TCM schedule for Saturday 12/7/24: Pete Kelly's Blues, Fruitvale Station, From Here To Eternity, Kim Novak

[ificandream]

The day at a glance

LAURENCE OLIVIER
Hamlet (1948)
Little Romance, A (1979)
Entertainer, The (1960)
21 Days (1940)
Saturday, December 7
- TCM DAYTIME
WEEKEND FEATURES
Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) (6:15 am ET)
MGM Cartoons: The Hick Chick (1946)
Stars on Horseback (1943) (short)
Believe It or Not #5 (1932) (short)
Dig That Uranium! (1956)
The Wolf Dog Ch. 10: Accused (1933) (TCM Premiere)
Popeye: Mutiny Ain't Nice (1933)
Bomba the Jungle Boy (1949)
Traffic with the Devil (1946) (short)
Ski Party (1965) (Musical Matinee)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
- CHRISTMAS FAVORITES
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
Holiday Affair (1949)
- TCM PRIMETIME
TWO FOR ONE
- GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD
Central Station (1998)
Fruitvale Station (2013)
- NOIR ALLEY
Act of Violence (1949)
- TCM LATE NIGHT: KIM NOVAK
Legend of Lylah Clare, The (1968)
Of Human Bondage (1964)

The full day's schedule

10:00 PM Hamlet (1948)

Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed (the 1936 As You Like It had starred Olivier, but had been directed by Paul Czinner). Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English.

Olivier's Hamlet is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. However, it proved controversial among Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting one-and-a-half-hours' worth of content. Milton Shulman wrote in The Evening Standard: "To some it will be one of the greatest films ever made, to others a deep disappointment. Laurence Olivier leaves no doubt that he is one of our greatest living actors... his liberties with the text, however, are sure to disturb many."

Dir: Laurence Olivier Cast: Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney
Runtime: 155 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ACTOR -- Laurence Olivier {"Hamlet"}
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Jean Simmons {"Ophelia"}
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION (Black-and-White) -- Art Direction: Roger K. Furse; Set Decoration: Carmen Dillon
COSTUME DESIGN (Black-and-White) -- Roger K. Furse
DIRECTING -- Laurence Olivier
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- William Walton
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films

Trivia: When the movie was released, Sir Laurence Olivier said it had been filmed in black and white for artistic reasons. The true reason, as he later admitted, was that "I was in the middle of a furious row with Technicolor".

12:45 AM A Little Romance (1979)

A Little Romance is a 1979 American romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Laurence Olivier, Thelonious Bernard, and 13-year-old Diane Lane in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Allan Burns and George Roy Hill, based on the novel E=mc2 Mon Amour (1977) by Patrick Cauvin. The original music score was composed by Georges Delerue.[2][3] The film follows a French boy and an American girl who meet in Paris and begin a romance that leads to a journey to Venice where they hope to seal their love forever with a kiss beneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset.

The film won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Score for Georges Delerue and received an additional nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Allan Burns.[4] It also received two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Laurence Olivier and Best Original Score for Delerue.[5] As the film's young leads, Thelonious Bernard and Diane Lane both received Young Artist Award nominations as Best Actor and Best Actress respectively, as well as earning the film a win as Best Motion Picture Featuring Youth.[6] It was the first film produced by Orion Pictures.
Dir: George Roy Hill Cast: Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, John Pepper
Runtime: 108 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Original Score) -- Georges Delerue
WRITING (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) -- Allan Burns

Trivia: The first and last films which Daniel (Thelonius Bernard) watches were both directed by this film's director, George Roy Hill; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973) (in Venice, entitled, La Stangata).

2:45 AM The Entertainer (1960)

The Entertainer is a 1960 British kitchen sink drama film directed by Tony Richardson, produced by Harry Saltzman and adapted by John Osborne and Nigel Kneale from Osborne's stage play of the same name.[7] The film stars Laurence Olivier as Archie Rice, a failing third-rate music-hall stage performer who tries to keep his career going even as the music-hall tradition fades into history and his personal life falls apart.[8] Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Dir: Tony Richardson Cast: Laurence Olivier, Brenda De Banzie, Joan Plowright
Runtime: 104 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Laurence Olivier {"Archie Rice"}

Trivia: Theatrical movie debut of Albert Finney (Mick Rice).

4:45 AM 21 Days (1940)

21 Days (also known as 21 Days Together, The First and the Last and Three Weeks Together) is a 1940 British drama film based on the short 1919 play The First and the Last by John Galsworthy. It was directed by Basil Dean and stars Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and Leslie Banks. The film was renamed 21 Days Together for the American market.

Dir: Basil Dean Cast: Vivien Leigh, Leslie Banks, Laurence Olivier
Runtime: 75 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: Produced in the UK in 1937 before the international popularity of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Producer Alexander Korda intended this to be a star-building vehicle for Leigh. Columbia bought the film in 1939 but did not release it until after the success of Gone with the Wind (1939).

Trivia: This was the second of three films that paired Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. The others were Fire Over England (1937) and That Hamilton Woman (1941).

6:15 AM Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)

Pete Kelly's Blues is a 1955 musical crime film based on the 1951 radio series of the same name. It was directed by and starred Jack Webb in the title role of a bandleader and musician. Janet Leigh is featured as party girl Ivy Conrad, and Edmond O'Brien as a gangster who applies pressure to Kelly. Peggy Lee portrays alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins (a performance for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role). Ella Fitzgerald makes a cameo as singer Maggie Jackson. Lee Marvin, Martin Milner, and Jayne Mansfield also make early career appearances.

Much of the dialogue was written by writers who wrote the radio series Pat Novak for Hire (1946–1949), and the radio version of Pete Kelly's Blues (1951), both of which Webb starred in for a time before creating Dragnet.

Dir: Jack Webb Cast: Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Peggy Lee {"Rose Hopkins"}

Trivia: Jack Webb actually knew how to play the cornet. He loved jazz music and, as a boy, was given a cornet by a musician who lived near his home. While he never truly mastered the instrument, he knew it well enough that his handling and fingering of the cornet in this movie is accurate.

Trivia: Peggy Lee's only Oscar nominated performance. It was also her last film.

Trivia: The normally blonde Jayne Mansfield is a redhead in this picture.

8:00 AM Cartoon; The Hick Chick (1946)
A country chicken competes with a city slicker chicken for the affections of a local beauty.
Dir: Tex Avery (fred) Cast: Sara Berner, Frank Graham, Cal Howard
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: Y

8:10 AM Short: Stars on Horseback (1943)
In this short film, a master blacksmith makes house calls to Hollywood stars' homes to pamper their horse's hooves. Vitaphone Release 1107A.
Dir: Myron J. Swartz Cast: Guinn Williams, Tim Holt, George Garfield
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:20 AM Short: Believe It or Not #5 (1932)
This short entry in the "Believe it or Not" series presents such oddities as a shrunken head, an iron execution chamber, and entertaining tombstone descriptions. Vitaphone Release 1336.
Dir: Murray Roth Cast: Robert L Ripley, Roy Mack
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:28 AM Dig That Uranium! (1956)

The Bowery Boys battle crooks for control of a uranium mine out West.
Dir: Edward Bernds Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey
Runtime: 61 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Final film of Bernard Gorcey, grandfather of Leo Gorcey. A grief-stricken Leo Gorcey quit the Bowery Boys series after Bernard's sudden death in a car accident in 1955.

9:33 AM Serial: The Wolf Dog, Chapter 10: Accused (1933)
When a boy's guardian secretly plots to steal his inheritance, only his radio operator friend and wolf-dog companion stand between him and disaster.
Dir: Colbert Clark, Harry L. Fraser Cast: Rin Tin Tin Jr., Frankie Darro, Boots Mallory
Runtime: 20 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-G CC: Y


10:03 AM Cartoon: Mutiny Ain't Nice (1933)
As Popeye's ship prepares to sail, Olive falls into a trunk and is carried aboard unnoticed. Popeye finds her and, knowing the old-time sailor's superstition that a woman on board is bad luck, tries to hide her. When Olive is discovered by the sailors, Popeye has his hands full foiling their efforts to cast the jinx overboard. ...
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Dave Tendlar Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


10:10 AM Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)



A photographer and his daughter discover a wild boy in the jungle.
Dir: Ford Beebe Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Peggy Ann Garner, Onslow Stevens
Runtime: 71 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: This was the first of 12 features, made over a six-year period (1949-55), starring Johnny Sheffield as Bomba that were made by "Poverty Row" studio Monogram Pictures. Sheffield had made his last Tarzan movie two years earlier. After the last Bomba feature was made in 1955, it would mark the end of Sheffield's film career.


11:30 AM Short: Traffic with the Devil (1946)
This short film looks at the increase of traffic levels and accidents in the U.S.
Dir: Gunther V. Fritsch Cast: Charles Reineke, Gil Perkins, Ralph Montgomery
Runtime: 18 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: Y


12:00 PM Ski Party (1965)

Two college guys take a ski trip to meet girls.
Dir: Alan Rafkin Cast: Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Deborah Walley
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman teamed again for Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), where their character names from this film were switched--Frankie now as '"Craig Gamble", Dwayne now as "Todd Armstrong".

Trivia: James Brown said out of all the times he did splits the only time he ever ripped his pants was in this movie.

Trivia: June Foray has two uncredited cameo voice roles: the first as the actress in the Italian movie at the drive-in, and the second as the sped-up voice of "Miss Sally" speaking on the phone with Robert Q. Lewis. When her voice is slowed down she can be heard saying, in part, "Donald, did you hang up on me? This is a three-message-unit call!" and "I'm gonna tell your mother about this, the way you're treating me!"

Trivia: Lesley Gore's acting debut.

1:45 PM From Here to Eternity (1953)

From Here to Eternity is a 1953 American romantic war drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the tribulations of three United States Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed portray the women in their lives. The supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy, Claude Akins, and George Reeves.

It won 8 Academy Awards out of 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra), and Supporting Actress (Donna Reed). The film's title originates from Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem "Gentlemen-Rankers", about soldiers of the British Empire who had "lost [their] way" and were "damned from here to eternity".

In 2002, From Here to Eternity was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Dir: Fred Zinnemann Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
Runtime: 118 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Montgomery Clift {"Robert E. Lee Prewitt"}
ACTOR -- Burt Lancaster {"Sgt. Milton Warden"}
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Frank Sinatra {"Angelo Maggio"}
ACTRESS -- Deborah Kerr {"Karen Holmes"}
(*WINNER*) ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Donna Reed {"Lorene/Alma"}
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Burnett Guffey
COSTUME DESIGN (Black-and-White) -- Jean Louis
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- Fred Zinnemann
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- William Lyon
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Morris Stoloff, George Duning
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Buddy Adler, Producer
(*WINNER*) SOUND RECORDING -- Columbia Studio Sound Department, John P. Livadary, Sound Director
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay) -- Daniel Taradash

Trivia: Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle (even though he knew he'd be dubbed) and taking boxing lessons. Fred Zinnemann said, "Clift forced the other actors to be much better than they really were. That's the only way I can put it. He got performances from the other actors, he got reactions from the other actors that were totally genuine."

Trivia: The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was not written to take place there. The idea to film with the waves hitting them was a last-minute inspiration from director Fred Zinnemann.

4:00 PM It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth Cast: Don Defore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles
Runtime: 115 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The movie originally was planned to be directed by Frank Capra, but he chose to do It's a Wonderful Life (1946) instead.

6:15 PM Holiday Affair (1949)

A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
Runtime: 87 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The film was intended to soften Robert Mitchum's screen persona after his prison sentence in 1949.

8:00 PM Central Station (1998)

The emotional journey of a former schoolteacher who writes letters for illiterate people, and a young boy whose mother has just died, as they search for the father he never knew.
Dir: Walter Salles Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Marilia Pera, Vinicius de Oliveira
Runtime: 113 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC: N

Oscar nominations:
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Fernanda Montenegro {"Dora"}
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM -- Brazil

Trivia: Vinícius de Oliveira , a shoeshine boy, beat out more than 1,500 other young actors for the role of Josué.

10:00 PM Fruitvale Station (2013)

Fruitvale Station is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut, and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer Johannes Mehserle at the Fruitvale district BART station in Oakland, California. The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Grant, with Kevin Durand and Chad Michael Murray playing the two BART police officers involved in Grant's death, although their names were changed for the film. Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, and Octavia Spencer also star.

The film debuted under its original title, Fruitvale, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival,[5] where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film,[6] and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for Best First Film. It received critical acclaim, and was released in theaters on July 12, 2013, grossing over $17 million against its $900,000 budget.
Dir: Ryan Coogler Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer
Runtime: 85 mins Genre: Biography Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Trivia: Oscar Grant's real mom Wanda Johnson makes a cameo appearance in the film. She plays Mrs. Stacy at Tatiana's preschool.


12:00 AM Act of Violence (1949)

An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh
Runtime: 82 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: As Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) is leaving the car rental lot, the billboard advertising Summer Holiday (1948) with Mickey Rooney is seen; that movie also was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio movie released in 1948.


1:45 AM The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

An obsessed movie director grooms an unknown to play his deceased movie-star wife.
Dir: Robert Aldrich Cast: Kim Novak, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine
Runtime: 130 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Trivia: When Kim Novak walks along Hollywood Boulevard, a theater she passes by is playing The Dirty Dozen (1967), a film director Robert Aldrich made a year earlier, and whose commercial success made it possible for him to start his own production company and make movies like this.

4:00 AM Of Human Bondage (1964)

A medical student risks his future when he falls for a low-class waitress.
Dir: Ken Hughes Cast: Kim Novak, Laurence Harvey, Robert Morley
Runtime: 98 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: This was something of a catastrophe for MGM. Filming began early in 1963, but Henry Hathaway resigned as director and Bryan Forbes, who had a prominent supporting role, did a week of directing before also leaving the film. He tried without success to have his credit as writer of the screenplay removed and was replaced as an actor by Jack Hedley. (However, Forbes can be glimpsed, more or less as an extra, in one or two scenes.) Ken Hughes finished the film and reportedly had a very bad time; the film was many months in the editing rooms and was not seen until late in 1964, nearly a year after its scheduled release date. It ran for only 99 minutes - a surprise, as the novel is about 800 pages. It was a commercial and critical disaster, being released in the UK on the lower half of a double-bill. It has only infrequently been seen since, even on TV.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Ernest Borgnine is so good....

The 2 characters Marty and Fatso (in From Here To Eternity) couldn't be more different.