TCM Schedule for Friday, July 15, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: AFI Lifetime Achievement Award

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, be very afraid. TCM is Sending In The Clowns!

Then in prime time, TCM is celebrating the 2022 winner of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, the incomparable Dame Julie Andrews. Then we get a pair of her very best roles, Victor/Victoria (1982) and The Americanization of Emily (1964), both with James Garner. Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- The Main Attraction (1962)
1h 30m | Drama | TV-PG
An unscrupulous drifter causes problems for a small European circus.
Director: Daniel Petrie
Cast: Pat Boone, Nancy Kwan, Mai Zetterling

Nancy Kwan's third film and third starring role.


9:00 AM -- Merry Andrew (1958)
1h 43m | Musical | TV-G
An archaeologist's search for Roman treasure gets him mixed up with a circus troupe.
Director: Michael Kidd
Cast: Danny Kaye, Pier Angeli, Salvatore Baccaloni

The term "merry Andrew" is British slang for a clown.


10:45 AM -- The Clown (1953)
1h 32m | Drama | TV-G
In this remake of The Champ, a drunken clown tries to make a comeback so he can keep his son.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Red Skelton, Jane Greer, Tim Considine

In part for its obvious publicity value, MGM had interest in casting Jackie Cooper's son John in the role his father had created in The Champ (1931) some twenty years before. He was favorably screen-tested and was to be billed as "Jackie Cooper Jr." But his father, well-versed in the pitfalls of child acting, objected to obligating the boy to a contract with the studio. Young Cooper was only six anyway, and his age made the casting a stretch, despite the good screen test. Tim Considine, several years older, was selected.


12:30 PM -- Fearless Fagan (1952)
1h 19m | Comedy | TV-PG
When a circus clown is drafted, he tries to sneak his pet lion into the service.
Director: Stanley Donen
Cast: Janet Leigh, Carleton Carpenter, Keenan Wynn

The real Private Floyd Humeston was employed as a technical advisor for this picture. Fagan the lion played himself, along with another lion named Jackie being used in some scenes.


2:00 PM -- Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)
1h 56m | Comedy | TV-PG
A vaudeville clown neglects his family while fighting for stardom.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Milton Berle, Virginia Mayo, Ruth Roman

The "Fountain Pen Sketch" was taken from the hit musical revue Make Mine Manhattan (over 400 performances) that opened in New York in 1948, and starred Sid Caesar. Max Showalter, who performs that specialty number in this movie, was also in that opening night cast playing the same role, as well as others.


4:00 PM -- The Big Circus (1959)
1h 49m | Drama | TV-PG
A ringleader tries to keep his circus on the road despite the efforts of a saboteur.
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Cast: Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Rhonda Fleming

When Peter Lorre catches the banker in the cage, he says, "Slowly, slowly catchee monkey," quoting a line he said as Mr. Moto in The Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938).


6:00 PM -- Pal Joey (1957)
1h 51m | Musical | TV-14
An opportunistic singer woos a wealthy widow to boost his career.
Director: George Sidney
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Walter Holscher, William Kiernan and Louis Diage, Best Costume Design -- Jean Louis, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), and Best Film Editing -- Viola Lawrence and Jerome Thoms

This is one of Frank Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity (1953) movies in which he did not receive top billing, which surprisingly went to Rita Hayworth. Sinatra was, by that time, a bigger star, and his title role was predominant. When asked about the billing, Sinatra replied, "Ladies first." He was also quoted as saying that, as it was a Columbia film, Hayworth should have top billing because, "For years, she WAS Columbia Pictures", and that with regard to being billed "between" Hayworth and Kim Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of." As Columbia's biggest star, Hayworth had been top billed in every film since Cover Girl (1944), but her tenure was soon to end with They Came to Cordura (1959).



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- AFI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD



8:00 PM -- The 48th AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Julie Andrews (2022)
Awards | TV-14
The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute was presented to Julie Andrews in June 2022.
Director: Louis J. Horvitz
Cast: Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Steve Carell

A three-time Academy Award® nominee, Andrews’ star turn in MARY POPPINS won her both a BAFTA and an Oscar®. From her early debut as Polly Browne in “The Boyfriend” to her critically acclaimed Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway hit “My Fair Lady” to her timeless performance as Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC to her groundbreaking dual roles in the gender-bending VICTOR/VICTORIA, Andrews has proven herself an accomplished and versatile actress. Throughout an illustrious career that spans seven decades, she has won five Golden Globes, three Grammys® and two Emmys® for projects infused with her incomparable charm and recognized for their ability to enthrall audiences worldwide. The critically lauded Andrews is also a Kennedy Center honoree, a Disney Legend inductee and the recipient of a SAG Life Achievement Award. She's one Tony win short of an EGOT!


9:15 PM -- Victor/Victoria (1982)
2h 14m | Musical | TV-MA
Julie Andrews stars as a struggling Paris cabaret singer who becomes the toast of the town when she impersonates a man.
Director: Blake Edwards
Cast: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score -- Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Julie Andrews, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Preston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lesley Ann Warren, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Blake Edwards, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Rodger Maus, Tim Hutchinson, William Craig Smith and Harry Cordwell, and Best Costume Design -- Patricia Norris

The costume worn by Dame Julie Andrews in the number "The Shady Dame From Seville" is the same costume worn by Robert Preston at the end of the movie. The costume was made to fit Preston, and then, using a series of hooks and eyes at the back, it was drawn in tightly to fit Andrews' shapely figure. Additional black silk ruffles were also added to the bottom of the costume to hide the differences in height. It's a pleasure to watch the costume being purposefully damaged by Preston. Now in a private collection, the rips and tears are still present. The fabric is a black and brown crepe, with fine gold threads woven into it, which when lit, appears to have an almost wet look about it.


11:45 PM -- The 48th AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Julie Andrews (2022)
Awards | TV-14
The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute special will air on TNT on Thursday, June 16, at 10...
Director: Louis J. Horvitz
Cast: Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Steve Carell

While she played the original Eliza Dolittle in the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady", Audrey Hepburn played the part in the movie My Fair Lady (1964). The studio executives did not want Andrews because she hadn't had any experience in film and thought Hepburn would be the better choice. However, while the film My Fair Lady took home several Oscars in 1964, it failed to win the Best Actress category. That award went to none other than Julie Andrews for her performance in Mary Poppins (1964).


1:00 AM -- The Americanization of Emily (1964)
1h 57m | War | TV-PG
A British war widow falls for an opportunistic American sailor during World War II.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Cast: James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Philip H. Lathrop, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Hans Peters, Elliot Scott, Henry Grace and Robert R. Benton

This is the only movie in which Julie Andrews appeared in between her iconic performances in Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965). Andrews later said she was particularly happy about the timing of this movie's release and its commercial and critical successes. She speculated that if she had appeared in the two well-known family musicals back-to-back that she risked being typecast, which could have ultimately hurt her career.


3:15 AM -- They Live (1988)
1h 35m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-MA
A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Rowdy Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster

Carpenter brought real "homeless folks" into the production for several scenes and smaller characters and gave them food as well as paychecks. "I thought that was a pretty classy thing to do," says Piper.


5:00 AM -- Drug Stories (2019)
Short | TV-14
A compilation of classroom scare films from the 1960s and 1970s about the dangers of using drugs.

[Auggie]

1. Both Andrews and James Garner cite The Americanization of Emily as among their best

Make a date to catch or record if you haven't seen it. It's worth the time.

Considering Julie Andrews' career, that's saying something.