TCM Schedule for Friday, September 25, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Civil War Westerns

[Staph]

It's not yet October, but TCM is giving us a day of monsters from the sky. Then in prime time, there are a trio of films about the Wild West during and after the Civil War. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- WAR OF THE PLANETS (1965)
Martians with mind-control powers attempt to take over the earth.
Dir: Antonio Margheriti
Cast: Franco Nero, Tony Russel, Massimo Serato
C-97 mins, CC,

This is the second film in the Gamma-One series and follows Wild, Wild Planet (a.k.a. I Criminali della Galassia (Criminals of the Galaxy)) and precedes War Between the Planets (a.k.a. Il Pianeta Errante (Planet on the Prowl)) and Snow Devils (a.k.a. La Morte Viene dal Pianeta Aytin (Death Comes From The Planet Aytin)).


8:30 AM -- THE COSMIC MONSTER (1958)
A scientist's experiments open the doorway to a strange and deadly world.
Dir: Gilbert Gunn
Cast: Forrest Tucker, Gaby Andre, Martin Benson
BW-72 mins, CC,

Composer Robert Sharples uses a theremin in the film's opening and closing music score, creating an air of mystery and anticipation missing from the rest of the score. Composer Bernard Herrmann had previously used the theremin throughout his film score for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).


10:00 AM -- SATELLITE IN THE SKY (1956)
Astronauts are trapped on a space station with a ticking bomb.
Dir: Paul Dickson
Cast: Kieron Moore, Lois Maxwell, Donald Wolfit
C-84 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Lois Maxwell, who plays the feisty female reporter, is best known as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films. Her macho male lead, Kieron Moore, played the bully in a small Irish town in Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959).


11:30 AM -- THE GREEN SLIME (1969)
A mysterious fungus invades a space station and turns the inhabitants into monsters.
Dir: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel, Luciana Paluzzi
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The green slime creatures were played by Japanese children in bulky monster suits.


1:15 PM -- QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958)
A space mission to Venus discovers a society of Amazons.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Lisa Davis
C-80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In an interview, director Edward Bernds said that Zsa Zsa Gabor got very "testy" with the actresses playing the Venusian girls. They were mostly beauty contest winners, and were many years - and in some cases a few decades - younger than her. When she noticed that the crew was paying more attention to the tall, leggy, mini-skirted "Venusians" than they were to her, she became very difficult to work with. He said that Gabor gave producer Ben Schwalb such a hard time on the picture that Schwalb eventually wound up in the hospital with ulcers.


2:45 PM -- THE WILD, WILD PLANET (1965)
Space amazons control the Earth by shrinking its leaders.
Dir: Anthony Dawson
Cast: Tony Russel, Lisa Gastoni, Massimo Serato
C-94 mins, CC,

This film, The War of the Planets (1966), War Between the Planets (1966) and Snow Devils (1967) (the Gamma One Quadrilogy) were all shot at the same time in order to save money.


4:30 PM -- VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960)
After a mysterious blackout, the inhabitants of a British village give birth to emotionless, super-powered offspring.
Dir: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
BW-77 mins, CC,

The eerie effect of the children's glowing eyes was created by matting a negative (reversed) image of their eyes over the pupils when they used their powers. The British print of the film contained no optical effects as the British Board of Film Classification considered them too frighting for an 'A' classification.


6:00 PM -- CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED (1964)
Space invaders impregnate six women with super-powered offspring.
Dir: Anton M. Leader
Cast: Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris
BW-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

It's a common misconception that this is sequel to Village of the Damned. The two stories have completely different premises, so there's no way this one could be considered a sequel to the earlier movie. There are many more differences than similarities.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CIVIL WAR WESTERNS



8:00 PM -- THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976)
A peaceful farmer turns vigilante when soldiers murder his family.
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sheb Wooley
C-136 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Jerry Fielding

Because of Chief Dan George's age, he would have trouble remembering his lines, so during takes, Clint Eastwood would begin to mouth his lines without realizing it and had to be told to stop because it would ruin the take. In a featurette on the DVD about making this movie, Eastwood says he'd have people drill Dan George on his lines, but when it came time to shoot the scene, he'd say "Chief, just forget about the lines, tell me the story about the man who rode over the hill." And Dan George, who was apparently a natural storyteller, would then tell the story perfectly.


10:30 PM -- ALVAREZ KELLY (1966)
A suave Mexican cattleman inadvertently gets involved in the Civil War.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: William Holden, Richard Widmark, Janice Rule
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

William Holden and Richard Widmark became good friends during the production of the film. When Widmark became ill with the flu and was confined to his room, Holden bought him a snare drum because he knew Widmark played the drums. Widmark later remarked, "That four months of being constantly together on a film location was the equivalent of ten or fifteen years of friendship."


12:45 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,

Film debut of Fess Parker.


2:30 AM -- C. C. AND COMPANY (1970)
Motorcycle mechanic C.C. Ryder joins "The Heads," an outlaw biker gang.
Dir: Seymour Robbie
Cast: Joe Namath, Ann-Margret, William Smith
BW-94 mins, CC,

Inside joke: Name of Sue Mengers, future 1970s super talent agent, appears as a supporting act on a motel nightclub's marquee, right below "Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Ryders". In real life, Mengers was Ann-Margret's agent.


4:15 AM -- J.C. (1972)
Jesus Christ is born again on Earth. But his father is a hardcore Southern Baptist, and during his teen years, Jesus rebels.
Dir: William McGaha
Cast: Bill McGaha, Hannibal Penny, Joanna Moore
BW-100 mins, CC,

Based on a story by William F. McGaha and Joe Thirty.