TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 5, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: The TCM End Of Summer Tour

It's Day Two of Labor Day Weekend, and TCM is continuing their celebration of concert movies and specials. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- THE BIGGEST BUNDLE OF THEM ALL (1968)
A kidnapped gangster turns his captors into a crack band of crooks.
Dir: Ken Annakin
Cast: Vittorio De Sica, Raquel Welch, Robert Wagner
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Robert Wagner wrote in his autobiography that Raquel Welch was constantly late on the set, keeping the cast and crew waiting for hours while she had her hair and make-up done. Finally, Edward G. Robinson cracked, telling Welch off in an angry ten minute tirade which left Welch in tears and apologizing for her behavior. However, Wagner writes, the next day, she was late again.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: THE CHUMP CHAMP (1950)
Droopy and Spike compete in a series of athletics contests, and no prizes for guessing who starts cheating.
Dir: Tex Avery (Fred)
Cast: Daws Butler, Frank Graham, Don Messick
BW-7 mins, CC,


8:09 AM -- GAME WARDEN (1955)
In this short film, a "game protector" for New York state is shown performing his various duties.
Dir: Harry W. Smith
BW-8 mins,


8:18 AM -- SEATTLE: GATEWAY TO THE NORTHWEST (1940)
This short film takes the viewer to Seattle and other areas in the state of Washington.
C-9 mins,


8:28 AM -- ISLE OF FURY (1936)
A man on the run in the South Seas gets caught up in a romantic triangle.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Woods
BW-60 mins,

One of only two films in which Humphrey Bogart sported a mustache. The other was Virginia City (1940).


9:30 AM -- TERRY AND THE PIRATES: THE FATAL MISTAKE (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-17 mins, CC,

Thirteenth of fifteen episodes.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: FLEETS OF STREN'TH (1942)
Popeye's unconventional torpedo-loading technique get him a mild punishment: he's ordered to stand at attention.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Al Eugster (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer
BW-7 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.


10:08 AM -- ELEPHANT STAMPEDE (1951)
The jungle hero fights off elephant poachers to help a missionary.
Dir: Ford Beebe
Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Donna Martell, John Kellogg
BW-71 mins, CC,

This was the first of seven Bomba movies in which Leonard Mudie played Regional Commissioner Andy Barnes, who befriended and assisted Bomba to a greater degree in each successive film.


11:30 AM -- FRONTIER DAYS (1945)
In this short film, a sheriff and a U.S. marshal bring law and order to a frontier community terrorized by a gang and Native Americans.
Dir: Jack Scholl Cast: Rory Mallinson, Robert Homans, Trevor Bardette
C-17 mins,

In the late 1800's the American bison had received legal protection in only a few states (e.g. Idaho, New Mexico) but only after they had been exterminated in those states. It wasn't until the early 1900's that serious legal action and attempts to re-grow the herds were made. At that point there were only a few thousand (at most) remaining in the wild or captivity. So to claim as the narrator does that unscrupulous hunters illegally hunted bison is not accurate. Immorally perhaps but not illegally.


11:48 AM -- THE STORY OF ALFRED NOBEL (1939)
This short film tells the story of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
Dir: Joseph Newman
Cast: Paul Guilfoyle, Eleanor Wesselhoeft, Gene Coogan
BW-11 mins,


12:00 PM -- THE PRIZE (1963)
An American Nobel Prize-winner mixes it up with spies when he travels to Stockholm to collect his award.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer
C-135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Bears many plot similarities, similar scenes, and actors in common with North by Northwest (1959) due to both being written by Ernest Lehman. Paul Newman sometimes claimed he had had more fun making this film than any other.


2:30 PM -- STAGECOACH (1939)
A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
BW-96 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Thomas Mitchell, and Best Music, Scoring -- Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- John Ford, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Bert Glennon, Best Art Direction -- Alexander Toluboff, Best Film Editing -- Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, and Best Picture

John Ford liked to bully actors on the set, and this movie was no exception. At one point, he said to Andy Devine, "You big tub of lard. I don't know why the hell I'm using you in this picture." Undaunted, Devine replied, "Because Ward Bond can't drive six horses." Likewise, he attacked Thomas Mitchell, who eventually retorted, "Just remember: I saw Mary of Scotland (1936)," effectively humbling the director. Worst of all was Ford's treatment of John Wayne. He called him a "big oaf" and a "dumb bastard" and continually criticized his line delivery and manner of walking, even how he washed his face on camera. However, at least part of this was to provoke the actor into giving a stronger performance. Claire Trevor recalls how Ford grabbed Duke by the chin and shook him. "Why are you moving your mouth so much?" he said. "Don't you know you don't act with your mouth in pictures? You act with your eyes." Wayne tolerated the rough treatment and rose to the challenge, reaching a new plateau as an actor. Ford helped cement the impression that Wayne makes in the film by giving him plenty of expressive reaction shots throughout the picture.


4:15 PM -- EAST OF EDEN (1955)
Two brothers compete for their father's approval and a woman's love.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jo Van Fleet

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was the first posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards history.), Best Director -- Elia Kazan, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paul Osborn

Despite the annoyances and difficulties he faced making this film, Raymond Massey called the role of Adam Trask one of the best parts he ever had on screen and one of the few three-dimensional characters he played in movies.


6:30 PM -- BANANAS (1971)
A New York nebbish gets mixed up in a South American revolution to impress the woman he loves.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalban
C-82 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In an interview with Robert B. Greenfield of Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, Woody Allen said: "They say it's a political film but I don't really believe much in politics. Groucho Marx has told me that The Marx Brothers' films were never consciously anti-establishment or political. It's always got to be a funny movie first".



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE TCM END OF SUMMER TOUR



8:00 PM -- THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (1979)
Documentary footage traces The Who's rise to rock stardom.
Dir: Jeff Stein
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The band's performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967) ends with "My Generation" and their trademark wrecking of their equipment - the climax being the explosion of the drum kit. During rehearsal, Keith Moon ("Patent British Exploding Drummer&quot had persuaded stage hands to load more flash powder into the kit than usual (possibly by bribery) so that when the explosion occurred at the very end of the performance, it was so big that it temporarily blinded the TV cameras and injured the rest of the band. Singer Roger Daltrey was deaf for a long period after the show, Moon was cut on the arm by a cymbal, and guitarist Pete Townshend's hair was singed - he can be seen in the film with smoke coming from his head. Townshend later attributed his partial hearing loss to the incident, though years of extreme on-stage sound levels are probably more to blame. Backstage, other guests of the show were also affected: Bette Davis fainted into Mickey Rooney's arms.


10:00 PM -- SHINE A LIGHT (2008)
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Mick Jagger, Keith Richard, Charlie Watts
BW-122 mins, CC,

Legendary executive and co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, died as a result of a head injury he sustained from falling backstage at the opening night of the two day concert series and their subsequent filming. The film closes with a dedication to him. Eerily enough, this is not the only death to result from an incident that took place during the filming of a Rolling Stones concert documentary. In 1969 a fan named Meredith Hunter was stabbed and beaten by members of the Hell's Angels who were hired as security at the now infamous free concert by the Rolling Stones at Altamont Speedway. This tragic event was captured during the filming of another famous Stones concert documentary, "Gimme Shelter (1970)."


12:15 AM -- THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (1981)
Documentary cameras capture the thriving Los Angeles punk scene of the early 1980s.
Dir: Penelope Spheeris
Cast: Milt Wilson, Claude Bessy, Germs
C-100 mins, CC,

Director Penelope Spheeris is the sister of musician Jimmy Spheeris and cousin of film director Costa-Gavras.


2:15 AM -- THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART II: THE METAL YEARS (1988)
The L.A. punk scene is taken over by glam metal.
Dir: Penelope Spheeris
Cast: Chris Holmes,, C C Deville
C-93 mins, CC,

According to director Penelope Spheeris on the commentary, the scene where Chris Holmes pours a vodka bottle down his throat is actually just pool water - not actually vodka. Spheeris also says that that amount of vodka, if it were real, would kill someone.


4:00 AM -- THIS IS ELVIS (1981)
Staged scenes and vintage clips re-create Elvis Presley's life.
Dir: Malcolm Leo
Cast: David Wark Scott, Paul Boensch, Dana Mackay
C-102 mins, CC,

At the time of its release the film included lots of very rare and never-before-seen footage of Elvis Presley.


5:43 AM -- CAPE BRETON ISLAND (1948)
This short film focuses on the history, land, and people of Cape Breton island.
C-9 mins,