TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 24, 2017 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials - Eyewitness

[Staph]

The Essentials tonight features a trio of films about the hazards of witnessing a crime -- Rear Window (1954), The Window (1949), and Witness to Murder (1954). But unfortunately, not Witness (1985). Enjoy!



6:50 AM -- LAND OF ALASKA NELLIE (1940)
This short film takes the viewer to several scenic locations in Alaska.
C- 9 mins,


7:00 AM -- MAN OF ARAN (1934)
Cameras follow Aran Islanders as they cope with the rough terrain and even rougher seas.
Dir: Robert Flaherty
Cast: Colman King, Maggie Dirrane, Michael Dillane
BW- 77 mins, CC,

The islanders hunt a basking shark for its oil, but they hadn't done so in generations. The filmmakers had to bring an Inuit hunter to show them how to do it as their ancestors might have.


8:30 AM -- STORM OVER JAMAICA (1958)
A schoolteacher at a progressive school in Jamaica attempts to help a troubled student.
Dir: Rudolph Cartier
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers,
C- 99 mins,

Based on the novel by Richard Mason.


10:18 AM -- GRANDPA CALLED IT ART (1944)
This short film looks at changing definitions of art in the U.S.
Dir: Walter Hart
Cast: Sheldon Jett, Donald Douglas,
BW- 10 mins,


10:30 AM -- AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943)
A reformed thief gets himself arrested fetching some jewels for a friend.
Dir: Lew Landers
Cast: Chester Morris, Richard Lane, Ann Savage
BW- 65 mins, CC,

It's the only time that the name of Chester Morrie's character is mentioned, Horatio.


11:37 AM -- STRICTLY G.I. (1943)
This patriotic short film features a filmed broadcast of the Command Performance radio program, featuring such Hollywood stars as Betty Hutton and Lana Turner.
BW- 13 mins,


12:00 PM -- IT'S A BIG COUNTRY (1952)
Seven stories celebrate the glorious diversity of American life.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Ethel Barrymore, Keefe Brasselle, Gary Cooper
BW- 89 mins, CC,

This film did poorly at the box office, resulting in a loss for MGM of $677,000 ($6.3M in 2016) according to studio records.


1:45 PM -- THE FASTEST GUN ALIVE (1956)
A reformed gunslinger's past keeps catching up with him.
Dir: Russell Rouse
Cast: Glenn Ford, Jeanne Crain, Broderick Crawford
BW- 89 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on the story The Last Notch by Frank D. Gilroy.


3:30 PM -- FORT APACHE (1948)
An experienced cavalry officer tries to keep his new, by-the-books commander from triggering an Indian war.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple
BW- 128 mins, CC,

Although he had problems with John Ford, Henry Fonda also admitted the director was responsible for some of his best work. Film critics have often agreed, noting that before working with Ford Fonda was a star, but after working with him Fonda was an actor. During shooting of one scene, it began to rain, but Ford kept right on filming. Fonda later noted that although you didn't see the rain on screen, the light moisture on the leather of the saddle and harness added an unusual quality. "That was Pappy taking advantage of whatever presented itself," Fonda said.


5:47 PM -- ALL EYES ON SHARON TATE (1966)
A behind-the-scenes promo short for "Eye of the Devil" (1966), showcasing the late Sharon Tate, then a young, 22-year-old hopeful at MGM.
BW- 10 mins,


6:00 PM -- HEARTS OF THE WEST (1975)
An aspiring western novelist in thirties Hollywood becomes a low-budget cowboy star.
Dir: Howard Zieff
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Donald Pleasence
C- 102 mins, CC,

Donald Pleasence's character, "A.J. Nietz", is named after prolific western / "B" picture director Alan James (real name Alvin J. Neitz), who started out in silent films and lasted through the talkie era, and who directed westerns with such stars as Ken Maynard, Jack Hoxie and Tim McCoy, among others.


7:52 PM -- THE SUN... THE SAND... THE HILL. (1965)
This promotional short presents a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "The Hill" (1965).
Dir: Roland Saland
BW- 7 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: EYEWITNESS



8:00 PM -- REAR WINDOW (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
C- 112 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Alfred Hitchcock, Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Michael Hayes, Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Burks, and Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount)

According to Georgine Darcy, the scene in which the man and woman on the fire escape struggle in their attempt to get in out of the rain can be attributed to a prank by Alfred Hitchcock. Each actor in the apartment complex facing Jeff's rear window wore an earpiece through which they could receive Hitchcock's directions. Hitchcock told the man to pull the mattress in one direction and told the woman to pull in the opposite direction. Unaware that they had received conflicting directions, the couple began to fight and struggle to get the mattress inside once the crew began filming the scene. The resulting mayhem in which one of the couple is tossed inside the window with the mattress provided humor and a sense of authenticity to the scene which Hitchcock liked. He was so pleased with the result that he did not order another take.


10:05 PM -- DELIGHTFUL DENMARK (1953)
This short film takes the viewer on a tour of Denmark's fertile countryside including its thriving agriculture and leisure activities.
C- 8 mins,


10:15 PM -- THE WINDOW (1949)
A boy who always lies witnesses a murder but can't get anyone but the killer to believe him.
Dir: Ted Tetzlaff
Cast: Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart
BW- 73 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Film Editing -- Frederic Knudtson

The plot of the Cornell Woolrich story, "The Boy Cried Murder" upon which this film is based, was reworked in 1954 and became Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954). Woolrich also received a writing credit in that film.


11:39 PM -- AT HOME WITH JOAN CRAWFORD (1953)
In this short film, Joan Crawford urges the audience to donate to the Jimmy Fund to end childhood cancer.
BW- 4 mins,


11:45 PM -- WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill
BW- 82 mins, CC,

Released less than a month before Rear Window (1954), to which the film bears plot similarities.


1:20 AM -- PURE FEUD (1934)
In this comedic short, two siblings on vacation find themselves stuck between an odd family feud. Vitaphone Release 1638.
Dir: Joseph Henabery
Cast: Joe Fields, Will Wright, Vicki Cummings
BW- 10 mins,


1:30 AM -- THE SKULL MURDER MYSTERY (1932)
In this short, a mysterious Chinese merchant and his eccentric upstairs tenants come under suspicion when the skeleton of a man is dug up in an alley. Vitaphone Release 1348-1349.
Dir: Joseph Henabery
Cast: John Hamilton, Harry Mestayer, Lee Tung Foo
BW- 21 mins,


2:00 AM -- ZABRISKIE POINT (1970)
A young girl helps a student radical escape the police.
Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni
Cast: Mark Frechette, Daria Halprin, Rod Taylor
C- 114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Michelangelo Antonioni's leftist politics made the film controversial from the start. The production was harassed by groups opposed to the movie's alleged "anti-Americanism." FBI agents tailed cast and crew members. Filming locations were besieged by right-wingers protesting an alleged scene of flag desecration, which never happened. Militant anti-establishment students worried they were being "sold out". The sheriff of Oakland, California, accused Michelangelo Antonioni of provoking the riots he had come to film. Death Valley park rangers initially refused to allow Michelangelo Antonioni to shoot at Zabriskie Point because they thought he planned to stage an orgy at the site; it was conceptualized, but never seriously considered. The U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento opened grand jury investigations into both the film's alleged "anti-Americanism" and possible violations of the Mann Act, a 1910 law prohibiting the transportation of women across state lines "for immoral conduct, prostitution or debauchery," during the Death Valley filming. The investigation was dropped, reluctantly, when they learned that Zabriskie Point was at least 13 miles west of the California-Nevada border.


4:04 AM -- SAN SEBASTIAN 1746 IN 1968 (1968)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of "Guns For San Sebastian&quot 1968) in northern Mexico.
Dir: Floyd L. Peterson
BW- 10 mins,


4:15 AM -- WEEKEND (1967)
A couple's weekend vacation lands them in the middle of a society's collapse.
Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Cast: Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
C- 104 mins,

The character, Saint-Just, played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, is based on Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just (1767 - 1794), a French revolutionary and military leader closely allied with Robespierre. He served with Robespierre on the Committee of Public Safety, becoming heavily involved in the Reign of Terror, and was executed on the same day as Robespierre. Leaud's character is reciting from Saint Just's 'L'esprit de la Révolution et de la Constitution de la France', a founding text of revolutionary ideology.

[longship]

1. The actor playing the man with the mattress mentioned for Rear Window is Frank Cady.

It's a great scene in a great flick. Thelma Ritter deserved a supporting actress Oscar for her outstanding role. Sadly, she wasn't even nominated.