TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 27 -- Star of the Month -- Peter Sellers

[Staph]

It's a day full of movies from 1950. Hard to believe that these films are 60 years old! They're followed by a last evening with Star of the Month Peter Sellers, featuring his two acting Oscar nominations for Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Being There (1979). Enjoy!



5:15am -- Gary Cooper: American Life, American Legend (1991)
Clint Eastwood takes viewers behind-the-scenes to learn how one of Hollywood's most American stars, Gary Cooper, was born.
Cast: Clint Eastwood
Dir: Richard Schickel
C-46 mins, TV-G

In the early 1930s, Cooper's doctor told him he had been working too hard. Cooper went to Europe and stayed a lot longer than planned. When he returned, he was told there was now a "new" Gary Cooper - an unknown actor needed a better name for films, so the studio had reversed Gary Cooper's initials and created a name that sounded similar - Cary Grant.


6:15am -- Key To The City (1950)
Two mayors meet and fall in love during a convention in San Francisco.
Cast: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Frank Morgan, Marilyn Maxwell
Dir: George Sidney
BW-101 mins, TV-G

Dore Schary , the head of MGM, personally asked Loretta Young to be Clark Gable's costar even though he knew about the affair and love child (Judy Lewis ) between the two actors fifteen years earlier. She accepted because refusing would lead to more rumors than during their affair.


8:00am -- The Happy Years (1950)
Friends and family try to tame an unruly student at the turn of the century.
Cast: Dean Stockwell, Darryl Hickman, Scotty Beckett, Leon Ames
Dir: William A. Wellman
BW-110 mins, TV-G

Robert Wagner's first film.


10:00am -- D.O.A. (1950)
The victim of a slow-acting poison tracks down his own killer.
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Campbell
Dir: Rudolph Maté
BW-84 mins, TV-14

The scene in which Bigelow runs in panic through the streets after learning he has been poisoned was a stolen shot. The pedestrians had no idea a movie was being made and no warning that Edmond O'Brien would be plowing through them.


11:30am -- Chain Lightning (1950)
A reckless jet pilot goes to work for a demanding aviation tycoon.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Eleanor Parker, Raymond Massey, Richard Whorf
Dir: Stuart Heisler
BW-95 mins, TV-PG

Oops! The aircraft prototype in the opening and closing scenes of the film does not have any air intake for its jet engine.


1:15pm -- The Doctor and the Girl (1950)
A doctor leaves his wealthy family to work in the slums.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Charles Coburn, Gloria De Haven, Janet Leigh
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
BW-98 mins, TV-PG

Watch for Nancy Davis (Nancy Reagan) in a supporting role.


3:00pm -- Mystery Street (1950)
Criminal pathologists try to crack a case with nothing but the victim's bones to go on.
Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Elsa Lanchester
Dir: John Sturges
BW-93 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Leonard Spigelgass

Working title was "Murder at Harvard."


4:45pm -- Mrs. O'Malley And Mr. Malone (1950)
A lawyer and a widow encounter murder on a train ride.
Cast: Marjorie Main, James Whitmore, Ann Dvorak, Phyllis Kirk
Dir: Norman Taurog
BW-69 mins, TV-G

Intended as the first of a planned film series with stars Main and Whitmore.


6:00pm -- The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore
Dir: John Huston
BW-112 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sam Jaffe, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson, Best Director -- John Huston, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ben Maddow and John Huston

Debut of Strother Martin and Jack Warden.


8:00pm -- Man in a Cocked Hat (1960)
A bumbling diplomat tries to rebuild relations with a Pacific island kingdom.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Luciana Paoluzzi, Thorley Walters
Dir: Roy Boulting
BW-88 mins

Originally called Carlton-Browne of the F.O.


9:45pm -- Being There (1979)
Political pundits mistake an illiterate gardener for a media genius and turn him into a national hero.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
Dir: Hal Ashby
C-130 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Melvyn Douglas (Melvyn Douglas was not present at the awards ceremony. Co-presenter Liza Minnelli accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter Sellers

Every contract that Peter Sellers signs includes a clause which stipulates that his accommodation must have the bed facing East-West. Chance says: "I like to sleep with my head facing North". The attorney he's with says "But this bed is facing west!"


12:00am -- Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)
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 also cast as Maj. T.J. "King" Kong, but he had trouble developing a Texas accent. When Sellers broke his ankle, Stanley Kubrick decided to cast another actor who naturally fit the role. John Wayne never responded. "Bonanza" (1959) star Dan Blocker, declined the role because of the script's progressive political content. Kubrick cast Slim Pickens because of his work on One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Kubrick told Pickens to play it straight.


1:45am -- Lolita (1962)
Vladimir Nabokov's racy classic focuses on an aging intellectual in love with a teenager.
Cast: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
BW-153 mins, TV-14

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Vladimir Nabokov

James Mason was the first choice of director Stanley Kubrick and producer James B. Harris for the role of Humbert Humbert, but he initially declined due to a Broadway engagement. Laurence Olivier then refused the part, apparently on the advice of his agents. Kubrick considered Peter Ustinov, but decided against him. Harris then suggested David Niven; Niven accepted the part, but then withdrew for fear the sponsors of his TV show, "Four Star Playhouse" (1952), would object. Mason then withdrew from his play and got the part. Harris denies claims that Noel Coward also rejected the role.