TCM Schedule for Saturday, October 9, 2021 -- Fleischer Animation 100th Anniversary, Part II

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM gives us the second of two nights to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fleischer Animation. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Dementia 13 (1963)
1h 21m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-14
The family members of an Irish family are being killed off one by one by a mysterious one of their own who wishes to inherit the family fortune.
Director: Francis Coppola
Cast: William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton

Francis Ford Coppola was assisting Roger Corman on the set of The Young Racers (1963) in Ireland. Corman allowed Coppola to use the same set, crew, and actors Luana Anders, William Campbell, and Patrick Magee for this film if he could shoot around the shooting schedule of Corman's film.


8:00 AM -- Slap-Happy Lion (1947)
7m | Animation | TV-G
A tale about a lion's fall from king of the beasts to being tormented and driven crazy by a mouse.
Director: Tex Avery
Cast: Sara Berner, Frank Graham, William Hanna

Voice actor William Hanna is also the co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions, creators of the television animated shows, Ruff & Ready, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, and so many more!


8:09 AM -- Bubbling Troubles (1940)
10m | Comedy | TV-G
A boy tries to impress a girl by drinking a "dynamite" brew in this comedic short.
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: Robert Blake, Darla Hood, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer

Bubbling Troubles (1940) was the final appearance of (imaginary rival) Tommy Bond, known as 'Butch'. Tommy Bond's acting career started shortly after George 'Spanky' McFarland. Both started in 1932. Spanky's debut was in Free Eats (1932) and Tommy Bond's debut was in the very next Our Gang short, Spanky (1932). After this point in his career, Bond went on to feature roles.


8:20 AM -- Chicago, the Beautiful (1948)
10m | Short | TV-G
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Chicago.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:31 AM -- Father Is a Prince (1940)
57m | Drama | TV-G
An industrialist values money over his family's happiness.
Director: Noel Smith
Cast: Grant Mitchell, Nana Bryant, John Litel

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 1 January 1934 and ran for 154 performances. In the opening night cast were Guy D'Ennery, George Lessey, J.C. Nugent and Elisabeth Risdon.


9:30 AM -- Batman and Robin: Batman Takes Over (1949)
27m | Adventure | TV-PG
Episode One of the Batman and Robin serial.
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.
Cast: Robert Lowery, Johnny Duncan, Jane Adams

In Chapter 1 police are summoned to a robbery on Ellsworth Ave. This is a nod to Whitney Ellsworth, an editor at DC comics. He was DC's "movie contact" and a consultant on all of its comic book-inspired serials.


10:00 AM -- Popeye Meets Hercules (1948)
6m | Animation | TV-PG
Time trips backwards and Popeye tangles with Hercules for the hand of Olive Oyl in the first Olympic Games.
Director: Bill Tytla
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

The first Olympic games were held in 776 B.C. in Greece. But it would have been Heracles, the Greek legendary strongman, not Hercules, who was the later Romanized version.


10:08 AM -- The Case of the Black Cat (1936)
1h 2m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Perry Mason looks into a trio of murders heralded by the shriek of a cat.
Director: William McGann
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, June Travis, Jane Bryan

Reportedly, Erle Stanley Gardner, the author of the books, did not approve of the casting of Ricardo Cortez as Perry Mason. He, therefore, was replaced by Donald Woods after doing only one movie. Ironically, many feel that Cortez's performance and this movie, in general, are the best of the series.


11:30 AM -- Carnival of Rhythm (1941)
17m | Short | TV-G
This colorful short film presents a South American love story with Portuguese songs.
Director: Stanley Martin
Cast: Katherine Dunham, Archie Savage, Talley Beatty

Technicolor Specials (1940-1941 season) #6.


12:00 PM -- Air Force (1943)
2h 4m | War | TV-G
A bomber crew sees World War II action over the Pacific.
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy

Winner of an Oscar for Best Film Editing -- George Amy

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Dudley Nichols, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- James Wong Howe, Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Hans F. Koenekamp (photographic), Rex Wimpy (photographic) and Nathan Levinson (sound)

Early in the film, an analyst is shown using a period-era teletype machine and a Hollerith punched card typewriter. This was very high-tech stuff for the time. Such devices became standard equipment on early digital computers, which were under development as this film was being produced in 1943. The punched card deck in particular became an essential component of so-called batch processing of large amounts of data, and for making hard copy of computer programs that could be rapidly (for the era) loaded into another computer.


2:15 PM -- Track of the Cat (1954)
1h 42m | Drama | TV-PG
A murderous panther haunts a dysfunctional pioneer family.
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright, Diana Lynn

Robert Mitchum said the snowy location scenes were the hardest he had ever filmed.


4:15 PM -- Exodus (1960)
3h 40m | Epic | TV-PG
A young Israeli activist fights to set up a homeland for his people.
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Ernest Gold

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sal Mineo, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Sam Leavitt

In a September 2021 interview, Hayley Mills stated that Otto Preminger wanted her for the part of Karen - even offering her parents a small Renoir painting as a gift - but it was considered too adult a film for Disney Studios to allow her to be loaned out.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- FLEISCHER, PART II (DIRECTED BY RICHARD FLEISCHER)



8:00 PM -- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
1h 40m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A team of scientists shrinks to remove a blood clot from the brain of a defecting scientist.
Director: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'brien

Winner of Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Jack Martin Smith, Dale Hennesy, Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Art Cruickshank

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Laszlo, Best Film Editing -- William B. Murphy, and Best Effects, Sound Effects - Walter Rossi

When filming the scene where the other crew members remove attacking antibodies from Raquel Welch for the first time, director Richard Fleischer allowed the actors to grab what they pleased. Gentlemen all, they specifically avoided removing them from Welch's breasts, with an end result that Fleischer described as a "Las Vegas showgirl" effect. He pointed this out to the cast members - and on the second try, the actors all reached for her breasts. Finally, Fleischer realized that he would have to choreograph who removed what from where, and the result is seen in the final cut.


10:00 PM -- Armored Car Robbery (1950)
1h 7m | Crime | TV-PG
A police officer tries to find half a million dollars stolen by gangsters.
Director: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman

William Talman--who plays murderous gang leader Dave Purvis--later played District Attorney Hamilton Burger in the long-running Perry Mason (1957) TV series.


11:30 PM -- A Look at the World of "Soylent Green" (1973)
10m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the science fiction film "Soylent Green".
Cast: Leigh Taylor-Young, George Burns, Richard O. Fleischer

This short can be found as a Special Feature on the DVD Soylent Green (1973).


12:00 AM -- Brighton Rock (1947)
1h 32m | Drama | TV-PG
A small-time hood tries to cover up his murder of a rival.
Director: John Boulting
Cast: Richard Attenborough, Carol Marsh, Hermione Baddely

This movie was meant to end with Rose listening to the poisonous recording made by Pinkie, which contained the line, "You asked me to make a record of me voice; well, here it is. What you want me to say is 'I love you'. Here's the truth: I hate you, you little slut . . . " However, Writer Graham Greene felt the ending would be vetoed by the British Board of Film Censors, so he wrote a happy ending. In this version, the movie ends with the record needle getting stuck and repeating the phrase "I love you . . . " The camera then tilts up to a crucifix, suggesting Rose's salvation. Greene has been quoted as noting, "Anybody who had any sense would know that next time Rose would probably push the needle over the scratch and get the full message."


2:00 AM -- Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
1h 54m | Drama | TV-PG
A penniless farmer tracks the woman he loves to a New Orleans brothel.
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Elmer Bernstein (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "Walk on the Wild Side"

Several contemporary reviewers mentioned that, although the film was set in the 1930s, Capucine seemed to be wearing contemporary (1962) fashions. Director Edward Dmytryk stated that it was because she was the "protege" of producer Charles K. Feldman, who decreed that, despite the film's 1930s setting, she would be dressed in the latest Pierre Cardin designs.


4:00 AM -- Red Sun (1971)
1h 55m | Western | TV-PG
A Samurai and a Western outlaw join forces to track down the bandits who stole a ceremonial sword.
Director: Terence Young
Cast: Charles Bronson, Toshirô Mifune, Alain Delon

Toshirô Mifune entertained the cast and crew throughout the entire production with his refined culinary skills, bringing over a supply of Japanese meats, watercress, seaweed, and other ingredients. He would also exchange recipes for French and Italian dishes, including spaghetti.