TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 3, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Pre-Code Classics

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, grab your Geiger counter! We're returning to the atomic age. Then in prime time, TCM takes a look at films from the pre-code period. Explain it to us, Roger!

Pre-Code Classics - 12/3
By Roger Fristoe

TCM presents a quartet of films from that uninhibited Depression-era period known as “pre-Code,” before the Motion Picture Production Code set up restrictions that tamed Hollywood and made its product more “respectable.” Serving as host for the films is pre-Code expert Bruce Goldstein, founder and co-president of Rialto Pictures and Director of Repertory Programming at New York’s Film Forum cinema. Goldstein, a valued friend of TCM, has produced events for all of our Festivals and cruises. He was named one of the essential people/places by Time Out New York, which cited him for “keeping showmanship alive.”

Below are the films included in our night of pre-Code programming:

Blessed Event (1932) is a comedy-drama starring Lee Tracy as a Walter Winchell-like New York gossip columnist who feuds with a singer (Dick Powell, in his film debut). Pre-Code touches include Tracy questioning Powell’s sexuality and calling him a “pansy,” and Tracy suggesting that a gangster’s pregnant girlfriend “go out into the country” to take care of her baby.

Two Seconds (1932) is a crime film starring Edward G. Robinson as a condemned murderer facing the electric chair. The title refers to the time it takes to die from electrocution once the switch is thrown. Pre-Code elements include a frank portrayal of prostitution and suggestions of homoeroticism.

Baby Face (1933) features a compelling performance by Barbara Stanwyck as a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks who literally sleeps her way to the top, moving from floor to floor seducing men in the bank building where she works. Her sexual conquests are very frankly portrayed in this key pre-Code drama.

Employees Entrance (1933) stars Warren William as the ruthless manager of a New York Department store and Loretta Young as the innocent young employee he takes advantage of. Even after Young’s character marries another man (Wallace Ford), the manager continues to exploit her. The screenplay makes it quite clear that in the early going he coerces her into sex, then later forces himself upon her while she is sleeping.

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- On Dangerous Ground (1952)
1h 22m | Drama | TV-PG
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond

A hand-held camera was used in many scenes to give a "live action" feel to those sequences. This was extremely rare in feature films of the time.


7:30 AM -- Above and Beyond (1952)
2h 2m | Action | TV-PG
The pilot who helped drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima struggles with the demands of the demands of the dangerous mission.
Director: Melvin Frank
Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, James Whitmore

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Beirne Lay Jr., and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer

The B-29 was the only WWII bomber that was capable of flying at 30,000 feet. It was also the first plane with a fully pressurized and heated passenger compartment (like a modern day jet) which allowed the crew to function without oxygen masks and heavy flight suits. The pressurization caused many early problems such as the windows popping out as shown in the movie.


9:45 AM -- D.O.A. (1950)
1h 23m | Crime | TV-14
The victim of a slow-acting poison tracks down his own killer.
Director: No Director Available
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler

The scene in which Bigelow runs in panic through the streets after learning he has been poisoned was what is considered a ' stolen shot ' where the pedestrians along the sidewalk had no idea a movie was being made and no warning that Edmond O'Brien would be plowing through them.


11:15 AM -- Duck and Cover (1951)
9m | Documentary | TV-PG
In this short film, a monkey's prank on a turtle demonstrates how to survive a nuclear attack.
Director: Anthony Rizzo
Cast: Leo M. Langlois III, Ray J. Mauer, Robert Middleton


11:30 AM -- World Without End (1955)
1h 20m | Sci-Fi | TV-PG
Astronauts returning from a voyage are caught in a time warp and are propelled into a post-Apocalyptic Earth populated by mutants.
Director: Edward Bernds
Cast: Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Nelson Leigh

Although the films had nothing in common except time travel, the H.G. Wells estate sued the producers for plagiarism, citing similarities to Wells' novel "The Time Machine". Ironically, the producers of the film made from that story, The Time Machine (1960), used Rod Taylor, who starred in this film.


1:00 PM -- Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
1h 5m | Horror | TV-PG
A space visitor's touch turns an unhappy heiress into a vengeful giant.
Director: Nathan Hertz
Cast: Allison Hayes, William Hudson, Yvette Vickers

This film was made right after the success of "Sputnik", the Russian space satellite. The alien spacecraft is called a "satellite" because the writer thought that meant any spherical-shaped spacecraft.


2:15 PM -- Gojira (1954)
1h 19m | Drama | TV-PG
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur.
Director: Ishiro Honda
Cast: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata

There was a common misconception that the name "Godzilla" was Americanized by its US distributors from Gojira. The name Godzilla was actually the idea of Tôhô and its international sales division. In the original story treatment, the monster's name was written in katakana as Godzira. When Tôhô decided on the name "Gojira" they would officially transliterate it into English as "Godzilla" ("Go-ji-ra" to "God-zi-lla&quot . Tôhô used the title "Godzilla" in their 1955 English language sales catalogue, a full year before finding an American distributor. The film even played briefly in Japanese-American owned theaters in Los Angeles and New York that year under the title of "Godzilla", before being picked up by Transworld and released in an Americanized version featuring Raymond Burr that following year as Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956). Tôhô has since been the sole owners of the name Godzilla.


4:00 PM -- The House in the Middle (1954)
12m | Documentary | TV-PG
Military tests demonstrate the dangers of poor home maintenance in the event of a nuclear attack in this short film.


4:15 PM -- Them! (1954)
1h 34m | Horror | TV-PG
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot" that he chose him for the part.


6:00 PM -- It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
1h 20m | Sci-Fii | TV-PG
A giant octopus attacks San Francisco.
Director: Robert Gordon
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis

Because the budget was so low, Ray Harryhausen saved money by building his octopus model with six rather than the correct eight tentacles. He tried to pose the creature so this lack of the right number of arms wasn't apparent.


7:30 PM -- Alert Today - Alive Tomorrow (1956)
15m | Documentary | TV-G
This promotes the need for cooperation and neighborliness in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Director: Larry O'Reilly
Cast: Marguerite Osmond, Andre Baruch, Val Peterson

The "Pogada Motorcycle Club" featured in this short was founded in 1945 and is still in existence in Birdsboro, PA.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT -- PRE-CODE CLASSICS



8:00 PM -- Baby Face (1933)
1h 16m | Drama | TV-PG
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire.
Director: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook

In spring of 1933 this film was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.


9:30 PM -- Employee's Entrance (1933)
1h 15m | Drama | TV-G
An unscrupulous department store manager stops at nothing to get what he wants.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Warren William, Loretta Young, Wallace Ford

Last film for silent picture star Albert Gran, who died in an auto accident after the film was finished, but before it was released. Ironically, in the final sequence of the film, we see him and Warren William racing through the streets of Manhattan in a taxicab to a Board of Directors meeting, but, in this case, they arrive safely, and without incident.


11:00 PM -- Blessed Event (1932)
1h 23m | Comedy | TV-PG
An unscrupulous gossip columnist lands himself in hot water.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Lee Tracy, Mary Brian, Allen Jenkins

Film debut of Dick Powell and Isabell Jewell.


12:45 AM -- Two Seconds (1932)
1h 8m | Drama | TV-PG
In the last moments of his life, a criminal reviews the circumstances that led him to death.
Director: Mervyn Leroy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Vivienne Osborne, Guy Kibbee

In the film, Bud refers to a "Peggy Joyce" twice when talking to John about setting him up with dates. He is referring to Peggy Hopkins Joyce, a well-known actress, model, and dancer at the time, who had already married and divorced four (eventually six) wealthy men and led a lavish and scandalous lifestyle. At one point in 1928 she was so wealthy that she purchased the 127 ct. Portuguese Diamond for $373,000 ($5.3M in 2017). The diamond is in the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection.


2:15 AM -- No Way Out (1950)
1h 46m | Drama | TV-14
A racist gangster forces a black doctor to tend to his injuries.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels

Richard Widmark was apparently very uncomfortable with some of the racist comments his character, Ray Biddle, made, especially given his friendship with Sidney Poitier. As a result, after some of the takes involving particularly venomous remarks, Widmark actually apologized to Poitier for the remarks his character had made.


4:15 AM -- The Gunfighter (1950)
1h 24m | Western | TV-PG
The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.
Director: Henry King
Cast: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- William Bowers and André De Toth

The studio hated Gregory Peck's authentic period mustache. In fact, the head of production at Fox, Spyros P. Skouras, was out of town when production began. By the time he got back, so much of the film had been shot that it was too late to order Peck to shave it off and re-shoot. After the film did not do well at the box office, Skouras ran into Peck and he reportedly said, "That mustache cost us millions".