TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 6, 2015 -- The Essentials: Rudyard Kipling Adventures

[Staph]

Tonight's Essentials features a trio of films based on the stories of Rudyard Kipling. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Reunion in France (1942)
A Frenchwoman tries to help a downed U.S. flyer escape the Nazis.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Philip Dorn
BW-104 mins, CC,

Originally scheduled as a February 1943 release under the name "Reunion", the movie was moved up to a Christmas 1942 release with the final title because of the increased interest in the war in France. Most trade papers reviewed the film with the title "Reunion" due to early press previews, and the copyright registry bears that title also.


7:50 AM -- Dirt Track Racing (1957)
A short film about Viennese dirt bike racing, following a young racer from technical training to learning how to ride to his first race in Vienna.
Dir: Heinz Scheiderbauer
BW-8 mins,


8:00 AM -- The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Biography of Frank "Spig" Wead, the pioneer aviator who turned to writing after being grounded by an accident.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to director John Ford, "Everything in the picture was true. The fight in the club - throwing the cake - actually happened. I can verify that as an eyewitness. I ducked it. And the plane landing in the swimming pool right in the middle of the Admiral's tea - that really happened."


10:00 AM -- Batman: Eight Steps Down (1943)
Episode 13 of the Batman serial.
BW-14 mins,


10:30 AM -- Elephant Stampede (1951)
The jungle hero fights off elephant poachers to help a missionary.
Dir: Ford Beebe
Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Donna Martell, John Kellogg
BW-71 mins,

The story takes place in Africa, but all of the elephants, except those seen in brief snippets of archive footage, are Indian, not African; in some of the sequences, obviously lifted out of previous films, large, artificial ears have been attached to the Indian elephants to make them look more like their African cousins, but the results are nothing more than ludicrous.


11:50 AM -- This Is A Living? (1953)
This short film provides a collection of clips featuring acrobats and stunt performers who earn their living in unusual and exciting ways.
BW-9 mins,


12:00 PM -- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Three models pool their resources to rent a posh penthouse in hopes of snaring rich husbands.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall
C-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color -- Charles Le Maire and Travilla

Lauren Bacall's character, Schatze, says, "I've always liked older men... Look at that old fellow what's-his-name in The African Queen (1951). Absolutely crazy about him." She is referring to Bacall's real-life husband, Humphrey Bogart.


1:41 PM -- This Theatre And You (1948)
This short film takes a look at the importance of the motion picture theatre to small-town communities.
Cast: Brandon Beach,
BW-8 mins,


2:00 PM -- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell
BW-117 mins, CC,

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

The scene in which Quasimodo rings the cathedral bells for Esmeralda was shot the day World War II began in Europe. The director and star were so overwhelmed, the scene took on a new meaning, with Charles Laughton ringing the bells frantically and William Dieterle forgetting to yell "cut." Finally, the actor just stopped ringing when he became too tired to continue. Later, Laughton said, "I couldn't think of Esmeralda in that scene at all. I could only think of the poor people out there, going in to fight that bloody, bloody war! To arouse the world, to stop that terrible butchery! Awake! Awake! That's what I felt when I was ringing the bells!"


4:01 PM -- How To Sub-Let (1939)
In this short film, Robert Benchley tries to demonstrate the proper method of sub-letting an apartment.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Esther Dale, Hal K. Dawson, Robert Benchley
BW-8 mins,


4:15 PM -- The Big Heat (1953)
A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster's moll to bring down a powerful gangster.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando
BW-90 mins, CC,

Bannion's (Glenn Ford's character's) wife Katie is played by Jocelyn Brando, older sister of Marlon Brando.


6:00 PM -- To Sir, With Love (1967)
A substitute teacher changes the lives of the slum children in his class.
Dir: James Clavell
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

First film role for Patricia Routledge, better known to us PBS viewers as Hyacinth Bucket (that's pronounced Bouquet!) from Keeping Up Apearances (1990-1995).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: RUDYARD KIPLING ADVENTURES



8:00 PM -- The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Two con artists set out to take over a remote Asian land with a priceless golden treasure.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer
BW-129 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material -- John Huston and Gladys Hill, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Alexandre Trauner, Tony Inglis and Peter James, Best Costume Design -- Edith Head, and Best Film Editing -- Russell Lloyd

Karroom Ben Bouih (High Priest Kafu Selim) was the night watchman of an olive orchard near the filming location. He was hired after John Huston accidentally met him, and told to come to the set the following day. After he fell asleep a few times during filming, it was discovered that he had still kept his night watchman job. Huston had to explain to him that he didn't need that job any more - the film company would pay him enough that he could sleep at night. Ben Bouih was 103 years old when he made his first and only film appearance. When he saw some of the footage he declared that now he would live on forever.


10:30 PM -- The Jungle Book (1942)
A boy raised by wolves adjusts to life among humans.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Sabu, Joseph Calleia, John Qualen
C-106 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- W. Howard Greene, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Vincent Korda and Julia Heron, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Lawrence W. Butler (photographic) and William A. Wilmarth (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa

The Jungle Book (1942) was the first film for which original soundtrack recordings were issued. Previously, when record companies released music from a film, they had insisted on re-recording the music in their own studios with their own equipment. The "Jungle Book" records were taken from the same recordings used for the film's soundtrack, and their commercial success paved the way for more original-soundtrack albums.


12:30 AM -- Soldiers Three (1951)
Three British officers look for adventure in 19th-century India.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Stewart Granger, Walter Pidgeon, David Niven
BW-92 mins,

Robert Newton plays Private Bill Sykes. He memorably played the Charles Dickens villain Bill Sykes in the David Lean adaptation of Oliver Twist (1948). The characters Sykes, Malloy, and Ackroyd are loosely adapted from characters named Learoyd, Mulvaney and Ortheris in the Rudyard Kipling stories.


2:15 AM -- Miami Connection (1987)
A martial arts rock band tries to take down the motorcycle ninjas running Florida's drug trade.
Dir: Richard Park
Cast: Y K Kim, Vincent Hirsch, Joseph Diamond
C-87 mins, CC,

The film opened to poor box-office, scathing reviews and had long been forgotten. In June 2009, Zack Carlson, a programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas, happened upon on a seller on eBay who was selling a 35 mm print of it. Carlson had never heard of the film but bought it for $50. In April 2010, Carlson screened the film at the Drafthouse and it became wildly popular with cult film fans. More screenings took place to packed theaters. Drafthouse phoned Y.K. Kim about distributing the film. But the film's failure was a painful experience for Kim and he originally thought that the call was a cruel prank. Eventually, Kim relented and saw that his film had become a popular midnight movie 25 years after it's initial failure.


3:45 AM -- Black Belt Jones (1974)
A martial-arts champion steps in to defend his friend¿s gym from a mob takeover.
Dir: Robert Clouse
Cast: Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers
C-85 mins,

Followed by Black Belt Jones 2 (1978) -- not really a sequel as Jim Kelly plays a character named Lucas, not Jones.


5:15 AM -- The Corvair In Action! (1960)
Technicians herald the arrival of a new car that "delivers the goods as no other compact car can" in this short advertisement.
C-6 mins,


5:15 AM -- Shake Hands With Danger (1970)
Short safety film about dangers associated with earthmoving equipment operation, showing many simulated accidents on construction sites.
C-23 mins,