TCM Schedule Sat. Dec. 28 - Xanadu, Cool Hand Luke, Giant, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

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Last edited Wed Dec 25, 2024, 12:46 AM - Edit history (2)

The Day At a Glance

- TCM DAYTIME: IN MEMORIAM
Le Samourai (1967) (Alain Delon)
(P) 3 Women (1977) (Shelley Duvall)
Blood Simple (1984) (M. Emmet Walsh)
Lola (1961) (Anouk Aimée)
Romance on the High Seas (1948) (Janis Paige)
Saturday, December 28
Fighting Father Dunne (1948) (Darryl Hickman)
- WEEKEND FEATURES
MGM Cartoons: The Farm of Tomorrow (1954)
Optical Poem, An (1938) (short)
Believe It or Not #7 (1932) (short)
In Fast Company (1946)
The Wolf Dog Ch. 12: Danger Lights (1933) (TCM Premiere)
Popeye: A Date to Skate (1938)
Hidden City, The (1950)
Arctic Roundup (1957) (short)
Xanadu (1980) (Musical Matinee)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Giant (1956)
- TCM PRIMETIME: TWO FOR ONE - NICOLE HOLOFCENER
Coming Home (1978)
Last Detail, The (1973)
- NOIR ALLEY
Postman Always Rings Twice, The (1946)
- TCM LATE NIGHT: SPY COMEDIES
Glass Bottom Boat, The (1966)
My Favorite Spy (1942)


The Day's Schedule (Happy Holidays, everyone.)

12:15 AM Blood Simple (1984)

An owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Dir: Joel Coen Cast: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Trivia: On the advice of Sam Raimi, the Coens went door-to-door showing potential investors a two minute 'trailer' of the film they planned to make. They ultimately raised $750,000 in a little over a year, enough to begin production of the movie.

Trivia: The original video version of Blood Simple couldn't get the rights to use The Four Tops song "It's the Same Old Song" (which essentially became the theme for the film). It was instead replaced with the Neil Diamond cover song of "I'm a Believer." Later DVD and Blu-ray releases restore the Four Tops song.

2:15 AM Lola (1961)

Lola is a cabaret singer whose lover Michel has gone away to America, promising to come back when he has made a lot of money for her and their child. He has been gone for seven years though, and Lola decides to have affairs in his absence. She is courted by two men: childhood friend Roland, and Frankie, an American sailor. ...
Dir: Jacques Demy Cast: Anouk Aimée, Marc Michel, Jacques Harden
Runtime: 89 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: N

Trivia: Begins with a Chinese proverb written in French, "Pleure qui peut, rit qui veut," which is, translated into English, "Cry who can, laugh who wants."

4:15 AM Romance on the High Seas (1948)

A man hires a private eye to watch his wife on a cruise, but the wife sends an impostor.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Doris Day, Don Defore
Runtime: 99 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
MUSIC (Scoring of a Musical Picture) -- Ray Heindorf
MUSIC (Song) -- "It's Magic," Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Trivia: This was Doris Day's first acting role, and she was extremely naive about how movies were made. She wrote in her autobiography that the first scenes to be filmed would be aboard the cruise ship, and on the first day, she walked onto the sound stage and asked when they would be leaving for the boat. The crew broke up laughing. And although she had 4th billing in this film, audience reaction to Doris Day was so strong and immediate that Warners signed her to a 7 year contract, during which she became a Top 10 box office star.

Trivia: According to her 1975 autobiography, Miss Day attended a show-biz party the night before she planned to leave for New York City. Also at the gathering was lyric writer Sammy Cahn who, taking Doris aside, explained that she would be the right match for the Cahn-Jule Styne score of this upcoming film. At Mr. Cahn's urging, she sang "Embraceable You" for the party crowd. She was heard by director Michael Curtiz, who then asked her to test for the role of Georgia Garrett.

6:00 AM Fighting Father Dunne (1948)

A dedicated priest tries to reform a group of homeless boys in turn-of-the-century St. Louis.
Dir: Ted Tetzlaff Cast: Pat O'Brien, Darryl Hickman, Charles Kemper
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: In 1948, a real-life Matt Davis, who lived at Father Dunne's home for newsboys in the period depicted in the film, sued RKO, claiming that Darryl Hickman's character falsely portrayed him as a juvenile delinquent who killed a police officer. His lawsuit was unsuccessful.

8:00 AM Cartoon: The Farm of Tomorrow (1954)
Educational film gags involving crossbreeding animals, plants, food and objects.
Dir: Tex Avery (fred) Cast: Paul Frees, Tex Avery, John Brown
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:10 AM Short: An Optical Poem (1938)
Geometric forms reflect the moods of Liszt's' "Hungarian Rhapsody."
Dir: Oskar Fischinger Cast: Franz Lizst
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:20 AM Short: Believe It or Not #7 (1932)
In this short film, Robert L. Ripley presents a series of rare sights and oddities, such as a leaning lighthouse and the definition of the word "fathom." Vitaphone Release 1361.
Dir: null Cast: Robert L Ripley, Alfred J. Goulding
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:30 AM In Fast Company (1946)



The Bowery Boys get wrapped up in a taxi war.
Dir: Del Lord Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Jane Randolph
Runtime: 61 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

9:45 AM Serial: The Wolf Dog: Conclusion - Danger Lights (1933) (TCM premiere)
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

10:05 AM Cartoon: A Date to Skate (1938)
It's Olive's first visit to a skating rink, and Popeye accidentally crashes into the pillar to which she is clinging. The impact sends her flying out of the rink and into the street. Olive finds herself in a crowded department store, on an escalator. Popeye manages to rescue Olive in an amusing climax.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


10:15 AM The Hidden City (aka Bomba and The Hidden City) (1950)



Bomba rescues an orphan from some ruthless hunters in this back lot jungle epic from the the no-budget Monogram studios.
Dir: Ford Beebe Cast: Johnny Sheffield, Sue England, Paul Guilfoyle
Runtime: 71 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: When Bomba and Princess Zidah bed down for the night, the Production Code decreed that they must sleep in separate trees.

Trivia: The first Bomba movie not filmed almost entirely on a soundstage, this features numerous exterior shots, for which rented back-lot sets were used.

11:30 AM Short: Arctic Roundup (1957)
An expedition heads to the barren lands of northern Canada to study musk-ox calves.
Dir: null Cast: Dave Floyd, Lansing C. Holden, Ernest Paquette, John Kelsaw
Runtime: 28 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N

12:00 PM Xanadu (1980)

Xanadu is a 1980 American musical fantasy film written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The film stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly in his final film role. It features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard and the Tubes. The title is a reference to the nightclub in the film, which takes its name from Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty in China. The city appears in Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an 1816 poem quoted in the film.

Released in the United States on August 8, 1980, by Universal Pictures, the film was a box-office disappointment, was panned by critics, and was an inspiration (along with Can't Stop the Music) for the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards to recognize the worst films of the year. Despite the film's lackluster performance, the soundtrack album became commercially successful worldwide and was certified double platinum in the United States. The song "Magic" was a US chart-topper for Newton-John, and the title track (performed by Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra) reached number one in the United Kingdom and several other countries. The film has since become a cult classic for its mixture of 1980s music and culture with modern-day aesthetics.[3]

Dir: Robert Greenwald Cast: Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, Gene Kelly
Runtime: 96 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Trivia: The soundtrack, with much music by Jeff Lynne, was an enormous success. The song "Magic" went to #1 on the US pop singles chart. In the UK the soundtrack album peaked at #2, and the single "Xanadu" was #1 for two weeks in July 1980.

2:00 PM Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg,[3] starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system. Set in the early 1950s, it is based on Donn Pearce's 1965 novel Cool Hand Luke.

Roger Ebert called Cool Hand Luke an anti-establishment film shot during emerging popular opposition to the Vietnam War. Filming took place within California's San Joaquin River Delta region; the set, imitating a prison farm in the Deep South, was based on photographs and measurements made by a crew the filmmakers sent to a Road Prison in Gainesville, Florida.

Upon its release, Cool Hand Luke received favorable reviews and was a box-office success. It cemented Newman's status as one of the era's top actors, and was called the "touchstone of an era". Newman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, Kennedy won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Pearce and Pierson were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Lalo Schifrin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. In 2005, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, considering it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5] The film has a 100% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and the prison warden's (Strother Martin) line in the film beginning with "What we've got here is failure to communicate" was listed at number 11 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list.

Dir: Stuart Rosenberg Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon
Runtime: 129 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Paul Newman {"Luke Jackson"}
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- George Kennedy {"Dragline"}
MUSIC (Original Music Score) -- Lalo Schifrin
WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Donn Pearce, Frank R. Pierson

Trivia: Two hundred hard-boiled eggs were provided for one of the film's most famous sequences. Due to clever editing, Paul Newman only ate about eight altogether. The rest were consumed by the cast and crew, which led to extreme cases of flatulence the next day.

4:30 PM Giant (1956)

Giant is a 1956 American epic Western drama film directed by George Stevens, from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferber's 1952 novel.

The film stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and features: Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mineo, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas and Earl Holliman.

Giant was the last of Dean's three films as a leading actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination – he was killed in a car crash before the film was released. His friend Nick Adams was called in to do some voice dubbing for Dean's role.

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Dir: George Stevens Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean
Runtime: 201 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- James Dean {"Jett Rink"}
ACTOR -- Rock Hudson {"Bick Benedict"}
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Mercedes McCambridge {"Luz Benedict"}
ART DIRECTION (Color) -- Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Ralph S. Hurst
COSTUME DESIGN (Color) -- Moss Mabry, Marjorie Best
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- George Stevens
FILM EDITING -- William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson, Fred Bohanan
MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Dimitri Tiomkin
BEST MOTION PICTURE -- George Stevens and Henry Ginsberg, Producers
WRITING (Screenplay--Adapted) -- Fred Guiol, Ivan Moffat

Trivia: Three days before shooting was scheduled to start, James Dean was entered in an auto race in Palm Springs, California. When producer and director George Stevens found out, he put his foot down and insisted that Dean not be allowed to race until after production was finished.

Trivia: During the shoot, James Dean appeared in an informal black-and-white television commercial in which he responded to questions posed by actor Gig Young. (See below.) Ironically, Dean was promoting safe driving and informed viewers, "People say racing is dangerous, but I'd rather take my chances on the track any day than on the highway." Before he left the studio, he added one piece of advice: "Drive safely, because the life you save may be mine." Dean was wearing the same hat and clothing he wore for this movie throughout the commercial. He died a few weeks later in a car crash.

Trivia: During breaks in filming, James Dean got the local cowboys to teach him how to handle a lariat, as well as his hat, until he could act as if he had been working with them his entire life.

8:00 PM Coming Home (1978)

Sally Hide, the wife of a Marine serving in Vietnam, decides to volunteer at a local veterans hospital to occupy her time. She meets Luke Martin, a frustrated, wheelchair-bound vet who has become disillusioned with the war. Sally and Luke develop a friendship that soon turns into a romance.
Dir: Hal Ashby Cast: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern
Runtime: 128 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Jon Voight {"Luke Martin"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Bruce Dern {"Captain Bob Hyde"}
(*WINNER*) ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Jane Fonda {"Sally Hyde"}
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Penelope Milford {"Viola Munson"}
DIRECTING -- Hal Ashby
FILM EDITING -- Don Zimmerman
BEST PICTURE -- Jerome Hellman, Producer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) -- Story by Nancy Dowd; Screenplay by Waldo Salt, Robert C. Jones

Trivia: Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino all turned down the role of Luke Martin.

Trivia: The opening scene where the vets in the hospital are talking was unscripted. They were real Vietnam vets discussing their own views about the war. Jon Voight was supposed to have added to the dialogue, but out of respect, stayed silent and listened.

Trivia: Jon Voight's role of Luke Martin was loosely inspired by paralyzed Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, who Jane Fonda had met at an antiwar rally and become friends with. Kovic was making inroads in Hollywood with his autobiographical book "Born on the Fourth of July" at the time, which was later adapted into a film released in 1989 with Tom Cruise in the role of Kovic.

10:15 PM The Last Detail (1973)

Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison, but decide to show him one last good time along the way.
Dir: Hal Ashby Cast: Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid
Runtime: 104 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Jack Nicholson {"Signalman First Class Buddusky"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Randy Quaid {"Meadows"}
WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Robert Towne

Trivia: The script was originally completed in 1970 but contained too much profanity for the time to be shot as written. Columbia Pictures waited for two years trying to get writer Robert Towne to tone down the language. Instead, by 1972, the standards for foul language relaxed so much that all the profanity was left in.


12:15 AM The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

A frustrated wife seduces a drifter into murdering her husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway
Runtime: 111 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: This caused a stir amongst 1940s audiences, who were shocked when it seemed clear to them that John Garfield uses his tongue in one of his kissing scenes with Lana Turner.

Trivia: John Garfield and Lana Turner had a brief affair, according to Garfield's friend, Warner Bros. director Vincent Sherman. He said Turner was the only co-star with whom Garfield ever became romantically involved. There had been sparks between the two since the first day of shooting, and the delays had sparked a close friendship. Finally, they shared a moonlit tryst on the beach but that was their only night together. The two realized that whatever was happening on-screen, off-screen they had no sexual chemistry together. They remained friends nonetheless.

Trivia: James M. Cain was so impressed with Lana Turner's performance he presented her with a leather-bound copy of the book inscribed, "For my dear Lana, thank you for giving a performance that was even finer than I expected."


2:15 AM The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

A PR worker in a space laboratory is suspected of being a spy because she calls her dog on the phone and calls him "Vladimir."
Dir: Frank Tashlin Cast: Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The mermaid costume worn by Doris Day in the opening scene is now on display at the Catalina Casino in Avalon, CA.

Trivia: Doris Day sings "Que Sera Sera" which she also sang in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960). It was also used as the opening theme music for all five seasons of The Doris Day Show (1968).

Trivia: Robert Vaughn: briefly appears in his central role of "Napoleon Solo" from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) at the party, with a snatch of that show's theme music on the soundtrack. The same music is heard when Homer Cripps goes undercover in drag. Theodore Marcuse played three different guest characters on that show. Dom DeLuise appeared on the spin-off The Danish Blue Affair (1966).

4:15 AM My Favorite Spy (1942)



Bandleader Kay Kyser leaves his bride at the altar to help catch international spies.
Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: Kay Kyser, Ellen Drew, Jane Wyman
Runtime: 86 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The War Department Motion Picture Board of Review initially rejected the film for release because the story misrepresented the Army Intelligence Division as engaging in espionage. After studio revisions, the film was still refused approval because the Army said that Kay Kyser's character would never be called into the Intelligence Service without qualifications and training. Producer Harold Lloyd suggested that Kyser get the orders from a mixup of names, but that revision was still rejected because the Army did not want a commissioned officer to be made to be the object of ridicule. A further revision having Kyser decommissioned and entering the Intelligence Service as a civilian was finally approved by the War Department. Additional scenes were filmed in late February 1942 to make the changes in the film.

Trivia: Final film of Helen Westley, who perhaps is best known for appearances in several Shirley Temple films, with one of her better known roles being Aunt Miranda Wilkins in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" . After "My Favorite Spy," she retired from acting, and died 6 months after its release.