TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 12, 2023 -- What's On Tonight: The Jewish Experience

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In the daylight hours, we get to have Adventures with Errol! Then in prime time, it's the second night for the special theme of The Jewish Experience. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Santa Fe Trail (1940)
1h 50m | Western | TV-PG
Romantic rivals get caught in the battle to stop abolitionist John Brown.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Raymond Massey

Errol Flynn plays Jeb Stuart, with Ronald Reagan playing George Armstrong Custer. A year later Flynn would play Custer in They Died with Their Boots On (1941).


8:00 AM -- Kim (1951)
1h 53m | Adventure | TV-PG
Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of an orphaned boy who helps the British Army against Indian rebels.
Director: Victor Saville
Cast: Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas

In the master shot of the scene in which Errol Flynn enters the tent with a bowl of food for Dean Stockwell to give the lama, practical joker Flynn had piled it high with steaming fresh camel dung. Stockwell played the scene as written but it cost Flynn $500 because he had bet with the crew that he could make the young actor crack up laughing.


10:00 AM -- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
1h 42m | Adventure | TV-G
The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Basil Rathbone

Winner of Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Carl Jules Weyl, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Picture

Errol Flynn was not happy when Michael Curtiz was assigned to the film, as he didn't care for Curtiz's dictatorial methods and the two clashed often while filming The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), especially over what he--an avid horseman--saw as Curtiz's indifference to the injuries and deaths of many of the horses used in the film.


11:45 AM -- Edge of Darkness (1943)
1h 59m | War | TV-PG
Resistance fighters battle the Nazis in occupied Norway.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston

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 the armed services he could, but was rejected as unfit for service on the grounds of his health--he had a heart condition, tuberculosis, malaria, and a back problem. He felt he could contribute to America's war effort by appearing in such movies as Northern Pursuit (1943), Dive Bomber (1941), Objective, Burma! (1945), and Uncertain Glory (1944). Reportedly, he was at his most professional and cooperative while working on these movies. Warner Bros. managed to keep reports about his health problems from being made public because they were afraid it might affect his box-office draw.


2:00 PM -- Desperate Journey (1942)
1h 47m | War | TV-PG
American pilots stranded in Germany during World War II fight their way to freedom.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Coleman

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Byron Haskin (photographic) and Nathan Levinson (sound)

One of the few times that Australian Errol Flynn played an Australian.


4:00 PM -- The Warriors (1955)
1h 25m | Adventure | TV-PG
The "Black Prince" of England remains in France to guard the lands taken by his predecessor-father.
Director: Henry Levin
Cast: Errol Flynn, Joanne Dru, Peter Finch

Originally, Errol Flynn did not want to star in this movie, as he felt at forty-five he was now too old for swashbuckling roles. However, he badly needed money because he had just been declared bankrupt while filming The Story of William Tell (1953).


5:30 PM -- Objective, Burma! (1945)
2h 22m | War | TV-PG
An American platoon parachutes into Burma to take out a strategic Japanese outpost.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, James Brown, William Prince

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Story -- Alvah Bessie, Best Film Editing -- George Amy, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman

One of the minor roles is a character named Negulesco, an in-joke. Director Jean Negulesco was a contract director at Warners who was scheduled to direct Errol Flynn's next picture, Adventures of Don Juan (1948). Unforeseen delays caused it to be postponed and Negulesco was ultimately replaced.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE



8:00 PM -- Bye Bye Braverman (1968)
1h 34m | Comedy | TV-14
Four failed writers try to attend a friend's funeral.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: George Segal, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman

At the funeral home when the Rabbi (Alan King) is delivering the eulogy, he references living one's life as James Bond. The next shot is of Joseph Wiseman, who played the title character in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond film.


10:00 PM -- The Angel Levine (1970)
1h 44m | Drama | TV-14
An angel helps an embittered man find life's meaning.
Director: Ján Kadár
Cast: Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte, Ida Kaminska

The script is based on a short story by Bernard Malamud, "Angel Levine," which was first published in the December 1955 issue of Commentary. In the original story, Mishkin's name was Manischewitz, and his wife's first name was Leah. The story also had a much more upbeat ending.


12:00 AM -- Annie Hall (1977)
1h 33m | Comedy | TV-14
A comedian and an aspiring singer try to overcome their neuroses and find happiness.
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Diane Keaton, Best Director -- Woody Allen (Woody Allen was not present at the awards ceremony. Co-presenter King Vidor accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman (Woody Allen was not present at the awards ceremony.), and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Woody Allen

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton had trouble keeping a straight face when working together. An example of the uncontrollable laughter between the two was the lobster dinner scene. It was the first scene shot for the movie and neither Woody nor Diane had to do much acting for the scene, for their laughter was completely spontaneous.


2:00 AM -- Soup For One (1982)
1h 27m | Comedy
No Description available
Director: Jonathan Kaufer
Cast: Saul Rubinek, Marcia Strassman, Gerrit Graham


Hilary Shepard, Anna Deavere Smith and Maggie Wheeler's debut.


3:45 AM -- Set Me Free (1999)
1h 34m | Comedy
In the year 1963, an awkward thirteen-year-old girl comes of age during her escapism into the world of cinema, with potentially dangerous results.
Director: Lea Pool
Cast: Karine Vanasse, Pascale Bussières, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic

Karine Vanasse's debut.


5:30 AM -- Alice in Movieland (1940)
21m | Short | TV-PG
When a beauty queen tries to make it in Hollywood, she learns stardom comes at a price.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Joan Leslie, Nana Bryant, Jack Mower

The first time that Craig Stevens and Alexis Smith would appear together on-screen. A little more than four years later they would begin their marriage that lasted just nine days short of 49 years.