TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 24, 2021 -- TCM Spotlight: Oscars From A to Z

[Staph]

In today's edition of Oscars A to Z, TCM starts us off with Fred Astaire and Jane Powell dancing across London in Royal Wedding (1951) and finishes Richard Roundtree as the original Shaft (1970) - shut your mouth! Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- Royal Wedding (1951)
1h 33m | Comedy | TV-G
A brother-and-sister musical team find romance when they tour London for Elizabeth II's wedding.
Director: Stanley Donen
Cast: Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Burton Lane (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) for the song "Too Late Now"

The story was loosely based on the real-life partnership of Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele Astaire. In real life, Adele Astaire married Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire, just as Jane Powell, playing Fred's sister, marries an English Lord at the end of this film. As she retired in 1931, and Fred did not make his film debut until 1933, Adele never appeared onscreen with brother. This was the only time in his career that one of Fred Astaire's screen characters ever had a sister.


9:00 AM -- San Francisco (1936)
1h 55m | Romance | TV-G
A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the earthquake.
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy

Winner of an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Director -- W.S. Van Dyke, Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert E. Hopkins, Best Assistant Director -- Joseph M. Newman, and Best Picture

Despite its realistic portrayal of the San Francisco earthquake, the movie San Francisco did not win the Academy Award for Best Special Effects, because the award did not exist at the time. To rectify this gap, the award was inaugurated in 1938.


11:15 AM -- The Sandpiper (1965)
1h 56m | Romance | TV-14
When a bohemian single mother puts her son into a school run by a married, Episcopalian minister.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Eva Marie Saint

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Johnny Mandel (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "The Shadow of Your Smile"

This was the last of the many movies Vincente Minnelli directed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although it was a money-maker, it is generally regarded as his worst movie.


1:30 PM -- The Sea Wolf (1941)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-PG
Shipwrecked fugitives try to escape a brutal sea captain who's losing his mind.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ida Lupino, John Garfield

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Byron Haskin (photographic) and Nathan Levinson (sound)

In 1947, Warner Bros. reissued the film under a double-feature with The Sea Hawk (1940). However, to squeeze more showings per day, the film was cut from 100 minutes to 86 minutes. The edits were made to the original camera negative and the footage was subsequently discarded. A 16mm print that once belonged to John Garfield was in the possession of New York University, but Warner Bros. refused to release the film on DVD until a 35mm print of the longer version could be found. Warner ultimately found a complete 35mm print at the Museum of Modern Art, restored it, and released the film on DVD and Blu-Ray in October 2017.


3:30 PM -- The Search (1948)
1h 45m | Drama | TV-PG
An American soldier in post-war Europe becomes attached to a homeless child.
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Aline MacMahon, Wendell Corey

Winner of a Juvenile Oscar Award for Ivan Jandl for the outstanding juvenile performance of 1948 in The Search

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Montgomery Clift, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler

Such was the naturalness of Montgomery Clift's portrayal, Fred Zinnemann was asked how he managed to coax such a realistic performance from a soldier. This was Montgomery Clift's second film after Red River (1948) but because the Western had such a long post-production period, The Search (1948) was released first.


5:30 PM -- The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
2h 20m | Comedy | TV-PG
During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi

Nominee for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- William A. Lyon and Earle Herdan, and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Ernest Gold

The Italian crew was so upset over the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, which occurred during the shoot, that they dedicated an extra hour of work in his memory. The letter from the Italian workers' union read, "the best way to honor the memory of a man of action is by action". Producer-director Stanley Kramer replied with the following announcement: "The decision of the Italian crew of The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) to dedicate one extra hour of work to the memory of Robert Kennedy has no parallel in motion-picture history. The American group in Anticoli Corrado is deeply honored to know you and privileged to be your coworkers".



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DAYTIME & PRIMETIME THEME -- OSCARS FROM A TO Z



8:00 PM -- Sergeant York (1941)
2h 14m | Drama | TV-G
True story of the farm boy who made the transition from religious pacifist to World War I hero.
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, and Best Film Editing -- William Holmes

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Brennan, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Wycherly, Best Director -- Howard Hawks, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston and Howard Koch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Sol Polito, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

This picture was shown on the deck of the USS Enterprise (CV-6), to the officers and crew on the evening of Saturday, December 6, 1941, when the carrier was anchored off Hawaii. The next day was the Japanese attack which brought the United States into World War II. Some of the Enterprise's aircraft took part in repulsing attacking Japanese planes, when in the process of augmenting SBD dive bomber aircraft, and F4F Wildcats based at NAS Ford Island. Several were lost, mostly due to friendly anti-aircraft fire.


10:30 PM -- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
1h 43m | Comedy | TV-G
The seven Pontipee brothers ease the loneliness of their Oregon farm by courting seven women.
Director: Stanley Donen
Cast: Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Jeff Richards

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, and Best Picture

Despite the extra work that shooting two different versions created, the cast had a marvelous time and Stanley Donen embraced the challenge of CinemaScope. He thought that with seven brides and seven brothers, the story lent itself perfectly to the medium since so many characters often had to be onscreen at the same time. He utilized every inch of the frame to maximize the visual impact of the new technology. The studio, being extremely tight with the budget, wound up having to put more money into the production anyway, despite trying to cut every corner, because not enough theaters were equipped with CinemaScope screens, which entailed shooting the film twice, once for a less extreme widescreen version. "I had to shoot and cut everything twice, re-stage scenes, put in a different set of marks, light it differently, loop it," said Donen. "We had two cutting rooms going, and it cost the studio another $500,000, which was a lot for then."


12:30 AM -- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
1h 40m | Western | TV-PG
A Chinese showman uses his magical powers to save a Western town from itself.
Director: George Pal
Cast: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell

Winner of an Honorary Oscar Award for William Tuttle for his outstanding make-up achievement for 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Jim Danforth

Tony Randall shaved his head for the role of Dr. Lao. It also made it easier to apply the make-up for the different characters he played. The studio publicity department wanted to photograph Randall getting his head shaved but arrived at the barber too late. They had the make-up artist glue hair back on Randall's head so Randall could pose for photos while getting the hair cut off again.


2:15 AM -- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
1h 48m | Drama | TV-PG
A young girl fears her favorite uncle may be a killer.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, MacDonald Carey

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Gordon McDonell

Alfred Hitchcock said that part of why he considered this to be his favorite movie was that he loved the idea of bringing menace to an otherwise idyllic small town.


4:15 AM -- Shaft (1971)
1h 38m | Drama | TV-MA
A slick black detective enlists gangsters and African nationals to fight the mob.
Director: Gordon Parks
Cast: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Isaac Hayes for the song "Theme from Shaft"

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Isaac Hayes

By 2019, there would be three cinematic generations of John Shaft. Original MGM version's Richard Rountree, would later appear as uncle to the "semi-reboot" Samuel L Jackson version, who in turn will be the father to the Usher version in the Warner Bros-New Line Cinema-Netflix version. The 2019 version features all three generations of the family members named John Shaft.

[BigmanPigman]

1. The Search is a wonderful film.

I could watch it a zillion times. I first saw it over 40 years ago and it still impresses me.