TCM Schedule for Saturday, January 20, 2018 -- The Essentials: Fred Astaire?

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials appears to be featuring some films starring Fred Astaire. The TCM website simply refers to tonight' theme as The Essentials: The Essentials. I would have to agree that Fred Astaire is definitely essential! Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- BERKELEY SQUARE (1933)
A young American man is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors.
Dir: Frank Lloyd
Cast: Leslie Howard, Heather Angel, Valerie Taylor
BW-88 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Leslie Howard

S.T. Joshi points to this film as an inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's novel "The Shadow Out of Time": "Lovecraft saw this film four times in late 1933; its portrayal of a man of the 20th century who somehow merges his personality with that of his 18th-century ancestor was clearly something that fired Lovecraft's imagination, since he had written a story on this very theme himself--the then unpublished "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (1927)." Lovecraft called the film "the most weirdly perfect embodiment of my own moods and pseudo-memories that I have ever seen--for all my life I have felt as if I might wake up out of this dream of an idiotic Victorian age and insane jazz age into the sane reality of 1760 or 1770 or 1780." Lovecraft noted some conceptual problems in this film's depiction of time travel, and felt that he had "eliminated these flaws in his masterful novella of mind-exchange over time."


7:45 AM -- MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937)
A devoted couple faces the harsh economic realities of growing older.
Dir: Leo McCarey
Cast: Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter
BW-92 mins, CC,

When he moved to Columbia, Leo McCarey found himself often at loggerheads with its notoriously difficult head, Harry Cohn. Whenever he went over budget or fell behind schedule on The Awful Truth (1937), Cohn would remind him of the commercial failure of Make Way for Tomorrow (1937). When The Awful Truth (1937) was released to great acclaim and excellent box office, McCarey led Cohn to believe that he would renew his contract with Columbia. But the day before they had agreed to sign, McCarey took out an ad in Variety announcing that he had just signed with RKO, the studio where he made two of his biggest hits, Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945).


9:45 AM -- PARNELL (1937)
True story of the Irish politician whose fight for freedom was compromised by his affair with a married woman.
Dir: John M. Stahl
Cast: Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Edna May Oliver
BW-118 mins, CC,

After the movie flopped at the box-office, Clark Gable told MGM not to bother casting him in any more "period" pieces, preferring to play only in contemporary movies. This was part of the reason Gable was reluctant to accept the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939).


12:00 PM -- COVER GIRL (1944)
A nightclub dancer makes it big in modeling, leaving her dancer boyfriend behind.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman
C-107 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Carmen Dragon and Morris Stoloff

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Rudolph Maté and Allen M. Davey, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Lionel Banks, Cary Odell and Fay Babcock, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), and Best Music, Original Song -- Jerome Kern (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) for the song "Long Ago and Far Away"

Columbia Pictures gave Gene Kelly almost complete control over the making of this film, and many of his ideas contributed to its lasting success. He removed several of the sound stage walls so that he, Rita Hayworth, and Phil Silvers could dance along an entire street in one take. He also used trick photography so that he could dance with himself in one sequence.


2:00 PM -- MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949)
A talent scout turns a young unknown into a radio singing star.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Jack Carson, Doris Day, Lee Bowman
C-101 mins, CC,

The scenes in this film featuring Doris Day and her young on-screen son had a special emotional resonance for Day, since in real life she had often had to leave her own pre-school-aged son Terry behind with his grandmother while touring as a big band singer in the 1940s.


4:00 PM -- THE GUILT OF JANET AMES (1947)
A hard-drinking reporter tries to help the embittered widow of the soldier who had saved his life during the war.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, Sid Caesar
BW-83 mins, CC,

First film for Betsy Blair and Denver Pyle.


5:45 PM -- THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN (1964)
Musical biography of the backwoods girl who struck it rich in Colorado and survived the Titanic.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley
C-129 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Debbie Reynolds, Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt, Best Costume Design, Color -- Morton Haack, Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson and Leo Shuken

As with most Hollywood biopics, there are differences with the real story, most notably in that Margaret (Molly) and J.J. never reconciled. They separated in 1909 although they remained good friends who cared deeply for each other until his passing. She was also not quite the social outcast as depicted in the film. Other aspects of her life that were missing from the movie: they had two children, a son and daughter. Margaret Brown was a passionate social crusader and philanthropist; she was a champion of women's rights, including education and getting the vote. She also championed worker's rights, historic preservation, education and literacy, and child welfare, including being instrumental in founding the modern juvenile court system. After the sinking of the Titanic she was noted for her efforts in having the heroism of the men aboard the ship commemorated. After WWI she was also a leader in helping rebuild France and aiding wounded soldiers, and received the French Legion of Honor. She also ran twice for the U.S. Senate. She died in 1932.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: FRED ASTAIRE ??



8:00 PM -- THE BAND WAGON (1953)
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Best Costume Design, Color -- Mary Ann Nyberg, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch

The movie reflects two real-life situations. In the movie Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) is washed up. In real life Astaire's career was at a standstill. In the movie much is made of whether Cyd Charisse's character is too tall for Fred's character. This was also true in real life. Whenever Cyd and Fred are together she is in shoes with low heels. The sole exception is in "The Girl Hunt Ballet". Here she is wearing medium height heels. Fred is wearing a hat which offsets and hides the height difference.


10:15 PM -- ROYAL WEDDING (1951)
A brother-and-sister musical team find romance when they tour to London for Elizabeth II's wedding.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford
C-93 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) for the song "Too Late Now"

The ship's rocking during "Open Your Eyes" was based on the Astaires' own dancing experience on a voyage to London in 1923. A boat-rocking device was used to create the film effect.


12:00 AM -- THREE LITTLE WORDS (1950)
Musical biography of songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, who surreptitiously helped each other out of jams.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen
C-102 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn

According to supplementary material included on the DVD much of this film was fiction. Because Kalmar and Ruby got along well all their lives the writers had to make up some conflict to add interest. Ruby never ruined Kalmar's magic act, Kalmar never wrote a stage play so the friction between them over Ruby's sabotage never happened. They did not "discover" Helen Kane as a young girl on the sidewalk. The title song, "Three Little Words", was written for a movie and did not take years to complete. While Kalmar and Ruby did pursue careers apart for several years, they never had the clash shown in the movie and remained good friends all their lives. Kalmar died shortly after agreeing to let MGM make the movie but before filming began.


2:00 AM -- THE NIGHT VISITOR (1971)
A man named Salem escapes from an insane asylum where he was confined for an axe-murder.
Dir: Laslo Benedek
Cast: Max von Sydow, Trevor Howard, Liv Ullmann
BW-102 mins, CC,

This film was made in Scandinavia, but it is never actually stated that it is set there (or anywhere else). Several characters are either not named or else have names which could belong to any one of several countries.


4:00 AM -- EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977)
A teenage girl once possessed by a demon finds that it still lurks within her.
Dir: John Boorman
Cast: Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher
BW-118 mins, CC,

William Friedkin, director of the first film, told a story, recalled to by a Warner Bros. executive, at the Chicago Critics Film Festival in April 2013. Studio heads came to the sneak preview of "Exorcist II" in a limo, and told the drivers to go get fast food. They entered the auditorium, and within 10 minutes into the film, an audience member stood up, glanced into the crowd, and proclaimed: "The people who made this piece of shit are in this room!" 10 or 12 other audience members gathered to find the executives. The heads rushed out of the theater and realized that there were no cars to make their escape. They were subsequently chased down the street by a group of angry audience members.