TCM Schedule for Friday, December 19, 2014 -- Friday Night Spotlight - Charles Walters

Though it's not his birthday, we appear to be celebrating the work of Jack Lemmon during the daylight hours. In prime time, it's more of the films of director/choreographer Charles Walters. Enjoy!



7:00 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 mins, CC,




9:00 AM -- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
A husband and wife fight to conquer alcoholism.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford
BW-117 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Days of Wine and Roses"

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Lee Remick, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Joseph C. Wright and George James Hopkins, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Donfeld

The cast and crew were very concerned that the bleak ending would be changed. Director Blake Edwards recalled for Entertainment Weekly magazine that studio head Jack L. Warner wanted a lighter ending, but he came into a screening with a very attractive date who blasted the decision. Warner reluctantly gave in. In addition, Jack Lemmon purposely flew to Paris after filming had wrapped so he would be "unavailable" for re-shoots.


11:00 AM -- Mister Roberts (1955)
A naval officer longing for active duty clashes with his vainglorious captain.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell
C-121 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Lemmon

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros.), and Best Picture

At first the US Navy was not happy that the movie was to be made at all - Capt. Morton (James Cagney) was not the kind of officer the Navy wanted the public to see - and was going to withhold all cooperation with the filmmakers. It took the influence of John Ford, a former Navy captain, on some of his friends at Navy headquarters in Washington to secure the Navy's cooperation.


1:15 PM -- The Great Race (1965)
A bumbling villain plots to win an early 20th-century auto race.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood
C-160 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects -- Treg Brown

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Russell Harlan, Best Sound -- George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD), Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, and Best Music, Original Song -- Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "The Sweetheart Tree"

A moose head appears to hang on the wall of Professor Fate's (Jack Lemmon's) oddly-decorated dining room. However, when the Professor and Max run out the front door you can see that the rest of the moose stands in the foyer, with just his head poking through a hole in the wall. Ernie Kovacs originally did this gag on one of his TV shows. The fact that Jack Lemmon was a great friend of Kovacs' suggests that this wasn't a coincidence. In addition, the gag goes back at least as far as the 1946 Warner Bros.' cartoon "Kitty Kornered," in which a cat clinging to a moose head is being pulled by Porky Pig, and as a result pulls the entire moose out of the wall.


4:00 PM -- The Wackiest Ship In The Army (1961)
The captain of a broken-down ship has to sneak an Australian spy into enemy waters during World War II.
Dir: Richard Murphy
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, John Lund
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The movie is loosely based upon an actual commissioned Navy ship, the USS Echo (IX-95). As in the movie, the Echo was a scow loaned to the Navy from New Zealand in 1942, but was used for carrying cargo and supplies to Army bases in the South Pacific, earning her an Army commendation. She was decommissioned in 1944 and can be seen in Picton New Zealand as a museum.


5:45 PM -- The Apartment (1960)
An aspiring executive lets his bosses use his apartment for assignations, only to fall for the big chief's mistress.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
BW-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Kruschen, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, and Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

The office Christmas party scene was actually filmed on December 23, 1959, so as to catch everybody in the proper holiday mood. Billy Wilder filmed almost all of it on the first take, stating to an observer, "I wish it were always this easy. Today, I can just shout 'action' and stand back."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: CHARLES WALTERS



8:00 PM -- High Society (1956)
In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Cole Porter for the song "True Love", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin

The song True Love, written by Cole Porter especially for the movie, was a million seller and both Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby were awarded platinum records for the song. This is the only platinum record ever given to sitting royalty as Grace Kelly had become Princess Grace by the time it was awarded.


10:00 PM -- The Glass Slipper (1955)
Musical adaptation of the story of Cinderella and her magical trip to the prince's ball.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Leslie Caron, Michael Wilding, Keenan Wynn
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Tommy Rall, Jacques d'Amboise and James Mitchell were all considered for the role of Prince Charles. Michael Wilding, despite having no professional dance training, was cast due to the rash of publicity surrounding his marriage to fellow MGM contract player Elizabeth Taylor.


11:45 PM -- The Tender Trap (1955)
A swinging bachelor finds love when he meets a girl immune to his line.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne
C-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song &quot Love Is) The Tender Trap"

The original Broadway production of "The Tender Trap" by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith opened at the Longacre Theater on October 13, 1954 and ran for 102 performances. The original cast included Robert Preston and Kim Hunter.


1:45 AM -- Easy to Love (1953)
Two men vie for the heart of a Cypress Gardens swimming star.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Van Johnson, Tony Martin
C-96 mins, CC,

Esther Williams chooses Van Johnson over Tony Martin; toward the end of the movie, Martin bumps into Cyd Charisse (in a cameo), his real-life wife at the time.


3:30 AM -- Don't Go Near The Water (1957)
Navy office workers scheme to build a recreation hall on a remote Pacific island.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Glenn Ford, Gia Scala, Earl Holliman
C-107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on a novel by William Brinkley.


5:30 AM -- Best Foot Forward (1943)
A movie star wreaks havoc when she accepts an invitation to a military academy dance.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler
C-94 mins, CC,

Film debuts of Nancy Walker and June Allyson. The last film of Virginia Weidler.