TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 26 -- What's On Tonight: Yul Brynner

[Staph]

What a wonderful day! It's full of films based on the works of Tennessee Williams, and every single one of them was nominated for or won Oscars. And in primetime, we have five films starring the King himself -- Yul Brynner. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Night Of The Iguana (1964)
A defrocked priest surrenders to the sins of the flesh in a Mexican hotel.
118 min, TV-14
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grayson Hall, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen B. Grimes, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gabriel Figueroa

In order to defuse the tension prior to shooting (due mainly to the isolated location the stars would be working in together), John Huston made each lead actor a gold-encrusted pistol with bullets--one with each actor's name on it. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they would use the designated bullet. This proved to be successful. No problems among the cast arose.


8:00 AM -- Period Of Adjustment (1962)
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is disrupted by their friends' marital problems.
112 min, TV-PG
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Edward C. Carfagno, Henry Grace and Richard Pefferle

The original Broadway production of "Period of Adjustment" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on November 10, 1960 and ran for 132 performances. The Tennessee Williams play was adapted for this movie by Isobel Lennart.


10:00 AM -- Sweet Bird Of Youth (1962)
A young gigolo returns to his southern hometown in search of the lost love of his youth.
C-120 min, TV-PG
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ed Begley

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Geraldine Page, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Shirley Knight

The film was given a pre-rating advisory of restricted by the MPAA, disallowing any persons under the age of 18 from attending. This was pre-rating equivalent of an X (later NC-17) rating. By modern standards the film is so tame, when Shown on Turner Classic Movies, it's rated TV-PG.


12:00 PM -- The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone (1961)
A fading stage star gets caught up in the decadent life of modern Rome when she hires a male companion.
104 min, TV-G
Dir: José Quintero
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Lotte Lenya

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lotte Lenya

According to his memoirs Oliver Reed was interviewed by Elia Kazan for a role in the movie.


1:45 PM -- Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)
A dying plantation owner tries to help his alcoholic son solve his problems.
C-108 min, TV-PG
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Taylor, Best Cinematography, Color -- William H. Daniels, Best Director -- Richard Brooks, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Richard Brooks and James Poe, and Best Picture

Playwright Tennessee Williams so disliked this adaptation that he told people in the queue "This movie will set the industry back 50 years. Go home!"


3:45 PM -- Baby Doll (1956)
A child bride holds her husband at bay while flirting with a sexy Italian farmer.
115 min, TV-14
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Carroll Baker, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mildred Dunnock, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Boris Kaufman, and Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams's first choice for the title role of Baby Doll was Marilyn Monroe, (who was straining to improve herself as an actress at the time and wanted the role badly), although Elia Kazan preferred newcomer Carroll Baker, whose work he was familiar with from the Actors' Studio in New York.


5:45 PM -- The Misfits (1961)
A sensitive divorcee gets mixed up with modern cowboys roping mustangs in the desert.
125 min, TV-PG
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift

This was the last completed film for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Gable died of a heart attack and Monroe died of an alleged drug overdose a year later. (Note: While Something's Got to Give is listed as her last film, it was never completed because she was fired.)

On the last day of filming, Clark Gable said regarding Marilyn Monroe, "Christ, I'm glad this picture's finished. She damn near gave me a heart attack." On the next day, Gable suffered a severe coronary thrombosis. He died in hospital from a heart attack just ten days later.

This movie was on television on the night Montgomery Clift died. His live-in personal secretary, Lorenzo James, asked Clift if he wanted to watch it. "Absolutely not" was Clift's reply, the last words that he spoke to anyone. He was found dead the next morning, having suffered a heart attack during the night.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: YUL BRYNNER



8:00 PM -- Triple Cross (1967)
A safecracker turns double agent during WWII.
C-126 min, TV-PG
Dir: Terence Young
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard

Filmed in France.


10:15 PM -- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Seven American gunmen hire themselves out to protect a Mexican village from bandits.
C-128 min, TV-PG
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

According to Eli Wallach's autobiography, Yul Brynner had a major problem with what he perceived as Steve McQueen's trying to upstage him. According to Wallach, McQueen would do things when on screen with Brynner to draw attention to his character. Examples were his shaking of the shotgun shells and taking off his hat to check the sun during the hearse scene and leaning off his horse to dip his hat in the river when the Seven cross into Mexico. Brynner was supposedly so worried about McQueen stealing his limelight in scenes that he hired an assistant to count the number of times McQueen touched his own hat when he Brynner was speaking.


12:30 AM -- Kings Of The Sun (1963)
A Mayan tribe emigrates northward but has to fight off Native Americans.
C-108 min, TV-14
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Yul Brynner, George Chakiris, Shirley Field

Filmed in part on site at Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico.


2:30 AM -- The Double Man (1967)
Russian secret service officials attempts to kidnap a CIA officer and replace him with a double of its own.
C-105 min, TV-PG
Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner
Cast: Yul Brynner, Britt Ekland, Clive Revill

This movie was made and released about nine years after its source novel 'Legacy of a Spy' by author Henry Maxfield was first published in 1958. 'Legacy of a Spy' was also this film's working title.


4:30 AM -- Flight From Ashiya (1964)
A rescue service goes after a sinking cargo ship off the Japanese coast.
C-102 min, TV-G
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, George Chakiris

Brynner's role is TSgt. Mike Takashima... father Japanese, mother Polish.