TCM Schedule for Friday, April 17 -- TCM Fan Programmers

[Staph]

Happy birthday, William Holden! He would have been 91 today, and we're celebrating with a bunch of his best, including Born Yesterday (1950), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), and Picnic (1955). Tonight's TCM fan programmers give us more treats, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), So Long At The Fair (1950), and Silk Stockings (1957). Enjoy!


6:00am -- Born Yesterday (1950)
A newspaper reporter takes on the task of educating a crooked businessman's girlfriend.
Cast: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, William Holden, Howard St. John
Dir: George Cukor
BW-102 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Judy Holliday (Judy Holliday was not present at the awards ceremony. Ethel Barrymore accepted on her behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis, Best Director -- George Cukor, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Mannheimer, and Best Picture

To help build up Judy Holliday's image, particularly in the eyes of Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn, Katharine Hepburn deliberately leaked stories to the gossip columns suggesting that her performance in Adam's Rib (1949) was so good that it had stolen the spotlight from Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. This got Cohn's attention and Holliday won the part in Born Yesterday (1950).


7:49am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Hollywood Extra! (1936)
The life of female Hollywood extras.
Narrator: Casey Wilson
Dir: Felix E. Feist
BW-10 mins

The featured extra is Jane Barnes, who appeared in small bits and extra roles in 22 films between 1934 and 1941.


8:00am -- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
A failed screenwriter falls into a mercenary romance with a faded silent-film star.
Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Dir: Billy Wilder
BW-110 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman Jr.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- William Holden, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Erich von Stroheim, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Gloria Swanson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Nancy Olson, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Film Editing -- Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison, and Best Picture

Montgomery Clift, signed to play the part of Joe Gillis, broke his contract just two weeks prior to the start of shooting. Billy Wilder quickly offered the role to Fred MacMurray, who turned it down because he didn't want to play a gigolo. Marlon Brando was considered, but the producers thought he was too much of an unknown as a film actor. Gene Kelly was then approached, but MGM refused to loan him out. Reluctantly, Wilder met with William Holden, whose films to that time had not impressed Wilder. They eventually worked together on several films and became longtime friends.


10:00am -- Sabrina (1954)
Two wealthy brothers fall for the chauffeur's daughter.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden
Dir: Billy Wilder
BW-114 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hal Pereira, Walter H. Tyler, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor and Ernest Lehman

Humphrey Bogart was a last minute replacement for Cary Grant. Bogart and William Holden couldn't stand each other. Bogart disapproved of Audrey Hepburn (he wanted his wife Lauren Bacall in the role), while Holden fell in love with her. Bogart got $300000, Holden got $150000, and Hepburn only $15000. Asked how he liked working with Hepburn, Bogart replied: "It's okay, if you don't mind to make 20 takes."


12:00pm -- Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955)
A Eurasian doctor in Hong Kong falls in love with a war correspondent.
Cast: William Holden, Jennifer Jones, Torin Thatcher, Isobel Elsom
Dir: Henry King
C-102 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Costume Design, Color -- Charles Le Maire, Best Music, Original Song -- Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alfred Newman

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jennifer Jones, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis, Walter M. Scott and Jack Stubbs, Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy, Best Sound, Recording -- Carlton W. Faulkner (20th Century-Fox), and Best Picture

Jennifer Jones, who was married at the time to studio mogul David O. Selznick, complained constantly during the filming of the movie, often yelling, "I'm going to tell David about this!" After complaining about William Holden, the two stars barely spoke to each other on the set. Finally, Holden tried to negotiate a peace, offering Jones a bouquet of white roses. She tossed them back into his face.


1:45pm -- Picnic (1955)
A handsome drifter ignites passions at a small-town Labor Day picnic.
Cast: William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field, Susan Strasberg
Dir: Joshua Logan
C-113 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William Flannery, Jo Mielziner and Robert Priestley, and Best Film Editing -- Charles Nelson and William A. Lyon

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Arthur O'Connell, Best Director -- Joshua Logan, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- George Duning, and Best Picture

William Holden refused to do the dance sequence unless he was given an $8,000 "stuntman premium" and was allowed to do the scene while under the influence of alcohol. He didn't believe the studio would do either, but they wound up allowing both. In that scene he is actually intoxicated, and it still remains one of only four movies that he ever danced in (the others being Sabrina (1954), Dear Ruth (1947) and Sunset Boulevard (1950)), and one of the most memorable scenes in the movie.


3:45pm -- The Horse Soldiers (1959)
A Union cavalry officer leads his men on a vital mission behind Confederate lines.
Cast: John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers, Judson Pratt
Dir: John Ford
C-120 mins, TV-PG

The film marked the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars. John Wayne and William Holden received $775,000 each, plus 20% of the overall profits, an unheard-of sum for that time. The final contract involved six companies and numbered twice the pages of the movie's script. The film, however, was a financial failure, with no profits to be shared in the end.


5:45pm -- The Devil's Brigade (1968)
Experienced soldiers and misfits join forces to create a World War II commando unit.
Cast: William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Vince Edwards, Andrew Prine
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
C-132 mins, TV-14

The Devil's Brigrade actually existed (although the unit was actually known as "The Black Devils"). During World War II, the brigade suffered casualty rates of 39%. Following the end of WWII, the brigade was disbanded. Veterans of the Devil's Brigade have been meeting each year, since 1945, in Montana, at the former training facility depicted in the movie.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: TCM FAN PROGRAMMERS


8:00pm -- The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre
Dir: John Huston
BW-101 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sydney Greenstreet, Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Huston, and Best Picture

The "Maltese Falcon" itself is said to have been inspired by the "Kniphausen Hawk," a ceremonial pouring vessel made in 1697 for George William von Kniphausen, Count of the Holy Roman Empire. It is modeled after a hawk perched on a rock and is encrusted with red garnets, amethysts, emeralds and blue sapphires. The vessel is currently owned by the Duke of Devonshire and is part of the Chatsworth collection.


10:00pm -- So Long at the Fair (1950)
A woman searches for her missing brother in Paris despite the fact that nobody believes he exists.
Cast: Honor Blackman, Dirk Bogarde, Jean Simmons, Felix Aylmer
Dir: Antony Darnborough
BW-86 mins

The studio planned to dupe the public into thinking that the attractive pairing of Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde was mirrored in real life. This backfired suddenly however when Simmons ran off with Stewart Granger.


11:30pm -- Silk Stockings (1957)
A straitlaced Soviet agent is seduced by Paris and a high-stepping film producer.
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige, Peter Lorre
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
C-118 mins, TV-G

Cyd Charisse's striptease to the title number was met with a least a couple of raised eyebrows from the Hays film censors. For one 2-second instance, she is seen at length in a silk camisole exposing her legendary legs. This was considered too risqué by the Hays office, and a high-back chair was quickly integrated into the dance for her to run behind. When she next emerges from behind the chair she has quickly slipped on a swirling petticoat, but it is transparent and gives quick glimpses of her legs anyway, which by now were what most viewers wanted to see anyway.


1:30am -- Private Screenings: Mickey Rooney (1997)
Mickey Rooney discusses his life and career with TCM host Robert Osborne.
Cast: Robert Osborne, Mickey Rooney
C-41 mins, TV-G

As of 2007, Mickey Rooney is the only surviving screen actor to appear in silent films and still continue to act in movies into the 21st century. His film debut was in the movie Not to Be Trusted (1926) in 1926 at the age of four.


2:15am -- The World's Greatest Sinner (1965)
A bored insurance salesman quits his job to go into politics.
Cast: Paul Frees, Timothy Carey, Gil Baretto, Betty Rowland
Dir: Timothy Carey
BW-77 mins, TV-PG

Original music by Frank Zappa.


3:45am -- Let the Good Times Roll (1973)
Fifties rock stars reunite 20 years later for a concert.
Cast: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chubby Checker
Dir: Sidney Levin
BW-99 mins

Despite the fact that he was promoted as one of the main stars of this film, none of Chuck Berry's songs -- including his duet with Bo Diddley at the end of the film -- appear on the original soundtrack LP.


5:30am -- Summer of '63 (1963)
Teens on the make spread syphilis among their friends.
Cast: Michael Bell narrates.
C-21 mins, TV-PG

The synopsis of this film (from IMDB) is hysterical -- "Two teenage couples decide to double date and go swimming. From that innocent beginning, a series of unfortunate (and entirely implausible) circumstances result in the boys having an argument with their girlfriends, picking up two prostitutes, getting syphilis, giving it to their girlfriends, breaking up with the girlfriends, getting together with each other's ex-girlfriend, they all give each other syphilis, they get cured, one of them becomes a doctor and narrates this film." All within 21 minutes!

[Staph]

1. Sunset Blvd.

Synopsis: Joe Gillis is a down-and-out screenwriter who can't pay his bills. While hiding his car from a finance company, he stumbles across a decaying mansion on Sunset Boulevard and hides there, assuming it to be uninhabited. He discovers that it is the home of silent movie queen Norma Desmond, who is lost in her dreams of former glory. Her servant and former director Max von Mayerling helps preserve her fragile illusions. Desperate for money, Gillis agrees to work on the script for her supposed comeback vehicle and finds himself becoming a kept man to the possessive movie star. On the sly he meets with the idealistic young studio script reader Betty Schaefer, who likes one of his projects, and the two gradually fall in love. Norma Desmond, however, grows increasingly suspicious and jealous, setting the stage for a fateful confrontation.

Hollywood has always been fascinated by tales about its own cruelty, and Sunset Boulevard (1950) is the most ruthless Hollywood tale of them all. In the opening shot the camera tilts down over a sidewalk to reveal the words "SUNSET BLVD" painted on the curb, above a street gutter littered with dead leaves. Not only does a dead man narrate the film, but the story's many "has-beens" are played by actual stars of the silent era. One of Norma Desmond's card-playing friends is none other than the great comedian Buster Keaton. H. B. Warner is best known for his performance as Jesus in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927), though he was hardly a has-been, considering his steady and prolific career throughout the Thirties and Forties. The Swedish-born Anna Q. Nilsson, the third of Norma Desmond's "waxworks," was known for her roles in the early Raoul Walsh feature Regeneration (1915) and the William S. Hart vehicle The Toll Gate (1920). Norma Desmond's name was derived from silent comedienne Mabel Normand and her husband William Desmond Taylor. Significantly, the latter was murdered in 1922 under mysterious circumstances in what became one of the most notorious Hollywood scandals of the silent era, contributing to the establishment of the Hays Office that same year.

An even crueler irony was at work in the casting of Erich von Stroheim as the former director turned butler Max von Mayerling, who was unmistakably modeled after Stroheim himself. The brief clip of the Norma Desmond film that Max screens for her and Joe Gillis is, fittingly, Queen Kelly (1929), Stroheim's last major directorial effort, a starring vehicle for Gloria Swanson produced by her lover Joseph Kennedy. That film was halted mid-production because of Stroheim's excesses; in particular, Swanson objected to perverse elements in the plot such as making her character the inheritor of a brothel. Stroheim, in fact, directed one more film, the sound feature Walking Down Broadway (1933), which Fox Studios reshot, re-edited and re-titled Hello, Sister.

According to Ed Sikov, author of the well-researched and snappily written biography On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, screenwriter and producer Charles Brackett insisted that Swanson was the first choice for the crucial role of Norma Desmond from the very start. Wilder claimed that he initially wanted Mae West and also considered Pola Negri and Mary Pickford before settling on Swanson. At any rate, the choice of Swanson was felicitous since Cecil B. DeMille had previously directed her in lavish silent vehicles such as Don't Change Your Husband (1919), Male and Female (1919) and The Affairs of Anatole (1921). He had also completed the Biblical epic Samson and Delilah (1949) a few months before Sunset Boulevard began shooting, a detail which Wilder and Brackett worked ingeniously into the film's plot. Swanson herself proved fearless in her interpretation of the aging star, encompassing the grotesque, the vulnerable and ultimately the tragic aspects of her character.

William Holden's performance, particularly his sardonic voiceover narration, embodies the cynicism at the core of Wilder's work, and today it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Joe Gillis. However, originally Wilder assigned the lead to Montgomery Clift; after initially accepting the part, Clift backed down because of the age difference between him and Swanson. (Clift was 28 and Swanson was 50 at the time production began in the spring of 1949.) Some sources state that Fred MacMurray was also considered at one point.

Everyone remembers Sunset Boulevard for its performances and its endlessly quotable dialogue ("I am big. It's the pictures that got small."), but the film is best appreciated as a work of cinema in which all the elements are meticulously coordinated. Billy Wilder may not have the flamboyant visual style of, say, Alfred Hitchcock, but his direction is fluid and expressive, moving from shockingly direct imagery such as an underwater view of a corpse floating in a pool to more subtle effects such as using camera placement to draw the viewer's attention to a pair of doors in which the locks have been removed after we learn of Norma Desmond's history of suicide attempts. The art direction by Hans Dreier and John Meehan brilliantly evokes the decaying grandeur of a bygone era; for those lucky enough to see a good 35mm print of the film, its rich detail is unforgettable. Franz Waxman's musical score, alternating between tense orchestral tuttis and a sly, jazz-inflected piano theme--associated mainly with the character of Gillis--is among the best of his career.

As has since become widely recounted, a preview version of the film opened with Gillis in the morgue, sitting up from his slab and conversing with the other cadavers. When audiences laughed at this scene during a preview screening, it was replaced with the now-famous shot of Gillis' corpse floating in the pool. Wilder evidently liked the device of having a dead man tell his tale, since he used it again in an early draft of his next film, arguably the most ruthless satire of his entire career: Ace in the Hole (1951).

After a preview screening Louis B. Mayer is said to have berated Billy Wilder for airing Hollywood's dirty laundry, saying something along the lines of: "You bastard! You have disgraced the industry that made you and fed you! You should be tarred and feathered and run out of Hollywood." Mayer's outrage was a sure sign of the film's future success; it became one of the most admired pictures of its day, receiving nominations for Best Picture, Actor (Holden), Actress (Swanson), Supporting Actor (Stroheim), Supporting Actress (Olson), Cinematography and Editing. Ultimately it won awards for Best Story and Screenplay, Score and Art Direction. A more dubious honor, perhaps, was Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation that bowed on the London stage in 1993 with Patti LuPone in the lead. Still, Sunset Boulevard seems ageless even if Norma Desmond, tragically, was not.

Producer: Charles Brackett
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenplay: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and D. M. Marshman, Jr.
Photography: John F. Seitz
Editing: Arthur Schmidt
Music: Franz Waxman
Costumes: Edith Head
Art Direction: Hans Dreier and John Meehan
Principal cast: William Holden (Joe Gillis), Gloria Swanson (Norma Desmond), Erich von Stroheim (Max Von Mayerling), Nancy Olson (Betty Schaefer), Fred Clark (Sheldrake), Lloyd Gough (Morino), Jack Webb (Artie Green), Franklyn Farnum (Undertaker), Larry Blake (first finance man), Charles Dayton (second finance man), Cecil B. DeMille (himself), Buster Keaton (himself), Anna Q. Nilsson (herself), H. B. Warner (himself), Hedda Hopper (herself), Ray Evans (himself).
BW-111m. Closed captioning.

by James Steffen