick".


12:45 AM -- Arabesque (1966)
A university professor gets mixed up with international spies and a two-timing woman.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The part of David Pollock was originally written for Cary Grant. When Gregory Peck had trouble getting the humor right in a line, he'd smile and tell director Stanley Donen "Remember, I'm no Cary Grant."


2:45 AM -- The Priest's Wife (1971)
A priest falls in love with a young woman and sets her up as his mistress.
Dir: Dino Risi
Cast: Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Venantino Venantini
C-107 mins,

This film is referenced in The French Connection (1971) -- the title is advertised on the Trans-Lux theater marquee.


4:45 AM -- More Than a Miracle (1967)
A prince falls for a peasant girl in a fairy tale kingdom.
Dir: Francesco Rosi
Cast: Sophia Loren, Omar Sharif, Dolores Del Rio
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Anachronisms -- Joseph of Cupertino died on 18 September 1663, which means that the plot of this movie takes place in September of 1663. The fashions, however, are from the beginning of the 17th century; the ruff, for example, was no longer in fashion by 1663. What can I saw -- I'm a costume junkie!

[TeamPooka]

1. Well, A Hard Day's Night didn't have Ann-Margaret in it. Nuff said. nt

[Staph]

2. Giggle. Giggle.

Snort.