TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 15 -- TCM Spotlight: Teen Movies

[Staph]

Happy birthday to director William Dieterle, born today in 1893 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. We've got a morning of his bio-pics, with subjects ranging from Emile Zola to Louis Pasteur to Daniel Webster, an afternoon of his films based on classic literature, and an evening of teen movies from the 1980s. Enjoy!

I'm posting the listing for the next two weeks early. I'm going to be on vacation, with very limited access to the Internet. I'll see you all in a few weeks!


4:30am -- Seventh Cavalry (1956)
An alleged coward tries to redeem himself by reclaiming General Custer's body.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Barbara Hale, Jay C. Flippen, Frank Faylen
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis
C-76 mins, TV-PG

When the troops present arms at the flag-raising at the beginning of the film, the soldier closest to the camera has a Remington Rolling-Block rifle, probably standing in for a Springfield Trapdoor carbine, with which the cavalry of 1876 was actually equipped. The Remington, though popular with the armies of many other nations, was never adopted in any form by the US military.


6:00am -- Juarez (1939)
True story of Mexico's Abraham Lincoln and his fight against Napoleon's empire.
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-121 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Brian Aherne, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Tony Gaudio

Orry-Kelly designed costumes for Bette Davis which changed in tone as the film progressed: from white at the beginning, changing to gray in mid-film, and then to black at the end when she goes insane.


8:15am -- The Life Of Emile Zola (1937)
The famed writer risks his reputation to defend a Jewish army officer accused of treason.
Cast: Paul Muni, Joseph Schildkraut, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-116 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Joseph Schildkraut, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg and Norman Reilly Raine, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Art Direction -- Anton Grot, Best Assistant Director -- Russell Saunders, Best Director -- William Dieterle, Best Music, Score -- Leo F. Forbstein (head of department) and Score by Max Steiner, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg

The film was shot in reverse order; Paul Muni grew his own beard for the role, and it was trimmed and darkened as he proceeded to scenes where Zola is younger. His makeup took 3-1/2 hours to apply each morning.


10:15am -- The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
True story of the French scientist's battle to establish modern medical methods.
Cast: Paul Muni, Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise, Donald Woods
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-86 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Writing, Original Story -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Pierre Collings and Sheridan Gibney

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Film debut of Eddie Dew.


11:45am -- Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
True story of the German scientist who devoted his life to curing syphilis.
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-103 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald and John Huston

This film generated controversy because many thought the subject of syphilis too scandalous a topic for a motion picture in 1940.


1:30pm -- The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
A farmer sells his soul for seven years of good crops.
Cast: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-106 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Bernard Herrmann

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Huston

The movie was officially nominated for Oscars under the title All That Money Can Buy. Other titles used for the film included, Mr. Scratch, Here is a Man, or Daniel and the Devil. The reason for the many different titles was so that the film would play in the American South, which was extremely socially conservative and ultra-religious. Films with the word devil in the title did not do well. Mainly, however, the name was changed so as not to be confused with The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) which was also released in 1941 and nominated for Oscars.


3:30pm -- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Shakespeare's classic about two pairs of lovers and an amateur actor who get mixed up with fairies.
Cast: Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dick Powell
Dir: William Dieterle, Max Reinhardt
BW-143 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Hal Mohr (First and only write-in nominee to actually win.), and Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson

Nominated for Oscars for Best Assistant Director -- Sherry Shourds, and Best Picture

Composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold was personally chosen by director Max Reinhardt. Both agreed in an early production stage to use the original incidental music written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy as the film's soundtrack. (Reinhardt did a stage production of the play before and used Mendelssohn's music.) As the film runs over two hours it was obvious that Mendelssohn's composition would be too short. Instead of just repeating several musical cues to fit the film's final length Korngold adapted the incidental music and parts of some other compositions by Mendelssohn, re-orchestrated them for a larger orchestra and choir (most notably heard in his Wedding March version at the end) and composed some short musical bridges by himself. Thus he created a complete symphonic score for the movie based on Mendelssohn's music. However, he chose to remain uncredited as a composer and insisted on giving full musical credit to Mendelssohn.


6:00pm -- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder.
Cast: Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell, Maureen O'Hara
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-117 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring -- Alfred Newman, and Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD)

RKO specifically wanted to outdo the 1923 silent version of the story, so a vigorous campaign that spared no expense was undertaken. Much attention was given to advance publicity; no pictures of Charles Laughton in full Quasimodo makeup and costume were allowed to be seen so that a first-time viewing would be a guaranteed shock. Also, the studio hired (at Laughton's request) leading makeup artist Perc Westmore to supervise makeup. Unfortunately, Westmore and Laughton had heated quarrels before a final image for Quasimodo was agreed upon.


What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: TEEN MOVIES


8:00pm -- Better Off Dead (1985)
A teenager deals with a hilarious assortment of personal crises.
Cast: John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby, Demian Slade
Dir: Savage Steve Holland
C-97 mins

When Lane gets home from the dance, he opens his brother's door to find lovely ladies in his room, the camera angle is a classic scene from The Graduate (1967) - the lady's legs are spread so we can see the boy in the doorway admiring her.


10:00pm -- Sixteen Candles (1984)
A teenage girl's birthday is complicated by her sister's marriage, a school dance and her crush on a rich student.
Cast: Molly Ringwald, Paul Dooley, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry
Dir: John Hughes
C-93 mins, TV-MA

Other than Anthony Michael Hall, John Kapelos is the only actor to appear in all three of Hughes teen films that were under contract with Universal. In Weird Science he can been seen at the table in the bar. In The Breakfast Club, he serves as the janitor. In Sixteen Candles, he stars as Sam's future brother-in-law.


12:00am -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
A perpetual truant joins his friends for a day of adventure and self-discovery.
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Charlie Sheen, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
Dir: Bennie Dobbins
C-103 mins, TV-MA

Cameron's father's Ferrari wasn't a real Ferrari. Because it was too expensive to rent one, they made three fake ones with a fiberglass body. When the Ferrari crashed, the fiberglass hood ripped, but branches were put over the rip to make sure the camera didn't record it.


2:00am -- Risky Business (1983)
While his parents are away, a high school student practices his business skills by turning his suburban home into a bordello.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano, Richard Masur
Dir: Paul Brickman
C-99 mins, TV-14

In an effort for Tom Cruise to look more "teenage" in appearance, the producers of Risky Business (1983) put him though an unusual bit of physical training. Cruise worked out 7 days a week in order to lose ten pounds. Once that had been accomplished, he immediately ceased working out and ate extremely fatty foods in order to add a layer of baby fat. This is how he achieved that "fresh-faced" teenage look.


3:45am -- Fame (1980)
Students at a performing arts high school struggle with personal problems.
Cast: Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Ed Barth, Laura Dean
Dir: Alan Parker
C-133 mins, TV-MA

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Score -- Michael Gore, and Best Music, Original Song -- Michael Gore (music) and Dean Pitchford (lyrics) for the song "Fame"

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Gerry Hambling, Best Music, Original Song -- Michael Gore (music) and Lesley Gore (lyrics) for the song "Out Here on My Own", Best Sound -- Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding and Christopher Newman, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Christopher Gore

Director Alan Parker wanted a scene that showed Doris overcoming her fear and becoming an actress. He heard of the audience participation at the local screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and went to check it out. He loved it so much that he not only decided to use it in the film, he had many of the "cast" from the local screenings appear in the film, as the people doing the time-warp on stage when Doris runs up and joins them.