TCM Schedule for Friday, March 24, 2017 -- TCM Spotlight - March Malice

[Staph]

Today's March Malice movies (say that three times real fast!) include SILENT EVIL -- NOSFERATU and THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, YOU ANIMAL -- THE WOLF MAN and CAT PEOPLE, DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN -- HORROR OF DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN (1931), MUMMY VS. GORGON -- THE MUMMY (1932) and THE GORGON, DARK FORCES -- THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) and THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, and FUTURE CRIME -- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and SOYLENT GREEN. Enjoy!


6:34 AM -- THE SCREEN DIRECTOR (1951)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the responsibilities of a motion picture director.
Dir: Richard L. Bare
Cast: Brick Sullivan, Creighton Hale, Lewis Martin
BW-9 mins,

John Ford is shown directing John Wayne on the set of Operation Pacific (1951), a film not directed by Ford.


6:45 AM -- NOSFERATU (1922)
In this silent film, a beautiful woman risks her life to end a vampire's plague of death and pestilence.
Dir: F. W. Murnau
Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Alexander Granach
BW-89 mins,

The concept in popular culture that sunlight is lethal to vampires is based on this film, which depicted such a death for the very first time in film history. F.W. Murnau knew that he would be sued for borrowing heavily from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" without permission, so he changed the ending in order that he could say that this film and "Dracula" were not exactly the same.


8:24 AM -- THE GARAGE (1920)
Two bumblers run a fire department out of their auto repair shop.
Dir: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Cast: Buster Keaton, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Molly Malone
BW-19 mins,

After Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle gets in the bed, he gets up again and kisses a picture on the wall. The picture is of Mabel Normand, his co-star in the Mack Sennett comedies.


8:45 AM -- THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)
A carnival performer uses a hypnotized sleepwalker to murder his enemies.
Dir: Robert Wiene
Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
BW-77 mins,

Writer Hans Janowitz claims to have gotten the idea for the film when he was at a carnival one day. He saw a strange man lurking in the shadows. The next day, he heard that a girl was brutally murdered there. He went to the funeral, and saw the same strange man lurking around. He had no proof that the strange man was the murderer, but he fleshed the whole idea out into his film.


10:12 AM -- YOU BRING THE DUCKS (1934)
In this comedic short film, Irvin S. Cobb attempts to secure a job by taking the governor on a duck hunting trip... but his nephew has other plans.
Dir: Hal Yates
Cast: Irvin S. Cobb, May Wallace, Fred Toones
BW-16 mins,


10:30 AM -- THE WOLF MAN (1941)
A British nobleman undergoes a startling transformation when he's bitten by a gypsy werewolf.
Dir: George Waggner
Cast: Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy
BW-70 mins, CC,

Evelyn Ankers later recalled that during the filming of the final confrontation, she was required to faint, and then to stay on the floor until the fight scene between Lon Chaney Jr. and Claude Rains was finished. Ankers recalled that during one take, she stayed on the floor so long that the low-hanging chemical fog being used in the scene caused her to pass out. When the take was over, the film crew began rearranging the cameras and lights for the next take, not noticing that Ankers had not emerged from the floor. Finally someone on the crew realized that Ankers was missing, and she was pulled up from the fog and revived.


11:48 AM -- THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE (1942)
This short film explores the social phobia of anthropophobia, which is the fear of people.
Dir: Sammy Lee
Cast: Ann Richards, Mark Daniels,
BW-11 mins,


12:00 PM -- CAT PEOPLE (1942)
A newlywed fears that an ancient curse will turn her into a bloodthirsty beast.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
BW-73 mins, CC,

The horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless and benign became known as a "Lewton bus" after a famous scene in this movie created by producer Val Lewton.


1:30 PM -- HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
The legendary count tries to turn his enemies' women into his bloodthirsty brides.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough
C-81 mins, CC,

The filming of Dracula's destruction included a shot in which Dracula appears to peel away his decaying skin. This was accomplished by putting a layer of red makeup on Christopher Lee's face, and then covering his entire face with a thin coating of mortician's wax, which was then made up to conform to his normal skin tone. When he raked his fingers across the wax, it revealed the "raw" marks underneath. This startling sequence was cut out, but was restored for the 2012 Blu-ray release, using footage from a badly damaged Japanese print.


3:03 PM -- WANDERING THROUGH WALES (1948)
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Wales.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins,


3:15 PM -- FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
A crazed scientist creates a living being from body parts, not realizing it has a madman's brain.
Dir: James Whale
Cast: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles
BW-70 mins, CC,

The Monster in this film does not physically resemble the character in Mary Shelley's novel. It was make-up artist Jack P. Pierce who came up with innovations such as the Monster's flat head, the bolts through the neck, the droopy eyelids, and the poorly-fitted suit. Any future Frankenstein film that features any of these physical abnormalities is taking its inspiration from Pierce's make-up work.


4:33 PM -- COUSIN WILBUR (1939)
In this short, a snooty cousin instantly gets on the bad side of a childhood gang of friends.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Leonard Landy, Tommy Bond, Tommy McFarland
BW-10 mins,

Features a special guest appearance by child actor Scotty Beckett, he was a full-fledged Our Gang kid from 1934-1935.


4:45 PM -- THE MUMMY (1932)
An Egyptian mummy returns to life to stalk the reincarnation of his lost love.
Dir: Karl Freund
Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners
BW-73 mins, CC,

The character name "Imhotep" was taken from an actual ancient Egyptian, but the real Imhotep was the architect who designed the pyramids and--far from being executed in disgrace--was the only Egyptian, other than the pharaohs, who was made a god after his death.


6:15 PM -- THE GORGON (1964)
A mythical monster turns men to stone in a remote European village.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Richard Pasco
C-83 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Actress Barbara Shelley, who played the possessed heroine, Carla Hoffmann, wanted to play the part of the gorgon as well for continuity, and suggested to producer Anthony Nelson Keys that she use a special wig with live green garden snakes woven into it for a more realistic effect. Her idea was rejected by Keys due to budget and time considerations. When Keys saw the abysmal gorgon effects in the finished film, he told Shelley that he should have listened to her suggestion. As Christopher Lee quips, "The only thing wrong with "The Gorgon" is the gorgon!"


7:50 PM -- ELECTRICAL POWER (1939)
This short film looks at how electricity generated at Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) is sent to Hollywood movies studios to make films.
Dir: Herman Hoffman
Cast: Jo Ann Sayers, Ray Bolger, Judy Garland
BW-10 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: MARCH MALICE



8:00 PM -- THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
C-102 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Over the Rainbow", and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Harold Rosson, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound), and Best Picture

"Over the Rainbow" was nearly cut from the film; MGM felt that it made the Kansas sequence too long, as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. The studio also thought that it was degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. A reprise of the song was cut: Dorothy sang it to remember Kansas while imprisoned in the Witch's castle. Judy Garland began to cry, along with the crew, because the song was so sad.


10:00 PM -- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
The Fellowship of the Ring fights its last desperate battle to save Middle Earth from the forces of evil.
Dir: Peter Jackson
Cast: Alan Howard, Noel Appleby, Alexandra Astin
C-201 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Director -- Peter Jackson, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay -- Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, Best Film Editing -- Jamie Selkirk, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Grant Major (art director), Dan Hennah (set decorator) and Alan Lee (set decorator), Best Costume Design -- Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor, Best Makeup -- Richard Taylor and Peter King, Best Music, Original Score -- Howard Shore, Best Music, Original Song -- Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox for the song "Into the West", Best Sound Mixing -- Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek, Best Visual Effects -- Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke, and Best Picture

The final day of filming on the trilogy actually happened over a month after this movie was theatrically released, and three weeks after the 2004 Academy Awards. Peter Jackson arranged to film one final shot of skulls on the floor in the tunnel of the Paths of the Dead, which was included in the Extended Edition of ROTK. He thought it was funny to be doing filming on a movie that had already won the Best Picture Oscar.


1:30 AM -- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
Scientists use mind-control experiments to turn a gang leader against violence.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates
C-137 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Stanley Kubrick, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stanley Kubrick, Best Film Editing -- Bill Butler, and Best Picture

Before filming the scene where he had to carry Patrick Magee's wheelchair up the stairs, professional bodybuilder David Prowse went up to Stanley Kubrick and asked if he could make sure that (due to the difficulty of the task) he got the scene in as few takes as possible, saying, "You're not exactly known as 'one-take-Kubrick', are you?" The rest of the crew was horrified at such a famous director being talked to like this, but Kubrick just laughed and promised to do his best. The scene was filmed in only three takes, an incredibly small amount for a perfectionist like Kubrick. Even so, Prowse was near exhaustion after the repeated takes of him carrying Frank and his wheelchair down the stairs.


4:00 AM -- SOYLENT GREEN (1973)
A future cop uncovers the deadly secret behind a mysterious synthetic food.
Dir: Richard O. Fleischer
Cast: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

During shooting, Edward G. Robinson was almost totally deaf. He could only hear people if they spoke directly into his ear. His dialogue scenes with other people had to be shot several times before he got the rhythm of the dialogue and was able to respond to people as if he could hear them. He could not hear director Richard Fleischer yell "cut" when a scene went wrong, so Robinson would often continue acting out the scene, unaware that shooting had stopped.