TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 7, 2014 -- The Essentials - On The Docks

We're starting the morning with a trio of films starring members of the Rat Pack. Tonight's Essentials is on the docks, starting with Marlin Brando in On The Waterfront. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- Toys In The Attic (1963)
Man finds trouble when he brings young bride back to his New Orleans home.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, Yvette Mimieux
BW-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Bill Thomas

1n 1960, female cast members announced were Katharine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh (parts later taken by Wendy Hiller and Vivien Leigh), with Olivia DeHavilland in role eventually played by Gene Tierney.


8:00 AM -- Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)
A Chicago gangster stumbles into philanthropic work during a gang war.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "My Kind of Town", and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Nelson Riddle

Making this film should have been fun. Instead, by more than one account, it was a waking nightmare for all involved. John F. Kennedy was assassinated soon after filming started, casting a pall over the entire set. Not long after that, Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped from his dressing room at Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Upon payment of a large ransom, he was released, unharmed, a few days later). Victor Buono, who played Deputy Sherrif Alvin Potts, later observed that it was a minor miracle that filming was completed at all.


10:15 AM -- Carson on TCM: Sammy Davis, Jr. (12/18/72) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Sammy Davis, Jr. from 12/18/72.
C-10 mins, CC,


10:30 AM -- Doctor at Large (1957)
A young doctor tries to survive a series of disastrous internships.
Dir: Ralph Thomas
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden
C-99 mins, Letterbox Format

Cameo -- Richard Gordon: The author of the original books (and of the screenplay here) is on screen hidden behind the anesthetist's mask in the "patient wakes up" scene. Gordon did the job in real life before turning to writing.


12:15 PM -- The Longhorn (1951)
A rancher heads up a trail drive of cattle to cross breed, but is undermined by his devious partner.
Dir: Lewis Collins
Cast: Wild Bill Elliott, Myron Healey, Phyllis Coates
BW-70 mins, CC,

Remade as Canyon River (1956), starring George Montgomery, Marcia Henderson, and Peter Graves.


1:45 PM -- The Old Man and the Sea (1958)
A Cuban fisherman believes his long dry spell will end when he catches a legendary fish.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Felipe Pazos Jr., Harry Bellaver, Spencer Tracy
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, and Best Cinematography, Color -- James Wong Howe

Ernest Hemingway himself was initially involved in the production, although the extent of his participation after selling his book was to go marlin-fishing off the coast of Peru to try to find a fish worthy enough for the picture. In the end, the producers used a rubber marlin and stock footage of marlin fishing in which Hemingway didn't participate in. After seeing the film, Ernest Hemingway expressed his disappointment and said that Spencer Tracy looked less the Cuban peasant fisherman and more the rich old actor that he was.


3:30 PM -- Sleeper (1973)
After awaking from cryogenic suspension, a '70s man gets mixed up with a future revolution.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Woody Allen confirmed the scientific feasibility of his screenplay ideas in a single lunchtime meeting with Isaac Asimov. Allen also consulted with leading science fiction writer Ben Bova to make sure that some of his futuristic predictions were feasible.


5:15 PM -- Funny Girl (1968)
Comedienne Fanny Brice fights to prove that she can be the greatest star and find romance even though she isn't pretty.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford
C-157 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbra Streisand (Tied with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968).)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Kay Medford, Best Cinematography -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Sound, Best Film Editing -- Robert Swink, Maury Winetrobe and William Sands, Best Music, Original Song -- Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics) for the song "Funny Girl", Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Walter Scharf, and Best Picture

Vilmos Zsigmond was the original director of photography on the film. However, Zsigmond was fired after three days of filming because he photographed both sides of Barbra Streisand's face instead of the only one she permitted, and was replaced by Harry Stradling Sr..



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: ON THE DOCKS



8:00 PM -- On The Waterfront (1954)
A young stevedore takes on the mobster who rules the docks.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb
BW-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eva Marie Saint, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Budd Schulberg, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Boris Kaufman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day, Best Film Editing -- Gene Milford, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Lee J. Cobb, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Karl Malden, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Rod Steiger, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Leonard Bernstein

In his biography of Elia Kazan, Richard Schickel describes how Kazan used a ploy to entice Marlon Brando to do the movie. He had Karl Malden direct a scene from the film with an up-and-coming fellow actor from the Actors Studio playing the Terry Malloy lead role. They figured the competitive Brando would not be eager to see such a major role handed to some new screen heartthrob. The ploy worked, especially since the competition had come in the form of a guy named Paul Newman.


10:00 PM -- Rumble on the Docks (1956)
The leader of a New York street gang gets involved with mobster.
Dir: Fred F. Sears
Cast: James Darren, Laurie Carroll, Michael Granger
BW-83 mins,

The producers put an asterisk after the title in many ads, explaining Rumble as "teenage slang for 'gang war'".


11:30 PM -- The Mob (1951)
A police detective fakes a suspension so he can go undercover.
Dir: Robert Parrish
Cast: Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley
BW-86 mins,

Based on the novel Waterfront by Ferguson Findley.


1:00 AM -- Waterfront (1939)
A hard-living dockworker finds religion until his brother is murdered.
Dir: Terry Morse
Cast: Gloria Dickson, Dennis Morgan, Marie Wilson
BW-59 mins,

Based on the play Blindspot by Kenyon Nicholson.


2:15 AM -- Mixed Blood (1984)
Brazilian drug dealers in the lower east side of Manhattan start a war with a rival gang.
Dir: Paul Morrissey
Cast: Marilia Pera, Richard Ulacia, Linda Kerridge
C-99 mins, Letterbox Format

John Leguizamo's feature film debut.


4:00 AM -- Alphabet City (1984)
A New York City drug dealer decides to get out of the business, but has to flee from mobsters.
Dir: Amos Poe
Cast: Vincent Spano, Kate Vernon, Michael Winslow
C-85 mins, Letterbox Format

Director Amos Poe had in mind a different ending which he was not allowed to shoot because it was deemed too "political" by the producers.


5:30 AM -- Ask Me, Don't Tell Me (1961)
In this short film, San Francisco gang members turn their lives around working on community service projects.
Dir: David Myers
Cast: Stanley Mosk,
BW-22 mins,