TCM Schedule for Saturday, May 9, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Getting the Scoop

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM finally returns to the Essentials. Tonight, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird have a pair of films about life in the fourth estate. Enjoy!


(Edited to add -- hooray, I finally hit 5000 posts. It only took fifteen years!)


6:00 AM -- 36 HOURS (1964)
Nazis kidnap a key American intelligence officer and try to convince him that World War II is over.
Dir: George Seaton
Cast: James Garner, Rod Taylor, Eva Marie Saint
BW-115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The production license required any evidence that Yosemite was ever transformed into Bavaria, or the Wawona Hotel into an Allied Military Hospital had to be totally removed within 24 hours after the "36 Hours" exodus. Compliance with this condition was the only way Producer William Perlberg could get into the National Park area for his picture.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: THE BEAR AND THE HARE (1948)
Barney Bear hunts a snowshoe rabbit.
Dir: Michael Lah
BW-7 mins, CC,

The working title for this cartoon was "Snowshoe Rabbit".


8:09 AM -- HOT SANDS (1931)
In this short film, a newlywed couple drive into Death Valley and wind up gambling for their life.
Dir: Alfred J. Goulding
Cast: Billy Wayne, Thelma White,
BW-10 mins,


8:20 AM -- CALLING ON COLOMBIA (1940)
This short film showcases the life, geography, and historical aspects of the nation of Colombia.
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-8 mins,


8:29 AM -- VACATION IN RENO (1946)
Newlyweds try to survive their first fight.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Jack Haley, Anne Jeffreys, Wally Brown
BW-60 mins, CC,


9:30 AM -- TERRY AND THE PIRATES: THE FANG STRIKES (1940)
Dr. Herbert Lee, an archaeologist seeking to decipher ancient Mara inscriptions, is aided by his son, Terry, Terry's pal, Pat Ryan, and Normandie Drake.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: William Tracy, Jeff York, Joyce Bryant
BW-22 mins, CC,

Episode two of fifteen.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: OLIVE'S $WEEP$TAKE TICKET (1941)
Olive gets a phone call that she has won first prize in a sweepstakes, but she can't find her ticket.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Arnold Gillespie (uncredited)
Cast: Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
BW-6 mins, CC,

One of a number of Popeye shorts which were sent off to Asia in the 80's to undergo the infamous redraw and colorization process.


10:07 AM -- HOLD THAT BABY! (1949)
The Bowery Boys discover a lost baby they think is heir to a fortune.
Dir: Reginald Le Borg
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell
BW-64 mins, CC,

The 14th of 48 Bowery Boys movies.


11:30 AM -- DOUBLE EXPOSURE (1935)
An aspiring photographer gets more than he bargained for when he snaps a picture of a stranger in this short film.
Dir: Lloyd French
Cast: John Berkes, Loretta Sayers, Jules Epailly
BW-20 mins,

$12 in 1935 is worth about $220 in 2018; $50 is worth about $920.


12:00 PM -- THE THIRD MAN (1949)
A man's investigation of a friend's death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles
BW-105 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Krasker

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Carol Reed, and Best Film Editing -- Oswald Hafenrichter

Somewhat apocryphal stories abound regarding Carol Reed discovering musician Anton Karas while scouring Vienna bars and nightclubs. Reed actually heard Karas playing at a production party and insisted the Austrian zither player come to Reed's hotel room and record songs to use for the contract. Later in production, Reed realized he wanted to use Karas' music for the whole film and flew Karas out to London to record the score. Karas became a top-selling musician thanks to the film and opened a nightclub called "The Third Man" in Vienna, which he ran to the end of his days.


2:00 PM -- EDGE OF THE CITY (1957)
An army deserter and a black dock worker join forces against a corrupt union official.
Dir: Martin Ritt
Cast: John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier, Jack Warden
BW-85 mins, CC,

Written specifically for Sidney Poitier.


3:45 PM -- THE COMANCHEROS (1961)
A Texas ranger teams up with a gambler to stop an outlaw from running weapons into Mexico with the help of the Comanches.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin
C-107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

During much of the shooting, Director Michael Curtiz was seriously ill (he died of cancer shortly after the film's release). On the days when Curtiz was too ill to work, John Wayne took over direction of the film, and when it was completed, he told the studio that he did not want credit as co-director, and insisted that Curtiz's name alone appear as director.


5:45 PM -- THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1970)
A Western crook tries to break out of prison.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn
C-123 mins, CC,

Withdrawn after its cinema release, allegedly after offending America for scenes in which Norman masquerades as an arrogant US general requisitioning British land for the US Air Force.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: GETTING THE SCOOP



8:00 PM -- ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)
A small-town reporter milks a local disaster to get back into the big time.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Bob Arthur
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman

Indian copy boy in the newspaper office (uncredited) is Iron Eyes Cody...an American actor of Sicilian heritage who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films. He is perhaps best known as the individual shedding a tear over litter in the "Keep America Beautiful" TV ad campaign of the early 70's.


10:00 PM -- THE FRONT PAGE (1931)
A crusading newspaper editor tricks his retiring star reporter into covering one last case.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Adolph Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Adolphe Menjou, Best Director -- Lewis Milestone, and Best Picture

The journalists are all based on actual reporters who were Chicago colleagues of authors Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, with most working alongside them at the courthouse. The real names were only slightly changed: Hildy Johnson was based on the real-life reporter Hildebrand Johnson, Walter Burns was based on the editor Walter Howey, and Mac McCue was based on reporter Buddy McHugh.


12:00 AM -- MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
A woman turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott
BW-111 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Crawford (Joan Crawford was not present at the awards ceremony and feigned illness that night. Meanwhile she listened to the show on the radio. When she won, she ushered the press into her bedroom, where she finally accepted her Oscar.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eve Arden, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ann Blyth, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ranald MacDougall, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Haller, and Best Picture

Shooting the early scenes, director Michael Curtiz accused Joan Crawford of needlessly glamorizing her working mother role. She insisted she was buying her character's clothes off the rack, but didn't mention that her own dressmaker was fitting the waists and padding out the shoulders.


2:15 AM -- BREWSTER MCCLOUD (1970)
A mysterious boy living in the Houston Astrodome dreams of building himself a pair of wings.
Dir: Robert Altman
Cast: Bud Cort, Sally Kellerman, Michael Murphy
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Robert Altman hated the script so much, he tossed it out and actors were coached on lines as they shot scenes.


4:15 AM -- 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964)
A Chinese showman uses his magical powers to save a Western town from itself.
Dir: George Pal
Cast: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell
BW-100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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.