TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 16, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Cochise

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then tonight, TCM's non-essential Essentials features a couple of films about the Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise. From Wikipedia:

Cochise (/koʊˈtʃiːs/; in Apache: Shi-ka-She or A-da-tli-chi - "having the quality of strength of an oak?, after the Whites called him "Cochise", the Apache adopted it as K'uu-ch'ish or Cheis "oak"; c. 1805 – June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen ("central" or "real" Chiricahua) and principal chief (or nantan) of the Chokonen band of the Chiricahua Apache. A key war leader during the Apache Wars, he led an uprising against the U.S. government which began in 1861, and persisted until a peace treaty in 1872.

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #20 (1955)
Esther Williams performs in a clip from "Ziegfeld Follies"; Donna Reed introduces a clip from "Ransom." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-29 mins,


6:30 AM -- ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (1934)
A young orphan goes to stay with elderly relatives in the country.
Dir: George Nicholls Jr.
Cast: Anne Shirley, Tom Brown, O. P. Heggie
BW-78 mins, CC,

Katharine Hepburn wanted the part of Anne, and was always disappointed that she'd never gotten to play that part. Over 50 years later when Kevin Sullivan was producing a television adaptation of the same story she contacted him and had her grand-niece, Schuyler Grant read for the role. Schuyler did not get the part of Anne, (as the producers insisted on a Canadian actress) but she did get cast as Anne's best friend, Diana, in Anne of Green Gables (1985).


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: WEE-WILLIE WILDCAT (1953)
Barney, outraged by his neighbor spanking his son, tries to apply child psychology. But the boy's grasp of psychology (and explosives) is much better than Barney's.
Dir: Dick Lundy
Cast: Paul Frees
BW-7 mins, CC,


8:08 AM -- LET'S SING A SONG ABOUT THE MOONLIGHT (1948)
In this short film, four popular songs about moonlight are presented, such as "Moonlight Bay" and "In the Evening by the Moonlight."
Dir: Jack Scholl
Cast: Pat McKee,
BW-9 mins,

The songs include By the Light of the Silvery Moon with music by Gus Edwards and lyrics by Edward Madden, Moonlight Bay with music by Percy Wenrich and lyrics by Edward Madden, In the Evening by the Moonlight written by James Allen Bland, and Shine On, Harvest Moon with music by Nora Bayes and lyrics by Jack Norworth.


8:18 AM -- IRELAND "THE EMERALD ISLE" (1934)
This short film focuses on the people, land, and culture of rural Ireland.
Dir: Ruth Fitzpatrick
C-8 mins,


8:26 AM -- THE LAWLESS FRONTIER (1935)
Two gunmen team up to take on a Mexican bandit who's done them both wrong.
Dir: R. N. Bradbury
Cast: John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Jack Rockwell
BW-52 mins,

There is a costuming error in the last John Wayne scene calling home, as he's shown wearing a badge; but it is on the wrong side of his chest, and should be over his heart on the left side, not the right side.


9:30 AM -- FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE: THE DESTROYING RAY (1940)
Episode four of the Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe serial.
Cast: Buster Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Charles Middleton
Dir: Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor
BW-17 mins, CC,

This serial was based on Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon comic strip continuity involving Prince Barin and his kingdom of Arboria. Much of the serial's action also takes place in the comic strip kingdom of Frigia. The movie serial characters of Queen Fria, Count Korro, Gen. Lupi and Capt. Sudin all originated in the strip.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: I'M IN THE ARMY NOW (1933)
To impress Olive, Bluto and Popeye try to convince an Army recruiter to sign them up.
Dir: Dave Fleischer
Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
BW-6 mins, CC,

Features clips from Blow Me Down! (1933), Shoein' Hosses (1934), Choose Your 'Weppins' (1935), and King of the Mardi Gras (1935).


10:08 AM -- THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS (1935)
Perry Mason tries to stay on the wagon while investigating the murder of a crooked beauty contest promoter.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Warren William, Genevieve Tobin, Patricia Ellis
BW-78 mins, CC,

Supporting players Barton MacLane and Lyle Talbot would later appear in the Perry Mason TV series starring Raymond Burr.


11:30 AM -- MORTON DOWNEY IN "DUBLIN IN BRASS" (1935)
A singing Irishman graduates from a police academy and heads to New York City to join the force.
Dir: Joseph Henabery
Cast: Andrea Marsh, George Watts, Hugh Cameron
BW-22 mins,


12:00 PM -- OUR MAN IN MARRAKESH (1966)
One of six travelers on a bus is carrying $2 million to pay a local operator to fix United Nations votes... but which one?
Dir: Don Sharp
Cast: Tony Randall, Senta Berger, Herbert Lom
C-94 mins,

The picture has a number of titles in English-speaking territories that include "Bang, Bang, Bang! Marrakesh"; "I Spy You Spy"; "Marrakesh"; "Bang Bang!"; "Our Man in Marrakesh"; and "Bang! Bang! Your Dead!'."


1:45 PM -- VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960)
After a mysterious blackout, the inhabitants of a British village give birth to emotionless, super-powered offspring.
Dir: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
BW-77 mins, CC,

After little David opens the Chinese box for the chocolate, his father takes the box to another house where a blonde girl to also open the box. In the meantime, her mother is standing off to the side with another blonde boy in her arms. The boy child and the girl are played by the same actor, Kim Clarke Champniss. The little 'girl' is wearing a very obvious wig, and their faces are identical.


3:30 PM -- HILLS OF HOME (1948)
Lassie helps a Scottish doctor deal with his patients' problems.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Tom Drake
C-97 mins, CC,

Based on the sketches Doctor of the Old School by Ian Maclaren.


5:15 PM -- FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968)
A leprechaun follows the Irishman who stole his pot of gold to the U.S. South.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele
C-145 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, and Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Ray Heindorf

Because of its satire on racism, this popular 1947 Broadway musical was considered such a hot potato in Hollywood that studios would not touch it unless they were allowed to change the story. Its original creators, E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane and Fred Saidy, held out and by 1968 it was able to be filmed with very few changes.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: COCHISE



8:00 PM -- BROKEN ARROW (1950)
A former soldier sets out to create peace between white settlers and the Apache.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget
C-93 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jeff Chandler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Maltz (Originally Michael Blankfort had been listed for this nomination. Blankfort fronted for Maltz, who was a blacklisted writer at the time. Following research by the Writers Guild of America West in July 1991, the Academy officially attributed the nomination to Maltz and removed Blankford.), and Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Palmer

The film was considered groundbreaking at the time because it was one of the first sound films to portray Native American Indians in a humane light. Years later, the film was criticized because white actors played Indians, but the role of Geronimo in fact was played by Native Canadian Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels.


10:15 PM -- FORT APACHE (1948)
An experienced cavalry officer tries to keep his new, by-the-books commander from triggering an Indian war.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple
BW-128 mins, CC,

John Ford used Navajos to play Apaches, regarding them as "natural-born actors" and very dependable. He respected them and they enjoyed working for him. They loved it when a movie was being shot anywhere nearby because it meant work. They would travel many miles by wagon for a job, and knew they could count on a big lunch on a Ford set. The movie required 200 Navajos as Apache warriors and another 100 Navajo women and children. It also required 100 non-Indian extras as cavalry troops.


12:30 AM -- HIGH SIERRA (1941)
An aging ex-con sets out to pull one more big heist.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis
BW-100 mins, CC,

John Huston would later remark on Humphrey Bogart's unique appeal in the role of Roy Earle: "Bogie was a medium-sized man, not particularly impressive off-screen, but something happened when he was playing the right part. Those lights and shadows composed themselves into another, nobler personality: heroic, as in 'High Sierra'. I swear the camera has a way of looking into a person and perceiving things that the naked eye doesn't register."


2:30 AM -- RYAN'S DAUGHTER (1970)
An Irish lass is branded a traitor when she falls for a British soldier.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, Sarah Miles
C-196 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Mills, and Best Cinematography -- Freddie Young

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Sarah Miles, and Best Sound -- Gordon K. McCallum and John Bramall

MGM was expecting this movie to repeat the huge success of Doctor Zhivago (1965), and unveiled it with a suitably lavish publicity campaign and roadshow release. Unfortunately, the movie was roundly savaged by critics, who typically complained it was too big a scale for its modest love story. Director Sir David Lean took this criticism extremely personally; at a meeting of New York City movie critics, he was confronted by Pauline Kael, Richard Schickel, and others who seemingly took delight in insulting the movie. It eventually turned a profit, but fell short of MGM's hopes for a massive blockbuster. Lean was so hurt by this, he wouldn't make another movie for fourteen years.