TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 10, 2020 -- TCM Spotlight: Honoring Our Medical Heroes

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring birthday boy Robert Wise, born September 10, 1914, in Winchester, Indiania. Though he's best remembered for two amazing musicals (West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965)), TCM is giving us a selection of his early films, beginning with his directorial debut, The Curse of the Cat People (1944). For Thursday evenings in the month of September, TCM continues with their pandemic-appropriate theme. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MADEMOISELLE FIFI (1944)
A German officer tries to force a French laundress to become his mistress.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Simone Simon, John Emery, Kurt Kreuger
BW-69 mins, CC,

This was Robert Wise's second film as a director. He shot the entire film in 22 days for a budget of $200,000. This was a record low budget for an American studio sound and period feature.


7:15 AM -- THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944)
A lonely child creates an imaginary playmate with surprisingly dangerous results.
Dir: Gunther V. Fritsch, Robert Wise
Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph
BW-70 mins, CC,

Robert Wise's first directorial screen credit, after he was called in to finish what was going to be short subject director Gunther von Fritsch's first feature film debut. Fritsch had fallen behind schedule and was replaced by Wise and the film was completed nine days behind schedule and over budget.


8:30 AM -- THE BODY SNATCHER (1945)
To continue his medical experiments, a doctor must buy corpses from a grave robber.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell
BW-78 mins, CC,

Robert Wise on Henry Daniell: "Henry was as far from a complainer as any I've ever known. He'd walk onto the set, do his work like the pro he was, do it damn good, and then quietly leave without being a burden to anybody. Period."


10:00 AM -- MYSTERY IN MEXICO (1948)
An insurance agent searches Mexico for a missing colleague.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: William Lundigan, Jacqueline White, Ricardo Cortez
BW-66 mins,

Because the budgets of RKO "B" movies had risen from $140,000-$150,000 to the $175,000-$200,000 range, RKO boss Sid Rogell experimented with shooting a movie at Churubusco Studios in Mexico City because RKO had a half interest in it. However, he found that the modest savings from shooting there weren't worth the effort.


11:15 AM -- BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948)
A gunslinger hired to drive off a rancher falls in love with the man's daughter.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston
BW-88 mins, CC,

Because director Robert Wise thought that it was unnatural that the winner of a Western brawl usually finished the fight vigorously, he made it a point that both fighters would be exhausted and worn out at the end of this one.


1:00 PM -- BORN TO KILL (1947)
A murderer marries a young innocent then goes after her more experienced sister.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak
BW-92 mins, CC,

According to a contemporary article in The Hollywood Reporter, Tallulah Bankhead was first considered for the role of Helen that went to Claire Trevor.


2:45 PM -- THE SET-UP (1949)
An aging boxer defies the gangsters who've ordered him to throw his last fight.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias
BW-72 mins, CC,

Robert Wise wanted to remain faithful to the original poem The Set-Up (1949) was based on, and he was keen on casting Canada Lee, a former boxer turned actor who previously appeared in Body and Soul (1947). RKO vetoed the idea since, at that point, a black actor had never played the lead in major Hollywood film.


4:15 PM -- SO BIG (1953)
A schoolteacher-turned-farmer fights to save the land and her son.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Jane Wyman, Sterling Hayden, Nancy Olson
BW-102 mins, CC,

Tommy Rettig and Jon Provost both portrayed the young Dirk, aged 8 and 2 respectively. They also played Lassie's young master in the TV series - Rettig from 1954 to 1957 and Provost from 1957 to 1964.


6:00 PM -- SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (1956)
True story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Joseph Buloff, Sal Mineo, Everett Sloane
BW-113 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown, Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Film Editing -- Albert Akst

Originally, the movie was to be filmed on-location in New York City in Technicolor with James Dean in the lead role. However, after James Dean's death, it was decided the film should be in black and white, and filmed on studio sets. Director Robert Wise felt the sets looked very fake, and only used them for night scenes, while filming the daytime scenes on-location.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: HONORING OUR MEDICAL HEROES



8:00 PM -- SO PROUDLY WE HAIL (1943)
Nurses caught behind enemy lines during World War II fight to survive.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake
BW-126 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Paulette Goddard, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Allan Scott, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Farciot Edouart (photographic), Gordon Jennings (photographic) and George Dutton (sound)

In keeping with Army regulation, Veronica Lake (Lt. Olivia D'Arcy) changed her famous "peek-a-boo" hairstyle. She only let her hair down once, in her final scene. Later she cut it, with much publicity, because women who copied her and worked in factories kept getting their hair caught in the machinery.


10:15 PM -- MASH (1970)
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor to keep their sanity during wartime.
Dir: Robert Altman
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt
C-116 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ring Lardner Jr.

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Sally Kellerman, Best Director -- Robert Altman, Best Film Editing -- Danford B. Greene, and Best Picture

According to Johnny Mandel and Robert Altman, the film's famous theme song was intended to be the "stupidest song ever written". After attempting to write the lyrics himself, Altman said he found it too difficult to write "dumb enough", and instead gave to the task to his fourteen-year-old son. Mike Altman allegedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes, not even expecting to be paid, since he was the director's son. Because of its inclusion in the subsequent television series, he continued to get residuals throughout its run and syndication. His father was paid $75,000 for directing, but his son eventually made about $2 million in song royalties, with payments continuing, from first syndication through the present day/2020, as M*A*S*H (1972) continues in syndication around the world.


12:30 AM -- THE STORY OF DR. WASSELL (1944)
A Navy doctor fights to help wounded sailors escape the Japanese during World War II.
Dir: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso
C-136 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Farciot Edouart (photographic), Gordon Jennings (photographic) and George Dutton (sound)

Based on the true story of U.S. Navy physician Corydon McAlmont Wassell (1884-1958). He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on Java and is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.


3:00 AM -- CRY 'HAVOC' (1944)
A group of war nurses fights to survive the siege of Bataan.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell
BW-97 mins, CC,

The title is from William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." "Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war." It's part of Marc Antony's speech that begins with "Friends, Romans, countrymen--lend me your ears."


4:45 AM -- BATTLE CIRCUS (1953)
A doctor fights for his life during the Korean War.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn
BW-90 mins, CC,

The film originally had a different title but the studio and the director thought that title would mislead audiences, so "Battle Circus" was instead chosen. The original title that was rejected was "MASH 66," which referred to the same Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in the Korean War later made famous in both the film MASH (1970) and the TV series M*A*S*H (1972).