TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 2 -- Semi-Documentary Crime Dramas

[Staph]

A wonderful day, with Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, two Marx Brothers films, and two Alfred Hitchcock films as well. And this evening is full of hard-boiled crime. Enjoy!


4:30am -- Christopher Strong (1933)
An aviatrix's affair with a married man could cost her her career.
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive, Billie Burke.
Dir: Dorothy Arzner.
BW-78 mins, TV-PG

Newsreel footage of parades and famous flights were used in the movie.


6:00am -- The Bishop's Wife (1947)
An angel helps set an ambitious bishop on the right track.
Cast: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven.
Dir: Henry Koster.
BW-109 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Henry Koster, Best Film Editing -- Monica Collingwood, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer, and Best Picture

Originally Cary Grant played the bishop and David Niven the angel. When original director William A. Seiter left the film, Henry Koster replaced him and viewed what had been shot so far. He realized that the two were in the wrong roles. It took some convincing because Grant wanted the title role of the Bishop. He soon accepted the change and his role as the angel was one of the most widely praised of his career.


8:00am -- The Country Girl (1954)
While trying to help her husband make a comeback, an alcoholic singer's wife fights her love for another man.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden.
Dir: George Seaton.
BW-104 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Grace Kelly, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- George Seaton

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Bing Crosby, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson, Sam Comer and Grace Gregory, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Warren, Best Director -- George Seaton, and Best Picture

Changes to Canadian video ratings standards in the late 1980s resulted in this classic being slapped with an R rating, making it illegal to rent or sell it to anyone under the age of 18. No reasons were ever suggested for this rating (which was later changed), though it is possible it may have been confused with a porn film of the same name.


10:00am -- A Night In Casablanca (1946)
A hotel manager in postwar Casablanca tackles renegade Nazis.
Cast: The Marx Brothers, Charles Drake, Sig Ruman.
Dir: Archie Mayo.
BW-85 mins, TV-G

A Hollywood legend claims that Warner Brothers, makers of Casablanca (1942), threatened to sue the Marx Brothers for using the word "Casablanca" in the title. Groucho Marx wrote a letter to Warner Brothers in which he threatened to sue them for using the word "Brothers": "Professionally, we were brothers before they ever were." However, film critic Richard Roeper claims (correctly) that the story is fake. In fact, Warner Brothers never threatened to sue, but merely inquired about the story of the Marx Brothers' film, to make sure there was no copyright infringement. Groucho used the inquiry as an excuse for a publicity stunt. He wrote a series of comic letters to Warner Brothers (in which he told the studio, "Professionally, we were brothers before you ever were.") The letters were published in "The Saturday Evening Post" to publicize the movie.


11:30am -- A Night at the Opera (1935)
Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protege's romance with the leading lady.
Cast: The Marx Brothers, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle.
Dir: Sam Wood.
BW-91 mins, TV-G

Producer Irving Thalberg would often call people in for meetings, and then keep them waiting in his office for hours while he attended other meetings on the MGM lot. One day, during pre-production for "A Night at the Opera," Thalberg kept the Marx Brothers waiting for several hours in his secretary's office, while he was in his own office making phone calls. When Thalberg's secretary went home for the day, the brothers decided they'd had enough. They pushed the office file cabinets against Thalberg's door, trapping the producer in his office. Afterwards, Thalberg kept his appointments with the Marx Brothers, but would often interrupt his meetings with them and step out to attend other meetings -- again keeping the brothers waiting for hours. One day, Thalberg came back from another meeting to find Groucho, Chico, and Harpo sitting in his office completely naked, and roasting potatoes on sticks in his office fireplace. Thalberg sat down with them, had a potato, and never missed or interrupted another meeting with the Marx Brothers.


1:02pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: The Opry House (1929)
The Mound City Blue Blowers and Doris Walker perform popular songs of the day.
Cast: Lew Hearn, Doris Walker, The Mound City Blowers.
Dir: Murray Roth.
BW-9 mins

The soundtrack includes "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", and "My Gal Sal".


1:15pm -- The Dick Cavett Show: Groucho Marx (1969)
Groucho Marx appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired June 13, 1969.
Cast: Dick Cavett, Groucho Marx.
C-51 mins, TV-PG

DICK CAVETT sits back and lets Groucho take the show in any direction he wants, which includes three of his favorite songs: "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady","Father's Day" and "Everybody Works But Father."


2:15pm -- Number Seventeen (1932)
A detective sets out to recover a necklace lifted by jewel thieves.
Cast: Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, John Stuart.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock.
BW-61 mins, TV-PG

Alfred Hitchcock did not want to make this film. He had wanted to direct a prestige production of John Van Druten's play "London Wall," but to punish Hitchcock for the financial failure of his previous film Rich and Strange (1931), British International Pictures head John Maxwell took him off "London Wall" and put him on "Number Seventeen" instead.


3:17pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Believe It Or Not #9 (1931)
Robert L. Ripley presents various oddities to members of the Believe-It-or-Not Club.
Cast: Robert L. Ripley.
Dir: Arthur Hurley.
BW-9 mins

While Ripley was an avid collector of both antique cars and beer steins, he never drove nor even had a driver's license, and his drink of choice was gin.


3:30pm -- Vertigo (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he's been hired to tail.
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock.
C-130 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color -- Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead, Sam Comer and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Sound -- George Dutton

Costume designer Edith Head and director Alfred Hitchcock worked together to give Madeleine's clothing an eerie appearance. Her trademark grey suit was chosen for its colour because they thought it seemed odd for a blonde woman to be wearing all grey. Also, they added the black scarf to her white coat because of the odd contrast.


5:45pm -- The Fortune Cookie (1966)
A crooked lawyer trumps up an insurance case for a cameraman injured at a pro football game.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Cliff Osmond.
Dir: Billy Wilder.
BW-126 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Matthau

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Robert Luthardt and Edward G. Boyle, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond

Production was halted for weeks after Walter Matthau had a heart attack. He had slimmed from 190 to 160 pounds by the time filming was completed, and had to wear a heavy black coat to conceal the weight loss.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: SEMI-DOCUMENTARY CRIME DRAMAS


8:00pm -- Boomerang (1947)
A prosecutor fights to prove the defendant in a scandalous murder case is innocent.
Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb.
Dir: Elia Kazan.
BW-88 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Richard Murphy

Elia Kazan's selection for an Honorary Oscar in 1999 angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his being among the first to cooperate with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their political beliefs, and that Kazan had publicly stated that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against his selection for the award and many attendees of the awards ceremony itself stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. For his part, Kazan quickly received the Oscar and left the stage with only a few thanks in response to the hostility.


9:45pm -- He Walked By Night (1948)
After killing a cop, a burglar fights to evade the police.
Cast: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts.
Dir: Alfred Werker.
BW-79 mins, TV-14

Technical advisor for the film was Sgt. Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police Dept. During the course of shooting he fell into conversation with Jack Webb, then the star of radio's "Jeff Regan, Private Investigator", who had a small part in the film. Wynn suggested that Webb do a radio series based on actual police files. Thus was born the idea for "Dragnet," which debuted on NBC radio about four months after this film was released.


11:15pm -- Naked City (1948)
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart.
Dir: Jules Dassin.
BW-96 mins, TV-14

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- William H. Daniels, and Best Film Editing -- Paul Weatherwax

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Malvin Wald

Film debuts of James Gregory, John Randolph, Nehemiah Persoff, and Kathleen Freeman.


1:00am -- Brute Force (1947)
Tough, disgruntled prisoners plan a daring, possibly bloody escape while on a drain pipe detail.
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Vince Barnett, Hume Cronyn.
Dir: Jules Dassin.
BW-98 mins, TV-14

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 (1946). Warners wouldn't loan Morris out, so Hellinger cast the unknown Burt Lancaster in his first movie. It made Lancaster a star.


2:45am -- The Captive City (1952)
A small-town newspaper editor defies threats to expose the mob.
Cast: John Forsythe, Joan Camden, Harold J. Kennedy.
Dir: Robert Wise.
BW-91 mins

While filming a cameo for this film, Senator Estes Kefauver was chairman of the Special Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (known as the "Kefauver Committee").


4:30am -- Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
An FBI Agent takes on the three unrelated cases of a dead agent to track down his killer.
Cast: Ruth Roman, Broderick Crawford, Martha Hyer.
Dir: Arnold Laven.
BW-86 mins, TV-PG

During World War II, Broderick Crawford was a regular radio announcer for the Armed Forces Network, introducing broadcasts of live musical performances for such artists as Glenn Miller's Air Force Band.

[Staph]

1. Naked City

"There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

With that memorably stark declaration, producer Mark Hellinger closes one of the greatest film noirs of all time, Jules Dassin's The Naked City (1948). The picture itself is just as hard-edged as its narration, a groundbreaking detective story shot in raw documentary style amid the bridges and concrete canyons of New York City. Nowadays, this sort of location filming is commonplace, even on network TV. But Hellinger and Dassin were the first filmmakers to venture into the streets of the Big Apple to shoot a movie.

The Naked City opens in tawdry noir style, with the murder of a young model in her Manhattan apartment. We then follow the six-day investigation of her death, which is lead by straight-shooting Lt. Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Detective James Halloran (Don Taylor.) Their often mundane police work is interspersed with quick sequences about the private lives of the detectives and the day-to-day rumblings of New York City itself. The investigation will lead to a trio of men who may have wanted the woman dead, including Frank Niles (Howard Duff), a shady type who seems to be hiding something even when he spills his guts to the cops. The final foot chase across the upper reaches of the Williamsburg Bridge is a classic sequence that is helped immeasurably by cinematographer William Daniels' Oscar®-winning camera work.

No doubt about it - this is one great-looking movie. Dassin and Daniels delivered perhaps the most starkly realized movie of the 1940s. Hellinger intended the images to resemble tabloid newspaper photographs. But it was Dassin and Daniels who had the brilliant idea to shoot scenes with a camera that was hidden inside a van, behind a tinted window. That way, the cast could cover the sidewalks without passersby even knowing they were taking part in a movie! The results are a virtual time capsule of life in post-war New York City.

Dassin directed other memorable films in the same mold as The Naked City, including Brute Force (1947), Night and the City (1950), and Thieves' Highway (1949). But his career in Hollywood, like so many others, would be tragically cut short when he was blacklisted during the ruthless McCarthy-era witch hunts. Dassin took the fall rather than name names before the committee...unlike several of his closest friends, including actor Lee J. Cobb, director Elia Kazan, and playwright Clifford Odets. After moving to Europe to find film work, Dassin settled in Greece, a weary but idealistic man who later admitted to having been a member of the Communist Party, although he never aimed to espouse his beliefs in any of his pictures.

Nevertheless, even with Dassin at the helm, Hellinger is the most fascinating person connected to The Naked City. A quick scan of his biography reads like an elaborate, Damon Runyon-inspired put-on: His first job was as a reporter for a theatrical publication called, mysteriously enough, Zit's Weekly. During prohibition, he drank copious amount of brandy and wrote the first-ever Broadway column, a wildly popular slice-of-life called "About Town." He soon began dressing in his lifelong uniform of dark blue shirts and white ties. He was so generous with his money, people would line up on pay day and wait for him to slide bills into their hands. In 1926, he married a beautiful showgirl whose actual name was Gladys Glad. In 1931, he wrote sketches for the Ziegfeld show, Hot Cha. He successfully toured the vaudeville circuit as an actor for a year. He broadcast football games for Columbia University without knowing a single thing about football...It goes on like that for pages.

Eventually, Hellinger wrote a couple of books that got sold to the studios out in Hollywood. He then declared that he, too, would go to Hollywood, but not as a mere screenwriter- he wanted to produce movies, too. After a string of forgettable B-pictures, he insisted, in 1941, that Humphrey Bogart play the lead in his production of High Sierra. The film was an indisputable classic that made Bogart a major star. Later, Hellinger would produce The Killers (1946), which introduced the world to Burt Lancaster. It was around this time that Hellinger became good friends with Ernest Hemingway, the author of the short story on which The Killers was based.

Hellinger dropped dead from a heart attack in 1947, having lived just long enough to enjoy a successful preview of The Naked City. At long last, he finally got some sleep.

Producer: Mark Hellinger
Director: Jules Dassin
Screenplay: Albert Maltz and Malvin Wald
Cinematography: William Daniels
Editing: Paul Weatherwax
Music: Miklos Rozsa and Frank Skinner
Art Design: John DeCuir
Set Design: Russell A. Gausman and Oliver Emert
Costume Design: Grace Houston
Makeup: Bud Westmore
Principal Cast: Barry Fitzgerald (Lt. Dan Muldoon), Howard Duff (Frank Niles), Dorothy Hart (Ruth Morrison), Don Taylor (Jimmy Halloran), Ted de Corsia (Garzah), House Jameson (Dr. Stoneman), Anne Sargent (Mrs. Halloran), Adelaide Klein (Mrs. Batory), Tom Pedi (Detective Perelli), Enid Markey (Mrs. Hylton), Frank Conroy (Capt. Donahue), Mark Hellinger (Narrator).
B&W-96m.

by Paul Tatara