Classic Films

ificandream

(10,610 posts) Mon Dec 26, 2022, 12:38 PM Dec 2022

TCM Schedule Saturday, December 31 - New Year's Eve - Night of the Dueling Marathons

Last edited Thu Dec 29, 2022, 03:37 PM - Edit history (6)

TCM Schedule Saturday, December 31, 2022 - New Year's Eve - "That's Entertainment" and "The Thin Man" marathons

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(Friday) 11:45 PM The Caine Mutiny (1954)
A captain of a US Navy destroyer during World War II begins to crack under pressure, expressing odd behavior, and is forcibly relieved by his second in command, but then a trial ensues to uncover who was in the right.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson
Runtime: 125 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

2:00 AM The Rack (1956)
A Korean War veteran is accused of cracking under enemy torture.
Dir: Arnold Laven Cast: Paul Newman, Wendell Corey, Walter Pidgeon
Runtime: 100 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

4:00 AM The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
The famed writer risks his reputation to defend a Jewish army officer accused of treason.
Dir: William Dieterle Cast: Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard
Runtime: 123 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y

6:00 AM Winter People (1989)
A passionate affair between two Blue Mountain locals shakes up the whole community.
Dir: Ted Kotcheff Cast: Kurt Russell, Kelly Mcgillis, Lloyd Bridges
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

8:00 AM Cartoon: Cleaning House (1938)
The Captain wants to get out of his share of house work so he pretends to be sick but unfortunately for him Mama calls for the doctor to give him a physical.
Dir: Robert Allen Cast: Billy Bletcher, Jeanne Dunne, Martha Wentworth
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: Y

8:09 AM Short: How to Train a Dog (1936)
This comedic short provides a lesson in how to train a dog . . . or not.
Dir: Arthur Ripley Cast: Robert Benchley, Mitzi Cummings, Felix E. Feist
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N

8:18 AM Short: Night Descends on Treasure Island (1940)
This focuses on the nighttime festivities for the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition.
Dir: null Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick, C Bakaleinikoff, Thomas Hart Benton
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N

8:27 AM Overland Telegraph (1951)
A cowboy tries to prevent the sabotage of a transcontinental telegraph.
Dir: Lesley Selander Cast: Tim Holt, Gail Davis, Hugh Beaumont
Runtime: 60 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-G CC: N

9:30 AM Batman (serial): Chapter 2, The Bat's Cave (1943)
The search for a kidnapped reporter leads the Dynamic Duo to a rooftop chase.
Dir: Lambert Hillyer. Cast: null
Runtime: 17 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: N

10:00 AM Cartoon: Beaus Will Be Beaus (1955)
Popeye and Bluto compete to spend a day at the beach with the object of their affections, Olive Oyl.
Dir: null Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-PG CC: N

10:08 AM Short: Rooftops of Manhattan (1935) (TCM Premiere)
This presents several musical performances set in a rooftop nightclub in Manhattan.
Dir: Joseph Henabery Cast: Edith Helena, Bob Burns, Jack Conway
Runtime: 21 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-PG CC: N

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT/DANCING MARATHON

11:00 AM That's Entertainment! (1974)
An all-star cast, including Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra, introduces clips from MGM's greatest musicals.

Dir: Jack Haley Jr. Cast: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor
Runtime: 132 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: This was among the last MGM films shot on the studio's renowned back lot, of which there were actually six distinct satellite parcels of land west and south of the main lot (Lot 1). Lot 2, the last of them to serve as a working back lot, was in use until late 1978. Development for residential housing on Lots 3-6 began the year this movie filmed its new material with the studio's stars strolling the various standing sets, which had been allowed to deteriorate for well over a decade before their demolition. This is particularly noticeable in the train station set where Fred Astaire gives his introduction, and Bing Crosby refers to the English Lake area as looking rather "scruffy". On the other hand, the entire purpose of the film is nostalgia, and the use of the 'scruffy' facade, clearly aged and unused, helps to set the tone as one of a brief return to the glamour of the past, even though it was all make-believe.

Trivia: Producer Jack Haley Jr.'s credit appears over a still image of his father, Jack Haley, who played the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz."

1:30 PM That's Entertainment! II (1976)

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Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly dance together again for the first time in more than 30 years as they introduce classic musical numbers and comedy bits.
Dir: Gene Kelly Cast: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Saul Bass
Runtime: 133 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: This was Fred Astaire's final dance performance on film.

3:45 PM That's Entertainment! III (1994)

This third installment in the series features previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage, musical outtakes, and three-strip color negative restorations.
Dir: Bud Friedgen Cast: Carmen Miranda, Ray Bolger, Cyd Charisse
Runtime: 113 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Final screen appearance of Gene Kelly.

Trivia: Originally pitched as a special for Turner Classic Movies.

6:00 PM That's Dancing! (1985)
Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli and Mikhail Baryshnikov host this compilation of some of the greatest dance numbers in movie history.
Dir: Jack Haley Jr. Cast: Liza Minnelli, Gene Kelly, Ray Bolger
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: This marked the premiere screening of Ray Bolger's deleted dance routine from "The Wizard of Oz," (1939), an occasion that later inspired the making of That's Entertainment! III (1994), which was comprised of many scenes that had been deleted from their respective release prints.

"THE THIN MAN" MARATHON

8:00 PM The Thin Man (1934)
In New York, a detective, his wife and his dog solve the murder case of an eccentric inventor.

Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan
Runtime: 80 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: William Powell spoke of how much he loved working with Myrna Loy because of her naturalness, her professionalism, and her lack of any kind of "diva" temperament. "When we did a scene together, we forgot about technique, camera angles, and microphones. We weren't acting. We were just two people in perfect harmony," he said. "Myrna, unlike some actresses who think only of themselves, has the happy faculty of being able to listen while the other fellow says his lines. She has the give and take of acting that brings out the best."

Trivia: MGM was advised that some dialogue was "censorable," such as William Powell's line "He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids," and Myrna Loy's line "What's that man doing in my drawers?" However, the picture was approved for exhibition in 1934 and granted a PCA certificate in August 1935. After the film's release, some territories did censor some lines of dialogue, and at least one theater owner from the South wrote to the PCA to complain of excessive drinking in the picture, which his patrons found offensive.

Trivia: Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, originally was against the idea of Myrna Loy being cast in this picture but director W.S. Van Dyke wanted to use the stars of the movie Manhattan Melodrama (1934), William Powell, and Loy. Mayer said that Powell was OK for the part since he had already played detectives in other films. Loy eventually got the part and made a new image for herself.

Trivia: According to Myrna Loy, the actors were not allowed to interact between takes with the highly trained Skippy (the real name of Asta), who performed his feats on the promise of a squeaky mouse and a biscuit.

Related: Appreciation of "The Thin Man" series by Richard Drees at Film Buffs Online.

Related: Publicity photos from all entries in the series at Film Noir Photos.

Related: All About Asta at Films of the Golden Age.

Related: Film review at Pre-Code.com (one of our favorite film sites).

9:45 PM After the Thin Man (1936)

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Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora's cousin of a murder charge.

Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Though William Powell and Myrna Loy were very close friends off-screen, their only romantic moments together occurred on-screen. The public, however, was determined to have them married in private life as well. When the two stars showed up in San Francisco (where most of this film was shot) at the St. Francis, the hotel management proudly showed "Mr. and Mrs. Powell" to their deluxe suite. This was an especially uncomfortable moment as Jean Harlow, who was engaged to Powell, was with them, and the couple had not made a public statement about their relationship. Harlow saved the day by insisting on sharing the suite with Loy: "That mix-up brought me one of my most cherished friendships," Loy said in "Being and Becoming", her autobiography. "You would have thought Jean and I were in boarding school we had so much fun. We'd stay up half the night talking and sipping gin, sometimes laughing, sometimes discussing more serious things." Meanwhile, Powell got the hotel's one remaining room--a far humbler accommodation downstairs.

Trivia: An early role for acting icon Jimmy Stewart.

Trivia: The first sequel to be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.

11:45 PM Another Thin Man (1939)

Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Ii Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Two tragedies befell William Powell prior to the making of this movie: the unexpected death of his fiancée, Jean Harlow, and a difficult battle with colon cancer that required colon bypass surgery and new radiation treatments. Production of this film was delayed as a result. Powell was given a standing ovation when he finally returned to the set for filming.

Trivia: At Nicky Jr's birthday party at the end of the film, Shemp Howard of The Three Stooges makes an uncredited appearance.

1:45 AM Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

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High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.

Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke Ii Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson
Runtime: 97 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The backdrop footage behind Nick and Nora after leaving the Bay Bridge traveling to the racetrack, which is now known as Golden Gate Fields, is authentic and rather historical, as one reared in the Bay Area can testify. They are driving the then new East Shore Highway, now known as the East Shore Freeway, formerly US40 now I-80.

Trivia: Feature debut of Ava Gardner, who can be briefly glimpsed standing by Nick's car.

Trivia: Film debut of actors Barry Nelson and Sid Melton.

3:30 AM The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)

On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson
Runtime: 100 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Liberal drinking of alcohol, a mainstay of the first four "Thin Man" movies, was curtailed for this movie due to wartime liquor rationing.

Trivia: This was the first "Thin Man" film not directed by W.S. Van Dyke who passed away in 1943.

Trivia: The canine actor who had played Asta since the first Thin Man film, Skippy, had outgrown the part and was replaced on this film.

Trivia: Nick is lying in a hammock 22 minutes into the movie, with a copy of "Nick Carter, Detective" magazine. This issue is Volume 7, #3 (May 1936), thus making it 8 years old at the time of filming. The use of this magazine is an homage to the long-time pulp detective Nick Carter, from whom Nick Charles got his own first name and surname initial.

5:15 AM Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.
Dir: Edward Buzzell Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn
Runtime: 86 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The last film for Myrna Loy at MGM, where she had made the majority of her films since the 1930s. In her autobiography she stated this picture was a "lackluster finish to a great series", and that she "hated" it.

Trivia: At one point Nick Charles finds a razor blade and exclaims, "Somerset Maugham must have been here." That is a reference to Maugham's best-selling novel "The Razor's Edge."

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