TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 6, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: A Night In Algiers

[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 about the home of the Casbah! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- BOMBARDIER (1943)
Military officers compete for the same woman while training pilots for war.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley
BW-99 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Vernon L. Walker (photographic), James G. Stewart (sound) and Roy Granville

The "American" bomb sight mentioned throughout the movie was the Norden bomb sight whose secret was almost as closely guarded as the development of the atomic bomb. It used a mechanical computer and linkage to the plane's autopilot to achieve an accuracy of hitting with 75 feet of the target from an altitude of 12000 feet. All members of the bomber's crew were ordered to destroy the sight at all costs if the plane was going to crash. Many ships carried a hand grenade to place under the sight to assure total destruction. It was used as late as 1967 to drop sensors along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Viet Nam.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: THE LITTLE MOLE (1941)
A young mole's innocent view of the world changes dramatically after he meets a shifty skunk.
Dir: Hugh Harman
Cast: Mel Blanc
BW-9 mins, CC,


8:10 AM -- WATER SPORTS (1935)
This short film focuses on various water sports and stunts performed off the coast of San Diego.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Pete Smith, Christian Peterson
BW-8 mins,


8:19 AM -- VISITING ITALY (1951)
This short film takes the viewer on a tour of Italy, showcasing Rome, Assisi, Pisa and Florence.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick
C-7 mins,


8:27 AM -- EMPTY HOLSTERS (1937)
An outlaw frames a cowboy to steal his girl.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Dick Foran, Patricia Walthall, Emmett Vogan
BW-61 mins, CC,

Also starring Smoke the Wonder Horse!


9:30 AM -- LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE: FIRE JET TORTURE (1946)
Episode eight of thirteen.
Dir: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Cast: Russell Hayden, Jane Adams, Lionel Atwill
BW-18 mins, CC,


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: BIG CHIEF UGH-AMUGH-UGH (1933)
Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh is looking for a squaw, and Olive Oyl accidentally ends up in the Indian camp.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
BW-7 mins,

This is the last time Gus Wickie performed the voice of the villain in a Popeye cartoon.


10:07 AM -- LIVE WIRES (1946)
In their first film, the Bowery Boys tackle gangsters.
Dir: Phil Karlson
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mike Mazurki
BW-65 mins, CC,

The first of 48 Bowery Boys movies. In 1945, when East Side Kids producer Sam Katzman refused to grant Leo Gorcey's request to double his weekly salary, Gorcey quit the series, formed his own production company (owning 40% of it) with his agent Jan Grippo called Jan Grippo Productions, revamped the format including getting rid of the teenaged stories and rechristened the series The Bowery Boys (i.e., "Leo Gorcey and The Bowery Boys&quot .


11:30 AM -- COFFINS ON WHEELS (1941)
In this short film, unscrupulous car dealers foist faulty and dangerous cars on an unsuspecting public.
Dir: Joseph Newman
Cast: Darryl Hickman, John Butler, Roy Gordon
BW-17 mins,


12:00 PM -- TREASURE ISLAND (1934)
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a young boy out to foil pirates and find a buried treasure.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore
BW-103 mins, CC,

Jackie Cooper did not like his performance, writing in his autobiography that he felt an older English boy should have played Jim Hawkins.


2:00 PM -- THE YEARLING (1946)
A Florida boy's pet deer threatens the family farm.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr.
C-128 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur E. Arling, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse and Edwin B. Willis

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman, Best Director -- Clarence Brown, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Picture

MGM had actually begun filming "The Yearling" in 1941 with Spencer Tracy, Anne Revere, and Atlanta native Gene Eckman (who never appeared in another film) in the starring roles, Roddy McDowall as Fodderwing, and Victor Fleming directing, but the production ran into numerous problems, including Eckman growing too quickly during filming, his thick local accent (which conflicted with Tracy's vocal quality), swarms of mosquitoes, and conflicts between Fleming and producer Sidney Franklin. After King Vidor agreed to take over directing but then dropped out, the project was canceled - at a loss of $500,000 - when the United States entered World War II, in December of 1941.


4:15 PM -- THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
C-102 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Over the Rainbow", and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Harold Rosson, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound), and Best Picture

When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Prof. Marvel / The Wizard), it decided it wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed." They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility." One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum.


6:15 PM -- THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN (1984)
Kermit and his friends try to get their musical produced on Broadway.
Dir: Frank Oz
Cast: Bruce Edward Hall, James J Kroupa, David Rudman
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score -- Jeff Moss

In an interview, Juliana Donald (Jenny) recalled how filming of the jogging scene in the park was temporarily delayed by a camera problem. In wide eyed amazement, a little boy passing by approached and started talking to Kermit the Frog, oblivious to Jim Henson operating him. Despite the surrounding commotion of technicians trying to fix the camera issue, Jim started interacting with the boy. Moments later, Jim found himself doing an impromptu performance with Kermit for an entire group of children who had gathered around to watch. Juliana said, "It was so memorable to me because time just stopped. It was a wonderfully magical moment where you experience someone's true joy with their work."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: A NIGHT IN ALGIERS



8:00 PM -- THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966)
Algiers revolts against the French Foreign Legion.
Dir: Gillo Pontecorvo
Cast: Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Brahim Haggiag
BW-122 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Gillo Pontecorvo, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo, and Best Foreign Language Film -- Italy

Film critics and historians have identified this film as one of the first to depict North Africans as complex and fully-developed characters. Historians have argued that previous films had largely included North Africans as little more than part of the backdrop or scenery; this film, in contrast, dealt with them as people.


10:15 PM -- ALGIERS (1938)
A thief on the run from the law risks his life for love.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Sigrid Gurie, Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr
BW-95 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Boyer, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Lockhart, Best Cinematography -- James Wong Howe, and Best Art Direction -- Alexander Toluboff

Animator Chuck Jones based the Warner Brothers cartoon character "Pepe le Pew" on the "Pepe le Moko" character played by Charles Boyer in this film.


12:00 AM -- THE TATTOOED STRANGER (1950)
Detectives investigate the Central Park murder of a young woman with a Marine Corps tattoo.
Dir: Edward J. Montagne
Cast: John Miles, Patricia White, Walter Kinsella
BW-64 mins, CC,

Replacing the lead shot in the shotgun shell with sand would actually help the investigation. A shotgun barrel is not rifled with land and grooves, like a rifle or pistol, but is smooth so therefore the barrel would not leave identifying marks on the lead pellets.


1:30 AM -- THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979)
A television newswoman stumbles onto deadly secrets at a nuclear power plant.
Dir: James Bridges
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Trudy Lane
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Fonda, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Mike Gray, T.S. Cook and James Bridges, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- George Jenkins and Arthur Jeph Parker

When the film was first released on 16 March 1979, nuclear power executives soon lambasted the picture as being "sheer fiction" and a "character assassination of an entire industry". Then twelve days after its launch, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was commented how the events had left nuclear executives with egg on their faces.


3:45 AM -- ABSENCE OF MALICE (1981)
An ambitious reporter unwittingly slanders a businessman under federal investigation.
Dir: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban
C-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Melinda Dillon, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Kurt Luedtke

Paul Newman and director Sydney Pollack were both gourmet chefs and had a running culinary competition throughout filming with Sally Field as the judge. Though a good sport at first, Sally grew tired of eating gourmet night after night, and began begging off her judging duties in favor of hamburgers and omelettes at local diners.