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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:56 PM Jun 2014

TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 26, 2014 -- Star of the Month - Rock Hudson

In the daylight hours, we are celebrating the birthday of Peter Lorre. He was born László Löwenstein on June 26, 1904, in Rózsahegy, Austria-Hungary (now Ruzomberok, Slovakia). With his distinctive popped eyes and raspy voice, he was one of the great character actors. As he described himself, "All that anyone needs to imitate me is two soft-boiled eggs and a bedroom voice." In prime time, we have the last evening of Star of the Month, Rock Hudson. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- M (1931)
The mob sets out to catch a child killer whose crimes are attracting too much police attention.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustav Grundgens
BW-109 mins,

Peter Lorre's character is introduced by the musical cue "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1". This was one of the very first times that a musical theme was used to signify a character, a technique borrowed from the world of opera that is now a staple of filmmaking.


8:15 AM -- Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
A newspaperman serves as key witness in a circumstantial murder case.
Dir: Boris Ingster
Cast: Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet
BW-64 mins, CC,

Peter Lorre owed RKO two days on his contract and was given this role with few scenes and few lines, but received top billing.


9:20 AM -- Victory Quiz (1942)
This short film asks viewers questions about the United States and its involvement in World War II.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Dave O'Brien,
BW-9 mins,


9:30 AM -- Background To Danger (1943)
An American gets caught up in wartime action in Turkey.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-80 mins, CC,

The three photographs of possible Roumanian secret agents which McNamara shows Joe were those of Warner Bros. contract players Paul Panzer, Glen Cavender and Stuart Holmes. Those three are not actually in the movie. The fourth photograph was that of Leo White, who is seen in an early scene whispering in someone's ear.


11:00 AM -- The Constant Nymph (1943)
A composer finds inspiration in his wife's romantic cousin.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith
BW-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine got the lead role of Tessa by a lucky chance. One day, she was having lunch at Romanoff's in Hollywood, with her husband, actor Brian Aherne. The two had just flown in by airplane from their grape ranch in Indio, California, and Fontaine was in a leather flight suit with her hair done in pigtails. Director Edmund Goulding walked into the restaurant, and stopped by their table to say hello to his good friend Aherne. Goulding complained that he was having trouble casting a lead actress for his next movie, "The Constant Nymph." Although he had considered Joan Leslie, she was wrong for the part. And, Goulding explained, "Jack Warner wants a star in the lead, but she has to be consumptive, flat-chested, anemic, and fourteen!" "How about me?" said Fontaine. "Who are you?" asked Goulding, not recognizing the freckled girl in pigtails sitting next to him. "Joan Fontaine," said the actress. Goulding looked startled. "You're perfect!" Fontaine was signed for the part the next day, and later called it "the happiest motion-picture assignment of my career."



1:00 PM -- The Conspirators (1944)
A guerilla leader falls in love with a mysterious woman in World War II Lisbon.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-101 mins, CC,

A song, "Orchard Moon" with music by Max Steiner and lyrics by Al Stillman was published in connection with the picture.


2:45 PM -- Passage to Marseille (1944)
Devil's Island escapees join up with the Allies during World War II.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michèle Morgan
BW-109 mins, CC,

One of the few films to employ a flashback within a flashback within a flashback. This film is often seen as an attempt to recapture the magic of Casablanca (1942), which many of this film's key players were a part. Some "usual suspects" include director Michael Curtiz, stars Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains, supporting and bit players Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Helmut Dantine and Corinna Mura, writer Casey Robinson, composer Max Steiner, producer Hal B. Wallis and executive producer Jack L. Warner (both films were made by Warner Bros.).


4:45 PM -- Hotel Berlin (1945)
During World War II's final days, people with a variety of problems converge on a Berlin hotel.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Faye Emerson, Helmut Dantine, Raymond Massey
BW-98 mins, CC,

Based on a novel by Vicki Baum, who also wrote the novel Grand Hotel. She seemed to have a thing for hotels.


6:30 PM -- The Verdict (1946)
A retired Scotland Yard chief tries to prove his friend is innocent of murder.
Dir: Don Siegel
Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring
BW-86 mins, CC,

Based on the novel The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill, which was previously filmed as Perfect Crime (1928) starring Clive Brook, Irene Rich, and Ethel Wales, and as The Crime Doctor (1934) starring Otto Kruger, Karen Morley, and Nils Asther.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ROCK HUDSON



8:00 PM -- A Fine Pair (1969)
A detective gets involved with a beautiful jewel thief.
Dir: Francesco Maselli
Cast: Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale, Tomas Milian
C-90 mins, CC,

Originally titled Ruba al prossimo tuo (in its Italian release in 1968).


9:45 PM -- Ice Station Zebra (1968)
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan
C-152 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Daniel L. Fapp, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Hal Millar and J. McMillan Johnson

Actors Gregory Peck, David Niven, Edmond O'Brien and George Segal were originally attached to this picture but none ended up appearing in it. Peck and Niven had starred in the earlier successful Alistair MacLean adaptation The Guns of Navarone (1961). In Ice Station Zebra (1968), Peck was going to be the submarine Commander James Ferraday (played by Rock Hudson), whilst Niven was going to be the British spy David Jones (played by Patrick McGoohan).



12:30 AM -- Pretty Maids All In A Row (1971)
A young man's first sexual explorations are threatened by a string of murders.
Dir: Roger Vadim
Cast: Rock Hudson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas
C-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Quentin Tarantino selected this film as one of his choices for Sight & Sound magazine's 2012 edition of Top 10 Greatest Films of All Time.


2:04 AM -- San Sebastian 1746 In 1968 (1968)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of "Guns For San Sebastian&quot 1968) in northern Mexico.
Dir: Floyd L. Peterson
BW-10 mins,


2:15 AM -- Seconds (1966)
A bored rich man buys a new life from a secret organization.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph
BW-106 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- James Wong Howe

Initially director John Frankenheimer was reluctant to cast Hudson, whom he felt was a lightweight actor in comparison to Laurence Olivier and Kirk Douglas, other actors he wanted for the lead part. It was only after Hudson's agent convinced him at a party that Hudson could do the role that he went ahead with Hudson. He has later gone on to praise Hudson's work in the film and felt he was impeccably cast.



4:15 AM -- The Second Face (1950)
A homely woman injured in a car crash awakes to find the plastic surgery has transformed her into a first class beauty.
Dir: Jack Bernhard
Cast: Ella Raines, Bruce Bennett, Rita Johnson
BW-77 mins,

Ella Raines was a lifelong Republican and anti-communist who was a solid supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.


5:38 AM -- Hollywood Party (1937)
In this short film, Elissa Landi and Charley Chase host an East Asian themed garden tea party in Hollywood.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Leon Errol,
C-21 mins,


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TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 26, 2014 -- Star of the Month - Rock Hudson (Original Post) Staph Jun 2014 OP
If you've never seen it, SECONDS is a must-watch for any film fan. nt TeamPooka Jun 2014 #1
I must admit, I had never even heard of the film. Staph Jun 2014 #2
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