TCM Schedule for Friday, September 23, 2016 -- Star of the Month - Gene Hackman

[Staph]

In most of the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating Grace Kelly, though it's not her birthday. And in prime time, it's the last of September's Star of the Month, the prolific and prolifically talented Gene Hackman, in a selection of his films of the 1970s and 1980s. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MOGAMBO (1953)
In this remake of Red Dust, an African hunter is torn between a lusty showgirl and a married woman.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
C-116 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ava Gardner, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grace Kelly

The censors in Spain did not allow adultery to be shown on the screen. For that reason, MGM changed the relationship of the characters of Linda Nordley (Grace Kelly) and Donald Nordley (Donald Sinden) from wife and husband to sister and brother in the dubbed version released in Spain. However, they did not delete a scene in which both share a bed together.


8:00 AM -- DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)
A straying husband frames his wife for the murder of the man he'd hired to kill her.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
C-105 mins, CC,

Alfred Hitchcock had chosen a very expensive robe for Grace Kelly to wear when she answered the phone. The actress balked and said that no woman would put on such a robe, just to answer the ringing telephone while she was asleep alone, but would answer it in her nightgown. Hitchcock agreed to do it her way and liked the way the rushes turned out. The director agreed to allow the actress to make all costume decisions for herself in their subsequent films together, afterwards.


10:00 AM -- GREEN FIRE (1955)
An emerald prospector clashes with a beautiful plantation owner in South America.
Dir: Andrew Marton
Cast: Stewart Granger, Grace Kelly, Paul Douglas
C-100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Only 4 months before meeting Prince Rainier III of Monaco and less than 18 months prior to their wedding, Grace Kelly's character delivers this quote: "Well, there's always the chance that Prince Charming may come riding down off the mountain someday."


12:00 PM -- HIGH SOCIETY (1956)
In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Cole Porter for the song "True Love", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin

Grace Kelly, recently engaged to Prince Rainier of Monaco, wore her actual engagement ring for her character's engagement ring. The engagement ring is a 10.5-carat, emerald-cut, diamond flanked by two baguettes.


2:00 PM -- THE SWAN (1956)
On the eve of her marriage to a prince, a noblewoman falls for her brother's tutor.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This is the third adaptation of Ferenc Molnár's play "The Swan". The previous adaptations were The Swan (1925), starring Frances Howard, Adolphe Menjou and Ricardo Cortez in the Kelly/Guinness/Jourdan roles, and One Romantic Night (1930), starring Lillian Gish, Rod La Rocque and Conrad Nagel.


4:00 PM -- WEDDING IN MONACO (1956)
Exclusive footage captures the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier in this short film.
Dir: Jean Masson
Cast: Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier of Monaco
C-32 mins, Letterbox Format


4:45 PM -- PUBLIC WEDDING (1937)
Out-of-work show folk stage a fake wedding to generate publicity.
Dir: Nick Grinde
Cast: Jane Wyman, William Hopper, Dick Purcell
BW-58 mins,

The $7.90 restaurant bill would be the equivalent of $130 in 2016.


5:45 PM -- JUNE BRIDE (1948)
Two bickering reporters turn a small-town wedding into a battleground.
Dir: Bretaigne Windust
Cast: Bette Davis, Robert Montgomery, Fay Bainter
BW-97 mins, CC,

Because the Dewey-Truman presidential race was going on during filming, one of Mary Wickes' lines was shot with both candidates names in it. The original print used Dewey as the winner. When Truman unexpectedly won, the other version was quickly printed and rushed to theaters.


7:30 PM -- HOLLYWOOD HANDICAP (1938)
In this short film, a group of musician stable hands race a horse in the Hollywood Derby at Santa Anita race track.
Dir: Buster Keaton
Cast: Cyril Ring, Lester Dorr, Frank Mayo
BW-10 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: GENE HACKMAN



8:00 PM -- ANOTHER WOMAN (1988)
While dealing with her own tortured past, an aging writer becomes obsessed with a psychiatric patient.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm
C-81 mins, Letterbox Format

Woody Allen is not known for complimenting his actors, saying that the fact that he casts them is proof that he considers them great. However, he has said that the scenes between Gena Rowlands and Gene Hackman, particularly in the flashback of the party, were "electrifying."


9:30 PM -- I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (1970)
When his mother dies, a grieving son is torn between his demanding father and his need to live his own life.
Dir: Gilbert Cates
Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman, Dorothy Stickney
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Melvyn Douglas, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Hackman,, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Anderson

Richard Widmark was playwright Robert Anderson's first choice for the son role in both the theatrical and film versions of the play. One proposal had Fredric March as the father, another had it as a TV special with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as the parents.


11:15 PM -- BITE THE BULLET (1975)
Cowboys compete in a grueling horse-riding marathon.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn
C-131 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Richard Tyler and Al Overton Jr., and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Alex North

The film was inspired by the 1908 700-mile cross-country horse race from Evanston, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado. It was sponsored by the Denver Post, which offered $2,500 prize money to the winner.


1:45 AM -- ZANDY'S BRIDE (1974)
A Western rancher treats his mail order bride more as a servant than as a wife.
Dir: Jan Troell
Cast: Gene Hackman, Liv Ullmann, Eileen Heckart
BW-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Originally titled " Taylor's Bridge ", this was based on the novel The Stranger by Lillian Bos Ross, and was retitled For Better, For Worse when shown on television.


3:30 AM -- EUREKA (1983)
A prospector finds that striking it rich is not the ticket to happiness.
Dir: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer
C-130 mins,

The film is based on speculation about the real-life murder of gold prospector and philanthropist Sir Harry Oakes, found in his mansion in the Bahamas in 1943. The case is still unsolved, with theories ranging from his son-in-law, his business partner, and organized crime figures interested in building casinos on Oakes' private island.