TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 21, 2024: Actor Richard Johnson / Director Norman Jewison

[Auggie]

Famous for his rakish charm and easygoing manner, British actor Richard Johnson had a career that spanned seven decades. He made his professional debut at the age of 17, appearing in a production of Hamlet with John Gielgud's repertory theater in 1944. A number of productions with London's Shakespeare Memorial Theatre throughout the '50s and '60s followed, including Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar.

Johnson was cast in his first credited film role, playing Captain Danny De Mortimer in Never So Few (1959). His performance persuaded the executives at MGM to grant him a contract. The studio even wrote a part for him into the biblical epic King of Kings (1961), though the role was eventually cut from the final film. Johnson remained a popular actor during this period, however, starring in films like the horror classic The Haunting (1963). By Johnson's own account, he was even offered the role of James Bond in the film Dr. No (1962), but turned the part down. A particularly memorable on-set experience came along for the actor in 1965, when he appeared in the historical comedy The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) with Kim Novak. A romance bloomed between Johnson and his co-star, and the two were married that same year.

Johnson continued working up until his death in 2015 at age 89. Full bio: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/95962|130044/Richard-Johnson#biography




Norman Jewison (born July 21, 1926) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects accessible to mainstream audiences. Among numerous other accolades, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director three times in three separate decades, for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and Moonstruck (1987). He was nominated for an additional four Oscars, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award, and won a BAFTA Award. He received the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999.

Jewison began his career at CBC Television in the 1950s, moving to the United States later in the decade to work at NBC. In 1958 Jewison was recruited to work for NBC in New York, where his first assignment was Your Hit Parade, followed by The Andy Williams Show. The success of these shows led to directing specials featuring performers such as Harry Belafonte, Jackie Gleason, and Danny Kaye. The television production that proved pivotal to Jewison's career was the Judy Garland "comeback" special that aired in 1961, which included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and led to a weekly show that Jewison was later called in to direct. Visiting the studio during rehearsal for the special, actor Tony Curtis suggested to Jewison that he should direct a feature film. That suggestion resulted in the 1962 comedy 40 Pounds of Trouble, produced by Tony Curtis' and Janet Leigh's film production company, Curtleigh Productions.

Jewison's career spanned over 40 years. He died at his Malibu home on January 20, 2024, at age 97. Full bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Jewison

------ DAYTIME (EST): Actor Richard Johnson ------

6:45 AM | Cairo (1963)
Master thieves set their sights on King Tut's jewels in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
Dir: Wolf Rilla | Cast: George Sanders, Richard Johnson, Faten Hamama

8:45 AM | Never So Few (1959)
A U.S. military troop takes command of a band of Burmese guerrillas during World War II.
Dir: John Sturges | Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Richard Johnson

11:00 AM | Operation Crossbow (1965)
Allied agents go behind enemy lines to destroy a German missile base.
Dir: Michael Anderson | Cast: Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Richard Johnson

1:15 PM | Khartoum (1966)
Egyptian forces led by the British defend Khartoum against an invading army
Dir: Basil Dearden, Eliot Elisofon | Cast: Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Richard Johnson

3:45 PM | The Fifth Day of Peace (1969)
At the end of WW II, German deserters are tried for desertion by fellow POWs inside a prisoner of war camp.
Dir: Giuliano Montaldo | Cast: Bud Spencer, Franco Nero, Richard Johnson

5:45 PM | The Haunting (1963)
A doctor assembles a team of people who he thinks will prove whether or not a house is haunted.
Dir: Robert Wise | Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson

------ PRIME TIME & LATE NIGHT: Director Norman Jewison ------

8:00 PM | The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
A bank executive believes he has committed the perfect heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator.
Dir: Norman Jewison | Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke

10:00 PM | In the Heat of the Night (1967)
A black detective teams up with a racist white sheriff to solve a murder in a small town in the South.
Dir: Norman Jewison | Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates

Jewison lost the Best Director Oscar to Mike Nichols (The Graduate).

12:00 AM | Moonstruck (1987)
A levelheaded young woman falls in love with her fiance's brother in a Brooklyn Italian-American neighborhood.
Dir: Norman Jewison | Cast: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia

Jewison lost the Best Director Oscar to Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor).

2:00 AM | Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish milkman tries to marry off his daughters who have plans of their own.
Dir: Norman Jewison | Cast: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey

Jewison lost the Best Director Oscar to William Friedkin (The French Connection).

5:15 AM | The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
A professional poker player, with a "can't lose" reputation, is challenged to a game by another infamous rival.
Dir: Norman Jewison | Cast: Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden