TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 28, 2019 -- The Essentials: Doctors in Love

[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 features films about physicians struck by Cupid's arrow. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- ZOU ZOU (1934)
A singing star tries to clear a childhood friend of murder charges.
Dir: Marc Allegret
Cast: Josephine Baker, Jean Gabin, Pierre Larquey
BW-88 mins,

Josephine Baker adopted 12 children, partly because she couldn't have any of her own and partly because she believed in equality for all, no matter what nationality, religion or race they were of. They were called "the Rainbow Children" and their names were: Aiko (Korea), Luis (Colombia), Janot (Japan), Jari (Finland), Jean-Claude (Canada), Moses (French), Marianne (France), Noel (France), Brahim (Arab), Mara (Venezuela), Koffi (the Ivory-Coast), Stellina (Morocco).


7:35 AM -- METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER'S THE SONGWRITERS' REVUE (1930)
This short showcases composers and lyricists of songs that are now considered standards of American popular music.
Dir: Sammy Lee
BW-20 mins,


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: TOYLAND BROADCAST (1934)
Station ABC broadcasts the Toyland Revue, featuring music from baby-doll singers, a roly-poly bandleader, a jack-in-the-box crooner, a wind-up music box and more.
Dir: Rudolf Ising
Cast: Brox Sisters, Jack Carr, The Four Blackbirds
BW-6 mins, CC,

The jack-in-the-box is a caricature of Bing Crosby. The doll filled with air is Kate Smith. The roly-poly toy is Paul Whiteman. The floppy-eared stuffed toy dog is Rudy Vallee. The toy violinist is David Rubinoff.


8:07 AM -- TRAINED HOOFS (1935)
This short film focuses on how race horses are trained.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Charles Cooper,
BW-9 mins,


8:17 AM -- SERENE SIAM (1937)
This short film focuses on the people, culture, and history of Siam.
C-9 mins,


8:27 AM -- TROUBLE IN SUNDOWN (1939)
A man's friend searches for the real crooks when he's accused of robbery and murder.
Dir: David Howard
Cast: George O'Brien, Rosalind Keith, Ray Whitley
BW-60 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Charles F. Royal.


9:30 AM -- JUNGLE QUEEN: JUNGLE SACRIFICE (1945)
A young girl journeys to Africa to find her father, an explorer who vanished in the jungle.
Dir: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Cast: Edward Norris, Eddie Quillan, Douglass Dumbrille
BW-19 mins, CC,

Episode of two of thirteen.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: DATE TO SKATE (1938)
Popeye takes Olive roller skating in a rink; she's never skated before, so he has to teach her, and she's not exactly a quick learner.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Willard Bowsky (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel
BW-7 mins, CC,

There is a redrawn colorized version from 1987 originally commissioned by Ted Turner.


10:08 AM -- CRASHING LAS VEGAS (1956)
When an electric shock turns one of them into a psychic, the Bowery Boys invade Las Vegas.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Mary Castle
BW-62 mins, CC,

Leo Gorcey was fired on the set during the making of this film. He was drunk. Many film fans say that this is obvious. Hall met with Gorcey after filming was completed trying to convince him to return sober: or "you'll end the franchise!" Due to his father's death (remember, Bernard Gorcey played Louie in this films), Leo was an emotional mess. Hall's later interviews and Gorcey's sons book cover this incident in more detail. The ending of the film uses Hall alone. It doesn't make much sense; their star was gone, the script had to be changed, the budget was low as usual, and they were running out of time. Fans regard this as the last of the true Bowery Boys movies.


11:11 AM -- ROMANTIC NEVADA (1943)
This short film takes the viewer to Nevada, with looks at the natural wonders of the state and the city of Reno.
C-9 mins,


11:30 AM -- WOMEN IN HIDING (1940)
This short film takes a look at illegal hospitals offering cheap service to expecting mothers in troubled circumstances.
Dir: Joseph Newman
Cast: William Forrest, Wade Boteler, Barbara Bedford
BW-22 mins,


12:00 PM -- THE OUTLAW (1943)
Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday fight over possession of a stallion and a sultry Mexican girl.
Dir: Howard Hughes
Cast: Jack Beutel, Thomas Mitchell, Jane Russell
BW-116 mins, CC,

In his book "Hollywood", Garson Kanin wrote that one day in New York, he and George S. Kaufman were walking down Broadway and counted five billboards with an alluring picture of Jane Russell advertising this film, prompting Kaufman to remark: "They ought to call it 'A Sale of Two Titties'".


2:02 PM -- RODEO DOUGH (1940)
After a trip to Hollywood, two young ladies attempt to hitchhike home but end up at a star filled rodeo in this short film.
Dir: Sammy Lee
Cast: Lester Dorr, Mary Treen, Sally Payne
BW-10 mins,

The film Mary is referencing with Claudette Colbert is, "It Happened One Night" (1934).


2:15 PM -- SPARTACUS (1960)
An heroic slave leads a revolt against the corrupt Roman Empire.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
C-197 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Ustinov, Best Cinematography, Color -- Russell Metty, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom, Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron, and Best Costume Design, Color -- Valles and Bill Thomas

Nominee for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Robert Lawrence, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alex North

The original version included a scene where Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) attempts to seduce Antoninus (Tony Curtis). The Production Code Administration and the Legion of Decency both objected. At one point Geoffrey Shurlock, representing the censors, suggested it would help if the reference in the scene to a preference for oysters or snails was changed to truffles and artichokes. In the end the scene was cut, but it was put back in for the 1991 restoration. However, the soundtrack had been lost in the meantime and the dialogue had to be dubbed. Curtis was able to redo his lines, but Olivier had died. Dame Joan Plowright, his widow, remembered that Sir Anthony Hopkins had done a dead-on impression of Olivier and she mentioned this to the restoration team. They approached Hopkins and he agreed to voice Olivier's lines in that scene. Hopkins is thanked in the credits for the restored version.


5:45 PM -- 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

The lead male role of Michael Gallagher was originally conceived as an Italian man as per the initial intention of the filmmakers approaching star Al Pacino. The 11th March 1981 edition of show-business trade paper 'Variety' reported that originally the character had a father who was part of the Mafia. When 'Paul Newman' was cast, the ethnicity of the character had to be changed, with the character's name also changed, to the name of Michael Gallagher, and it was also decided to dispense with the character's mafia connection altogether.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: DOCTORS IN LOVE



8:00 PM -- A WARM DECEMBER (1972)
A doctor visiting London falls for a mysterious woman.
Dir: Sidney Poitier
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Yvette Curtis, Esther Anderson
C-101 mins, CC,

T.P. McKenna was cast in the role of Dr. Henry Barlow by Director and star Sidney Poitier. However, after the scenes were filmed, Poitier decided to re-cast George Baker, and the relevant scenes were re-shot.


10:00 PM -- MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954)
A playboy becomes a doctor to right the wrong he's done to a sightless widow.
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman

Jeff Chandler turned down the role of Bob Merrick (eventually played by Rock Hudson) because he thought the story was too "soppy".


12:00 AM -- THE HARDER THEY FALL (1956)
A cynical press agent exposes inhuman conditions in the boxing game.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Burnett Guffey

Humphrey Bogart's last film.


2:15 AM -- IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953)
No one believes an amateur astronomer's spaceship sighting until the town's people begin disappearing.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Cast: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake
BW-80 mins, CC,

Steven Spielberg has credited this film, and its plot focused on benign alien visitors seemingly uninterested in helping or harming human beings, as the main inspiration for his film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).


3:45 AM -- RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954)
Early astronauts try to solve the mysteries of space travel by capturing a meteor.
Dir: Richard Carlson
Cast: William Lundigan, Herbert Marshall, Richard Carlson
C-80 mins, CC,

This is the second of three films in producer Ivan Tors' "OSI" series. The scientists are taken to the "Snake Mountain Proving Grounds, operated by the Office of Scientific Investigation," according to Dr. Dryden. Dr. Stanton's desk nameplate indicates he is "Chief of Investigations."


5:15 AM -- MGM IS ON THE MOVE! (1964)
This promotional short showcases MGM's upcoming movies of 1964.
C-36 mins, Letterbox Format