TCM Schedule for Friday, November 6, 2015 -- What's On Tonight: Bumped Off

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring a selection of WWII films made during the war, in the lead up to Veteran's Day. And in prime time, we've got films that follow a series of murders, comically, dramatically or horrifically. Included is one of my all time favorite films, Charade (1963). In my family, we are constantly using quotes from this film, especially this favorite, my sister's excuse for limiting her Facebook friends:

Peter Joshua (Cary Grant): Do we know each other?
Reggie Lampert (Audrey Hepburn): Why, do you think we're going to?
Peter Joshua: How would I know?
Reggie Lampert: Because I already know an awful lot of people, so until one of them dies I couldn't possibly meet anyone else.
Peter Joshua: Well, if anyone goes on the critical list, let me know.

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Across The Pacific (1942)
An American agent tries to keep Axis spies from blowing up the Panama Canal.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet
C-96 mins, CC,

As the passengers debark in New York, there is a prominent shot of the Great White Fleet's head house. This was a real shipping company. It was, and is, the popular name of the United Fruit Company's shipping line. The title "Great White Fleet" in fact derived from the name given the United States Navy's main battle fleet which circumnavigated the globe in 1907-08. Painted white, the battle fleet must have been an impressive sight. The United Fruit Company's fleet was also painted white in order to help reflect the intense heat whilst operating in the tropics.


7:45 AM -- To Have And Have Not (1944)
A skipper-for-hire's romance with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall
BW-100 mins, CC,

The most famous scene in the film is undoubtedly the "you know how to whistle" dialog sequence. It was not written by Ernest Hemingway, Jules Furthman or William Faulkner, but by Howard Hawks. He wrote the scene as a screen test for Bacall, with no real intention that it would necessarily end up in the film. The test was shot with Warner Bros. contract player John Ridgely acting opposite Bacall. The Warners staff, of course, agreed to star Bacall in the film based on the test, and Hawks thought the scene was so strong he asked Faulkner to work it into one of his later drafts of the shooting script.


9:30 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
BW-92 mins, 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 (1939).


11:15 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
BW-102 mins, 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 (1943); Northern Pursuit (1943); Dive Bomber (1941), Objective, Burma! (1945), and Uncertain Glory (1944). 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.


1:00 PM -- Days Of Glory (1944)
Russian freedom fighters battle the Nazi occupying forces.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lowell Gilmore, Maria Palmer
BW-86 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Vernon L. Walker (photographic), James G. Stewart (sound) and Roy Granville (sound)

Film debuts of both Gregory Peck and Alan Reed (the voice of Fred Flintstone!).


2:30 PM -- Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)
Brothers feud over a girl they both fall for while covering World War II.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Robert Sterling
BW-108 mins, CC,

Filming was halted on January 16, 1942, due to the death of Clark Gable's wife, Carole Lombard, and resumed on February 23.


4:30 PM -- The Clock (1945)
A G.I. en route to Europe falls in love during a whirlwind two-day leave in New York City.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason
BW-90 mins, CC,

The escalator in the Penn Station scene where Alice loses her shoe heel had unusually high sides to disguise that fact that it wasn't a real escalator at all. Wartime material shortages and restrictions prohibited MGM from building a real escalator, so the studio compromised with a conveyor belt. At no time in the scenes do you actually see escalator steps.


6:15 PM -- Vacation From Marriage (1945)
After World War II service changes them, a married couple dread their postwar reunion.
Dir: Alexander Korda
Cast: Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, Glynis Johns
BW-93 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Clemence Dane

Uniforms worn by the characters are 100% correct. Cathy's WREN uniform when she joins has the pre-1942 soft cap. Towards the end of the movie, it is updated to the correct later style cap. When working with her boat crew, she wears correct men's bell bottoms and white top, and the lanyard with knife. The nurse Elena wears a correct tropical dress white uniform of Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, with white tippet (short cape).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BUMPED OFF



8:00 PM -- Charade (1963)
A beautiful widow tries to find her husband's lost fortune while eluding the killers who want it themselves.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Charade"

Due to the suspense, the stars, and the frequent plot twists, many people believe that this is an Alfred Hitchcock film. He was not involved in the making of the film at all. This confusion has prompted fans of the film to call it "the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made".


10:00 PM -- And Then There Were None (1945)
Guests at a remote island mansion realize a crazed killer is stalking them.
Dir: René Clair
Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward
BW-97 mins, CC,

The poem:

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got into Chancery and then there were Four.
Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Two little Indian boys were out in the sun;
One got all frizzled up and then there was one*.
One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

(*In some versions Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was one.)


12:00 AM -- It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)
A blood-sucking monster stalks the crew of a U.S. spaceship.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, Kim Spalding
BW-69 mins, CC,

The mask of the monster suit was altered considerably. When Ray Corrigan was fitted for the monster suit, the mask was initially too tight. Paul Blaisdell, the maker of the monster suit, had to remove and rebuild the monster's lower jaw so the mask would fit better. Unfortunately, Corrigan's chin stuck out through the opening made in the mask. Blaisdell made up Corrigan's chin to look like the monster's tongue. The mask's original eyes (large and catlike, a Blaisdell trademark) were also removed so that we see Corrigan's own eyes behind the mask.


1:20 AM -- Around The World Under The Sea (Longer Featurette) (1966)
This promotional short offers a look at the feature film "Around the World Under the Sea" (1966).
C-8 mins,


1:30 AM -- Berserk (1967)
A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.
Dir: Jim O'Connolly
Cast: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors
C-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Sharp eyes will notice that as Superintendent Brooks is talking to Commissioner Dalby after one of the mysterious deaths, they pass an ad that says "Come Alive! With Pepsi". Joan Crawford was the widow of Alfred Steele, who had been CEO of the Pepsi-Cola Company, and at the time of filming, Crawford was still on the Board of Directors. Product placement of Pepsi can be seen in at least one other Crawford film of this era, Strait-Jacket (1964).


3:16 AM -- Searchers For A Special City (1966)
This short film focuses on how the production team for the movie "Mister Buddwing" (1966) scouted for filming locations in New York City.
BW-9 mins,


3:30 AM -- The Nanny (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt
Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The role of the Nanny was originally intended for Greer Garson who first accepted then declined, saying the script would not be good for her career.


5:06 AM -- The Sun... The Sand... The Hill. (1965)
This promotional short presents a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "The Hill" (1965).
Dir: Roland Saland
BW-7 mins,


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #11 (1955)
Judy Garland and Gene Kelly perform in a clip from "For Me and My Gal"; Susan Hayward introduces a clip from "I'll Cry Tomorrow." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,