TCM Schedule for Friday, July 19, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: François Truffaut

In the daylight hours, TCM is showing a series of baseball-themed films, including Jackie Robinson playing Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Tonight's theme is the films of François Truffaut, with five more of films written and directed by the Frenchman. Included tonight is one of his best-known films, Jules and Jim (1962). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Fireman, Save My Child (1932)
A small-town ball player moves to the big leagues.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Evalyn Knapp, Lilian Bond
BW-66 mins, TV-G,

Filmed on location at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, CA (yes, that's Los Angeles, not Chicago!).


7:15 AM -- Elmer The Great (1933)
A country hick bats his way to baseball stardom.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, Frank McHugh
BW-72 mins, TV-G, CC,

Ring Lardner's play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 24 September 1928 and closed in October 1928 after 40 performances. The opening night cast included Walter Huston as Elmer Kane. George M. Cohan produced the play.


8:30 AM -- Alibi Ike (1935)
A brash baseball star gets mixed up with gamblers and a pretty young girl.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Olivia de Havilland, Ruth Donnelly
BW-72 mins, TV-G, CC,

Although this was the first film to be released of Olivia de Havilland, it was filmed after A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first film she had made.


9:45 AM -- Death On The Diamond (1934)
A rookie pitcher tries to stop someone from killing the St. Louis Cardinals.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick
Cast: Robert Young, Madge Evans, Nat Pendleton
BW-71 mins, TV-G, CC,

Filmed at L.A.'s Wrigley Field and the old Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Several ballplayers appear including the Cardinals real center fielder Ernie Orsatti who is shot "by the camera" as he crosses the plate.


11:00 AM -- The Babe Ruth Story (1948)
A childlike oaf becomes the greatest star in baseball.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: William Bendix, Claire Trevor, Charles Bickford
BW-106 mins, TV-G, CC,

The film was rushed for release while Babe Ruth himself was still alive, which is why the movie ended the way it did. George Herman Ruth lived just 21 days after seeing the premiere, that he attended, on Monday, July 26th, 1948. He lost his life on Monday, August 16th, 1948.


1:00 PM -- It Happens Every Spring (1949)
A scientist invents a baseball that can't be hit.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas
BW-87 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies

All the baseball teams are identified by their city but never by their nicknames. Even the home team uniforms, which should have the team nicknames, list the city instead. The reason is because the commissioner of baseball, Happy Chandler, would not sanctioned the movie because of the cheating element in the movie. So 20th Century Fox could not use the the name of the teams or even use cameo baseball player walk ons like the studio wanted to do.


2:30 PM -- The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Jackie Robinson plays himself in this true story of the man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, Minor Watson
BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC,

The movie ends with voiceover narration from an uncredited narrator who says that the Jackie Robinson Story could only happen in a country which is truly free, and where any child can grow up to be President, 58 years before the first non-Caucasian was finally elected President, more than 36 years after the death of Jackie Robinson.


4:00 PM -- Angels In The Outfield (1951)
The short-tempered manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates mends his ways in return for a little divine assistance.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn
BW-99 mins, TV-G, CC,

Bing Crosby appeared in the film because at the time, he was a partial owner (approximately 15%) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.


6:00 PM -- The Winning Team (1952)
Baseball great Grover Cleveland Alexander fights his way back from a blinding injury.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy
BW-98 mins, TV-G, CC,

The opening credits show Grover Cleveland Alexander's plaque at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It is accurate in all respects except one: it shows Ronald Reagan's likeness instead of the real Grover Cleveland Alexander.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT



8:00 PM -- The Soft Skin (1964)
A married man falls into an affair with a beautiful airline stewardess.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean Desailly, Françoise Dorléac, Nelly Bénédetti
BW-118 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Originally titled La peau douce.


10:00 PM -- Jules And Jim (1962)
A tempestuous beauty comes between college friends.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre
BW-106 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

François Truffaut came across the original novel by Henri-Pierre Roché in the mid-50s whilst browsing through some secondhand books in Paris. He later befriended the author. Henri-Pierre Roché's original novel was based on his own experiences as a young man. The original Catherine was still alive when the film was released and even attended the premiere incognito.


12:00 AM -- Two English Girls (1971)
A young writer carries on love affairs with two sisters.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Kika Markham, Stacey Tendeter
C-127 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Anne's last words in the film are, "If you send for a doctor, I will see him now." These were writer Emily Brontë's last words before she died, Truffaut who was an avid reader probably used her words in the film as an homage or to compare her to the character of Anne.


2:15 AM -- A Story of Water (1961)
In this short film, a young woman tries to go to Paris, but her garden and the whole village is flooded with water.
Dir: Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Claude Brialy, Caroline Dim,
BW-12 mins, TV-G,

Originally titled Une histoire d'eau.


2:30 AM -- The Woman Next Door (1981)
Former lovers find themselves unintentionally reunited seven years later as neighbors in a small French village.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Gerard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Henri Garcin
C-105 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

The line where Fanny Ardant says "You behave like you are a policeman and I'm a thief" is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock, who frequently used variations on this theme in his films.


4:30 AM -- The Man Who Loved Women (1977)
An inveterate womanizer tries to make sense of his problem by writing his memoirs.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Denner, Leslie Caron, Brigitte Fossey
C-118 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Remade in 1983 as The Man Who Loved Women, starring Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews, and Kim Basinger.