TCM Schedule for Friday, May 8, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: VE Day 75th Anniversary

In the daylight hours, TCM has a selection of films about musicians, especially pianists. Then in prime time, TCM is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe (though I think Mister Roberts (1955), which takes place on board a U.S. Navy ship in the "backwaters" of the Pacific seems an odd choice for Victory in Europe day!). Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- THE HATCHET MAN (1932)
When he's forced to kill his best friend, a Chinese hit man adopts the man's daughter.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Dudley Digges
BW-73 mins, CC,

Edward G. Robinson's wife at the time, Gladys Lloyd, appears uncredited as "Fan Yi". They were married from 1927 to 1956 and she would appear in five films with him from 1931-32.


8:00 AM -- THE MAN I LOVE (1947)
A night-club singer gets involved with a mobster.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King
BW-90 mins, CC,

While Ida Lupino is talking to Bruce Bennett, desperately trying to keep him from leaving her, the background instrumental music is "Can't We Be Friends?".


9:45 AM -- DING DONG WILLIAMS (1946)
Two arrangers try to help a jazz star who can't read music compose a film score.
Dir: William Berke
Cast: Glenn Vernon, Marcy McGuire, Felix Bressart
BW-62 mins, CC,

The onscreen credits for the source are "Collier's magazine stories" by Richard English, but the Screen Achievements Bulletin credits only "Strictly Ding Dong" in the Collier's issue of 25 June 1938. Perhaps "Ding Dong Gives" in Collier's issue of 28 October 1939, and other Richard English stories were also sources. According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter, this was to be the first in a series of movies based on the Ding Dong character, but no other movie was ever made.


11:00 AM -- INTERMEZZO (1936)
An innocent young pianist falls into an affair with a married violinist.
Dir: Gustaf Molander
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gosta Ekman, Inga Tidblad
BW-93 mins,

After a single viewing of the film, producer David O. Selznick brought Ingrid Bergman to Hollywood to sign a contract with Selznick International. Bergman and Selznick then remade the film as Intermezzo (1939), with Leslie Howard.


12:45 PM -- MISCHA ELMAN (1926)
Mischa Elman performs two violin numbers in this short film, part of the first program of shorts that accompanied "Don Juan" (1926).
BW-7 mins,

This short premiered with Don Juan (1926), Warner Bros. first sound feature.


1:00 PM -- RHAPSODY (1954)
A wealthy socialite is torn between the classical violinist who excites her and the pianist who needs her.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on the novel Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson.


3:00 PM -- STAN KENTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA (1947)
A brief history of Stan Kenton's musical career is explored in this short film, from taxi-dance gigs to his successful big band orchestra.
Dir: Jack Scholl
BW-10 mins,


3:15 PM -- THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946)
After a famous pianist's murder, his hand returns to wreak vengeance.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre
BW-88 mins, CC,

The piece of piano music played by Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) and later, his disembodied left hand, is the "Bach Chaconne in D Minor", as arranged to be played by the left hand alone by Johannes Brahms. It was selected by Max Steiner because the story required a piece of music that could be performed by a pianist with only his left hand, and Steiner, who was born in Vienna and whose family were friendly with Brahms, rather than composing his own original piece, immediately recognized its potential in underscoring such a grim tale. Legendary Hungarian-American pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi performed the music played by the severed hand.


4:45 PM -- SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960)
A concert pianist on the run gets mixed up with gangsters.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger
BW-82 mins, Letterbox Format

Because no funding was available from any of the studios, François Truffaut and his crew shot the film on the fly on the streets of Paris, often making up the script as they went along. The ending was decided on the basis of who was available at the time of shooting.


6:15 PM -- THE SEVENTH VEIL (1945)
A concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.
Dir: Compton Bennett
Cast: James Mason, Ann Todd, Herbert Lom
BW-94 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Muriel Box and Sydney Box

The idea for the film came about when Sydney Box was asked to make a documentary about rehabilitation of shell-shocked soldiers using hypnosis and truth drugs. Muriel Box suddenly thought what a wonderful film could be made about the rehabilitation of a famous dancer or violinist.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: VE DAY 75TH ANNIVERSARY


8:00 PM -- THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (1954)
A writer recalls his turbulent marriage to an expatriate heiress.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Lester Cowan had previously tried to make this movie in the 1940s, with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple as father and daughter. He originally planned to co-produce with his partner Mary Pickford.


10:15 PM -- MISTER ROBERTS (1955)
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Lemmon

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros.), and Best Picture

Although he played the part of Lt. (j.g.) Doug Roberts on Broadway, Henry Fonda was not the first choice to recreate the role for the film version (the producers felt the 50-year-old Fonda too old to play the role). The producers first wanted Marlon Brando, but he was committed to another project at the time and could not get out of it. Then they turned to Tyrone Power. However, director John Ford insisted on Fonda; they had made several successful films together and Ford said that he would not direct the film without him. Since the producers needed the director with six Academy Awards to helm the film, they gave in. Ironically, once filming began, Ford and Fonda saw eye to eye on almost nothing. Fonda had played the character on Broadway for two years and felt he knew the character inside out. Ford had other ideas, and on his set you saw things his way or you saw the door. Eventually, the producers called a meeting with Fonda and Ford to clear the air, but rather than leading to a better working relationship, Ford sucker-punched Fonda at the meeting. Ford left the production soon after (Ford's gall bladder surgery was given as the official explanation). Mervyn LeRoy, and later Joshua Logan -- the director of the Broadway play -- took over directing duties and finished the film. The decision was made to keep Ford's and LeRoy's name in the final credits.


12:30 AM -- THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1955)
A married woman cheats on her husband in World War II London.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills
BW-106 mins, CC,

Producer David Lewis first acquired the film rights to Graham Green's novel in January 1952 with Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons as possible leads. Then in March 1952 MGM bought the rights from Lewis. Finally in February 1952 producer David E. Rose acquired the rights with a deal in place for Columbia to distribute the picture.


2:30 AM -- THE PYRAMID (1976)
A young TV news reporter grows tired of Commercial programming and decides to cover more positive stories.
Dir: Gary Kent
Cast: Michael Ashe, Tomi Barrett, Charley Brown
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The Pyramid was filmed during the same decade that Werner Erhard began marketing his self-help Erhard Seminars Training (EST) courses and Christine Chubbuck, an American television news reporter, committed suicide during a live television broadcast in 1974. Neither of these events are specifically mentioned in The Pyramid, but they both come to mind as the story unfolds within Kent's narrative, which begin with two struggling TV reporters working in Dallas during the mid-1970s.


4:15 AM -- THE TERRIBLE TRUTH (1951)
A juvenile court judge investigates the tragedy of marijuana addiction in this short film.
Cast: William B. McKesson
C-10 mins,

Judge McKesson went on to become the Los Angeles District Attorney in 1956 - appointed to the post after the sudden death of his predecessor. He campaigned unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Lt. Governor of California in 1962 and resigned as D.A. in 1964.


4:15 AM -- DRUG STORIES (2019)
A Compilation of educational anti-drug and anti-alcohol short films from the 1960s and the 1970s.
BW-80 mins, CC,