TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 31 -- 70s Westerns

[Staph]

A strange and interesting day, with a morning of children's stories, an afternoon of horror films (including a couple with special effects by Ray Harryhausen), and an evening of westerns from the 1970s. Enjoy!


5:50am -- Short Film: OZZIE NELSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA #2 (1943)
In this short, Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra perform several standards and novelty songs.
Cast: Harriet Hilliard, Ozzie Nelson.
Dir: Jean Negulesco.
BW-9 mins

The soundtrack includes "Come On, Get Up", "Chinatown, My Chinatown", "Central Avenue Shuffle", and the ever popular "The Mamas with the Moolah".


6:00am -- Jack And The Beanstalk (1952)
A baby-sitter dreams himself and his best friend into the famous fairy tale.
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Buddy Baer.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough.
C-78 mins, TV-G

This is the first of only two color movies that Bud Abbott and Lou Costello made (the other being Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)). It begins in sepiatone and then changes to color.


7:15am -- tom thumb (1958)
A six-inch-tall boy takes on a pair of comical crooks.
Cast: Russ Tamblyn, Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas.
Dir: George Pal.
C-92 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Tom Howard

The head of MGM's British operations was so impressed that George Pal brought this film in under budget that he suggested that Pal submit a script for his favorite unproduced project. Pal chose The Time Machine (1960).


9:00am -- The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
A physician lost at sea discovers lands populated by tiny warriors and giant kings.
Cast: Kerwin Mathews, Basil Sydney, Jo Morrow.
Dir: Jack Sher.
C-99 mins, TV-PG

One of approximately a bazillion different versions of the novel by Jonathan Swift. Special effects by Ray Harryhausen.


10:45am -- Atlantis, The Lost Continent (1961)
A Greek fisherman gets caught up in court intrigue in a land of scientific wonders.
Cast: Anthony Hall, Joyce Taylor, John Dall.
Dir: George Pal.
C-90 mins, TV-G

One of the factors that led to MGM's green-lighting of this production was the recent success of the U.S. release of Pietro Francisci's Fatiche di Ercole, Le (1958) (US title: "Hercules"). This began the cycle of spectacle films about Greek and Roman mythological heroes.


12:21pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Island Windjammers (1956)
This Sportscope features the annual Out Island Regatta held annually in the Bahamas.
Cast: André Baruch, Spence Burton, Thomas Daniel Knox.
Dir: Howard Winner.
BW-8 mins

Spence Burton was the Lord Bishop of the Bahamas, and Thomas Daniel Knox was Earl of Ranfurly.


12:30pm -- Mysterious Island (1961)
Escaped Civil War POWs end up on an island populated by giant animals.
Cast: Michael Craig, Michael Callan, Joan Greenwood.
Dir: Cy Endfield.
C-101 mins, TV-G

Producer Charles H. Schneer claimed that he chose this story after reading an article stating that Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" was the most-looked-at book at public libraries. Visual effects by Ray Harryhausen.


2:15pm -- Son of Godzilla (1967)
Scientists get caught in the middle when Godzilla fights to protect his newborn son from prehistoric monsters.
Cast: Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo, Bibari Maeda.
Dir: Jun Fukuda.
C-86 mins

A pool was set up on stage nine during the production (stage nine is one of the largest on Toho's lot in Setagaya). They used the pool, which was about five feet deep, to film the shot of Godzilla rising above the surface of the ocean. Haruo Nakajima (the actor in Godzilla suit) was on a cart on a rail. He held onto the handle of the cart while it was towed by a truck. As the cart moved forward, he slowly rose out of the water. He wore a very tiny air cylinder that contained enough air for about ten minutes. The water that rushed by his face while the cart was being towed made it very difficult for him to prevent the mouthpiece from coming out of his mouth.


3:45pm -- The Gorgon (1964)
A mythical monster turns men to stone in a remote European village.
Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco.
Dir: Terence Fisher.
C-83 mins, TV-PG

Prudence Hyman's snake-filled wig was worked by five wires which were attached to a box that was about 25 feet behind her.


5:15pm -- They Came From Beyond Space (1967)
Scientists investigating a meteor shower uncover an alien invasion.
Cast: Robert Hutton, Jennifer Jayne, Zia Mohyeddin.
Dir: Freddie Francis.
C-85 mins, TV-PG

Star Robert Hutton was the cousin of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton.


6:45pm -- The Killer Shrews (1959)
A maniacal scientist creates a formula that turns your average shrew into a giant, man-killing beast.
Cast: James Best, Ingrid Goude, Baruch Lumet.
Dir: Ray Kellogg.
BW-68 mins, TV-PG

This film and its companion piece, The Giant Gila Monster (1959), marked the directorial debut of veteran special effects man Ray Kellogg. Coon dogs were used to play the killer shrews.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: 70'S WESTERNS


8:00pm -- Monte Walsh (1970)
An aging cowboy faces changes in the West with the rise of civilization.
Cast: Lee Marvin, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Palance.
Dir: William A. Fraker.
C-99 mins, TV-14

Remade in 2003, with Tom Selleck in the Lee Marvin role.


9:49pm -- Short Film: From The Vaults: Soul In Cinema: Shaft On Location (1971)
A short behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of "Shaft" (1971), focusing on Gordon Parks' directing and Isaac Hayes' score.
Cast: Richard Roundtree, Isaac Hayes, Gordon Parks.
Dir: Hugh A. Robertson.
C-11 mins

The movie Shaft (1971) won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for Isaac Hayes (for the song "Theme from Shaft"), and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, also for Isaac Hayes.


10:00pm -- Bad Company (1972)
Civil War draft dodgers head West to build new lives as outlaws.
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis.
Dir: Robert Benton.
C-93 mins, TV-MA

The classic rock band Bad Company named itself after this film.


11:36pm -- Short Film: From The Vaults: The Lion Roars Again (1975)
An MGM promotional featurette advertising its resurgence into the movie industry in the mid-1970s. Showcased movies include "Logan's Run" (1976), "The Sunshine Boys" (1975), and "The Wind and the Lion" (1975).
C-17 mins

This documentary short that covers MGM's 1975 International Press Conclave, which the studio held yearly to introduce their current films to the foreign press.


12:00am -- A Man Called Horse (1970)
A English lord kidnapped by Indians becomes a part of their tribe.
Cast: Richard Harris, Judith Anderson, Manu Tupou.
Dir: Elliot Silverstein.
C-115 mins, TV-MA

One of Dame Judith Anderson's more eccentric roles, as Buffalo Cow Head -- right up there with her turn as the Vulcan High Priestess T'Lar in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). Rogers and Hammerstein were right -- there is nothing like a dame!


2:00am -- High Plains Drifter (1973)
A mysterious gunman signs on to protect a small town from bandits.
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Mitch Ryan.
Dir: Clint Eastwood.
C-105 mins, TV-14

One of the headstones in the graveyard bears the name Sergio Leone as a tribute. The other headstones bear the names of Don Siegel (Eastwood's director on five films, four of which preceded this one), and Brian G. Hutton (director of Where Eagles Dare (1968) and Kelly's Heroes (1970)). Patrick McGilligan's 2002 Eastwood biography quotes the star as saying, "I buried my directors."


4:00am -- Posse (1975)
A U.S. marshal tries to use the hunt for a criminal to launch his political career.
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Bruce Dern, Bo Hopkins.
Dir: Kirk Douglas.
C-93 mins, TV-MA

This movie was the first role for James Stacy following his 1973 motorcycle accident involving a drunk driver, which resulted in the loss of Stacy's left arm and left leg. Kirk Douglas created the role especially for Stacy.

[Staph]

1. Mysterious Island (1961)

During the Civil War, three Union prisoners, a Rebel deserter and a Northern journalist escape from a Confederate prison following the siege of Richmond. They make their getaway in an observation balloon during a violent storm but they don't exactly land in familiar terrain. Because of the freakish weather, the balloon is swept by winds across the Pacific Ocean and drops down on a seemingly uninhabited tropical island. There, the four escapees are joined by two shipwreck survivors - both women - and soon find themselves battling the elements, pirates, and oversized creatures looking for human-sized snacks. Welcome to Mysterious Island (1961)! Was this the original inspiration for TV's Survivor series?

Based on the novel by Jules Verne, Mysterious Island was written as a sequel to Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and continues the exploits of the latter novel's megalomaniacal submarine commander, Captain Nemo, who becomes the true hero of Mysterious Island but doesn't make an appearance until the film's second half. It appears that the Nautilus (with Nemo aboard) was not destroyed at the climax of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Instead, Nemo escaped to this topical paradise where he's been experimenting with animal mutations for the past eight years. That explains the presence of giant birds, crabs, bees, you name it. All were accidental by-products of Nemo's attempts to solve the world's food problems. Of course, these mutant beings are part of the film's eternal appeal and are brought to life by special effects master Ray Harryhausen. Being the consummate perfectionist, Harryhausen wasn't always pleased with his final handiwork, especially in the case of the giant bird: "It was a prehistoric Phorohacos but owing to script deletions its antediluvian origin was discarded. Most reviewers and audiences assumed it to be an overgrown chicken." One sequence that was slated to be filmed but never made it into the final production featured a giant man-eating plant. Harryhausen decided to replace this effect instead with a battle scene between the islanders and a huge sea snail.

For the monstrous crab, Harryhausen used the shell of a real crustacean for his stop-motion model. On the screen it appears to be over 15 feet wide but in reality was no bigger than a toy action figure. Still, it proves to be a major threat to the islanders until it's toppled into a boiling hot spring and transformed into the biggest crab dinner you've ever seen. The horrifically overgrown baby bird a.k.a. Phorohacos, which tries to peck our cast to death, also ends up on the dinner menu and should have you smacking your lips over the massive drumstick sizzling on the spit. Yes, this island is dangerous but one thing is clear - there's good eatin' on Mysterious Island.

Of all the many film versions of Mysterious Island, this 1961 version, directed by Cy Endfield, is generally considered to be the most popular, if not the most faithful. In addition to the wonderful visual effects of Harryhausen, the distinctive music score is by the great Bernard Herrmann, who scored several of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest pictures (Vertigo, 1958, Psycho, 1960). Other versions include the 1929 MGM adaptation starring Lionel Barrymore, a Russian rendition in 1941, a fifteen-episode Columbia serial in 1952 and an international production entitled The Mysterious Island of Captain Nemo starring Omar Sharif in 1973.

Producer: Charles H. Schneer
Director: Cy Endfield
Screenplay: John Prebble, Daniel B. Ullman, Crane Wilbur, based on a novel by Jules Verne
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Film Editing: Frederick Wilson
Art Direction: William C. Andrews
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Cast: Michael Craig (Capt. Cyrus Harding), Michael Callan (Herbert Brown), Beth Rogan (Elena Fairchild), Gary Merrill (Gideon Spilett), Herbert Lom (Captain Nemo), Joan Greenwood (Lady Mary Fairchild).
C-101m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Jeff Stafford

[Longhorn]

2. As always, I enjoyed the extra info!

Thanks! :hi: