TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 15, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Elizabeth Taylor

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, it's a celebration of the birth of George Brent, born George Brendan Nolan in Shannonbridge, Ireland, on March 15, 1904. He's often remembered as one of Bette Davis' most frequent costars, so we'll see a bit of her today, along with one of the great classic musicals, 42nd Street (1933). In prime time, it's more of Star of the Month, Elizabeth Taylor, in a selection of her films from the 1960s, including a trio with Richard Burton. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- SUBMARINE D-1 (1937)
Recruits on a new submarine fall for the same girl.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Pat O'Brien, George Brent, Wayne Morris
BW-94 mins,

The U.S. Navy and the submarine base at New London, Connecticut, had to approve the story to protect military secrets.


8:30 AM -- THE PURCHASE PRICE (1932)
A night-club singer on the lam becomes a farmer's mail-order bride.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lyle Talbot
BW-68 mins, CC,

The blood during the fight between the two male leads was real. Director Wellman had approached Brent and Talbot individually about the fight scene and told both not to pull any punches. The two worked out the fight between themselves beforehand. However, when Talbot crashed into the wall as planned, his head struck a nail and he started bleeding profusely. He had to go to the studio's infirmary to get stitches after the scene ended.


9:45 AM -- THE OLD MAID (1939)
An unmarried mother gives her illegitimate child to her cousin.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent
BW-95 mins, CC,

The blood during the fight between the two male leads was real. Director Wellman had approached Brent and Talbot individually about the fight scene and told both not to pull any punches. The two worked out the fight between themselves beforehand. However, when Talbot crashed into the wall as planned, his head struck a nail and he started bleeding profusely. He had to go to the studio's infirmary to get stitches after the scene ended.


11:30 AM -- BABY FACE (1933)
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook
BW-76 mins, CC,

In spring of 1933 this film was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.


1:00 PM -- THE PAINTED VEIL (1934)
A wife strays, then fights to redeem herself to her husband.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Greta Garbo, Herbert Marshall, George Brent
BW-84 mins, CC,

Queen Christina (1933) and The Painted Veil (1934), which were both huge hits in Europe (making twice their budget in the UK alone), but were underwhelming US successes.


2:30 PM -- THE GREAT LIE (1941)
Believing her husband to be dead, a flyer's wife bargains with his former love to adopt the woman's baby.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor
BW-108 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mary Astor

George Brent was a licensed pilot and did his own landings in the movie.


4:30 PM -- IN THIS OUR LIFE (1942)
A neurotic southerner steals her sister's husband then vies with her for another man.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, George Brent
BW-97 mins, CC,

In David Maraniss' 2012 biography of President Barack Obama, titled "Barack Obama: The Story", he reports that Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro, was named "Stanley" not after her own father, Stanley Dunham, but after the Bette Davis character in this film. Maraniss says that Obama's maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, saw the movie while pregnant with Obama's mother, and she thought the name sounded sophisticated for a girl.


6:15 PM -- 42ND STREET (1933)
The definitive backstage musical, complete with the dazzling newcomer who goes on for the injured star.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent
BW-89 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), and Best Picture

The film was so financially successful that it saved Warner Brothers from bankruptcy.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ELIZABETH TAYLOR



8:00 PM -- BUTTERFIELD 8 (1960)
A party girl ruins her life when she falls for a married man.
Dir: Daniel Mann
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Taylor

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Joseph Ruttenberg and Charles Harten

Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, Mike Todd, had planned for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) to be her final film, as she intended to retire from the screen. Todd had made a verbal agreement about this with MGM, but after his death, MGM forced Taylor to make this film in order to fulfill the terms of her studio contract. As a result, Taylor refused to speak to the director for the entire production, and hated the film.


10:00 PM -- THE SANDPIPER (1965)
An Episcopal priest falls for a free-living artist.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint
C-117 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Johnny Mandel (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "The Shadow of Your Smile"

Producer Martin Ransohoff originally wanted Richard Burton to direct Elizabeth Taylor in "This Property is Condemned" but when that didn't work out, he persuaded them to make this instead. Her salary of $1,000,000, and his $500,000 paycheck, helped seal the deal.


12:15 AM -- THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (1967)
A fortune hunter agrees to wed a temperamental woman so his friend can court her sister.
Dir: Franco Zeffirelli
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Lorenzo Mongiardino, John DeCuir, Elven Webb, Giuseppe Mariani, Dario Simoni and Luigi Gervasi, and Best Costume Design -- Irene Sharaff and Danilo Donati

Before playing Katherina, Elizabeth Taylor had never performed Shakespeare (unlike Richard Burton, who was an experienced Shakesperian and already played roles such as Hamlet, Iago, Edgar, Hotspur and Romeo on stage), and she was said to be very nervous prior to the beginning of the shot. As she found her way into the role, and became more confident, she asked director Franco Zeffirelli if she could shoot everything from the first day of shooting again, as she didn't think her performance was up to scratch. Zefferilli assured her it was, but she was persistent, and on the last day of principal photography, the entire first day was shot again.


2:30 AM -- DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1968)
A scholar sells his soul to the devil for knowledge.
Dir: Richard Burton
Cast: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Andreas Teuber
C-92 mins, CC,

Film critic Judith Crist once famously said of this film: "It turns out to be the story of a man (Richard Burton) who sold his soul for Elizabeth Taylor".


4:30 AM -- X Y & ZEE (1972)
A possessive woman fights to end her husband's affair with a younger woman.
Dir: Brian G. Hutton
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Susannah York
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Julie Christie turned down the role of Stella. Peter O'Toole was the original choice for the Michael Caine part.