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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Tue Jan 17, 2012, 10:32 PM Jan 2012

TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 19 -- TCM Spotlight -- Jack Cardiff

Today's daytime theme is World War II in France, with a batch of films I've never seen (though I've heard of The Train (1964) and have wanted to see it for years). In primetime there's more of cinematographer Jack Cardiff, including The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), the film that Marilyn Monroe is making during My Week With Marilyn (2011). Enjoy!



7:30 AM -- Joan Of Paris (1942)
A waitress risks her life to help downed pilots escape occupied France.
Dir: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Michèle Morgan, Paul Henreid, Thomas Mitchell.
92 min, TV-PG , CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

RKO constructed the studio's largest single set since The Hunchback of Notre Dame.



9:17 AM -- One Reel Wonder: The Woman In The House (1942)
A John Nesbitt short exploring the human condition of anthropophobia, fear of people.
Dir: Sammy Lee
Cast: Ann Richards
11 min,

In 1901, Catherine Starr has an argument with her fiancee, who then leaves her to go and fight in the Boer War in South Africa, where he is killed. She blames herself for his death and never leaves her house for forty years until it is bombed in 1941 during the Battle of Britain.


9:30 AM -- Uncertain Glory (1944)
A French playboy gets serious when his country is threatened during World War II.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Paul Lukas, Lucille Watson.
102 min, TV-PG , CC

Errol Flynn was criticized for playing heroes in World War II movies. Tony Thomas in his book 'Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was' states that Flynn had tried to enlist in every branch of any armed services he could but was rejected as unfit for service on the grounds of his health. Flynn had a heart condition, tuberculosis, malaria and a back problem. Flynn felt he could contribute to America's war effort by appearing in such films as Edge of Darkness; Northern Pursuit; Dive Bomber, Objective, Burma!, and Uncertain Glory. Reportedly, Flynn was at his most professional and co-operative he ever was whilst working on Second World War movies. The studios apparently did not diffuse the criticism of Flynn's state-of-health as they wished to keep it quiet for fear of his box-office draw waning.


11:30 AM -- This Land Is Mine (1943)
A soft-spoken school teacher tries to prove he's not a Nazi collaborator.
Dir: Jean Renoir
Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, George Sanders.
103 min, TV-PG , CC

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Stephen Dunn (RKO Radio SSD)

The singing of "Die Lorelei" by the German soldiers was a subtle dig at the anti-semitic regime of the Nazis, since the words were written by banned Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. Many of his books, considered "un-German," were burned in the book-burning episode at Opernplatz, Berlin, Germany, on 10 May 1933. However, his works were so popular that they were still published, but "author unknown" was the listed writer. In his 1821 play "Almansor," Heine also prophetically wrote "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." ("Where they burned books, they will in the end in burn people.&quot



1:14 PM -- One Reel Wonder: U.S. Coast Guard Band (1944)
A patriotic wartime short showcasing the U.S. Coast Guard Band and saluting the Naval branches of the military.
Dir: Bobby Connolly
Cast: 11th Naval District United States Coast Guard Band, Rudy Vallee
10 min,

Vallee was a lieutenant in the U. S. Coast Guard Reserve.


1:30 PM -- Reunion in France (1942)
A Frenchwoman tries to help a downed U.S. flyer escape the Nazis.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Philip Dorn.
104 min, TV-PG , CC

Originally scheduled as a February 1943 release under the name "Reunion", the movie was moved up to a Christmas 1942 release with the final title because of the increased interest in the war in France. Most trade papers reviewed the film with the title "Reunion" due to early press previews, and the copyright registry bears that title also.


3:20 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Scenic Grandeur (1941)
This Traveltalks entry spotlights the natural beauty of the Northwestern United States.
Narrator: James A. FitzPatrick
C-8 min,

Filmed at Columbia Glacier, Alaska, and Mount Saint Helens, Washington.


3:30 PM -- Secret Mission (1942)
Two British Intelligence agents infiltrate occupied France to learn the Germans' secrets.
Dir: Harold French
Cast: Hugh Williams, James Mason, Michael Wilding.
94 min, TV-PG

Known as Service Secret when released in France in December 1945.


5:07 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Somewhat Secret (1939)
Swing music is forbidden at a girls finishing school by an oppressive dean.
Dir: Sammy Lee
Cast: Mary Bovard, Benny Rubin, Tom Collins.
21 min,

The soundtrack of "forbidden" swing music includes "You and I Were Made for Love", "Where, Oh Where, Has My Little Dog Gone?", and "Flying Home".


5:30 PM -- The Train (1965)
French resistance fighters try to stop the Nazis from taking a trainload of art treasures to Germany.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau.
133 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Franklin Coen and Frank Davis

The character of Mlle Villard is based on Rose Antonia Maria Valland - a French art historian, a member of the French Resistance, a captain in the French military, and one of the most decorated women in French history. As overseer of the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris during the German occupation, Valland began secretly recording as much as possible about more than 20,000 pieces of art that had been brought to the Jeu de Paume. She understood German and for four years kept track of where and to whom in Germany the plundered artworks were shipped. She provided the information to the French Underground and about railroad shipments of art so that they would not mistakenly blow up the trains loaded with art treasures. A few weeks before the Liberation of Paris, on August 1, 1944, Valland learned that the Germans were planning to ship out five last boxcars full of art, including many of the modern paintings which they had hitherto neglected. She notified her contacts in the Resistance, who prevented the train from leaving Paris.The movie was inspired by her 1961 non-fiction book "Le front de l'art: défense des collections françaises, 1939-1945" (The Art Front: Defence of the French Collections, 1939-1945).




TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: JACK CARDIFF



8:00 PM -- Under Capricorn (1949)
Newly arrived in Australia, a man discovers his childhood love is now an alcoholic.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding.
C-117 min, TV-PG , CC

According to Michael Wilding's autobiography "The Wilding Way", on one occasion while Ingrid Bergman and Michael Wilding were in the middle of a passionate love scene Hitchcock let out a howl of pain, then in the most gentle tone said "Please move the camera a little to the right. You have just run over my foot." The X-ray revealed later that the camera's weight had broken Hitchcock's big toe.


10:15 PM -- The Master of Ballantrae (1953)
A Scottish lord rebels against the British by taking up piracy.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Errol Flynn, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel.
C-89 min, TV-PG , CC

Stuntman Bob Anderson doubled for both actors in a sword fight and therefore "killed" himself.


11:55 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Academy Award Portfolio (1928 - 1961) (1965)
1 min,


12:00 AM -- The Prince And The Showgirl (1957)
An American showgirl in London creates an international incident when she falls for a European prince.
Dir: Laurence Olivier
Cast: Richard Wattis, David Thorne, Jeremy Spenser.
C-117 min, TV-G , CC

Three or four different copies of Marilyn Monroe's white dress were made to accommodate her fluctuating size. At the time she was suffering from various illnesses which caused severe amounts of water retention. She also suffered a miscarriage during filming.


2:00 AM -- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
A Spanish temptress falls for a haunted ship's captain.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: James Mason, Ava Gardner, Nigel Patrick.
C-124 min, TV-14

The tavern "Las Dos Tortugas" shares the same name (but in a different language) as the tavern "The Two Turtles" in Albert Lewin's earlier The Picture of Dorian Gray.


4:15 AM -- Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)
Interviews and classic clips trace the career of one of the screen's greatest cinematographers.
Dir: Craig Mccall
C-86 min, TV-14 , CC

Cardiff was nicknamed Jack O'Lantern (for his "lighting" expertise).


5:49 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Six Hits And A Miss (1945)
A musical which begins with six men and a woman singing; then a dance number; finally, the six men and woman sing again.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Six Hits and a Miss, The Dancing Colleens, Rudolph Friml Jr. and His Band
9 min,

The dance scenes with Ruby Keeler and Paul Draper were edited from Colleen (1936).


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