TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 22, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Starring Al Pacino

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, The Essentials is back! (or should that be The Essentials are back?), with trailblazing producer, director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay, who will join primetime host Ben Mankiewicz to discuss the films she has chosen. Tonight's theme is films starring Al Pacino. From the TCM database:

Arguably the most accomplished actor of his generation, Al Pacino became a cultural icon thanks to revered performances in a wide range of classic films, including "The Godfather" (1972), "Scarface" (1983) and "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992). Coming to prominence during the New Hollywood golden age of the early 1970s, he possessed none of the classic features of leading men from Tinseltown's previous heydays, but enthralled audiences with absorbing performances on screens both large and small. As a Method actor, Pacino revealed the dark complexities of characters like Frank Serpico, Sonny Wortzik and Colonel Frank Slade. But in life, the actor remained an elusive figure, preferring to avoid disclosing anything of a personal nature. Despite such reluctance to open up about his life, Pacino maintained a long, prominent career in which he accomplished acting's rarest of feats - winning Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards. Although critics of his later films sometimes complained that Pacino coasted on accumulated goodwill from his powerful early work, performances ranging from his Shylock in Michael Radford's "The Merchant of Venice" (2004) to controversial assisted-suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian in Barry Levinson's "You Don't Know Jack" (HBO 2010) and troubled record producer Phil Spector in David Mamet's "Phil Spector" (HBO 2013) revealed an actor able to slip in and out of wildly different characters.

Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- REMEMBER? (1939)
A bickering couple takes an amnesia potion so they can re-discover each other.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, Lew Ayres
BW-83 mins, CC,

MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer quickly rushed this movie into production to cash in on the popularity of the newly discovered Greer Garson, who had just triumphed in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). But despite it's title, the movie was was a box office dud, and was all but forgotten until finding a new life on television, where it has remained a favorite for 60 years.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: THE HOMELESS FLEA (1940)
A hobo flea finds an unoccupied dog and settles in.
Dir: Rudolf Ising
BW-8 mins, CC,


8:09 AM -- CHILI AND CHILLS (1932)
This short film shows a couple drive through several bizarre scenarios on their travels through Mexico.
Dir: Harold Austin
Cast: Paul Girard Smith
BW-9 mins,

The Russian village is Guadalupe, in Baja California.


8:18 AM -- GLIMPSES OF MEXICO (1943)
This short film takes the viewer to the country of Mexico.
C-9 mins,


8:28 AM -- HOT LEAD (1951)
A pair of cowboys take on train robbers.
Dir: Stuart Gilmore
Cast: Tim Holt, Joan Dixon, Ross Elliott
BW-60 mins,


9:30 AM -- LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE: DEATH'S SHINING FACE (1946)
Episode six of thirteen.
Dir: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Cast: Russell Hayden, Jane Adams, Lionel Atwill
BW-20 mins, CC,


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: LEARN POLIKENESS (1938)
Olive takes Popeye to Prof. Bluteau to learn some manners.
Dir: Dave Fleischer
Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
BW-7 mins,

This is the last time Gus Wickie performs the voice of Bluto.


10:08 AM -- THE FALCON IN SAN FRANCISCO (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl's help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy
BW-66 mins, CC,

The ship used by the bad guys at the end of the film is the same one seen as a huge prop on a soundstage in "The Falcon in Hollywood".


11:30 AM -- OKLAHOMA OUTLAWS (1943)
In this short western, a gang of outlaws threatens a family. Vitaphone Release 1145A.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Erville Alderson, Edmund Cobb, Robert Shayne
BW-20 mins,

First episode in WB's series of Santa Fe Trail 2-reel Westerns.


12:00 PM -- THE LAST GANGSTER (1937)
When a notorious gangster gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him.
Dir: Edward Ludwig
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner
BW-81 mins, CC,

Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney were both Warner Brothers actors known for gangster or tough guy roles, around the same time, and in this movie, Robinson couldn't escape Cagney's fame as his infant son is deemed by the newspaper, "Public Enemy No. 2" which is taken from Cagney's game-changing role in The Public Enemy, which was directed by this movie's co-writer, William Wellman.


1:30 PM -- THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (1945)
An angel is sent to destroy the earth with a trumpet blast.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, Dolores Moran
BW-78 mins, CC,

For the rest of his career Jack Benny used the failure of this movie as one of his best jokes.


3:00 PM -- THE YOUNG LIONS (1958)
A Jewish soldier faces anti-Semitism when he enlists to fight World War II.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin
BW-167 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph MacDonald, Best Sound -- Carlton W. Faulkner (20th Century-Fox SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer

According to TCM, this was Dean Martin's 2nd film after his break with long-time partner Jerry Lewis, perhaps more significantly, it was his first dramatic film role. Martin connected with co-star Montgomery Clift, they became friends, and Clift, one of the most respected actors of his generation helped Martin with his role. They ran lines together, and then during the party sequence when he sensed Martin was nervous, Clift hid under the piano and began tickling Martin's leg, until he had a laughing fit, it was all done to loosen Martin up. Martin nicknamed Clift, Spider, because of the extravagant gestures Clift would make when he talked.


6:00 PM -- BRAINSTORM (1983)
A scientist battles the military for control of a machine that records sensory experiences-including death.
Dir: Douglas Trumbull
Cast: Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

When Natalie Wood died near the end of principal photography, studio executives tried to kill the film and claim the insurance, saying that director Douglas Trumbull could not complete the film. However, Trumbull's contract gave that decision to him, and he insisted on completing it, using a stand-in and changing camera angles for the few remaining shots of Wood's character. The resulting hostility between Trumbull and the studio executives meant that this would be Trumbull's last Hollywood film. He has since devoted his efforts to effects work for IMAX films, theme park rides and the like.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: STARRING AL PACINO



8:00 PM -- DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane
C-125 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Frank Pierson (Frank Pierson was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenter Gore Vidal accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Al Pacino, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Chris Sarandon, Best Director -- Sidney Lumet, Best Film Editing -- Dede Allen, and Best Picture

Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather: Part II (1974) and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was being considered.


10:15 PM -- SCARECROW (1973)
Two hitchhikers with wildly different backgrounds become fast friends.
Dir: Jerry Schatzberg
Cast: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Dorothy Tristan
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Before shooting, Gene Hackman and Al Pacino both dressed as hobos and hitchhiked through California to get into their characters.


12:15 AM -- SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
A child is left mute by the sight of her stepmother's murder.
Dir: Patrick Jackson
Cast: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau
BW-84 mins, CC,

The first woman seen is a maid, Olga, who is played by none other than "The Beaver's" mother, Barbara Billingsly!


2:00 AM -- THE BAD SEED (1956)
A woman suspects that her perfect little girl is a ruthless killer.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Gage Clarke, Jesse White, Joan Croyden
C-129 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Nancy Kelly, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eileen Heckart, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Patty McCormack, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson

In the film, Rhoda feels cheated at not having received the penmanship award; if she really has the best handwriting, as she claims, then her disappointment is justified, and the audience's sympathy is thrown to her side to a certain extent. In the novel, however, the award is for the most improved penmanship. Rhoda's handwriting had been excellent throughout the school year, leaving little room for improvement, unlike Claude Daigle's. This gives even greater emphasis to Rhoda's irrational thinking: she is furious at the loss of an award that she should not have won in the first place.


4:15 AM -- THE NANNY (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt
Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The role of the Nanny was originally intended for Greer Garson who first accepted then declined, saying the script would not be good for her career. Jimmy Sangster who wrote and produced the film later said, "I went to Santa Fe and met with Greer, and she said she liked the script, and everything was fine. When I got back to London, we had a message from L.A. saying that Greer Garson didn't think the script would do her career much good. I didn't like to say she didn't have a career in those days."

[IcyPeas]

1. The Nanny scared me to death when I first watched it

Really creepy.