TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 31, 2022 -- 31 Days of Oscar: 1960s Winners

[Staph]

Today is last of the 31 Days, and it's another round of Oscar-winning films from the 1960s. TCM is giving us a trio of Richard Burton's films (The Night of the Iguana (1964), The Sandpiper (1965), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)), as well as one of my favorite films, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Enjoy!


3:30 AM -- War and Peace (1966)
5h 57m | Adaptation
Epic adaptation of Tolstoy's novel centers around the lives of two families during Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk
Cast: Lyudmila Savelyeva, Sergey Bondarchuk, Vyacheslav Tikhonov

Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- USSR

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Mikhail Bogdanov, Gennady Myasnikov, Georgi Koshelev and V. Uvarov

Lyudmila Saveleva came to the 1969 Academy Awards and accepted the Oscar award on behalf of the filmmakers. Upon her return to Moscow, the Soviet authorities boarded the aircraft and confiscated the Oscar statuette.


10:45 AM -- The Night of the Iguana (1964)
2h 5m | Drama | TV-14
A defrocked priest surrenders to the sins of the flesh in a Mexican hotel.
Director: John Huston
Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

Winner of an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grayson Hall, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gabriel Figueroa, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen B. Grimes

At the time of filming it attracted more attention for its location dramas than for what happened on screen. At the time Liz Taylor was living with Richard Burton, whose agent was her previous husband, Michael Wilding. Ava Gardner's old friend Peter Viertel was around with being married to co star Deborah Kerr. It was for this reason that John Huston, recognising that there might be some good fights, gave all the cast gold plated guns.


1:00 PM -- The Sandpiper (1965)
1h 56m | Romance | TV-14
An Episcopal priest falls for a free-living artist.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Johnny Mandel (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "The Shadow of Your Smile"

Vincente Minnelli originally wanted Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr to repeat their From Here to Eternity (1953) chemistry before offering it to the Burtons.


3:15 PM -- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
2h 11m | Drama | TV-14
An academic couple reveal their deepest secret to a pair of newcomers during an all-night booze fest.
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Taylor, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Sandy Dennis, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Haskell Wexler, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Sylbert and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Irene Sharaff

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Richard Burton, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Segal, Best Director -- Mike Nichols, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Lehman, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Film Editing -- Sam O'Steen, Best Music, Original Music Score -- Alex North, and Best Picture

In the scene that takes place outside of the bar, George violently pushes Martha into the side of the car in his rage. Richard Burton actually pushed Dame Elizabeth Taylor too hard and the sound of her head hitting the hood of the car can be heard. Taylor can be seen to gasp and raise her hand instinctively to the back of her head. She carried on with the scene in character, with a noticeable rattle in her voice, as she tried to prevent herself crying in pain. Because of this, Mike Nichols chose to keep this scene instead of re-shooting it.


5:45 PM -- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
1h 57m | Drama | TV-14
A husband and wife fight to conquer alcoholism.
Director: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford

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

Because the film dealt with such a serious issue, Warner studio executives were concerned about the film's commercial prospects and held a preview screening. To their horror, about forty couples walked out on the film during its showing, which was a record for the studio. Later they discovered that the preview ad had failed to mention that it was a drama and not the expected Jack Lemmon comedy.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR -- 1960s WINNERS



8:00 PM -- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-PG
A young girl grows up fast when her lawyer father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Horton Foote, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead and Oliver Emert

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mary Badham, Best Director -- Robert Mulligan, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Russell Harlan, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Elmer Bernstein, and Best Picture

The first scene that Gregory Peck shot showed him returning home from his character's law office while his children ran to greet him. Author Harper Lee was a guest on the set that day, and Peck noticed her crying after the scene was filmed. He asked Lee why she was crying, and she responded that Peck had looked just like her late father, the model for Atticus. Lee explained that Peck even had a little round stomach like her father's. "That's not a pot belly, Harper," Peck told her, "That's great acting."


10:30 PM -- A Patch of Blue (1965)
1h 45m | Drama | TV-PG
A blind white girl falls in love with a black man.
Director: Guy Green
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Hartman

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Shelley Winters

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Hartman, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Burks, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Urie McCleary, Henry Grace and Charles S. Thompson, and Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Jerry Goldsmith

Shelley Winters hated her role as "Rose-Ann", primarily because, as a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, she was very uncomfortable playing a racist. Winters was actually overwhelmed and speechless the night she won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.


12:30 AM -- The Hustler (1961)
2h 14m | Drama | TV-PG
A pool shark falls into the clutches of a crooked gambler.
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Eugen Schüfftan, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Harry Horner and Gene Callahan

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Piper Laurie, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jackie Gleason, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George C. Scott (Refused even to be nominated.), Best Director -- Robert Rossen, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen, and Best Picture

Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.


3:00 AM -- Midnight Cowboy (1969)
1h 53m | Drama | TV-MA
A would-be gigolo and an ailing con artist form an unlikely friendship.
Director: John Schlesinger
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- John Schlesinger, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Waldo Salt, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dustin Hoffman, Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jon Voight, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Sylvia Miles, and Best Film Editing -- Hugh A. Robertson (Hugh A. Robertson becomes the first African American to be nominated for Best Film Editing.)

Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for this film, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the "beggar" less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity.


5:00 AM -- The Virgin Spring (1960)
1h 27m | Drama | TV-14
A medieval knight seeks revenge when his daughter is murdered.
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Max Von Sydow, Birgitta Pettersson, Birgitta Valberg

Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- Sweden

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Marik Vos-Lundh

The bridge keeper played by Axel Slangus is clearly supposed to be Odin. Beside his comments about recognizing Ingeri as if they have meet before (clearly suggesting he heard her prayer at the beginning of the film) there are several nods to Odinic lore in the scene. Before the bridge keeper appears, a raven is seated outside his hut. The raven was considered to be sacred to Odin. When the bridge keeper is finally shown up close we can see that he is one-eyed which is Odin's most prominent feature, having sacrificed an eye to attain wisdom. Finally when Ingeri sits in the high-seat she suddenly has seemingly clairvoyant hearing. This is a nod to Odin's high-seat Hlidskjalf from which he could see all things happening in the world.