TCM Schedule for Saturday, January 29, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Epic Saturday Nights

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, it's the third week of Epic Saturday nights, featuring some of Hollywood's greatest epics. Tonight's big film is Gandhi (1982). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- She Couldn't Say No (1954)
1h 29m | Drama | TV-G
An heiress decides to pass out anonymous gifts in a small town.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Arthur Hunnicutt

Arthur Hunnicutt, who plays Odie, really was a native of Arkansas.


8:00 AM -- One Ham's Family (1943)
7m | Animation | TV-G
The big bad wolf dresses up as Santa Claus to try to get a ham dinner from a family of pigs.
Director: Tex Avery
Cast: Sara Berner, Pinto Colvig, Kent Rogers

When the wolf looks through the window and sees the little pig looking up the chimney, he is shown imagining the little pig as a pair of hams. A sign stuck into one of the hams reads "48 points". This indicates the number of red food rationing points to purchase this item, as this film was made and released during World War II. 48 points was a lot, equaling three-fourths of a person's red points (for meat, fish and dairy) for a month.


8:09 AM -- Goofy Movies Number Five (1934)
8m | Short | TV-G
In this short film, Pete Smith provides comedic narration over silent footage.
Cast: Pete Smith


8:18 AM -- Over the Seas to Belfast (1946)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer to Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:27 AM -- Storm Over Wyoming (1950)
1h 1m | Western | TV-G
Two drifters get caught in the middle during a cattlemen-sheep men feud.
Director: Lesley Selander
Cast: Tim Holt, Noreen Nash, Richard Powers

Western fans will notice that this movie offers a unique slant on the old "cattlemen-vs.-sheepherders" story. In this film the cattlemen are willing to live peacefully with the sheepherders, but the boss of the big sheep ranch is a ruthless man willing to kill his own henchmen when they fail to help him drive away the cattle ranchers. The credit for this wonderful reversal in a typical western story goes to screenwriter Ed Earl Repp, who worked from 1944-57, a 13-year career that included contributions to 49 westerns.


9:30 AM -- Batman and Robin: Batman Victorious (1949)
16m | Crime | TV-G
Batman fights to bring an invisible criminal mastermind to justice.
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Cast: Robert Lowery, Johnny Duncan, Jane Adams

Unlike the imposing and remote "stately Wayne Manor" of later Batman productions, Columbia's Batman lives on Morning Glory Circle at the Columbia Ranch backlot; putting him in the same neighborhood as Leave It to Beaver, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, and Gidget.


10:00 AM -- How Green Is My Spinach (1950)
6m | Animation | TV-PG
The Bluto vs. Popeye feud takes on a new twist once Bluto succeeds in destroying the world's spinach crop.
Director: Seymour Kneitel
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Tom Ewell

Tom Ewell, best known for The Seven Year Itch (1955), is plainly seen as an audience member in the live action clip in the cartoon.


10:08 AM -- Loose in London (1953)
1h 2m | Comedy | TV-G
The Bowery Boys take on British crooks when one of them thinks he's inherited a title.
Director: Edward Bernds
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey

The £1,000 check the Earl gives Satch would equate to $2,813 at the time, or about $27,200 in 2019.


11:30 AM -- Out Where the Stars Begin (1938)
19m | Short | TV-G
This spoofs the production of Hollywood movies.
Director: Bobby Connolly
Cast: Evelyn Thawl, Jeffrey Lynn, Armida

Part of a series of shorts called Broadway Brevities.


12:00 PM -- The FBI Story (1959)
2h 29m | Crime | TV-PG
A dedicated FBI agent thinks back on the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime, and Communist spies.
Director: Mervyn Leroy
Cast: James Stewart, Vera Miles, Murray Hamilton

The child's propeller beanie cap seen near the end of the film had been popularized by the children's TV series "Time for Beany." A few years later, the series creator, Bob Clampett, went on to launch the cartoon show "Beany and Cecil" and the hat became even more popular. In modern times, the cap has an affectionate relationship with those in the tech related industries.


2:45 PM -- Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
2h 23m | Drama | TV-PG
True life story of Robert Stroud, who spent fifty-three years in Alcartaz prison and became an expert on birds.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Burt Lancaster, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Telly Savalas, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Thelma Ritter, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Burnett Guffey

The film's release prompted an outpouring of letters demanding Robert Stroud's release. The fact that the real Stroud was nothing like he was portrayed in the film--he was actually a vicious psychopath who murdered several people before he went to prison and also while he was in prison--ensured that this never happened.


5:30 PM -- Red River (1948)
2h 5m | Western | TV-PG
A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive.
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Borden Chase, and Best Film Editing -- Christian Nyby

Upon attending a rough-cut screening of the picture, Montgomery Clift was disappointed, mostly because of the ending, which he thought was ludicrous "because Joanne Dru settles it and it makes the showdown between me and John Wayne a farce." He also found his own performance mediocre but recognized it as a star-making role. "I watched myself in Red River and knew I was going to be famous, so I decided I would get drunk anonymously one last time," he later said.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- EPIC SATURDAY NIGHTS



8:00 PM -- Gandhi (1982)
3h 8m | Drama | TV-PG
The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, John Gielgud

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ben Kingsley, Best Director -- Richard Attenborough, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Briley, Best Cinematography -- Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stuart Craig, Robert W. Laing and Michael Seirton, Best Costume Design -- John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya (Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian-born person to win an Oscar.), Best Film Editing -- John Bloom, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound -- Gerry Humphreys, Robin O'Donoghue, Jonathan Bates and Simon Kaye, Best Music, Original Score -- Ravi Shankar and George Fenton, and Best Makeup -- Tom Smith

Steven Spielberg (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) lost Best Picture and Best Director to Richard Attenborough for this film. Several cast members went on to appear in other films that won these awards, and Spielberg was often involved. Ben Kingsley appeared in Schindler's List (1993), for which Spielberg himself won both awards. Bernard Hill appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), for which Peter Jackson received both awards, and was presented with Best Picture by Spielberg. Martin Sheen appeared in The Departed (2006), for which Martin Scorsese received both awards, again with Best Director presented by Spielberg. That film also reunited Sheen with Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom he had previously worked on Spielberg's film Catch Me If You Can (2002).


12:00 AM -- Quai des Orfèvres (1947)
1h 46m | Crime
A flirtatious wife runs off to meet an older man and the husband closes in with intend to murder him, but finds the deed already done.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Cast: Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier

Clouzot wrote almost two-thirds of the film only having read the novel years before, recalling it from memory, since it was out of print by the time he started the screenplay. When author Stanislas-André Steeman saw the film, he was furious about the differences between the novel and the film.


2:00 AM -- Northern Pursuit (1943)
1h 34m | Adventure | TV-PG
A Mountie tracks a downed Nazi flyer through the Canadian wilderness.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Julie Bishop, Helmut Dantine

Errol Flynn was criticized for playing heroes in World War II movies. Tony Thomas in his book "Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was" states that Flynn had tried to enlist in every branch of any armed services he could but was rejected as unfit for service on the grounds of his health. Flynn had a heart condition, tuberculosis, malaria and a back problem. Flynn felt he could contribute to America's war effort by appearing in such films as Edge of Darkness (1943), Northern Pursuit (1943), Dive Bomber (1941), Objective, Burma! (1945) and Uncertain Glory (1944). Reportedly, Flynn was at his most professional and co-operative ever was while working on World War II movies. WB apparently did not discuss the state of Flynn's health, as they wished to keep it quiet for fear that it would damage his box-office draw.


4:00 AM -- The North Star (1943)
1h 45m | War | TV-PG
Ukrainian villagers unite to fight off invading Nazis.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Lillian Hellman, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- James Wong Howe, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Perry Ferguson and Howard Bristol, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Effects, Special Effects -- Clarence Slifer (photographic), Ray Binger (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Aaron Copland

This is one of the films deemed "subversive" by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in October 1947, at the height of the "Red Scare" era typified by the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The committee decided that, even though Russia was our ally against Nazi Germany in World War II--when this film was made--the movie's sympathetic portrayal of Russian peasants and guerrillas who were fighting off Nazi forces was an "endorsement" of Communism. Senator McCarthy wasn't elected until 1948.