TCM Schedule for Saturday, February 6, 2021 -- TCM Spotlight: Mel Brooks & Gene Wilder

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, Ben Mankiewicz and special co-host Brad Bird are showing a pair of films featuring two of the funniest men around, producer/writer/director/actor/composer Mel Brooks and actor/writer/director/producer Gene Wilder. What a slacker, that Gene, never wrote any music! Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Joy of Living (1938)
1h 30m | Comedy | TV-G
A Broadway musical star falls for an eccentric millionaire.
Director: Tay Garnett
Cast: Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks, Alice Brady

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.''s duck voice is done by Clarence Nash. He was the original voice of Donald Duck and did it for 50 years, as well as Daisy Duck, Donald''s nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and many other characters. He also did many of the bird sounds for The Tiki Room at Disneyland.


8:00 AM -- Little Rural Riding Hood (1949)
6m | Animation, Comedy, Family
A Country Wolf is tempted by Little Rural Riding Hood before visiting his City Wolf cousin and falling for Red Hot Riding Hood.
Director: Tex Avery
Cast: Daws Butler, Colleen Collins, Pinto Colvig

The City Wolf is a caricature of actor Ronald Colman, and Country Red is an obvious caricature of radio/film comedienne Judy Canova.


8:08 AM -- Tanbark and Turf (1955)
8m | Short, Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer on a tour through the world of harness racing and show horses.
Cast: Peter Roberts


8:17 AM -- Cairo "City of Contrast" (1938)
8m | Short, Documentary | TV-G
This short film focuses on the landmarks, people and culture of Cairo, Egypt.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:26 AM -- Broadway Musketeers (1938)
1h 2m | Drama | TV-PG
Three childhood friends get mixed up with gangsters.
Director: John Farrow
Cast: Margaret Lindsay, Ann Sheridan, Marie Wilson

In his book, "Those Crazy, Wonderful Years When We Ran Warner Brothers," former studio page boy Stuart Jerome recalls a bizarre incident that happened with this film. During the preview screenings, several members of the audience started laughing during a crucial dramatic scene when Dewey Robinson's gangster character slapped Marie Wilson. Director John Farrow and studio executive Bryan Foy could not figure out why the audience members were laughing. They set up a private screening of the scene and ran it several times before they discovered the problem. At the moment when Robinson slapped Wilson, his fly was visibly open! It was the kind of mistake that only a few people in the audience would notice, but which could easily spoil the dramatic effect of the scene. Following the discovery, the entire scene had to be re-shot. The set for the scene was re-built, Marie Wilson was borrowed from her current Warner Brothers picture, and Robinson was re-hired at one day's pay. Bryan Foy personally stopped by the set on the day of re-shooting to make sure that Robinson's fly was closed. As Jerome recalled, the incident prompted Foy to send out a memo to all directors and script clerks at Warner Brothers that they should make sure that all male actors had their flies fully zipped up before shooting a scene.


9:30 AM -- The New Adventures of Tarzan: Fatal Fangs (1935)
25m | Action, Adventure
Tarzan goes to Guatemala to find his lost friend and help discover hidden treasure.
Director: Edward Kull, Wilbur McGaugh (uncredited)
Cast: Frank Baker, Bruce Bennett, Ula Holt

Episode six of twelve.


10:00 AM -- Moving Aweigh (1944)
5m | Animation, Children, Comedy | TV-PG
Olive needs her furniture moved, and Popeye drafts Shorty to help him.
Director: Dan Gordon (uncredited), Seymour Kneitel (uncredited), Izzy Sparber (uncredited), and James Tyer (uncredited)
Cast: Jack Mercer, Arnold Stang

Third and final appearance of the character Shorty, voiced by Arnold Stang.


10:08 AM -- Dr. Kildare's Crisis (1940)
1h 15m | Drama | TV-G
A young doctor's marriage could be called off when the bride's brother is diagnosed with epilepsy.
Director: Harold S. Bucquet
Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day

Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders characterized by recurring, sometime nearly undetectable, seizures. Epilepsy is treatable and may be may be preventable. Not all cases of epilepsy are lifelong, and many people improve to the point that treatment is no longer needed. The most important thing is to see a doctor and not depend on a stupid 80 year old movie to diagnose or treat any illness.


11:30 AM -- A Regular Trouper (1932)
18m | Musical, Short | TV-G
In this musical short film, a singer must cope with her troupe manager falling in love with her sister.
Director: Roy Mack
Cast: Eddie Lang, Edward Leiter, Ruth Etting

Ruth Etting was much better known as torch singer, with her song You Made Me Love You. Doris Day played her in Love Me Or Leave Me (1955).


12:00 PM -- Dive Bomber (1941)
2h 13m | Drama | TV-G
A crusading scientist fights to prevent bomber pilots from blacking out.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Bert Glennon

Errol Flynn was criticized for playing heroes in World War II movies. Tony Thomas in his book 'Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was' states that Flynn had tried to enlist in every branch of any armed services he could but was rejected as unfit for service on the grounds of his health. Flynn had a heart condition, tuberculosis, malaria and a back problem. Flynn felt he could contribute to America's war effort by appearing in such films as Edge of Darkness (1943); Northern Pursuit (1943); Dive Bomber (1941), Objective, Burma! (1945), and Uncertain Glory (1944). Reportedly, Flynn was at his most professional and co-operative he ever was whilst working on Second World War movies. The studios apparently did not diffuse the criticism of Flynn's state-of-health as they wished to keep it quiet for fear of his box-office draw waning.


2:30 PM -- The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
2h 5m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-14
The legendary sleuth becomes involved with a mysterious French woman while investigating the Loch Ness monster.
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, Irene Handl

Sir Christopher Lee comes the role of Mycroft with considerable experience in the Sherlock Holmes universe. He previously played Sherlock Holmes and Sir Henry Baskerville. It's been said that Lee is the only, or at least one of few actors, to portray on-screen both Mycroft Holmes and Sherlock Holmes.


4:45 PM -- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
1h 36m | Drama | TV-PG
A crooked press agent stoops to new depths to help an egotistical columnist break up his sister's romance.
Director: Alexander MacKendrick
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison

The character of J.J. Hunsecker is based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell. As parallels to real life in this film, Winchell was so obsessive about his daughter's love life that he had her institutionalized as being emotionally unstable, and with the help of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had forced her lover to leave the country.


6:30 PM -- Rope (1948)
1h 20m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-14
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger

This movie was shot in ten takes, ranging from four and a half minutes to just over ten minutes (the maximum amount of film that a camera magazine or projector reel could hold). At the end of the takes, the movie alternates between having the camera zoom into a dark object, totally blacking out the lens/screen, and making a conventional cut. However, the second edit, ostensibly one of the conventional ones, was clearly staged and shot to block the camera, but the all-black frames were left out of the final print. Most of the props, and even some of the apartment set's walls, were on casters, and the crew had to wheel them out of the way and back into position as the camera moved around the set. Since the filming times were so long, everybody on the set tried their best to avoid any mistakes. At one point in the movie, the camera dolly ran over and broke a cameraman's foot, but to keep filming, he was gagged and dragged off. Another time, a woman puts her glass down but misses the table. A stagehand had to rush up and catch it before the glass hit the ground. Both parts are used in the final cut.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- MEL BROOKS & GENE WILDER



8:00 PM -- The Producers (1967)
1h 28m | Comedy | TV-14
A Broadway producer decides to get rich by creating the biggest flop of his career.
Director: Mel Brooks
Cast: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Mel Brooks

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Wilder

Mel Brooks derived the title of the play within the film, "Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva in Berchtesgarten", from a favorite of the summer stock circuit called "Springtime for Henry". He had used the provocative title as a running gag for many years. When anyone asked him what his next project was, he'd say he was planning a musical called "Springtime for Hitler". This news, of course, was usually received with shocked expressions, exactly the reaction Brooks wanted.


10:00 PM -- Blazing Saddles (1974)
1h 33m | Western | TV-MA
A corrupt State Attorney tries to drive townspeople off of valuable land by appointing the first black sheriff.
Director: Mel Brooks
Cast: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Madeline Kahn, Best Film Editing -- John C. Howard and Danford B. Greene, and Best Music, Original Song -- John Morris (music) and Mel Brooks (lyrics) for the song "Blazing Saddles"

In a 2017 interview with Kelli Skye Fadroski, Mel Brooks recalled being asked about Gene Wilder, who had starred in other Brooks films including The Producers (1967) and Young Frankenstein (1974). Since Wilder's death in August of 2016, Brooks has added in a few extra minutes into his appearances for the film's special screening "Mel Brooks: Back in The Saddle Again!" Following a screening, Brooks comes out for a Q&A session to talk about the iconic and controversial feature that almost wasn't. "I still get goosebumps", the 90-year-old said, getting a kick out of watching the audience's reactions as he stands quietly in the wings or in the back of sold-out venues, while his beloved film is viewed.


12:00 AM -- The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
1h 19m | Crime
Married jewel thieves struggle with infidelity, federal agents and the deadly smallpox virus.
Director: Earl McEvoy, James Nicholson
Cast: Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, William Bishop

Columbia paid director/producer Allen H. Miner $40,000 for the rights to this story, which is based on a real smallpox outbreak in New York City in 1947. Millions of New Yorkers were vaccinated against the disease - without causing panic.


1:45 AM -- Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
2h 10m | Crime | TV-MA
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane

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

Sidney Lumet originally auditioned Charles Durning for the bank manager. Immediately after Durning had read for the part, Al Pacino, a friend of Durning's, asked how the audition went. When he realized that Durning hadn't read for Detective Moretti, Pacino walked Durning back into Lumet to read for the role that he eventually played.


4:00 AM -- Atlantic City (1980)
1h 44m | Drama | TV-MA
An aging gangster's love for a gambling house waitress puts him in the middle of a heist gone bad.
Director: Louis Malle
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Burt Lancaster, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Susan Sarandon, Best Director -- Louis Malle, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Guare, and Best Picture

Henry Fonda, James Mason, Laurence Olivier, James Stewart and Robert Mitchum were all considered to play the lead role of Lou. Fonda was rejected due to ill-health and its associated insurance risk. Reportedly, when the producers saw that Mitchum had had a face-lift recently, they lost interest. Mitchum had said to them: "I just had my face lifted, and I only play under 45 now.". Director Louis Malle once commented on Burt Lancaster's reaction to the lead role: "Burt had read the screenplay and the first thing that he said was, 'A part like that, especially at my age, happens every ten years, if you're lucky.' He knew it was a great part and I really appreciated that he understood that right away.".