TCM Schedule for Thursday, August 11 -- Summer Under The Stars -- Ben Johnson

[Staph]

Today's star is Ben Johnson, ranch hand/rodeo performer turned Hollywood stuntman/double turned world roping champion turned actor and Oscar winner for The Last Picture Show. Enjoy!






6:00 AM -- 3 Godfathers (1948)
Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey Jr..
C-106 min, TV-G, CC

This is a remake of the silent film The Three Godfathers, which starred Ford's long-time friend Harry Carey. When Carey died in 1947, Ford decided to remake the story in Technicolor and dedicate the film to his memory. Carey's son, Harry Carey Jr., plays one of the three, "The Abilene Kid".


8:00 AM -- Fort Defiance (1951)
A Civil War veteran returns to his hometown to avenge his brother's death.
Dir: John Rawlins
Cast: Dane Clark, Ben Johnson, Peter Graves.
C-82 min, TV-PG

One of the first films of Peter Graves.


9:30 AM -- Wild Stallion (1952)
A horse hunter pursues a white colt that ran off when his parents were killed.
Dir: Lewis D. Collins
Cast: Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Martha Hyer.
C-70 min, TV-G

Watch for a trio of future television stars -- Hayden Rourke (psychiatrist Dr. Bellows from I Dream of Jeannie), Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver in Leave It To Beaver), and Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe Carson from The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction).


11:00 AM -- War Drums (1957)
A white trader and an Apache chief fall for the same woman.
Dir: Reginald LeBorg
Cast: Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, Ben Johnson.
C-76 min, TV-PG, CC

Filmed in Kanab, Utah, not far from Monument Valley.


12:30 PM -- Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
A reluctant calvary Captain must track a defiant tribe of migrating Cheyennes.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden.
C-156 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- William H. Clothier

The "Cheyenne" are actually Navajo, telling dirty jokes in their native tongue.


3:30 PM -- Major Dundee (1965)
Cavalry misfits cross the Mexican border to destroy an Indian outpost.
Dir: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Jim Hutton.
C-136 min, TV-PG, CC

Many of the actors who came to be known as the "Sam Peckinpah Stock Company" appeared in this film and four years later in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, L.Q. Jones, Dub Taylor, Aurora Clavel, Enrique Lucero.


6:00 PM -- Junior Bonner (1972)
An aging rodeo rider tries to deal with his dysfunctional family.
Dir: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino.
C-100 min, TV-PG, CC

The yellow dog that you see in the movie is the grandson to Spike the dog, from the movie Old Yeller.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: BEN JOHNSON



8:00 PM -- Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Showmen try to exploit a giant ape raised by an orphan.
Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong.
C-94 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- (ARKO Productions)

Look for these unbilled stars of the future (and past): Ellen Corby (The Waltons) in the orphanage scene; William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show) as the gas station attendant; Kermit Maynard, singing cowboy, as Red in the roping scene; Jack Pennick, perennial John Ford extra, as the truck driver whose truck the heroes steal; and Irene Ryan (Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies) in the nightclub scene.


9:45 PM -- Wagon Master (1950)
Two wandering cowhands sign on to help a wagon train headed for Utah.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr..
86 min, TV-PG, CC

In the scene where Sandy and the Mormon fight, the fight is broken up by Ward Bond's character. Ward Bond has ripped pants as he separates the fighters and you can hear a dog barking in the background. This happened because director John Ford wanted to use two dogs that had been ruining every scene in the film by fighting, in the background as the men fought, hoping the dogs would start fighting as a contrast to the men fighting. Instead of fighting however one of the dogs ran away and the other attacked Ward Bond and ripped his pants. John Ford could barely contain his laughter but kept filming. Afterwords however he became quite concerned and said they needed to find the dog in case it had bitten Ward Bond, not just ripped his pants. Ford was worried the dog might have needed a tetanus shot.


11:15 PM -- She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
An aging Cavalry officer tries to prevent an Indian war in the last days before his retirement.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar.
C-104 min, TV-PG, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Winton C. Hoch

The horse that Ben Johnson rode in this film was a famous movie horse used by many stars in many 40s and 50s movies. It was a big sorrel stallion called "Steel" and was owned by Ben Johnson's father in law "Fat Jones" who ran one of the most successful horse renting stables in Hollywood. The horse, which was known for being very quiet but flashy, was ridden by John Wayne in "Tall in the Saddle" and "The Conqueror", Gregory Peck in "Yellow Skies" and Clark Gable in "The Tall T". The horse made stars look like good riders and Fat Jones always insisted if "Steel" was used in movies, the company hired every other horse used in the movie from his stable, so "Steel" was worth a fortune to him. "Steel" had his own double and the horse that Ben Johnston rides in the galloping scenes was not "Steel" but a spectacular galloper called "Bingo". "Steel" was no movie prima donna however. Ben Johnston also rode him when he won his world champion calf roping title. Ben Johnston also rode both "Steel" and "Bingo" in "Wagonmaster".


1:15 AM -- The Last Picture Show (1971)
Changing times take their toll on high schoolers growing up in a small Western town.
Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd.
126 min, TV-MA, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ben Johnson, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Cloris Leachman

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jeff Bridges, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ellen Burstyn, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, Best Director -- Peter Bogdanovich, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich, and Best Picture

Ben Johnson was persuaded to accept the role of Sam the Lion by his friend John Ford. The taciturn Johnson had turned the part down three times because, according to Peter Bogdanovich, the part had "too many words."


3:30 AM -- The Wild Bunch (1969)
A group of aging cowboys look for one last score in a corrupt border town.
Dir: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan.
C-144 min, TV-MA, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Jerry Fielding, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Walon Green (screenplay/story), Roy N. Sickner (story) and Sam Peckinpah (screenplay)

In an interview, Ben Johnson said that the two Mexican women who "frolicked" with him and Warren Oates in the huge wine vats weren't actresses but prostitutes from a nearby brothel, who were hired by Sam Peckinpah so he could tell people that Warner Bros. paid for hookers for his cast.