TCM Schedule for Saturday, November 21, 2020 -- The Essentials: Face The Future

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, in the Essentials, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird have a pair of films with differing views of the future, as imagined in the 1960s and 1970s -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and THX-1138 (1971). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Kismet (1944)
1h 40m | Adventure | TV-G
In the classic Arabian Nights tale, the king of the beggars enters high society to help his daughter marry a handsome prince.
Director: William Dieterle
Cast: Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Herbert Stothart

Actress Gloria Dehaven told a story of how she had gone into make up early one morning at MGM to wash her hair for a musical she was doing at the time. While she was shampooing her head in a bowl she felt a strong hand start to wash & shampoo her head. When it was over she looked up to see it was Marlene Dietrich, who was there to get painted for Kismet.


8:00 AM -- The Little Bantamweight (1938)
8m | Comedy | TV-G
A rooster father trains all his newly born sons to be boxers, but one young rooster stands out from the other.
Director: Rudolf Ising


8:09 AM -- Her Honor, the Nurse (1956)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This looks at the duties of the modern nurse.
Director: Harry W. Smith
Cast: Peter Roberts,

An RKO-Pathe Screenliner Short Subject.


8:18 AM -- A Wee Bit of Scotland (1949)
9m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Scotland.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick

In this Traveltalks visit to Scotland, we visit several places with familiar names, including Inverness, capital of the ancient Pictish Kingdom; Loch Ness, home of the famous elusive monster; and Saint Andrews, the birthplace of golf.


8:28 AM -- British Intelligence (1940)
1h 2m | Drama | TV-G
A lady spy uses a British nobleman's home in her undercover work for the Germans.
Director: Terry Morse
Cast: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Bruce Lester

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 13 August 1918 and had 335 performances. It was produced by George M. Cohan and the cast included Frank Sheridan and Cora Witherspoon.


9:30 AM -- Wild West Days: The Gold Stampede (1937)
21m | Action | TV-G
Retired lawman Kentucky Wade and his three buddies come to Brimstone and help their friends.
Director: Ford Beebe, Clifford Smith
Cast: John Mack Brown, George Shelley, Lynn Gilbert

Episode eight of thirteen.


10:00 AM -- A Jolly Good Furlough (1943)
7m | Comedy | TV-PG
Popeye's four little nephews welcome him back from the war zone with a home front defense drill that nearly kills him.
Director: Dan Gordon, Joseph Oriolo (uncredited)
Cast: Margie Hines, Jack Mercer


10:09 AM -- Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940)
1h 16m | Comedy | TV-G
To punish her inattentive husband, a Latin bombshell pretends to want a divorce .
Director: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Lupe Velez, Leon Errol, Donald Woods

Third of the nine Spitfire films.


11:30 AM -- Soak the Old (1940)
20m | Drama | TV-PG
This focuses on crimes revolving around pension scams.
Director: Sammy Lee
Cast: John Dilson, Ralph Morgan, Edward Earle

Number 31 in the Crime Does Not Pay series.


12:00 PM -- Plymouth Adventure (1952)
1h 45m | Adventure | TV-PG
Epic dramatization of the Pilgrims' journey to the new world on the Mayflower.
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Lowell Gilmore, Tommy Ivo, John Dehner

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

In the years since its initial release, the film's failure to stir audiences has largely been attributed to a confluence of unfortunate elements, from its melodramatic script to its cast of mismatched, largely miscast stars. Spencer Tracy, known for the nuance and naturalism he brought to his characterizations, captained the Mayflower with little to no emotional range and appeared far older than his years. Gene Tierney had very little screen time and next to no dialogue, transmitting her portrayal largely through her eyes. Lloyd Bridges' brash overplaying appeared even more so as most of his scenes were played opposite the naturalistic Tracy. Finally, Van Johnson's pronounced Rhode Island accent always undermined his believability when attempting to play a period character.


2:00 PM -- Gunga Din (1939)
1h 57m | Adventure | TV-PG
Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India.
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Victor Mclaglen, Douglas Fairbanks

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

Director George Stevens' flair for comedy in this film is no accident. As a cameraman for Hal Roach, he filmed shorts with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, was doubtless a friend of Charley Chase, and had directed some of the "Boy Friends" shorts before his association with this film.


4:15 PM -- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
1h 33m | Comedy | TV-PG
Fearful that the Russians are flouridating America's drinking water, General Jack D. Ripper orders an air strike against Russia.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C Scott, Sterling Hayden

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter Sellers, Best Director -- Stanley Kubrick, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern, and Best Picture

The U.S. government dismissed Stanley Kubrick's scenario of an accidental nuclear war as too far-fetched. However, the scene where Group Capt. Mandrake is trying to get through to the Pentagon with the code to recall the bombers, but doesn't have enough change for the pay phone, was shown at a session of Congress. Members said it raised legitimate questions about whether crucial information could find its way to the right people during a nuclear crisis.


6:00 PM -- The Front Page (1974)
1h 45m | Comedy | TV-14
The ruthless managing editor of a Chicago newspaper angrily learns his ace reporter plans to retire.
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett

This is the only film adaptation of The Front Page to use the play's famous last line ("The son of a bitch stole my watch." ).



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS -- FACE THE FUTURE



8:00 PM -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2h 40m | Adaptation | TV-PG
Classic sci-fi epic about a mysterious monolith that seems to play a key role in human evolution.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Stanley Kubrick (Stanley Kubrick was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenters Diahann Carroll and Burt Lancaster accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Stanley Kubrick, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Anthony Masters, Harry Lange and Ernest Archer

Incrementing each letter of "HAL" gives you "IBM". Writer Arthur C. Clarke claimed this was unintentional, and if he had noticed ahead of time, he would have changed it. HAL stands for Heuristic Algorithmic Computer. IBM brand placements appear in the movie as well, including the computer panels in the spaceplane that docks with the space station, the forearm control panel on Dave's spacesuit, and the portable viewscreens on which Dave and Frank watch "The World Tonight". These were not paid endorsements but were used to make things appear to be routine tech.

(Another moment of personal privilege -- I met Arthur C. Clarke in 1982, when I was attending an IBM software class in NYC and he was promoting the novel 2010 at a nearby bookstore. As an IBM employee, I had to ask about IBM-->HAL, but he said that was nonsense, nothing to do with the company, only the abbreviation of Heuristic Algorithmic Computer. With a twinkle in his eyes!)


10:45 PM -- THX 1138 (1971)
1h 28m | Drama | TV-MA
Two residents of a mechanized future plot to escape to freedom.
Director: George Lucas
Cast: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley

George Lucas apparently named the film after his San Francisco telephone number, 849-1138, the letters THX correspond to letters found on the buttons 8, 4, and 9. Lucas has worked the title of this film, or parts of it, in some of his other films. In American Graffiti (1973), the license plate of one car is "THX 138". In Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), a reference is made to "prison cell 1138". The cinema sound certification his company developed is called "THX". In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), one of the battle droid's number is "1138". It is seen when all of the battle droids have been shut down.


12:15 AM -- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
1h 44m | Drama | TV-PG
Detective Mike Hammer fights to solve the murder of a beautiful hitchhiker with a mysterious connection to the Mob.
Director: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart

The Kefauver Commission, a federal unit dedicated to investigating corrupting influences in the 1950s, singled this out as 1955's number one menace to American youth. Because of this, Robert Aldrich felt compelled to conduct a writing campaign for the free speech rights of independent filmmakers.


2:15 AM -- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
1h 42m | Drama | TV-14
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Director: Norman Jewison
Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Michel Legrand (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind"

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Michel Legrand

Steve McQueen wears number 2 in the Polo Match. The number two player is one of the primary players on offense, either running through and scoring himself, or passing to Number 1 and getting in behind him for scoring or assist attempts. When playing on defense, the number two player is designated to cover the opposing team's Number 3 player. Usually, the better players on any team are the number 2 and number 3 designated players.


4:15 AM -- Affair with a Stranger (1953)
1h 29m | Comedy | TV-G
A playwright and his wife search the past for the key to saving their troubled marriage.
Director: Roy Rowland
Cast: Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Mary Jo Tarola

Filmed in July and August of 1952 but not released until almost a year later during the tumultuous ownership of RKO by Howard Hughes.