TCM Schedule for Saturday, December 26, 2020 -- TCM Spotlight: Memorable Goodbyes

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM returns to the Essentials. Tonight, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird are showing a pair of films that feature gut-wrenching goodbyes. Grab a hanky or two! Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
1h 48m | Comedy | TV-PG
An aging couple's liberal principles are tested when their daughter announces her engagement to a black doctor.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn (Katharine Hepburn was not present at the awards ceremony. George Cukor accepted the award on her behalf.), and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- William Rose

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy (Posthumously), Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Cecil Kellaway, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Beah Richards, Best Director -- Stanley Kramer, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Robert Clatworthy and Frank Tuttle, Best Film Editing -- Robert C. Jones, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Frank De Vol, and Best Picture

The three-inch bronze sculpture of Spencer Tracy featured in the film was created by Katharine Hepburn and was one of the items that were included in her estate auction in 2004. The bust was the most sought-after item, and fetched the most money - it sold for $316,000, whereas pre-auction estimates were in the neighborhood of $3000 to $5000.


9:00 AM -- Wild West Days: Rustlers and Redskins (1937)
30m | Action | TV-G
Retired lawman Kentucky Wade and his three buddies come to Brimstone and help their friends.
Director: Ford Beebe, Clifford Smith
Cast: John Mack Brown, George Shelley, Lynn Gilbert

Episode twelve of thirteen.


9:30 AM -- Wild West Days: The Rustlers' Roundup (1937)
30m | Action | TV-G
Retired lawman Kentucky Wade and his three buddies come to Brimstone and help their friends.
Director: Ford Beebe, Clifford Smith
Cast: John Mack Brown, George Shelley, Lynn Gilbert

Episode thirteen of thirteen.


10:00 AM -- Her Honor the Mare (1943)
7m | Comedy | TV-PG
Popeye's nephews find a horse who is a fugitive from a glue factory and try to convince Uncle Popeye what a wonderful house pet it would make.
Director: Izzy Sparber (as I. Sparber), James Tyer (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer

The first Popeye cartoon in the regular (one-reel) series to be made in Technicolor. All the following Popeye cartoons were from then made in color.


10:09 AM -- Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943)
1h 3m | Comedy | TV-G
A husband mistakenly believes his hot Latin wife is pregnant.
Director: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Lupe Velez, Leon Errol, Walter Reed

The last of the eight films in this series.


11:30 AM -- Wild West Days: The Circle of Doom (1937)
20m | Western | TV-G
Retired lawman Kentucky Wade and his three buddies come to Brimstone and help their friends.
Director: Ford Beebe, Clifford Smith
Cast: John Mack Brown, George Shelley, Lynn Gilbert

Episode ten of thirteen.


12:00 PM -- She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
1h 43m | Drama | TV-PG
An aging Cavalry officer tries to prevent an Indian war in the last days before his retirement.
Director: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar

Winner
Oscar Best Cinematography, Color
Winton C. Hoch

John Ford initially was uncertain who to cast in the lead role. However, he knew that he did not want John Wayne for the part, taking into account that, among other factors, Wayne would be playing a character over 20 years older than he was at the time. Reportedly, Wayne's performance in Red River (1948) changed Ford's mind, causing him to exclaim, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!" Ford realized Wayne had grown considerably as an actor, and was now capable of playing the character he envisaged for this film. When shooting was completed, Ford presented Wayne with a cake with the message, "You're an actor now."

Although several reviewers praised John Wayne's portrayal, the general critical consensus was not in favor of his trying something new and expanding his range. Wayne recalled rather bitterly that he never got the credit he deserved for the picture, so he just went back to "re-acting" for the rest of his career.


2:00 PM -- Knights of the Round Table (1953)
1h 55m | Drama | TV-G
Queen Guinevere is torn between love for her husband and Sir Lancelot.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Alfred Junge, Hans Peters and John Jarvis, and Best Sound, Recording -- A.W. Watkins (M-G-M Sound Department)

The UK's first CinemaScope production, and also its first widescreen feature.


4:00 PM -- Ben-Hur (1959)
3h 32m | Drama | TV-PG
While seeking revenge, a rebellious Israelite prince crosses paths with Jesus Christ.
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charlton Heston, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Hugh Griffith (Hugh Griffith was not present at the awards ceremony. Director William Wyler accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Surtees, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Edward C. Carfagno and Hugh Hunt (In case of Horning the Oscar win was posthumously.), Best Costume Design, Color -- Elizabeth Haffenden, Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer SSD), Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (visual), R.A. MacDonald (visual) and Milo B. Lory (audible), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Karl Tunberg

William Wyler was a renowned stickler for detail. Charlton Heston recalled one particular scene where Judah Ben-Hur simply walks across a room upon his return from slavery. Such a simple scene required eight takes before the actor finally asked Wyler what was missing. The director informed him that he liked the first take where Heston had kicked a piece of pottery to give the scene its only sound. Heston, on the other hand, had assumed that Wyler didn't like the kicking and had therefore deliberately avoided doing it again.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- MEMORABLE GOODBYES



8:00 PM -- Casablanca (1942)
1h 42m | Romance | TV-PG
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- Michael Curtiz, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Humphrey Bogart, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Claude Rains, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur Edeson, Best Film Editing -- Owen Marks, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

No one knew right up until the filming of the last scene whether Ilsa would end up with Rick or Laszlo. During the course of the picture, when Ingrid Bergman asked director Michael Curtiz with which man her character was in love, she was told to "play it in between". Since the ending was not the final scene shot, there are some scenes where she *was* aware of how everything would turn out, and these include the scene in the black market with Rick and the scene in the Blue Parrot where Ferrari offers the Laszlos one exit visa.


10:00 PM -- The Way We Were (1973)
1h 58m | Romance | TV-14
A fiery liberal fights to make her marriage to a successful writer work.
Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, George Gaynes

Winner of Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Marvin Hamlisch (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "The Way We Were", and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Marvin Hamlisch

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbra Streisand, Best Cinematography -- Harry Stradling Jr., Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Stephen B. Grimes and William Kiernan, and Best Costume Design -- Dorothy Jeakins and Moss Mabry

Screenwriter Arthur Laurents based the story upon his life-long romance with gay partner Farley Granger. According to Laurents, the atmosphere on the film set was tense. He was often frustrated over Sydney Pollack's decisions as a director. Laurents fought to keep certain lines and scenes in the film that Sydney Pollack wanted to cut or change. Barbra Streisand was an ally to Laurents most of the time when conflicts arose, often supporting his suggestions.


12:15 AM -- Detour (1945)
1h 8m | Drama | TV-PG
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man's identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake

Was the first "B" movie chosen by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry, in 1992. Also the first Hollywood "Noir" honored.


1:45 AM -- The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
1h 57m | Drama | TV-14
Passengers and crew struggle to escape an ocean liner turned upside down.
Director: Ronald Neame
Cast: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the song "The Morning After"

Winner of a Special Oscar Achievement Award for L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers for visual effects

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Shelley Winters, Best Cinematography -- Harold E. Stine, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- William J. Creber and Raphael Bretton, Best Costume Design -- Paul Zastupnevich, Best Sound -- Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- John Williams

Shot in sequence, taking advantage of the fact that the principals became dirtier and more tattered and suffered injuries - some real and some artificial - as they progressed.


4:00 AM -- Mara Maru (1952)
1h 38m | Adventure | TV-PG
A salvage diver is accused of murder while hunting a mysterious treasure.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Errol Flynn, Ruth Roman, Raymond Burr

Every day during filming, Errol Flynn would drive on the Warner Bros. lot wearing a windbreaker with no shirt, slacks with no underwear and shoes with no socks. The wardrobe people would provide him with a shirt, underwear and socks, and at the end of the day's filming he would wear them home. The next day he would arrive on the lot, again with no shirt, underwear or socks, and again he would be supplied those items by wardrobe. Co-star Paul Picerni noticed it after several days, and asked Flynn what he did with all the shirts, socks and underwear he'd accumulated after several weeks of filming. Flynn replied that he threw them in a closet when he got home. Picerni asked, "But what do you do with them?" Flynn replied, "Nothing. It just gives me pleasure to steal from Jack L. Warner.