TCM Schedule for Friday, November 2 -- What's On Tonight: Tom Ewell

[Staph]

Today we're celebrating the 99th anniversary of the birth of Burt Lancaster, born Burton Stephen Lancaster on
November 2, 1913, in New York City. We've got a selection of his films from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, including two of his Oscar-nominated roles, in From Here to Eternity (1953) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). And in prime time, we have a trio of films featuring the superb character actor Tom Ewell. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- MGM Parade Show #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,


6:30 AM -- Brute Force (1947)
Tough, disgruntled prisoners plan a daring, possibly bloody escape while on a drain pipe detail.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford
BW-98 mins, TV-14, CC,

Former Warner Bros. producer Mark Hellinger, who had started his own independent production unit at Universal-International, wanted Wayne Morris to star in his first picture, The Killers. Warners wouldn't loan Morris out, so Hellinger cast Burt Lancaster, who had made his motion picture debut in "The Killers".


8:15 AM -- Jim Thorpe--All American (1951)
The famous Native American athlete fights prejudice in his pursuit of sports stardom.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Steve Cochran
BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC,

At the Carlisle Indian School, when we first see Jim at the blackboard, he is erasing a formula: I = E/R. This is Ohm's law (1827), in which, in an electrical circuit, you can determine I (current, in amps), E (voltage, in volts), or R (resistance, in ohms) by knowing two of the three values.


10:15 AM -- Vengeance Valley (1951)
An honest rancher tries to block his evil brother's plots while keeping them from their father.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Robert Walker, Joanne Dru
C-83 mins, TV-PG, CC,

This is one of a handful of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions of the 1950-1951 period whose original copyrights were never renewed and are now apparently in Public Domain; for this reason this title is now offered, often in very inferior copies, at bargain prices, by numerous VHS and DVD distributors who do not normally handle copyrighted or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer material.


11:45 AM -- From Here To Eternity (1953)
Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
BW-118 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Frank Sinatra, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Donna Reed, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Burnett Guffey, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Film Editing -- William A. Lyon, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Daniel Taradash, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Montgomery Clift, Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Burt Lancaster, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Morris Stoloff and George Duning

The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was not written to take place there. The idea to film with the waves hitting them was a last minute inspiration from the director.


1:45 PM -- South Sea Woman (1953)
A Marine sergeant battles Nazi agents to help a showgirl escape war torn China.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, Chuck Connors
BW-98 mins, TV-G,

At the opening of the court martial, when the judge asks, "Is the prosecution ready to proceed?" the JAG lieutenant (Hayden Rorke) responds, "Aye, sir." US Marines and Naval personnel use "yes" to respond to a question in the affirmative, and "aye" to respond to an order. A lieutenant would know this.


3:30 PM -- His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)
A Yankee sea captain tries to make his fortune in the South Seas.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, Andre Morell
C-90 mins, TV-PG, CC,

William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1829 - 1877) was a South Sea pirate born in Cleveland, Ohio. He ran trading missions throughout the South Pacific (including the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, New Zealand , Australia), specialising in rum and rifles, but he was not averse to "blackbirding" (slaving). He was killed after a violent disagreement and his body was thrown into the ocean. His murderer was never brought to justice.


5:15 PM -- Birdman Of Alcatraz (1962)
True story of Robert Stroud, the prison lifer who became an expert on birds.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter
BW-149 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Burt Lancaster, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Telly Savalas, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Thelma Ritter, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Burnett Guffey

Robert Stroud really should be known as the "Birdman of Leavenworth," since it was there that he kept his birds and did his research. He was not actually allowed any birds during his time at Alcatraz.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TOM EWELL



8:00 PM -- The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956)
A middle-aged man is left to tend house while his wife is accepted by the Air Force training program and becomes a Lieutenant.
Dir: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Tom Ewell, Sheree North, Rita Moreno
C-99 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Filmed in part in Honolulu.


10:00 PM -- Adam's Rib (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women's rights case.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday
BW-101 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin

Inspired by the real-life story of husband-and-wife lawyers William Dwight Whitney and Dorothy Whitney, who represented Raymond Massey and his ex-wife Adrienne Allen in their divorce. After the Massey divorce was over, the Whitneys divorced each other and married the respective Masseys.


12:00 AM -- The Seven Year Itch (1955)
A married man whose wife is on vacation falls for the blonde bombshell upstairs.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tommy Ewell, Evelyn Keyes
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

After seeing Walter Matthau's screen-test performance in the part of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder believed he had found his lead man. However, 20th Century-Fox was unwilling to take the risk on a newcomer. That's when Wilder next turned his sights on the actor who had originated the role on Broadway, Tom Ewell.


2:00 AM -- Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
A young man with superhuman strength is incarcerated at a prison run by corrupt officials and seeks to use his martial arts to clean up the system.
Dir: Ngai Choi Lam
Cast Siu-Wong Fan, Mei Sheng Fan, Ka-Kui Ho
C-92 mins, TV-MA, Letterbox Format

One scene required Siu-Wong Fan and Yukari Ôshima to exchange lines while standing close to a raging fire. Siu-Wong, doused with water for protection, was horrified when he noticed Ôshima's exposed neck literally smoking and blistering from the heat. When he asked her why she didn't move, she reportedly replied, "You weren't done with your lines, so I had to wait for the cut." Amazed by her professionalism, he referred to her in future interviews as "amazing Yukari."


3:45 AM -- Dai-bosatsu toge (1966)
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
Dir: Kihachi Okamoto
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama
BW-120 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

The abrupt ending of the film is due to the fact that it was originally intended to be the first part in a trilogy of films based on a lengthy Japanese novel. Nakazato Kaizan's 41 volume historical novel focused on the Edo period in Japanese history when the shogunate collapsed and a new government arose that revolved around the Emperor. It was the longest novel in Japan - encompassing 1533 chapters and over 5 and a half million Japanese characters - until the publication of Sohachi Yamaoka's serialized novel "Tokugawa Ieyasu", which is reportedly the longest novel in any language.

[Graybeard]

1. Ewell vs. Matthau

I'm so glad Wilder decided to go with Tom Ewell in The Seven Year Itch. He brought a good-natured innocence to his lecherousness, kind of dumb, kind of naive. Qualities Walter Matthau never showed in any of his performances.