TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 13, 2016 -- Summer Under The Stars - Ralph Richardson

[Staph]

Today's Star is Sir Ralph Richardson, one of the trio of great English stage actors who also performed in films -- Richardson, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Laurence Olivier. They appeared in several scenes together in the epic miniseries Wagner (1981), which was released shortly after Richardson's death. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- THE CITADEL (1938)
A struggling doctor is tempted to give up his ideals for a posh high-society practice.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson
BW-113 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robert Donat, Best Director -- King Vidor, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ian Dalrymple, Elizabeth Hill and Frank Wead, and Best Picture

Vivien Leigh, Greer Garson and Geraldine Fitzgerald tested for the role of Christine, eventually played by Rosalind Russell.


8:00 AM -- THINGS TO COME (1936)
Two generations of philosophers try to bring an end to war.
Dir: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson
BW-97 mins,

Before filming started, author H.G. Wells told everyone connected with the movie how much he'd hated Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927) and how he wanted them to do the opposite of what Lang (whom he called "Lange&quot and his crew had done.


10:00 AM -- OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS (1951)
Friends and family search for a British expatriate adrift in Malaysia.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Trevor Howard, Robert Morley
BW-100 mins, CC,

Carol Reed originally wanted Stewart Granger to star.


12:00 PM -- THE SOUND BARRIER (1952)
A veteran pilot marries into a family in the aviation business.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick
BW-116 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Terence Rattigan

Despite this fictionalized story of breaking the sound barrier, this feat was accomplished by Air Force General Chuck Yeager on October 14, 1947 at Edwards Air Force Base. Furthermore, Yeager explained that if a pilot were to break the sound barrier in the manner depicted in the film, the pilot would've been killed. The film was also heavily based on the endeavors of the De Havilland company in the UK. Geoffrey De Havilland Jr, son of company owner Geoffrey De Havilland was killed in September 1946 whilst conducting high speed tests approaching the speed of sound over the Thames estuary.


2:00 PM -- THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939)
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith
C-115 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile

To prove he can read Braille, Durrance (Ralph Richardson) scans with his fingers and reads out a speech spoken by Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest, before admitting he 'knew that bit by heart anyway.' Richardson played Caliban in the famous Old Vic production of The Tempest in 1930, which starred John Gielgud as Prospero.


4:00 PM -- TIME BANDITS (1981)
A young boy embarks on an adventure through time with a group of runaway dwarfs.
Dir: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall
C-116 mins, Letterbox Format

Ralph Richardson took his role as Supreme Being so seriously that he submitted his own red ink edits complete with message "God wouldn't say that".


6:00 PM -- THE WRONG BOX (1966)
Two elderly brothers plot to kill each other for a fortune.
Dir: Bryan Forbes
Cast: John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Michael Caine
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

When Ralph Richardson was offered the part of Joseph Finsbury, he was finishing work on Doctor Zhivago (1965). Richardson wrote to director Bryan Forbes from the location in Spain and asked if he could wear the same jacket he had worn as Alexander in "Zhivago". Forbes agreed, and Richardson did so.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: RALPH RICHARDSON



8:00 PM -- THE HEIRESS (1949)
A plain young woman's money makes her prey to fortune hunters.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson
BW-115 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Olivia de Havilland, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Meehan, Harry Horner and Emile Kuri, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Gile Steele, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Aaron Copland

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ralph Richardson, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Leo Tover, and Best Picture

Olivia de Havilland wisely chose William Wyler as her director, considering that such a meticulous director would be able to coax a strong performance from her. As it turned out, Wyler became a staunch supporter of his leading actress, particularly in regard to the sneering attitude that Montgomery Clift displayed toward her (he didn't value her talents as an actress) and Ralph Richardson taking every opportunity to steal scenes from under her nose with his improvisations.


10:15 PM -- THE FALLEN IDOL (1948)
A neglected child thinks the servant he idolizes has committed murder.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan, Bobby Henrey
BW-95 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Carol Reed, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Graham Greene

In casting Phillipe, Carol Reed and company found the face they were looking for on the cover of a book, A Village in Piccadilly, part of a trilogy about the lives of French refugees from Nazism who had settled in London. The author, Robert Henrey, and his wife were two such people, along with their eight-year-old son Bobby, whose picture graced the cover. London Films production executive Bill O'Brien contacted the Henreys to set up a screen test with Ralph Richardson. Madeleine Henrey, the mother, was reluctant, fearing the experience would spoil her son, but her husband thought it might be good character-building for him. She agreed it was a possibility but only if she could be present on set at all times and personally supervise him. Bobby was flown in for the test by Korda from Normandy, where he was visiting his grandmother.


12:00 AM -- ANNA KARENINA (1948)
Adaptation of Tolstoy's classic tale of a woman who deserts her family for an illicit love.
Dir: Julien Duvivier
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson, Kieron Moore
BW-113 mins, CC,

Film debut of Barbara Murphy ad Maxine Audley.


2:00 AM -- OSCAR WILDE (1960)
A biographical look at the tumultuous life of the legendary playwright, poet, and wit.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Robert Morley, Phyllis Calvert, Ralph Richardson
BW-98 mins, CC,

Robert Morley made his name on the stage playing Oscar Wilde at the London Gate Theatre in 1936. The play was a success despite being banned from major London theatres because of its theme of homosexuality, and was later produced in America with Morely making his Broadway debut in the part on October 10, 1938. The play was a hit in New York and ran 247 performances, a substantial run at the time for a straight play.


4:00 AM -- THE DIVORCE OF LADY X (1938)
In need of a hotel room, a woman poses as a scandalous divorcee.
Dir: Tim Whelan
Cast: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Binnie Barnes
C-91 mins,

This film is an adaptation of the same play as Counsel's Opinion (1933). Both films were produced by Alexander Korda, and Binnie Barnes appears in both of them, as Leslie in the earlier film and as Lady Mere in this one.