TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 10, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight - Sword and Sandal

[Staph]

Last edited Wed Jan 30, 2019, 08:13 PM - Edit history (1)

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the fabulous actor Paul Henreid, born Paul Georg Julius Hernreid Ritter von Wassel-Waldingau on January 10, 1908, in Trieste, Austria-Hungary (now Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy). We don't get to see Casablanca, but that's okay -- it's one of the lesser parts for Henreid -- he plays the boring but noble type. I much prefer Now, Voyager (1942)! Then in prime time, TCM continues their month of historical or fantasy films from the genre known as Sword and Sandals. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948)
A crook on the lam poses as a psychiatrist.
Dir: Steve Sekely
Cast: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz
BW-82 mins, CC,

According to contemporary newspaper articles, Paul Henreid decided to produce this film himself, so that he could play a bad guy for once.


8:00 AM -- DECEPTION (1946)
A woman tries to protect her refugee husband from her rich and powerful ex-lover.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
BW-112 mins, CC,

Paul Henreid could not play the cello. While he was able to fake it in the long shots, to achieve the illusion in close up, he wore a special jacket with no sleeves and holes for two real cellists to insert their arms - one to bow, and one to accurately finger the music - while seated behind him, out of shot.


10:00 AM -- IN OUR TIME (1944)
A Polish count and his English wife battle Nazi invaders.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Ida Lupino, Paul Henreid, Nancy Coleman
BW-111 mins, CC,

Count Stefan takes Jennifer on a walking tour of Warsaw. As they walk, stock footage is shown of various important monuments culminating in the bronze monument of Chopin by sculptor Waclaw Szymanowski. These monuments were all systematically destroyed by the Germans in 1940.


12:00 PM -- THE CONSPIRATORS (1944)
A guerilla leader falls in love with a mysterious woman in World War II Lisbon.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-101 mins, CC,

This film has many tangential connections to Casablanca (1942) besides its plot line of anti-Nazi intrigue. It features Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, who all appeared in "Casablanca". Behind the scenes, the film features music by Max Steiner and cinematography by Arthur Edeson, who both worked on "Casablanca". Like "Casablanca", it was produced by Warner Bros. It also features Hedy Lamarr, who was originally considered for the role of "Ilsa", which was eventually played by Ingrid Bergman. Lamar had also previously appeared in Algiers (1938), which also had a plot line similar to "Casablanca".


2:00 PM -- THE SPANISH MAIN (1945)
Dutch rebels in the Caribbean turn pirate and kidnap the corrupt Spanish governor's bride-to-be.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, Paul Henreid, Walter Slezak
C-101 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- George Barnes

The inspiration for the " Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland.


4:00 PM -- NOW, VOYAGER (1942)
A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
BW-117 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gladys Cooper

The film is remembered for the scene in which Paul Henreid places two cigarettes in his mouth, lights them and then passes one to Bette Davis. This wasn't an original idea, a similar exchange occurred ten years earlier between Ruth Chatterton and George Brent in The Rich Are Always with Us (1932), which happens to have Bette Davis in it. Director Rapper subsequently called Henreid "a liar" for claiming he thought of it, and the director pointed out it had been done in a D. W. Griffith film in 1917.


6:00 PM -- OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1946)
A medical student risks his future when he falls for a low-class waitress.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Paul Henreid, Eleanor Parker, Alexis Smith
BW-106 mins, CC,

In an exchange which had Warner Bros. loaning to RKO the services of Joan Leslie for The Sky's the Limit (1943) and John Garfield for The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Warners acquired the production rights to W. Somerset Maugham's classic novel, which RKO already had adapted to the screen in 1934, featuring memorable performances by Bette Davis and Leslie Howard.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: SWORD AND SANDAL



8:00 PM -- HELEN OF TROY (1956)
A shipwrecked prince's love for a married queen triggers war between Greece and Troy.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Rossana Podestà, Jack Sernas, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

On kissing Helen, Paris tells her "make me immortal with a kiss." He is echoing the famous lines from Christopher Marlow's play Faust, in which Faust, on seeing a vision of Helen of Troy, says "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss."


10:15 PM -- DAMON AND PYTHIAS (1962)
Two men from different cultures forge a strong friendship.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Guy Williams, Don Burnett, Ilaria Occhini
C-99 mins, CC,

The legend of Damon and Pythias can be sourced to the writings of philosopher Aristoxenus (4th century BC) who wrote extensively about the Pythagoreans, followers of Pythagoras' philosophy. The legend has the two as two Pythagoreans in Sicily. When Pythias was accused of plotting against Dionysius I, he was sentenced to death. Accepting his sentence, Pythias asked to be allowed to return home one last time, to settle his affairs and bid his family farewell. Dionysius believed this was simply an excuse and that the man wanted to escape. But when Damon offered to take Pythias' place in captivity, Dionysius agreed to set the prisoner free. When Pythias failed to return, Dionysius prepared to execute Damon. But then Pythias returned and offered his life instead. Dionysius was so pleased and astonished with their friendship that he pardoned them both. The tale attested to the supposed loyalty of Pythagoreans to each other and their moral strength in a time of crisis.


12:15 AM -- THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961)
The Greek Army sets out to destroy the Colossus of Rhodes.
Dir: Sergio Leone
Cast: Rory Calhoun, Lea Massari, Georges Marchal
C-128 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The real Colossus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is said to have been approximately 32 meters high. The cinematic version stands 110 meters and its legs bestride the harbour. The actual location of the original colossus is still debated. The fortress at the entrance of the harbour is cited as one possible location with the Acropolis of Rhodes on a hill overlooking the harbour cited as another. Scholars generally agree, however, that anecdotal depictions of the Colossus straddling the harbour's entry point have no historic or scientific basis.


2:45 AM -- THE MINOTAUR (1960)
Theseus, the Greek hero, tries to save a daughter of King Minos from being sacrificed to the Minotaur.
Dir: Silvio Amadio
Cast: Bob Mathias, Rosanna Schiaffino, Alberto Lupo
BW-96 mins,

Remade in 2006 as Minotaur, starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Van Der Water, and Tony Todd.


4:30 AM -- ATLAS (1961)
An evil king convinces superhero Atlas to fight for him.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Barboura Morris
C-79 mins, CC,

Although it is usually assumed that the somewhat skimpy battle scenes were due to director Roger Corman's legendary cheapness, Corman had actually arranged for the services of 500 soldiers from the local Greek army garrison. On the morning of filming, however, only about 50 showed up, and as the day wore on (and the heat intensified), some of them drifted away. In order to make it look like there were more "soldiers" than there actually were, Corman had them march in formation past the camera, then when out of camera range run around behind the crew and equipment, and march past the camera again. That is also why the battle scenes are filmed in close-up combat between individual soldiers or small groups of soldiers rather than in long shots of masses of battling infantry, as Corman had originally planned.