TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 17, 2021 -- Primetime Theme: Anthony Quinn Double Feature.

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, we get a pair of films starring Anthony Quinn, including Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
1h 41m | Adventure | TV-PG
An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, James Mason

Lewis Stone (The Cardinal) previously played Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolf V of Ruritania in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922).


8:00 AM -- The Hungry Wolf (1942)
9m | Short | TV-G
A very hungry wolf welcomes the arrival of a rabbit to his den.
Director: Hugh Harman
Cast: Mel Blanc, Frank Elmquist, Martha Wentworth


8:11 AM -- Gym College (1955)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
In this short film, members of the Florida State University gymnastics team demonstrate their athletic skills.
Director: Howard Winner
Cast: Peter Roberts, Bob Murray, Joe Taylor

The gymnasts include Cuban Olympian Rafael Lecuona.


8:20 AM -- Glimpses of Argentina (1952)
8m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer to the South American country of Argentina.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:29 AM -- City in Terror (1939)
1h | Crime | TV-PG
Family who witness a murder are pursued by gangsters.
Director: Crane Wilbur
Cast: Jane Bryan, Henry O'Neill, John Russell

This was one of the few movies that received an "Approved" certificate despite two violations of the production code: the evildoers did not receive their just desserts by the end, and police officials were not portrayed as champions of good. Frank Shaw, a former mayor of Los Angeles, filed a $1-million lawsuit against Warner Bros., claiming the corrupt mayor in the movie was modelled after him, and that it showed he was responsible for the bombing of a private investigator. Shaw had been voted out of office in 1938 in a campaign against political corruption led by a civic reform group (which had hired a private detective to investigate the mayor; it was that detective's house that had been bombed). Warner Bros. countered that the movie was a remake of a 1931 film, but nevertheless Warners' East Coast ad campaign for the film called it "The Ex-Mayor's Libel Suit Picture".


9:30 AM -- Batman: Lured by Radium (1943)
16m | Crime | TV-G
Batman and Robin track kidnappers to a mine.
Director: Lambert Hillyer
Cast: Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish

Initially, J. Carrol Naish was cast as The Joker; this is evident in some of the early posters for the serial, which show Batman punching his arch-nemesis (later changed to Dr. Daka). If you look at Naish's costume and makeup as well as his hideout being in a carnival, it is as all of The Joker elements were retained and only his name and nationality were changed. It's assumed the change was made because at the time this was written, in late 1942 early 1943, the Allies were in danger of losing World War II after many early setbacks, and patriotism was strongly encouraged of all of Hollywood's films at the time.


10:00 AM -- Safari So Good (1947)
6m | Animation | TV-PG
Tarzan the King of the Jungle is no match for Popeye as he and Olive go on a safari.
Director: Izzy Sparber
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

The gorilla's fussy-sounding line delivery is in imitation of the character actor Richard Haydn.


10:08 AM -- The Falcon Out West (1944)
1h 4m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Director: William Clemens
Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale

When Bates turns off the recording of Tex using a remote control, what is shown is actually a Philco "Mystery Control" with the Philco brand name covered up with "Hills". It was the first wireless remote control unit, introduced in 1939 using radio frequency waves to operate Philco radios by tuning preset stations or raising or lowering the volume.


11:30 AM -- Traffic with the Devil (1946)
18m | Short | TV-G
This short film looks at the increase of traffic levels and accidents in the U.S.
Director: Gunther V. Fritsch
Cast: Charles Reineke, Gil Perkins, Ralph Montgomery

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subjects


12:00 PM -- Green For Danger (1946)
1h 31m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
A police inspector investigates an operating room death that may be murder.
Director: Sidney Gilliat
Cast: Leo Genn, Alastair Sim, Trevor Howard

Although a popular Scotland Yard detective, Christianna Brand's hero Inspector Cockrill only appeared in this movie.


1:45 PM -- The Last Of Sheila (1973)
2h | Suspense/Mystery | TV-14
A game of murder among wealthy vacationers turns into the real thing.
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: James Coburn, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon

Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim used to host murder mystery parlor games. One of their guests was producer and director Herbert Ross, who encouraged them to write a script based on this type of party. Many of the actors and actresses were playing other famous people in Hollywood. For example, James Mason's character was based on an Orson Welles persona. Richard Benjamin was playing Anthony Perkins. Raquel Welch was told by screenwriters Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim that she was playing Ann-Margret - when, in fact, she was actually playing herself.


4:00 PM -- The Man from Laramie (1955)
1h 44m | Western | TV-PG
A wandering cowboy gets caught in the rivalry between an aging rancher's sons.
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp

The film has been described as a western version of King Lear.


6:00 PM -- Bullitt (1968)
1h 54m | Crime | TV-14
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Director: Peter Yates
Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset

Winner of an Oscar for Best Film Editing -- Frank P. Keller

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound -- Warner Bros./Seven Arts sound department

San Francisco General Hospital, on Portrero Hill, still exists albiet as Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Although the medical center has undergone huge amounts of new construction since the film was made, parts of the original brick buildings filmed are still standing. The classic interior paint scheme of off white and institutional green was a common feature of the era.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- ANTHONY QUINN DOUBLE FEATURE



8:00 PM -- Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
1h 27m | Drama | TV-PG
A washed-up prizefighter tries to free himself from his ruthless promoters to build a new life.
Director: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney

Anthony Quinn did this film when Lawrence of Arabia (1962) went on a two month hiatus between October and December of 1961. The film was released before "Lawrence" came out.


9:45 PM -- Zorba the Greek (1964)
2h 22m | Drama | TV-14
An amoral Greek peasant teaches a British student the meaning of life.
Director: Michael Cacoyannis
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Irene Papas

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lila Kedrova, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Walter Lassally, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Vasilis Fotopoulos

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Anthony Quinn, Best Director -- Michael Cacoyannis, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Michael Cacoyannis, and Best Picture

Anthony Quinn (Alexis Zorba) had a broken foot during filming, and thus couldn't perform the dance on the beach as scripted, which called for much leaping around. The dance is called "syrtaki", and contains elements from various traditional Greek dances. It was created especially for this movie.


12:15 AM -- Los Tallos Amargos (1956)
A journalist partners with a Hungarian immigrant in a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme that leads to crime and tragedy.
Director: Fernando Ayala
Cast: Carlos Cores, Vassili Lambrinos, Aida Luz

Los tallos amargos won Silver Condor awards for Best Picture and Best Director in 1957 but was considered lost until it turned up in a private collection in 2014. A 35mm version was subsequently restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by the Film Noir Foundation and Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, and premiered in February 2016 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. When the film played at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood later that year, the presenter noted that while the 35mm negative was rediscovered, the soundtrack remained lost, so the restoration used the track from the director's 16mm print.


2:15 AM -- Brewster McCloud (1970)
1h 41m | Comedy | TV-MA
A mysterious boy living in the Houston Astrodome dreams of building himself a pair of wings.
Director: Robert Altman
Cast: Bud Cort, Sally Kellerman, Shelley Duvall

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


4:15 AM -- The Strawberry Statement (1970)
1h 49m | Drama | TV-14
A college student joins a group of revolutionaries to meet girls but ends up committed to their goals.
Director: Stuart Hagmann
Cast: Bruce Davison, Kim Darby, Bud Cort

Originally the film was to be shot on Columbia University's campus. However, Columbia withdrew their offer and the crew moved to Berkeley instead. The book had not gained notoriety yet and Berkeley was more or less in the dark about the content of the film and what events the director would be staging on the campus. This explains the tongue-in-cheek statement that appears before the opening credits thanking an "anonymous locale" and noting "other cities refused to cooperate".