TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 23, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight: New York in the 70s

In the daylight hours, the subject is national politics: comedies, dramas and thrillers from 1933's Gabriel Over The White House to 1964's Seven Days In May to 1972's The Candidate. Then in prime time, TCM continues their spotlight on New York City with films about it made in the 1970s. The first four of today's six films are written by quintessential New Yorker Neil Simon. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- WASHINGTON STORY (1952)
A reporter in search of government corruption falls for a congressman.
Dir: Robert Pirosh
Cast: Van Johnson, Patricia Neal, Louis Calhern
BW-82 mins,CC,

Interiors were shot throughout the U.S. Capitol Building, including the House Chamber, Rotunda, and the subways to the House and Senate office buildings. The production crew was given unprecedented access to the Capitol, greater than any previous film.


7:30 AM -- THE DARK HORSE (1932)
A political machine backs a dimwitted candidate for governor.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Warren William, Bette Davis, Guy Kibbee
BW-74 mins,CC,

The Abraham Lincoln speech referred to in this movie wasn't a speech at all, but a published letter from Lincoln. It was his first announcement of running for political office. He was just 23 years old at the time and was a newcomer to Illinois - having moved there in 1830. He was running for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly. The letter was printed March 9, 1832, in the Sangamo Journal of Springfield, IL. The letter is lengthy and describes Lincoln's views on public improvements, navigation of the Sangamon River, and education.

The words, supposedly plagiarized in this movie from a Lincoln speech, were at the end of the last paragraph in his long letter. They read, "I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born and have ever remained in the most humble walks of life. I have no wealthy or popular relations to recommend me. My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of this county, and if elected they will have conferred a favor upon me, for which I shall be unremitting in my labors to compensate. But if the good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the back ground, I have been too familiar with disappointments to be very much chagrined." The letter was signed, "Your friend and fellow-citizen, A. Lincoln, New Salem, March 9, 1832.


9:00 AM -- THE HUMAN FACTOR (1980)
A diplomat is suspected of being a double agent.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Nicol Williamson, Richard Attenborough, Joop Doderer
BW-115 mins,Letterbox Format

Author Graham Greene said of this movie's source novel of the same name, writing in "Ways of Escape", pages 255 to 258: "My ambition after the war was to write a novel of espionage free from the conventional violence, which has not, in spite of James Bond, been a feature of the British Secret Service. I wanted to present the Service unromantically as a way of life, men going daily to their offices to earn their pensions, the background much like that of any other profession, whether the bank clerk or the business director, an undangerous routine, and within each character the more important private life. When I had spent a few years in the Service during the war, first in West Africa and then in London, I had certainly found little excitement or melodrama coming my way. I began The Human Factor more than ten years before it was published and abandoned it in despair after two or three years' work. I abandoned it mainly because of the Philby Affair. My double agent Maurice Castle bore no resemblance in character or motive to Philby, none of the characters has the least likeness to anyone I have know, but I disliked the idea of the novel being taken as a roman a clef. I know very well from experience that it is only possible for me to base a very minor and transient character on a real person. A real person stands in the way of imagination. Perhaps a trick of speech, a physical trait may be used, but I can write no more than a few pages before realizing that I simply don't know enough about the character to use him, even if he is an old friend. With the imaginary character I am sure, I know that Doctor Percival in The Human Factor admires the painting of Ben Nicholson, I know that Colonel Daintry will open a tin of sardines when he returns from the funeral of his colleague. I sent a copy of the book to Moscow, to my friend Kim Philby, and his reply interested me. His criticism was valid. I had made Castle's circumstances in Moscow, he wrote, too bleak. He himself had found everything provided for him, even to a shoehorn, something he had never possessed before."


11:15 AM -- PRIMARY (1960)
The Wisconsin Primary of 1960 sets John Kennedy on the road to the White House.
Dir: Robert Drew
BW-53 mins,

Pierre Salinger is seen first 8 minutes in, at Kennedy headquarters speaking on the telephone about "moratorium on small nuclear arms testing." He worked on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign, becoming a leading figure in his campaign. When later John Kennedy was elected President, Mr. Salinger was appointed as his press secretary and, as such, was known for his wit, enthusiasm and considerable disdain for detail. Pierre Salinger also served as Lyndon Johnson's press secretary, and as a campaign manager for John's surviving brother, Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential run, during which he was assassinated.


12:30 PM -- EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973)
Rogue intelligence agents, politicians, greedy capitalists, and assassins plot and carry out an assassination.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Paul Carr
C-91 mins,CC,

One of several films to offer up a different (and, some would say, fictional) viewpoint of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Others that have taken this route include William Tannen's Flashpoint (1984) and, most visibly, Oliver Stone's JFK (1991).


2:15 PM -- THE CANDIDATE (1972)
A senate candidate's ideals weaken as his position in the polls gets stronger.
Dir: Michael Ritchie
Cast: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas
C-110 mins,CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Jeremy Larner

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound -- Richard Portman and Gene S. Cantamessa

The Candidate (1972) was released a month prior to the 1972 California Presidential primary. Promotional sheets were put up in southern California resembling political posters. They had simply a photo of Robert Redford, with the slogan, "McKay: The Better Way!" - "McKay" got write-in votes in the June election.


4:15 PM -- GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE (1933)
A crooked president reforms mysteriously.
Dir: Gregory LaCava
Cast: Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone
BW-86 mins,CC,

The protest march of the "army of the unemployed" in the story was no doubt a reference to the protest march of the "Bonus Army" in 1932, where veterans of WWI marched on Congress to demand payment of promised bonuses. They were attacked with tanks and tear gas by the U.S. Army led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur on orders of President Herbert Hoover. William Randolph Hearst, who railed against that action in his newpapers, saw to it that the President in this film helped the people. Meanwhile, Louis B. Mayer, a staunch Republican, delayed the movie until Hoover was out of office.


5:45 PM -- SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964)
An American military officer discovers his superiors are planning a military coup.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March
BW-118 mins,CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Edmond O'Brien, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cary Odell and Edward G. Boyle

The story is set in the "not too distant" future. While viewing slides of pictures taken at the last naval inspection, the date 1970 can be seen. Although likely overlooked by modern audiences, the movie has many futuristic items that would have seemed state of the art at the time of release. The wall projecting slide viewer, the television based teleconference equipment, even the digital time/date display at the Pentagon were all touches meant at the time of release to reflect a high tech environment of the near future.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: NEW YORK IN THE 70'S



8:00 PM -- THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977)
A dancer discovers her runaway boyfriend has sublet her apartment to an aspiring actor.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings
C-111 mins,CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Richard Dreyfuss

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Marsha Mason, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Quinn Cummings, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Neil Simon, and Best Picture

Marsha Mason recalled a scene between her and Quinn Cummings in which Cummings was supposed to say her line and move to a chair and sit down. "I noticed that she did it exactly the same way every time. Acting that way shows good discipline, but the freshness can go away pretty quickly." Mason decided she wanted to try something different just to see how it might change the scene. "Quinn and I started the scene again and when it came time for her to move to the chair," said Mason, "I sat in it instead. Naturally, she was thrown by this and looked to Herb. He carefully and quietly explained to Quinn that in life we never know what another person is going to do and we don't always know how we are going to respond to someone or something. She listened intently, nodded her head, and said, 'I got it.' She was extraordinary in her ability to go with it. At nine!"


10:00 PM -- THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1975)
A feuding comedy team reunites for a television comeback.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Walter Matthau, George Burns, Richard Benjamin
C-111 mins,CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Burns

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Matthau, Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material -- Neil Simon, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Albert Brenner and Marvin March

Based on the lives and careers of vaudeville comics Joe Smith and Charles Dale (né Sultzer and Marks). Unlike the characters in the Broadway play and later film, Smith and Dale were almost inseparable friends. In fact, when Dale died in 1971, Smith commissioned a single tombstone to be prepared for them both, ordering that the inscription read "Smith and Dale". The pair's strained relationship is based on another old-time vaudeville duo, Gallagher and Shean, the latter of whom was Groucho Marx's uncle.


12:00 AM -- THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE (1974)
A suddenly unemployed executive and his understanding wife must adapt to their new life.
Dir: Melvin Frank
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Elizabeth Wilson, Anne Bancroft
BW-98 mins,CC,Letterbox Format

According to the Jack Lemmon's biography "Lemmon" by Don Widener, actress Anne Bancroft recounted this episode from the film's shooting: "[Jack was] nice to a point where he's crazy...We had a scene in 'Prisoner [of Second Avenue'] where he had to carry a shovel in - a very close two-shot favoring me. I played the scene with tears in my eyes because Jack had accidentally hit me in the shin with that shovel. The director saw something was wrong so he stopped everything. I had a big bump on my leg, but it was Friday and over the weekend I fixed it up. When we came back on Monday the first scene was a retake of the shovel thing. Well, Jack brought the shovel in and I anticipated getting hit again. He's so full of energy, you're sure he's not noticing; but he never touched me. The take was fine, but Jack limped away. To avoid hurting me, he had cut himself. He was bleeding and we had to bandage his leg; his wound was much worse than mine. He is so kind he hurt himself rather than injure someone else. That's a little crazy! It's the nicest crazy I know, and I know a lot of crazy people."


2:00 AM -- CLAUDINE (1974)
A single mother falls for a garbage collector who's not sure he's ready to raise six children.
Cast: Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs
C-92 mins,CC,Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Diahann Carroll

The director felt that Diahann Carroll was too sophisticated to play the role of a welfare mother. However, Carroll was from the Bronx, knew women like Claudine and knew she could play that part as well as anyone else.


4:00 AM -- FOR PETE'S SAKE (1974)
A woman goes to outlandish extremes to make her husband rich.
Dir: Peter Yates
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Michael Sarrazin, Estelle Parsons
C-90 mins,CC,

Barbra Streisand was not fond of the film, telling Playboy magazine that it was financially successful "in its own stupid way." Director Peter Yates later responded, "It's not up to her other films, but to call something 'stupid' that many people have enjoyed is to criticize the taste of those people. She certainly liked the film when we made it, and she liked it even more, I'm sure, when the checks came in. She had a big part of it."