TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 23, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight: WWII Homefront

[Staph]

In the morning hours, TCM is featuring films starring Robert Ryan. From IMDB: "Primarily a man of pacifist beliefs, Ryan often found it a challenge playing sadistic and racist characters who very much were at odds with his own personal ideals. Additionally, Ryan actively campaigned for improved civil rights, restricting the growth of nuclear weapons, and he strongly opposed McCarthyism and its abuse of people who many believed were innocent. A gifted, intelligent and powerful actor, Robert Ryan passed away on July 11th, 1973 of lung cancer."

Then in primetime, TCM continues their salute to the Homefront during World War II. Take it away, Roger!

WWII IN THE MOVIES: THE HOMEFRONT - THURSDAYS IN MAY

This year, TCM honors the 75th anniversary of D-Day with Never Surrender: WWII in the Movies, a two-month salute featuring films from and about the era. This month, to kick off programming and in remembrance of Memorial Day, TCM offers a look at films from various decades that are set during that global conflict and observed from the viewpoint of the American home front. Joining TCM host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce and discuss the movies are five cohosts associated with the National World War II Museum, a military history showcase located in New Orleans, LA.

...

Under Attack offers Hope and Glory (1987), a beautiful film from writer-director John Boorman recalling his experiences as a 10-year-old who found the London Blitz both terrifying and exciting. The End of the Affair (1955), also set in London, is an adaptation of the Graham Greene novel about the wartime indiscretions of a married woman (Deborah Kerr) with a writer (Van Johnson).

...

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- THE SKY'S THE LIMIT (1943)
A pilot on leave falls for a pretty news photographer.
Dir: Edward H. Griffith
Cast: Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley
BW-90 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "My Shining Hour", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Leigh Harlin

In one scene Joan Manion (played by Joan Leslie) is asked by Fred Atwell - a.k.a. Fred Burton (played by Fred Astaire) if her boss, Mr. Harriman (played by Robert Benchley), has ever proposed marriage to her: She replies that he has attempted to numerous times, but keeps getting side-tracked by discussions of such things as the "love life of a polyp". It turns out that in one of Robert Benchley's earliest films he played a "Doctor Benchley" in the film The Sex Life of the Polyp (1928) where he lectures Women's Clubs on this interesting creature that can change its sex.


8:30 AM -- BERLIN EXPRESS (1948)
Allied agents fight an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin
BW-86 mins, CC,

The picture's crew was the first to receive permission to film in Berlin's Soviet zone. At the time of this production, Berlin was divided into foor separate sectors, which were controlled by the English, French, Soviet (now Russian) and American armed forces.


10:30 AM -- THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948)
An orphaned boy mystically acquires green hair and a mission to end war.
Dir: Joseph Losey
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Barbara Hale
C-82 mins, CC,

Unfortunately for the film's director, Joseph Losey, the eccentric, politically conservative Howard Hughes took over RKO while this film was being shot and, hating the film's pacifist message, did his best to sabotage it. Losey, however, managed to protect the integrity of his project. Screenwriter Ben Barzman, who was also later blacklisted along with Losey, would later recall that "Joe shot the picture in such a way that there wasn't much possibility for change. A few lines were stuck in here and there to soften the message, but that was about it". Barzman also remembered that 12-year-old Dean Stockwell was called into Hughes' office and Hughes told him that when the other children spoke of the horror of war, he should say, "And that's why America has gotta have the biggest army, and the biggest navy, and the biggest air force in the world!" According to Barzman, little Stockwell was so in sympathy with the film's message that he dared to respond, "No, sir!" Even after Hughes started to scream at him, the boy held his ground and refused to do it.


12:00 PM -- BORN TO BE BAD (1950)
An ambitious girl steals a rich husband but keeps her lover on the side.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary Scott
BW-90 mins, CC,

RKO had originally scheduled this film to be filmed twice previously: in 1946 with Joan Fontaine, Henry Fonda, John Sutton and Marsha Hunt. It was canceled. In 1948 RKO put the film on its schedule under the title of BED OF ROSES, with Barbara Bel Geddes in the role of Christabel. However, Howard Hughes decided he did not care for Bel Geddes and postponed it.


1:45 PM -- HER TWELVE MEN (1954)
A dedicated teacher turns around the troublesome students at a boys' school.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, Barry Sullivan
BW-91 mins, CC,

The last film Greer Garson made under contract with MGM, where she first signed in 1939 and appeared in her first feature film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939).


3:30 PM -- BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
C-81 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Director -- John Sturges, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Millard Kaufman

Spencer Tracy had great respect for Robert Ryan as an actor. Millard Kaufman recalled that Tracy said to him one day, "Bob is so good in this part, he scares the hell out of me." When Kaufman expressed the same, Tracy replied, "That's good. It means he'll scare the hell out of the audience, too."


5:00 PM -- GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1958)
A dirt-farmer lets his family fall apart while he hunts for his grandfather's buried gold.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Buddy Hackett
BW-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

A 1967 re-release attempted to appeal to the new generation by playing up the sex in the advertisements. The '67 poster featured the drawing of a topless woman underneath a bare-chested man on a bed, as well as a topless (but chaste) photo of co-star Fay Spain that was definitely not in the picture itself! For this re-release, Tina Louise was given top-billing and Michael Landon went from tenth billing in 1958 to second billing this time.


7:15 PM -- SCREEN DIRECTORS PLAYHOUSE: LINCOLN'S DOCTOR'S DOG (1955)
During the dark days of the Civil War, a doctor gives President Lincoln a puppy to buoy his spirits.
Dir: H. C. Potter
Cast: Robert Ryan, Charles Bickford, Richard Long
BW-26 mins, CC,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: WWII HOMEFRONT



8:00 PM -- HOPE AND GLORY (1987)
A young boy grows up in World War II London during the Blitz.
Dir: John Boorman
Cast: Sebastian Rice-Edwards, Sarah Miles, David Hayman
C-113 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- John Boorman, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Boorman, Best Cinematography -- Philippe Rousselot, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Anthony Pratt and Joanne Woollard, and Best Picture

A 650 feet long suburban street set with seventeen semi-detached houses was constructed for this movie. Apparently, at the time at least, it was the largest set built in the UK for twenty-five years.


9:56 PM -- FLAG OF MERCY (1942)
Short film "Angel of Mercy" (1939), which depicts the efforts of Clara Barton to organize a hospital service for soldiers, is re-edited with footage relating it to America's involvement in World War II.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
BW-10 mins,

Number 30 in the Passing Parade series.


10:15 PM -- THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1955)
A married woman cheats on her husband in World War II London.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills
BW-106 mins, CC,

Gregory Peck was offered the lead.


12:15 AM -- JOURNEY FOR MARGARET (1942)
An American correspondent tries to adopt two children orphaned during the London blitz.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Robert Young, Laraine Day, Fay Bainter
BW-81 mins, CC,

This is the film from which Margaret O'Brien took her name. She was born Angela O'Brien, but she so identified with the character she played in this film that she decided to change her name to Margaret.


2:00 AM -- TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT (1945)
An American girl falls for an RAF pilot while performing at a British music hall.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman, Janet Blair
C-92 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Anywhere", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Marlin Skiles and Morris Stoloff

Rita Hayworth was pregnant during production. As a result, the musical numbers were filmed first, before the pregnancy began to show. As filming progressed, great care was taken to hide her growing belly with muffs, furniture and purses.


4:00 AM -- THE LION HAS WINGS (1939)
Britishers of every class band together to repel the German Blitz.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Merle Oberon, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez
BW-76 mins, CC,

Because it was started and completed so soon after the declaration of war, and was seen to show how useful movies could be in wartime, this movie is considered to have done a lot towards allowing the British film industry to remain active throughout World War II. Conversely, during World War I, all cinemas were closed, and filming effectively stopped for the duration.


5:30 AM -- FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE! (1942)
This short film shows how cooperation among all the nations of the Americas assists the war effort.
Dir: Allan R Kenward
Cast: Stephen McNally, Van Johnson, Egon Brecher
BW-21 mins,

Episode #37 in the Crime Does Not Pay series.

[Auggie]

1. Hope and Glory is a wonderful film

I knew a guy who grew up in London during the blitz. He said that movie could have been about him. The events as shown are as real as they get.