TCM Schedule for Saturday, February 2, 2019 -- 31 Days of Oscar - '60s Visual Effects

[Staph]

Last edited Wed Jan 30, 2019, 08:09 PM - Edit history (3)

Today's Oscar-adjacent themes -- in the daylight hours, Edge of Your Seat (including three of Hitchcock's best), in prime time, Favorite ‘60s Visual Effects Winners (Fantastic Voyage (1966) vs. Doctor Doolittle (1967)), and in the late night hours, Best Battle With The Bottle (Days of Wine and Roses (1962) vs. The Lost Weekend (1945)). Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Sudden Fear (1952)
An ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged woman, then plots with his mistress to murder her.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame
BW-111 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Crawford, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Palance, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Sheila O'Brien

At the time she made this film, Joan Crawford had recently been released from a long-term contract with Warner Brothers and, like many of her contemporaries, was struggling to keep her movie career alive. She was savvy enough to recognize the potential of this material, and played a major role in shepherding it to the screen. When her instincts proved right and Sudden Fear (1952) became her biggest box office hit in years, Crawford was rewarded for her efforts.


8:15 AM -- The Third Man (1949)
A man's investigation of a friend's death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles
BW-105 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Krasker

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Carol Reed, and Best Film Editing -- Oswald Hafenrichter

The frequent use by director Carol Reed of Dutch angles to portray uneasiness and tension in the characters earned him a gift from his crew at the end of filming: a spirit level.


10:00 AM -- Panic in the Streets (1950)
A killer evades the police not knowing he has a deadly plague.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes
BW-96 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt

In the scene where Palance hits Widmark on the head with a gun, the actors rehearsed it with a rubber gun, but when the cameras rolled, Palance substituted a real gun. Widmark, who wasn't expecting it was out for twenty minutes. According to Widmark "Why did he switch? Who knows?" In a 1986 interview Widmark also recalled how Palance got into the mood of his character by beating on flunky Zero Mostel off-screen. A black and blue Mostel had to go to the hospital after his first week on the movie. "They had to soak him in epsom pads."


11:45 AM -- Suspicion (1941)
A wealthy wallflower suspects her penniless playboy husband of murder.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
BW-99 mins

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Fontaine

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Franz Waxman, and Best Picture

In interviews, Sir Alfred Hitchcock said that an RKO executive ordered that all scenes in which Cary Grant appeared menacing be excised from the movie. When the cutting was completed, the movie ran only fifty-five minutes. The scenes were later restored, Hitchcock said, because he shot each piece of film so that there was only one way to edit them together properly.


1:30 PM -- Strangers on a Train (1951)
A man's joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker
BW-101 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Burks

Sir Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Walker worked out an elaborate series of gestures and physical appearance to suggest the homosexuality and seductiveness of Bruno's character while bypassing censor objections.


3:30 PM -- North by Northwest (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
C-136 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Ernest Lehman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Robert F. Boyle, Merrill Pye, Henry Grace and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Film Editing -- George Tomasini

This movie has been referred to as "the first James Bond film" due to its similarities with splashily colourful settings, secret agents, and an elegant, daring, wisecracking leading man opposite a sinister yet strangely charming villain. The crop duster scene inspired the helicopter chase in From Russia with Love (1963).


6:00 PM -- Wait Until Dark (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who've invaded her home.
Dir: Terence Young
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna
C-108 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn

In order to create a sense of unease, the film's composer Henry Mancini had his two pianists, Pearl Kaufman and Jimmy Rowles, playing instruments tuned a quarter tone apart. Initially uncertain as to whether this novel approach would achieve the desired end, Mancini was reassured in short order, when, after just a few takes of the main title, Kaufman turned to him and said, 'Hank, can we please take a break? This is making me ill!' 'She made my day,' the composer recalled fondly. 'The device was working.'



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 60'S VISUAL EFFECTS



8:00 PM -- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
A team of scientists shrinks to remove a blood clot from the brain of a defecting scientist.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Jack Martin Smith, Dale Hennesy, Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Art Cruickshank

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Laszlo, Best Film Editing -- William B. Murphy, and Best Effects, Sound Effects -- Walter Rossi

Isaac Asimov was approached to write the novel from the script. He perused the script and declared it to be full of plot holes. Receiving permission to write the book the way he wanted, delays in filming and the speed at which he wrote saw the book appear before the film.


10:00 PM -- Doctor Dolittle (1967)
A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, Anthony Newley
C-149 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- L.B. Abbott, and Best Music, Original Song -- Leslie Bricusse for the song "Talk to the Animals" (Leslie Bricusse was not present at the awards ceremony. 'Sammy Davis Jr.' accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Mario Chiari, Jack Martin Smith, Ed Graves, Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss, Best Sound, Best Film Editing -- Samuel E. Beetley and Marjorie Fowler, Best Music, Original Music Score -- Leslie Bricusse, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Lionel Newman and Alexander Courage, and Best Picture

This movie had one of the biggest merchandising tie-in campaigns in Hollywood history. Merchandise included puzzles, a reprint of the original book series by Dell Publishing, children's toys (including talking Pushmi-Pullyu and Rex Harrison dolls from Mattel), school supplies, a line of pet foods, and small toy figures in each package of "Shake-a-Pudding". Along with the obligatory soundtrack album, several major artists recorded "Talk to the Animals" and other songs from the movie. Anthony Newley recorded an album of nothing but "Dolittle" songs for RCA Victor. Sammy Davis, Jr. and Bobby Darin also released all-"Dolittle" albums, along with instrumental albums from jazz musicians Joe Bushkin and Gordon Beck. Most of the merchandise sold poorly. Ten years later, George Lucas easily got the merchandising rights for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and profited spectacularly from it.


12:45 AM -- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
A husband and wife fight to conquer alcoholism.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford
BW-117 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Days of Wine and Roses"

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Lee Remick, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Joseph C. Wright and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Donfeld

The cast and crew were very concerned that the bleak ending would be changed. Director Blake Edwards recalled for Entertainment Weekly magazine that studio head Jack L. Warner wanted a lighter ending, but he came into a screening with a very attractive date who blasted the decision. Warner reluctantly gave in. In addition, Jack Lemmon purposely flew to Paris after filming had wrapped so he would be "unavailable" for re-shoots.


3:00 AM -- The Lost Weekend (1945)
A writer fights to overcome his addiction to liquor.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry
BW-101 mins, CC

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ray Milland, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Film Editing -- Doane Harrison, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa

Ray Milland actually checked himself into Bellevue Hospital with the help of resident doctors, in order to experience the horror of a drunk ward. Milland was given an iron bed and locked inside the "booze tank." That night, a new arrival came into the ward screaming, an entrance which ignited the whole ward into hysteria. With the ward falling into bedlam, a robed and barefooted Milland escaped while the door was ajar and slipped out onto 34th Street where he tried to hail a cab. When a suspicious cop spotted him, Milland tried to explain, but the cop didn't believe him, especially after he noticed the Bellevue insignia on his robe. The actor was dragged back to Bellevue where it took him a half-hour to explain his situation to the authorities before he was finally released.


5:00 AM -- Camille (1937)
In this classic 19th-century romance, a kept woman runs off with a young admirer in search of love and happiness.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore
BW-109 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greta Garbo

Sometimes, George Cukor was able to use Greta Garbo's natural aloofness to the film's advantage, such as during the scene at the beginning of the film when Marguerite goes to the theatre. He explained, "I wanted to show that Marguerite was a public woman, that she went to the theatre to be seen. She had to walk through a crowded lobby of men...I wanted her to walk through to show herself, as if on parade for clients. At first Garbo walked through rather quickly, as if she didn't want to be seen. I might have said, 'Walk through a little more brazenly, a little more slowly,' but I didn't. I realized she was right. She could slip through, and you knew damn well the men would look at her anyway."