TCM Schedule for Thursday, February 13, 2020 -- 31 Days of Oscar: 360 Degrees of Oscar

Last edited Mon Mar 23, 2020, 06:42 PM - Edit history (1)

More of 31 Days of Oscar, with the actors or actresses that connect the films added after a break at the end, in case you want to guess. Enjoy!



7:45 AM -- DAVID COPPERFIELD (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphaned boy's fight for happiness and the colorful characters who help and hinder him.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: W. C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan
BW-130 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Robert Kern, Best Assistant Director -- Joseph M. Newman, and Best Picture

According to Freddie Bartholomew, Basil Rathbone, who played Mr. Murdstone, was afraid of how audience would judge him for playing such an evil character. So, whenever they weren't shooting, Rathbone would go out of his way to be as nice to Bartholomew as much as possible, such as inviting him to his house and taking pictures with him to show the public that he was nothing like the character he was playing on screen.


10:15 AM -- A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935)
Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allen, Edna May Oliver
BW-126 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Conrad A. Nervig, and Best Picture

Actor Ronald Colman agreed to play the role of Sydney Carton with the sole condition that he not also be required to play the role of Charles Darnay, as was usually expected in adaptations of the Dickens novel. The plot of A Tale of Two Cities turns on the physical resemblance between the two characters. Colman had long wanted to play Sidney Carton, and was even willing to shave off his beloved mustache to play the part.


12:30 PM -- FIVE STAR FINAL (1931)
An unscrupulous newspaper editor searches for headlines at any cost.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Marian Marsh, H. B. Warner
BW-89 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Picture

"The Evening Gazette" is based on the real-life "New York Evening Graphic", the most sensational of all the "Front Page"-era tabloid papers (critics called it the Porno-Graphic). The paper, owned by Bernarr Macfadden, published from 1924-32. At the time this film was made the Graphic had been losing circulation, because its new editor had been trying to make it a more respectable paper, just like in the film. The paper was best known for its "composographs," composite photographs used to create an otherwise unobtainable illustration. Louis Weitzenkorn, who wrote the original play, had been a reporter and editor on the" Evening Graphic".


2:15 PM -- LITTLE CAESAR (1930)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Glenda Farrell
BW-78 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee

In one scene, Edward G. Robinson had to fire a pistol while facing the camera. Try as he might, he was unable to keep his eyes open each time he pulled the trigger. The problem was eventually solved by having Robinson's eyes held open with cellophane tape.


4:00 PM -- I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932)
A World War I veteran faces inhuman conditions when he's sentenced to hard labor.
Dir: Mervyn Le Roy
Cast: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson
BW-93 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), and Best Picture

The film was based on the true story of Robert E. Burns. It sticks basically to the facts except for two instances: Burns actually did steal the $5.29 in order to eat, and he finally succeeded in evading the Georgia legal system with the help of three New Jersey governors. Burns actually slipped into Hollywood and worked for a few weeks on the film, but ultimately the stress and risk were too much, and he fled back to the safety of New Jersey. The book and film helped bring about the collapse of the brutal chain gang system in Georgia. Warner Bros. took a big chance on the film, as social commentary was not normally done in Hollywood pictures. However, this film was a critical and financial success and helped establish Warners as the studio with a social conscience - it also helped save the financially ailing company. Even though Georgia was never specifically named in the film, numerous lawsuits were filed against the studio, the film was banned in Georgia, and the studio's head and the film's director were told that should they ever find themselves in Georgia they would be treated to a dose of the "social evil" they so roundly denounced.


6:00 PM -- THE COMMANDOS STRIKE AT DAWN (1942)
A Norwegian refugee leads the British in an attack against his country's Nazi invaders.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Lillian Gish
BW-100 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Louis Gruenberg and Morris Stoloff

Alexander Knox, credited eighth as the German captain, also provides the uncredited voice of the off-screen Chaplain of the British naval vessel, as well as that of the off-screen closing narrator.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: 360 DEGREES OF OSCAR



8:00 PM -- WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951)
As a new star and planet hurtle toward a doomed Earth, a small group of survivalists frantically work to complete the rocket which will take them to their new home.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hanson
BW-82 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- John F. Seitz and W. Howard Greene

Actor John Hoyt (who plays Sidney Stanton in this film) would go on to play the role of the ships doctor in the original pilot episode of Star Trek (1966). The pilot was originally filmed in 1964 but rejected and eventually recast although much of the footage, including the scenes with Hoyt, was reused in the two part story 'The Menagerie' which aired in the first season.


9:45 PM -- THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (1959)
A young lawyer from the wrong side of town tries to break into society.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith
BW-136 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Vaughn, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr., and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Howard Shoup

During the trial scene, Paul Newman's lawyer character makes a crucial point that gin has no smell. Interestingly, 14 years later, Paul Newman's con-man character in The Sting (1973) says "Always drink gin with a mark kid, they can't tell if you cut it."


12:15 AM -- NIGHT AND DAY (1946)
Fanciful biography of songwriter Cole Porter, who rose from high society to find success on Tin Pan Alley.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley
C-128 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner

When a friend of Cole Porter's heard that Cary Grant had been cast to play the songwriter in the film of his life, the friend asked Porter why he had not objected since he and Grant looked nothing alike. The friend pointed out that Porter might have suggested Fred Astaire instead, another good friend of his who had a strong physical resemblance to Porter. Porter replied, "If they wanted Cary Grant to play you in a movie, would you complain?"


2:45 AM -- DESTINATION TOKYO (1943)
A U.S. sub braves enemy waters during World War II.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Cary Grant, John Garfield, Alan Hale
BW-135 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Steve Fisher

The operation of the submarine as shown in this movie was so accurate that the Navy used it as a training film during World War II.


5:15 AM -- PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945)
A blinded Marine tries to adjust to civilian life.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Maltz

On the train to Philadelphia, Al (John Garfield) talks to Lee (Dane Clark) about the difficulty he anticipates in getting a job for a blind man. Lee responds that because he, Lee, is Jewish, he has trouble finding a job as well and then waxes philosophic about a day when people aren't discriminated against for any reason. Both Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkel) and Clark (born Bernard Elliot Zanville) were New York-born sons of Russian Jewish immigrants.



















Don't scroll any farther if you don't want to know who the connecting actors and actresses are!



















David Copperfield (1935)
Basil Rathbone
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
H.B. Warner
Five Star Final (1931)
Edward G. Robinson
Little Caesar (1930)
Glenda Farrell
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Paul Muni
Commandos Strike At Dawn (1942)
Richard Derr
When Worlds Collide (1951)
Barbara Rush
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Alexis Smith
Night and Day (1946)
Alan Hale
Destination Tokyo (1944)
Dane Clark
Pride of the Marines (1945)
John Garfield
Air Force (1943)