TCM Schedule for Friday, August 1, 2014 -- Summer Under The Stars -- Jane Fonda

Today is the first of August, and that means it's the beginning of Summer Under The Stars! Today's star is Jane Fonda, born Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda on December 21, 1937, in New York City. She's been controversial for decades, but her performances rarely disappoint, as evidenced by her two Oscar wins (for Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978) and her four other Oscar nominations (for They Shoot Horses, Don't They (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), her only Supporting Actress nod for On Golden Pond (1981), and for The Morning After (1986)). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Tall Story (1960)
Love puts a college basketball star into a tailspin.
Dir: Joshua Logan
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston
BW-89 min, CC

Film debut for both Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.


7:32 AM -- The Bounty (1962)
This silent promotional short presents footage of the "HMS Bounty" for the remake of "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962).
C-7 min


7:45 AM -- Period of Adjustment (1962)
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is disrupted by their friends' marital problems.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton
BW-111 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Edward C. Carfagno, Henry Grace and Richard Pefferle

The original Broadway production of "Period of Adjustment" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on November 10, 1960 and ran for 132 performances. The Tennessee Williams play was adapted for this movie by Isobel Lennart.


9:45 AM -- Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
A penniless farmer tracks the woman he loves to a New Orleans brothel.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda
C-114 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Elmer Bernstein (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "Walk on the Wild Side"

According to Penny Stallings' 'Flesh and Fantasy', when Barbara Stanwyck first encountered Laurence Harvey on the set lounging in his gold brocade bathrobe and drinking champagne, she walked up to him and said, "All right, Larry, let's go! Get your ass in gear. We've got a picture to make, and I don't have time for prima donnas!" After a moment of silence, this struck Harvey as highly amusing and he burst into laughter. He and Stanwyck immediately became friends.


11:45 AM -- In the Cool of the Day (1963)
A man's efforts to save his friend's marriage lead to infidelity.
Dir: Robert Stevens
Cast: Jane Fonda, Peter Finch, Angela Lansbury
BW-84 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Audrey Hepburn was originally offered the Jane Fonda's role of Christine but turned it down.


1:15 PM -- The Chapman Report (1962)
A research psychologist gets involved in the personal lives of four women.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda
C-125 min, CC

According to pre-production blurbs in the LA Times, Orson Welles was initial choice to play the title sex researcher (a role that ultimately went to Andrew Duggan), with Janet Leigh and Jayne Mansfield named as two of the female leads.


3:25 PM -- Mighty Manhattan, New York'S Wonder City (1949)
This short film explores the history, architecture, and people of Manhattan.
Dir: James H Smith
C-20 min


3:45 PM -- Sunday in New York (1963)
A philandering pilot gets real moral, real fast when his sister contemplates a premarital fling.
Dir: Peter Tewksbury
Cast: Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson
C-105 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Jane Fonda has been quoted as stating that this film was the first time she enjoyed making a movie or thought she was any good at acting.


5:45 PM -- The China Syndrome (1979)
A television newswoman stumbles onto deadly secrets at a nuclear power plant.
Dir: James Bridges
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas
C-122 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Fonda, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Mike Gray, T.S. Cook and James Bridges, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- George Jenkins and Arthur Jeph Parker

Jane Fonda broke her ankle towards the end of shooting and had to be flown away for treatment. Scenes were shot around her after that, though through editing, it's hard to notice. Breaking her ankle meant that Fonda could no longer practice ballet as she had been for years. She took up aerobics instead, which led to her famous exercise home video franchise.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS:JANE FONDA



8:00 PM -- AFI Life Achievement Award A Tribute to Jane Fonda (2014)
Friends and coworkers pay tribute to the legendary actress.
C-67 min

In 1994, Fonda founded G-CAPP, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. The foundation advocates for safe-sex education, provides teens with support personnel before, during, and after childbirth, and runs a network of "Second Chance Homes" that help teenage mothers become self-sufficient by striving to reduce repeat teen pregnancies and providing teen mothers with a safe living environment, support for long-term economic independence, and child development, parenting and life skills. The name has been changed to the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential, but Jane Fonda is still one of the primary sponsers.


9:15 PM -- Cat Ballou (1965)
A prim schoolteacher turns outlaw queen when the railroad steals her land.
Dir: Elliot Silverstein
Cast: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
C-96 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Lee Marvin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Walter Newman and Frank Pierson, Best Film Editing -- Charles Nelson, Best Music, Original Song -- Jerry Livingston (music) and Mack David (lyrics) for the song "The Ballad of Cat Ballou", and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Frank De Vol

The film's horse trainer told Elliot Silverstein that the scene where a horse leans against a wall with its front legs crossed could not be shot because horses don't cross their legs, then that it might be possible if he had a couple of days. Silverstein invoked his rank as director and gave him an hour. The trainer plied the horse with sugar cubes while repeatedly pushing its leg into position, and they were able to get the shot.


11:00 PM -- AFI Life Achievement Award A Tribute to Jane Fonda (2014)
Friends and coworkers pay tribute to the legendary actress.
C-67 min


12:15 AM -- Klute (1971)
A small-town detective searches for a missing man linked to a high-priced prostitute.
Dir: Alan J. Pakula
Cast: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi
C-114 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role - Jane Fonda

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Andy Lewis and David E. Lewis

Bree's apartment was built on a sound stage at a New York film studio where Jane Fonda could spend the night. The director even had a working toilet installed in the bathroom of the set. Jane contributed to decorating the apartment by deciding Bree would be a romance reader and have a cat. Jane remembered an actress from Lee Strasberg's private class that occasionally serviced John F. Kennedy, so she decided Bree had done this as well. A signed photo of Kennedy appears on the fridge in Bree's apartment.


2:15 AM -- Any Wednesday (1966)
A young businessman catches his boss keeping a mistress in the company apartment.
Dir: Robert Ellis Miller
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jason Robards Jr., Dean Jones
C-109 min, CC, Letterbox Format

The original Broadway production of "Any Wednesday" opened on Feb. 18, 1964 at the Music Box Theater and ran for 983 performances. Rosemary Murphy was nominated for the 1964 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and recreated her role in the movie version. Gene Hackman created the role of Cass Henderson on Broadway, played by Dean Jones in the film.


4:15 AM -- Tout va bien (1972)
An American news correspondent gets mixed up with a wildcat strike.
Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Cast: Jane Fonda, Yves Montand, Vittorio Capprioli
C-96 min, Letterbox Format

Known in the US as All's Well, Everything's All Right, or Just Great.