TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 13, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Kipling Classics

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM finally returns to the Essentials. Tonight, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird have a pair of films based on the stories of Rudyard Kipling.

Do you like Kipling? I don't know, I've never Kippled!

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
The legendary count tries to turn his enemies' women into his bloodthirsty brides.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough
C-81 mins, CC,

The cape worn by Christopher Lee was discovered in 2007 in a London costume shop during its annual inventory-taking. It had been missing for thirty years, and is believed to be worth around fifty thousand dollars. Lee was contacted to verify its authenticity.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: CABALLERO DROOPY (1952)
Droopy is on his way to woo his lovely senorita when he is waylayed by a wolf intent on winning the fair lass.
Dir: Dick Lundy
Cast: Bill Thompson
BW-6 mins, CC,

Tex Avery took a year-long break from MGM from 1950 to 1951, during which time Dick Lundy took over his unit to do Caballero Droopy.


8:08 AM -- BASQUE SPORTS (1957)
This short film focuses on the sports played by ethnic Basques who live in the Pyrenees Mountains.
Dir: Van Campen Heilner
BW-8 mins,

This is one of several short subjects, already in the can, and slated for release by RKO Radio Pictures as part of their Sportscopes 1956-1957 season, but which received no theatrical distribution at the time, as a result of the demise of RKO. In 1994, they became part of the TCM library and, for the past 20+ years, finally saw the light of day through occasional airings on cable television.


8:17 AM -- LIFE IN THE ANDES (1952)
This short film takes the viewer to the western side of South America, to the Andes.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick
C-8 mins,

This entry contains among the most aerial footage of any of the short films in the Traveltalks series.


8:26 AM -- BORDER G-MAN (1938)
A government agent investigates gangsters training an army in South America.
Dir: David Howard
Cast: George O'Brien, Laraine Johnson, Ray Whitley
BW-60 mins, CC,

The song "Back in the Saddle Again" was written by Ray Whitley specifically for this movie and is played and sung in its original form. It was modified slightly by him and Gene Autry for the film Rovin' Tumbleweeds (1939), and is published listing both as composers.


9:30 AM -- TERRY AND THE PIRATES: THE SCROLL OF WEALTH (1940)
Dr. Herbert Lee, an archaeologist seeking to decipher ancient Mara inscriptions, is aided by his son, Terry, Terry's pal, Pat Ryan, and Normandie Drake.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: William Tracy, Jeff York, Joyce Bryant
BW-19 mins, CC,

Episode six of fifteen.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: CHILD PSYKOLOJIKY (1941)
Swee'Pea's crying interrupts a poker game, so Popeye decides to try psychology.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, William Nolan (uncredited)
Cast: Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
BW-6 mins, CC,

One of a number of Popeye shorts which were sent off to Asia in the 80's to undergo the infamous redraw and colorization process.


10:07 AM -- TROUBLE MAKERS (1948)
The Bowery Boys pose as bellhops to solve a murder.
Dir: Reginald Le Borg
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell
BW-66 mins, CC,

The 12th of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


11:30 AM -- EYES OF THE NAVY (1940)
This short film follows U.S. naval aviators through their basic training in Florida and advanced training at California.
Cast: Russell Wade, Charles Middleton,
BW-20 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel

The aircraft carrier conducting flight operations, with "EN" painted on its deck, is the U.S.S. Enterprise (CV-6). She would go on to be the most decorated U.S. Navy ship in WWII.


12:00 PM -- THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
An escaped convict holds the customers at a remote desert cantina hostage.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin
BW-82 mins, CC,

Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart had played the same roles in the stage version. Warner Bros. wanted to put Howard in the film but replace Bogart with Edward G. Robinson. Howard insisted on Bogart, sending a telegram to Jack L. Warner which read "Insist Bogart play Mantee; no Bogart, no deal." Bogart would later name his second child with Lauren Bacall Leslie, in honor of Howard, the man who gave him his first big break.


1:30 PM -- GUN CRAZY (1950)
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger
BW-87 mins, CC,

The bank heist sequence was done entirely in one take, with no one outside the principal actors and people inside the bank aware that a movie was being filmed. When John Dall as Bart Tare says, "I hope we find a parking space," he really meant it, as there was no guarantee that there would be one. In addition, at the end of the sequence someone in the background screams that there's been a bank robbery--this was actually a bystander who saw the filming and assumed the worst.


3:15 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

Cary Grant found the screenplay baffling, and midway through filming told Sir Alfred Hitchcock, "It's a terrible script. We've already done a third of the picture and I still can't make head nor tail of it!" Hitchcock knew this confusion would only help the movie after all, Grant's character had no idea what was going on, either. Grant thought the movie would be a flop right up until its premiere, where it was rapturously received.


5:45 PM -- THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972)
Passengers and crew struggle to escape an ocean liner turned upside down.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons
C-117 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the song "The Morning After"

Winner of a Special Oscar Achievement Award for L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers for visual effects

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Shelley Winters, Best Cinematography -- Harold E. Stine, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- William J. Creber and Raphael Bretton, Best Costume Design -- Paul Zastupnevich, Best Sound -- Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- John Williams

Paul Gallico was inspired to write his novel by a voyage he made on the Queen Mary. When he was having breakfast in the dining room, the liner was hit by a large wave, sending people and furniture crashing to the other side of the vessel. He was further inspired by a true incident which occurred aboard the Queen Mary during World War II. Packed with American troops bound for Europe, the ship was struck by a gargantuan freak wave in the North Atlantic. It was calculated that if the ship had rolled another five inches, she would have capsized like the Poseidon.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: KIPLING CLASSICS



8:00 PM -- GUNGA DIN (1939)
Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks
BW-117 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph H. August

Sabu was the first choice to play Gunga Din; when it became clear he was unavailable, Sam Jaffe was hired in his place. In an interview years later, Jaffe (a Jewish Russian-American) was asked how he so convincingly played an Indian Hindu. Jaffe replied he kept telling himself to "Think Sabu."


10:15 PM -- KIM (1951)
Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of an orphaned boy who helps the British Army against Indian rebels.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas
C-113 mins, CC,

MGM originally announced the film in 1938 as a vehicle for Freddie Bartholomew and Robert Taylor, but World War II saw this put on hold. In 1942 it was reactivated to star Mickey Rooney, Conrad Veidt (as Red Lama) and Basil Rathbone. However this was postponed out of fear of offending Indians, and also war-time allies the Soviets. In 1948 the Indian government approved the film and the Cold War meant it was permissible to have Russian villains.


12:15 AM -- MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958)
A ruthless contract killer balks when he discovers his next hit is a woman.
Dir: Irving Lerner
Cast: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi
BW-80 mins, CC,

The music was composed by Perry Botkin Sr who also composed music for The Beverly Hillbillies. Some of the music from this movie was used in The Beverly Hillbillies series. Around the 13 minute mark, Fans of The Beverly Hillbillies will recognize this familiar theme.


2:00 AM -- CARBINE WILLIAMS (1952)
True story of the convicted bootlegger who fought for his freedom by inventing a new rifle.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: James Stewart, Jean Hagen, Wendell Corey
BW-93 mins, CC,

In the film, all of the men working on the still with Williams were white. But in reality, it was five African-American men, all of whom testified against Williams at trial.


4:00 AM -- SPRINGFIELD RIFLE (1952)
A Union officer goes undercover to root out Confederate raiders.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Gary Cooper, Phyllis Thaxter, David Brian
C-93 mins, CC,

A Wilhelm Scream is heard when a Confederate solider is killed with a saber near the end of the raid where McCool is killed. For those of you who have never heard of the Wilhelm Scream, check it out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

[mopinko]

1. my kids had the most delightful book/tape combo

of 2 of the 'just so stories'
read by jack nicholson and meryl streep.
lovely water color illustrations.
so hilarious. never go tired of them. kids did. me not.

[Staph]

2. Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep

reading kids' stories. That's either brilliant or horrifying!

[mopinko]

3. well, jack was, in character.

how the 'hippopotamus got his hide', iirc.
when he was the jin of all deserts it was spooky.
but all he did was fill an evil man's skin w 'dried up currants and such' and made him itch and scratch until he had a hippo hide.

meryl's was 'how the elephant got it's trunk'