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TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 4, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror
In the daylight hours, TCM is showing the beginnings of some of our well-known cinematic families. Then in prime time, we're in the first week of a new theme - Reframed: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror. Tell us about this new view of old films, Roger!Many of the beloved classics that we enjoy on TCM have stood the test of time in several ways, nevertheless when viewed by contemporary standards, certain aspects of these films can be troubling and problematic. This month, we are looking at a collection of such movies and we’ll explore their history, consider their cultural context and discuss how these movies can be reframed so that future generations will keep their legacy alive.
Discussing the films and the way they are perceived in changing times are all five TCM hosts: Ben Mankiewicz, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone, Eddie Muller and Jacqueline Stewart. The movies in our lineup range from the 1920s through the 1960s. Here are a few notable examples.
The Jazz Singer (1927) is a landmark film that heralded the sound era with its dialogue, songs and synchronized music. The legendary Al Jolson stars as a young man who defies the traditions of his Jewish family to become a “jazz singer.” Just as he did in real life, Jolson performs some numbers in blackface – a common practice for some entertainers of the day but is now widely recognized as racist.
Gone with the Wind (1939) is David O. Selznick’s spectacular film version of Margaret Mitchell’s sprawling novel of the Old South in the Civil War era. The movie won a record number of Oscars and has retained its status as a box-office champion over the decades. However, controversy has surrounded the film since its inception due to its pleasant view of slavery in addition to stereotypes surrounding the portrayal of Black characters in particular.
Dragon Seed (1944) is MGM’s screen treatment of the 1942 Pearl S. Buck novel about Chinese peasants during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The Asian characters are played by white actors in “yellowface” makeup, including Katharine Hepburn as a young Chinese villager who stands up to the invaders.
The Searchers (1956), a classic Western directed by John Ford, stars John Wayne as a Confederate veteran who devotes his life to rescuing a young niece (Natalie Wood) who has been kidnapped by Comanches. The Wayne character is overtly racist, and many argue that the label also applies to the film itself, as the characterization of Indigenous people is both stereotypical and underdeveloped.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Blake Edwards’ film version of the Truman Capote novella, features a captivating star performance by Audrey Hepburn as heroine Holly Golightly. But many feel the film is marred by Mickey Rooney’s supporting role as a Japanese neighbor who is played for exaggerated comic effect, with exaggerated makeup and offensive dialect.
The Children’s Hour (1961), directed by William Wyler and adapted from a 1934 play by Lillian Hellman, concerns the destructive effect of gossip. In this case it is an accusation of lesbianism made by a young girl about teachers played by Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. Even in the early ‘60s the subject of homosexuality was rarely addressed openly in films and was often, as it is here, portrayed as a source of guilt and shame.
Also screening: Swing Time (1936), Stagecoach (1939), Gunga Din (1939), The Four Feathers (1939), Woman of the Year (1942), Sinbad, the Sailor (1947), Rope (1948), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), Psycho (1960), My Fair Lady (1964), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967).
By Roger Fristoe
Discussing the films and the way they are perceived in changing times are all five TCM hosts: Ben Mankiewicz, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone, Eddie Muller and Jacqueline Stewart. The movies in our lineup range from the 1920s through the 1960s. Here are a few notable examples.
The Jazz Singer (1927) is a landmark film that heralded the sound era with its dialogue, songs and synchronized music. The legendary Al Jolson stars as a young man who defies the traditions of his Jewish family to become a “jazz singer.” Just as he did in real life, Jolson performs some numbers in blackface – a common practice for some entertainers of the day but is now widely recognized as racist.
Gone with the Wind (1939) is David O. Selznick’s spectacular film version of Margaret Mitchell’s sprawling novel of the Old South in the Civil War era. The movie won a record number of Oscars and has retained its status as a box-office champion over the decades. However, controversy has surrounded the film since its inception due to its pleasant view of slavery in addition to stereotypes surrounding the portrayal of Black characters in particular.
Dragon Seed (1944) is MGM’s screen treatment of the 1942 Pearl S. Buck novel about Chinese peasants during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The Asian characters are played by white actors in “yellowface” makeup, including Katharine Hepburn as a young Chinese villager who stands up to the invaders.
The Searchers (1956), a classic Western directed by John Ford, stars John Wayne as a Confederate veteran who devotes his life to rescuing a young niece (Natalie Wood) who has been kidnapped by Comanches. The Wayne character is overtly racist, and many argue that the label also applies to the film itself, as the characterization of Indigenous people is both stereotypical and underdeveloped.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Blake Edwards’ film version of the Truman Capote novella, features a captivating star performance by Audrey Hepburn as heroine Holly Golightly. But many feel the film is marred by Mickey Rooney’s supporting role as a Japanese neighbor who is played for exaggerated comic effect, with exaggerated makeup and offensive dialect.
The Children’s Hour (1961), directed by William Wyler and adapted from a 1934 play by Lillian Hellman, concerns the destructive effect of gossip. In this case it is an accusation of lesbianism made by a young girl about teachers played by Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. Even in the early ‘60s the subject of homosexuality was rarely addressed openly in films and was often, as it is here, portrayed as a source of guilt and shame.
Also screening: Swing Time (1936), Stagecoach (1939), Gunga Din (1939), The Four Feathers (1939), Woman of the Year (1942), Sinbad, the Sailor (1947), Rope (1948), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959), Psycho (1960), My Fair Lady (1964), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967).
By Roger Fristoe
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- Music for Millions (1944)
1h 57m | Musical | TV-G
A pregnant musician awaits her husband's return from World War II.
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Margaret O'brien, José Iturbi, June Allyson
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Myles Connolly
In a scene in which June Allyson and Margaret O'Brien were supposed to cry to harmonica player Larry Adler's rendition of "Clair de Lune," the six year-old star asked director Henry Koster, "Shall I let the tears run all the way down my face, or shall I stop then halfway down?"
8:00 AM -- Everything I Have Is Yours (1952)
1h 32m | Musical | TV-G
On the eve of her big Broadway break, a dancer discovers she's pregnant.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Dennis O'keefe
The film's title, and title song come from a tune written for the 1933 Joan Crawford musical Dancing Lady (1933).
9:45 AM -- Boy Meets Girl (1938)
1h 20m | Comedy | TV-G
Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'brien, Marie Wilson
Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
11:15 AM -- The Tunnel of Love (1958)
1h 38m | Comedy | TV-PG
A married couple endures endless red tape when they try to adopt a child.
Director: Gene Kelly
Cast: Doris Day, Richard Widmark, Gig Young
Director Gene Kelly says that he accepted this assignment as a way of fulfilling the final obligation of his longterm contract with M-G-M, but studio executives stipulated he had to shoot it in black-and-white, using only one main set, with a production schedule of only three weeks, and with a strict budget of just $500,000. The studio was delighted when Kelly was able to honor all those provisos, but the film proved to be a box office disappointment.
1:00 PM -- A Child Is Born (1940)
1h 19m | Drama | TV-PG
A pregnant prison inmate shares her problems with the patients in a maternity ward.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Lynn, Gladys George
The film was rejected in Ireland, New Zealand and British Columbia because it might have created fear in expectant mothers. Scenes of expectant mothers experiencing labor pains, as well as scenes of actual or suggested childbirth were purposely omitted. In fact none of the expectant mothers even looked pregnant.
2:30 PM -- Adventure (1945)
2h 5m | Adventure | TV-G
A rough-living sailor has trouble adjusting to domestic life when he marries a librarian.
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Clark Gable, Greer Garson, Joan Blondell
This film was Clark Gable's first after he returned to Hollywood following his service in the Army Air Corps in World War II. He had joined in August 1942, following the death of his wife Carole Lombard. MGM hyped this film as Gable's big comeback, using the line, "Gable's Back and Garson's Got Him!" in the advertising.
4:45 PM -- Going Steady (1958)
1h 21m | Comedy
Two high school students keep their marriage a secret until the girl gets pregnant.
Director: Fred F. Sears, Leonard Katzman
Cast: Molly Bee, Alan Reed Jr., Bill Goodwin
The entrance hallway and living room of the Turners' house are from the Father Knows Best set.
6:15 PM -- Joy in the Morning (1965)
1h 43m | Drama | TV-PG
A law student and his bride try to build a life together despite her fear of intimacy.
Director: Alex Segal
Cast: Richard Chamberlain, Yvette Mimieux, Arthur Kennedy
Based on the novel by Betty Smith, who also wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- CLASSIC FILMS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR
8:00 PM -- Gone With the Wind (1939)
3h 42m | Epic | NR
A manipulative woman and a roguish man conduct a turbulent romance during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia De Havilland
Winner of an Honorary Oscar Award for William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind (plaque).
Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Hattie McDaniel (Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar.), Best Director -- Victor Fleming, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard (Posthumously. Sidney Howard became the first posthumous Oscar nominee and winner.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan, Best Art Direction -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Best Film Editing -- Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom, and Best Picture
Winner of a Technical Achievement Award for R.D. Musgrave
For pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind.
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Clark Gable, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Olivia de Havilland, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Effects, Special Effects -- Jack Cosgrove (photographic), Fred Albin (sound) and Arthur Johns (sound), and Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner
The Ku Klux Klan was written out of the screenplay as the organization to which Frank Kennedy turns after Scarlett is attacked in Shantytown. David O. Selznick said that he had no desire to remake The Birth of a Nation (1915), telling screenwriter Sidney Howard in 1937, "I do hope you will agree with me on this omission of what might come out as an unintentional advertisement for intolerant societies in these fascist-ridden times...".
12:00 AM -- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
1h 43m | Musical | TV-G
The seven Pontipee brothers ease the loneliness of their Oregon farm by courting seven women.
Director: Stanley Donen
Cast: Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin
Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, and Best Picture
The film doesn't demand suspension of disbelief because director Stanley Donen cast largely unknown actors as the six Pontipee brothers. In the initial scenes, the men are scraggly, unkempt, and ungraceful. They also fight a great deal, so the last thing audiences suspected was that they were accomplished dancers. Meantime, for the first third of the film, Milly slowly teaches the boys etiquette, gets them to shave, and polishes their rough edges. The build-up is so gradual that when they finally start to dance, tentatively in "Goin' Courtin'" and finally full-out in the miraculous barn-raising sequence, the effect is both natural and astonishing.
2:00 AM -- 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
Although this movie lasts one hour and twenty minutes, and is supposed to be in "real time", the time frame it covers is actually longer, a little more than one hour and forty minutes. This is accomplished by speeding up the action: the formal dinner lasts only twenty minutes, the sun sets too quickly, and so on. The September 2002 issue of "Scientific American" contains a complete analysis of this technique (and the effect it has on the viewers, who actually feel as if they watched a one hour and forty minute movie).
3:30 AM -- The Four Feathers (1939)
2h 10m | Adventure, War | TV-PG
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
Director: Zoltan Korda
Cast: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C. Aubrey Smith
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile
The Korda brothers (Alexander, Vincent, and Zoltan) had a working relationship and method that sometimes agitated their English cast and crew, who were not used to sudden, loud arguments conducted in Hungarian and halting English peppered with expletives. John Clements recalled sitting in Alexander's office discussing a point of production when suddenly the three brothers broke into a violent screaming match. "Zolly (Zoltan) started picking things up off the table and throwing them on the floor, and I really thought they were going to kill each other," Clements said. Just as suddenly as it began, however, the fight stopped "and eve
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