TCM Schedule for Friday, February 6 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- Nuclear Physics

[Staph]

This morning's set of Oscar worthy films are in the science fiction/fantasy genre, and this afternoon's are all about flying. I guess Bedknobs and Broomsticks was intended to cross both genres. Tonight's subject of study is nuclear physics. Enjoy!


6:00am -- The Black Hole (1979)
Researchers discover a lost space ship on the edge of a black hole.
Cast: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms
Dir: Gary Nelson
C-98 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Frank V. Phillips, and Best Effects, Visual Effects -- Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, Harrison Ellenshaw and Joe Hale

To film the special effects, Disney originally wanted to rent the Dykstraflex camera system (the first computer-controlled camera) from Industrial Light & Magic. However, the price and rental terms were unacceptable so Disney went to its acclaimed engineering division to come up with its own version. What resulted was Disney's A.C.E.S. (Automated Camera Effects System), which was radically superior to the Dykstraflex system; the Mattescan system, which enabled the camera to move on a matte painting (that was previously impossible); and a computer-controlled modeling stand. At the time, this put Disney technologically ahead of ILM.


8:00am -- Forbidden Planet (1956)
A group of space troopers investigates the destruction of a colony on a remote planet.
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens
Dir: Fred McLeod Wilcox
C-99 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie, Irving G. Ries and Wesley C. Miller

Louis Barron and Bebe Barron worked on the electronic soundtrack music "tonalities" for only three months, the length of time given them by Dore Schary, head of MGM. He authorized the studio to send them a complete workprint at Christmas 1955. They received the complete 35mm Eastmancolor workprint at New Year's 1956, a week later, still with many visual effects sequences missing and timed in with blank leader by editor Ferris Webster. From January 1, 1956 to April 1, 1956, they worked on the soundtrack score in their Greenwich Village studio in New York City while the film was in post-production in Culver City. The score was completed and delivered to MGM on April 1, 1956, and the film was released for a studio sneak preview soon afterward. The musician's union, however, objected to the soundtrack, and blocked the Barrons from being credited as "composers", hence the term "electronic tonalities".


10:00am -- 2010 (1984)
In this sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a U.S.-Soviet crew investigates a mysterious monolith orbiting Jupiter.
Cast: Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban
Dir: Peter Hyams
C-116 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Albert Brenner and Rick Simpson, Best Costume Design -- Patricia Norris, Best Effects, Visual Effects -- Richard Edlund, Neil Krepela, George Jenson and Mark Stetson, Best Makeup -- Michael Westmore, and Best Sound -- Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Carlos Delarios and Gene S. Cantamessa

Victor Milson states that a U.S. Navy vessel called "U.S.S. Cunningham" participates in a deadly naval engagement with a Russian vessel. Given the film was made less than 10 years following the end of the Vietnam War, it could be held, that a futuristic Navy ship named "Cunningham" may have been named after U.S. Navy Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham, whom, at the time, was a notable, decorated Vietnam War hero. By 2010, however, Cunningham will be best remembered by the public as a disgraced United States Congressman.


12:00pm -- Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971)
An apprentice witch and three war orphans try to prevent the Nazi invasion of England.
Cast: Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe
Dir: Robert Stevenson
C-117 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett and Danny Lee

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- John B. Mansbridge, Peter Ellenshaw, Emile Kuri and Hal Gausman, Best Costume Design -- Bill Thomas, Best Music, Original Song -- Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman for the song "The Age of Not Believing", and Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score -- Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman and Irwin Kostal

The armor in the climactic battle with the Nazis was authentic medieval armor, previously used in Camelot (1967) and El Cid (1961). When any item of armor was to be destroyed, exact fiberglass replicas were created and used.


2:00pm -- Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
A team of flyers risks their lives to deliver the mail in a mountainous South American country.
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth
Dir: Howard Hawks
BW-121 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Walker, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Roy Davidson (photographic) and Edwin C. Hahn (sound)

Howard Hawks and Jean Arthur did not get along during filming. Arthur was not used to Hawks' highly improvisational style, and when Hawks wanted Arthur to play Bonnie much in a subtly sexy way (not unlike his other "Hawksian women"), Arthur flatly said, "I can't do that kind of stuff." Hawks told Arthur at the end of the shoot, "You are one of the few people I've worked with that I don't think I've helped at all. Someday you can go see what I wanted to do because I'm gonna do this character all over again." Years later Hawks returned home to find Arthur waiting for him in his driveway. She had just seen his To Have and Have Not (1944) and confessed, "I wish I'd done what you'd asked me to do. If you ever make another picture with me, I'll promise to do any goddamn thing you want to do. If a kid can come in and do that kind of stuff, I certainly could do it." Hawks and Arthur never collaborated again.


4:15pm -- Flying Tigers (1942)
American flyers help the Chinese fight off Japanese invaders.
Cast: John Wayne, John Carroll, Anna Lee, Paul Kelly
Dir: David Miller
BW-101 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Howard Lydecker (photographic) and Daniel J. Bloomberg (sound), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young, and Best Sound, Recording -- Daniel J. Bloomberg (Republic SSD)

The Flying Tigers' planes were full-size mock-ups made mostly of plywood and balsa wood, not - as has often been thought - real aircraft. The "engine" noises were sound effects added after production.


6:00pm -- Strategic Air Command (1955)
A baseball star takes to the air to help plan the U.S.' aerial defense.
Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan
Dir: Anthony Mann
C-114 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Beirne Lay Jr.

James Stewart was a colonel in the US Air Force Reserve, the same rank as his character, when the film was made. He flew one combat mission over Vietnam while serving as a reservist and eventually retired as a Brigadier General.


What's On Tonight: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: NUCLEAR PHYSICS


8:00pm -- Seven Days to Noon (1950)
A scientist threatens to detonate a nuclear warhead if the nation will not halt arms research.
Cast: Barry Jones, Andre Morell, Hugh Cross, Olive Sloan
Dir: John Boulting
BW-97 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Paul Dehn and James Bernard

James Bernard was most famous for composing the scores to numerous Hammer horrors, including Dracula (1958). Ironically, however, it was for this film that he won his only Oscar--as co-writer.


9:45pm -- Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1963)
A mad United States General orders an air strike against Russia.
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
BW-95 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter Sellers, Best Director -- Stanley Kubrick, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stanley Kubrick, Peter George and Terry Southern, and Best Picture

Peter Sellers was cast in four roles, but experienced problems when trying to develop a Texas accent for Maj. T.J. "King" Kong. After Sellers broke his ankle, Stanley Kubrick was forced to find another actor. Convinced that nobody could have acted the part as well as Sellers, Kubrick decided to cast someone who naturally fit the role. The producers first approached John Wayne, who did not even bother to respond, and "Bonanza" (1959) star Dan Blocker, who declined the role because of the script's progressive political content. Remembering his work on the western One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Kubrick cast Slim Pickens as Kong, the gung-ho hick pilot determined to drop his bombs at any cost. Pickens was never shown the script nor told it was a black comedy; ordered by Kubrick to play it straight, he played the role as if it were a serious drama - with amusing results.


11:30pm -- Li'l Abner (1959)
The residents of Dogpatch fight to persuade the government not to use their town as a nuclear testing ground.
Cast: Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish, Stubby Kaye, Howard St. John
Dir: Melvin Frank
C-114 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Nelson Riddle and Joseph J. Lilley
Many of the actors and dancers from the 1956 Broadway version were cast in this film.


1:30am -- Crimson Tide (1995)
A submarine officer mutinies against his trigger-happy captain to prevent a world war.
Cast: Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Matt Craven, George Dzundza
Dir: Tony Scott
C-116 mins, TV-MA

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing -- George Watters II, Best Film Editing -- Chris Lebenzon, and Best Sound -- Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, Gregory H. Watkins and William B. Kaplan

Captain Skip Beard, listed as a Technical Advisor, served as the Commanding Officer of the real USS Alabama (SSBN 731). He can be seen in the Board of Inquiry scene. He is the man with no hair sitting next to Jason Robards.


3:30am -- The Atomic City (1952)
Enemy agents kidnap an atomic scientist's son.
Cast: Gene Barry, Lydia Clarke, Michael Moore, Nancy Gates
Dir: Jerry Hopper
BW-85 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Sydney Boehm

Gene Barry's film debut.

[Staph]

1. Seven Days to Noon

Long before the Coen Brothers ever made a movie – actually, long before the Coens were even conceived – there were the Boulting Brothers, a popular British writing-producing-directing partnership with a Coen-like division of labor. These ambitious, talented twin brothers enjoyed a rare type of synergy when making a motion picture. Through their accomplishments as both filmmakers and movie distributors, they eventually became two of the more powerful men in the British entertainment industry.

Technically speaking, Seven Days to Noon (1950), a dire, nerve-racking thriller about the possible nuclear annihilation of London, was directed by John Boulting, while Roy produced the film and co-wrote the screenplay. But both the brothers were likely to have fingers in a variety of pies during a project, so their official credits on the film might be deceptive in terms of their total contributions. Roy, however, was the one who took home the hardware when the Seven Days to Noon script he was credited as co-writing with Frank Harvey won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

As with so many other Boulting projects, Seven Days to Noon is heavy with a social conscience. Barry Jones stars as Prof. Willingdon, a brilliant atomic scientist who is appalled that the world knows so little about the realities of the A-bomb. Over time, Jones is driven mad by society’s indifference, and takes it upon himself to teach everyone a lesson; he sends a letter to the Prime Minister telling him that he’s stolen what would now be called a WMD, and, unless Britain stops producing atomic weaponry by noon the next Sunday, he will use it to flatten London. The supporting cast, especially Olive Sloane as a former showgirl who befriends the morally-stricken scientist, is first rate.

Given the darkness of Seven Days to Noon, it will surprise viewers who aren’t familiar with their work that the Boultings were just as adept with humor and family drama. Perhaps their best known films outside of England are the Peter Sellers satire I’m All Right Jack (1959) and The Family Way (1966), a poignant, working class drama about a young couple's marital problems, but Seven Days to Noon is a high-water mark in a long, illustrious collaboration.

Director: John Boulting
Producer: Roy Boulting
Screenplay: Roy Boulting, Frank Harvey (based on a story by Paul Dehn, James Bernard)
Editor: Roy Boulting
Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor, Ray Sturgess
Music: John Addison
Art Design: John Elphick
Cast: Barry Jones (Prof. Willingdon), Olive Sloane (Goldie), Andre Morell (Supt. Folland), Sheila Manahan (Ann Willingdon), Hugh Cross (Stephen Lane), Joan Hickson (Mrs. Peckett.)
B&W-94m.

by Paul Tatara

[lavenderdiva]

2. I just LOVE this time of the year!!!

when all the Oscar nominated movies come out of the dark, and we can enjoy them in all their glory! :bounce: