TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 3, 2014 -- What's On Tonight - Mae West

In the daylight hours, we are celebrating the birthday of George Sanders, born George Henry Sanders to English parents on July 3, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (now Russia). In prime time, we have an evening of Mae West. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The King's Thief (1955)
A highwayman uncovers a plot to assassinate King Charles II.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven
C-79 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Features two actors who later played James Bond: David Niven and Roger Moore.


7:30 AM -- The Last Voyage (1960)
Passengers and crew fight to escape a sinking ocean liner.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone
Cast: Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, George Sanders
C-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Augie Lohman

The ship used by the filmmakers was the SS Ile de France, the famous French liner which cruised the Atlantic from 1926 to 1959. She was leased for $4,000 a day. After shooting completed, she was re-floated (having been partially sunk for the film) and was towed to the scrap yard. She has a more heroic place in history, however. It was her that played a major role in the rescue of the passengers from the Italian liner Andrea Doria in 1956, after the latter ship collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm and sank off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was the first ship to arrive at the scene of the collision and immediately began taking aboard the Andrea Doria's passengers.


9:15 AM -- Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
A Czech refugee uses women to advance his business interest.
Dir: Charles Martin
Cast: George Sanders, Yvonne De Carlo, Zsa Zsa Gabor
BW-120 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This film and The Falcon's Brother (1942) are the only two films to feature Tom Conway and real life brother George Sanders. They played brothers in both films.


11:15 AM -- The Moon and Sixpence (1942)
Loosely inspired by the life of Gauguin, a man abandons his middle-classed life to start painting.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Herbert Marshall, Doris Dudley
C-89 mins, CC,

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

The rights to this film were originally bought by RKO in 1932 as a vehicle for John Barrymore.


12:45 PM -- Village Of The Damned (1961)
After a mysterious blackout, the inhabitants of a British village give birth to emotionless, super-powered offspring.
Dir: Wolf Rilla
Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens
BW-77 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ronald Colman was originally supposed to star in this film. He passed away in 1958 and was replaced by George Sanders, who had married Colman's widow Benita Hume in 1959.


2:15 PM -- Journey to Italy (1955)
A married couple seek insight and direction within their relationship in Italy.
Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders,
BW-83 mins,

Filmed in part in Naples, Italy.


3:45 PM -- Foreign Correspondent (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
BW-120 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


5:50 PM -- London Can Take It! (1940)
Despite the nightly Nazi air raids, London's citizens are shown to be courageous and determined in this short film. Vitaphone Release B275.
BW-9 mins,


6:00 PM -- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
A man remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed
BW-110 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Angela Lansbury, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar and Hugh Hunt

Years later, a friend of Hurd Hatfield's bought the painting of young Dorian Gray that was used in the movie at an auction, and gave it to Hatfield.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MAE WEST



8:00 PM -- I'm No Angel (1933)
A carnival dancer evades the law and invades high society.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff
BW-88 mins, CC,

Considerable problems arose with the censors, mostly about the suggestive lines in some of the songs. The song "Nobody Loves Me Like a Dallas Man" was originally "Nobody Does It Like a Dallas Man". After the songs were toned down, the Hays office approved the film, and it was passed by the National Board of Review. In 1935 and 1949, the production code was more rigorously enforced, and the film was not approved for re-release.


9:45 PM -- She Done Him Wrong (1933)
A saloon singer fights off smugglers, an escaped con and a Salvation Army officer out to reform her.
Dir: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore
BW-65 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Mae West was signed by Paramount in 1931 to make a film adaptation of her stage success 'Diamond Lil'. They then spent the next two years trying to figure out a way of getting the material past the censors. The battle over 'Diamond Lil' led to the head of the Production Board, James Wingate, quitting and being replaced by the much more hardline Joseph Breen who was prompted to set up a fairly stringent and moral Production Code. In the meantime, 'Diamond Lil' transformed into the slightly watered down "She Done Him Wrong" and was one of the last films to be made before the introduction of the Production Code.


10:54 PM -- Taxi Barons (1933)
In this comedic short, a pair of taxi drivers get in trouble with the law and disguise themselves as royalty to escape.
Dir: Gus Meins
Cast: Charles McAvoy, Howard Truesdale, Eddie Baker
BW-19 mins, CC,


11:15 PM -- Belle Of The Nineties (1934)
A cabaret entertainer shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.
Dir: Leo McCarey
Cast: Mae West, Roger Pryor, John Mack Brown
BW-73 mins, CC,

According to David Niven, this film was to have been called "It Ain't No Sin" and, as a publicity stunt, 40 parrots were trained to repeat "it ain't no sin." Then the Hays Office made the studio change the title.


12:45 AM -- My Little Chickadee (1940)
A small-town seductress' romance with a masked bandit goes on hold when she's forced to marry a con artist.
Dir: Edward F. Cline
Cast: Mae West, W. C. Fields, Joseph Calleia
BW-84 mins, CC,

Dick Foran, who was being paid by the week, would go to Mae West and tell her that W.C. Fields was rewriting his lines to give himself more screen time and to try to steal the film from her. Then he would go to Fields and tell him the same thing about West. In this manner he was able to extend his employment from a few weeks to several months, as both Fields and West - who didn't like each other - would hold up production while they would rewrite their scenes.


2:15 AM -- The Heat's On (1943)
A would-be censor's brother produces a Broadway show with a controversial star.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Mae West, Victor Moore, William Gaxton
BW-79 mins,

This was Mae West's final film until Myra Breckinridge (1970) 27 years later.


3:45 AM -- Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
A small-town girl fights for her big chance on Broadway.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, Van Heflin, Fay Bainter
BW-104 mins, CC,

This film was originally purchased by MGM as a dramatic vehicle for Lana Turner. After Turner dropped out due to a scheduling conflict, the film was retooled as a screwball comedy/musical for Judy Garland.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #30 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon discusses Greta Garbo's early career; Irene Papas introduces behind-the-scenes footage from "Tribute to a Badman."
BW-25 mins,