TCM Schedule for Saturday, April 25, 2015 -- The Essentials: Written by Frances Marion

Tonight's Essentials topic features written by Frances Marion, one of the most respected screenwriters of the 20th century and the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, for The Big House (1930), with another Oscar win for The Champ (1931) and a nomination for The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933). Enjoy!



7:21 AM -- Vitaphone Pictorial Revue No. 4, A (1936)
This short film contains three unique segments, involving materials testing, Air Force physical exams, and winter swimmers. Vitaphone Release 2036.
BW-8 mins,


7:30 AM -- Son of Kong (1933)
Producer Carl Denham returns to Skull Island in search of more monsters.
Dir: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher
BW-70 mins,

The Little Kong puppet is actually the "long face" Kong model used for the T-Rex battle in King Kong (1933). For this film the armature (metal skeleton) was stripped of its rubber and fur and remodeled to look like a younger albino gorilla.


8:45 AM -- Rodan (1958)
Miners uncover the nest of a giant pterodactyl.
Dir: Inoshiro Honda
Cast: Kenji Sawara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata
BW-72 mins, CC,

In his autobiography, George Takei says that this was his first professional acting job, and all dialogue voices were provided by himself, Keye Luke, "another man" (Paul Frees) and one woman.


10:00 AM -- Batman: Lured by Radium (1943)
Batman and Robin track kidnappers to a mine.
BW-17 mins,


10:30 AM -- I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968)
A henpecked L.A. lawyer escapes into the world of hippies and free love.
Dir: Hy Averback
Cast: Peter Sellers, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young
C-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The film's title is a tribute to Gertrude Stein's lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, who published a cookbook in 1954 that contained the first printed recipe for hash fudge. In one of the movie's most famous scene Harold Fine unknowingly serves some marijuana-laced brownies baked by Nancy to his parents and fiancée.


12:15 PM -- Rancho Notorious (1952)
A cowboy infiltrates a bandit hideout in search of his girlfriend's killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer
C-89 mins, CC,

Cinematographer Hal Mohr, who had previously photographed Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again (1939) attempted to resign from the film due to Dietrich's insistence that he achieve for her greater youth-through-lighting than he felt possible.


2:00 PM -- Little Big Man (1970)
An American pioneer raised by Indians ends up fighting alongside General Custer.
Dir: Arthur Penn
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam
C-139 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Chief Dan George

Little Big Man was an actual historical figure. He was a Native American, an Oglala Lakota, who was a fearless and respected warrior who fought under, and was rivals with, Crazy Horse. He also fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn, a battle which is depicted in this film.


4:30 PM -- Colorado Territory (1949)
An outlaw just released from prison is sucked back into a life of crime in this remake of High Sierra.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone
BW-94 mins, CC,

Colorado Territory is a remake of the same director's 1941 film High Sierra.


6:15 PM -- Canadian Pacific (1949)
A railroad surveyor faces an Indian rebellion.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Randolph Scott, Jane Wyatt, J. Carroll Naish
C-95 mins,

Filmed in Banff National Park and Yoho National Park, Canada.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: WRITTEN BY FRANCES MARION



8:00 PM -- The Wind (1928)
In this silent film, a sheltered southern girl fights to adapt to the rough-and-tumble life of the wild West.
Dir: Victor Seastrom
Cast: Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love
BW-82 mins,

During filming, high temperatures made life miserable for both cast and crew. The intense heat caused the film stock to warp, and it had to be packed in ice to remain intact. Lillian Gish claimed that she touched an outside door handle, and was so severely burned that a small part of her palm's flesh was scalded off.


9:35 PM -- Goofy Movies Number One (1933)
This short film provides parodies of newsreel footage and silent movies.
Dir: Jules White
BW-9 mins,


9:45 PM -- Without Lying Down - Frances Marion and the Powerful Women in Hollywood (2000)
A look at the women who helped build Hollywood by taking on such traditionally male jobs as directing, producing and writing.
Dir: Bridget Terry
Cast: Mary Lea Bandy, Cari Beauchamp, Kevin Brownlow
C-55 mins, CC,

Features clips from a few of Frances Marions' writing credits, including Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917), The Little Princess (1917), Stella Maris (1918), Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918), M'Liss (1918), Johanna Enlists (1918), Pollyanna (1920), The Love Light (1921), Galloping Gallagher (1924) (Short), Thundering Hoofs (1924), Zander the Great (1925), The Scarlet Letter (1926), The Wind (1928), The Big House (1930), Min and Bill (1930), The Champ (1931), Anna Christie (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932) and Dinner at Eight (1933)


10:45 PM -- The Big House (1930)
An attempted prison break leads to a riot.
Dir: George Hill
Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone
BW-87 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Writing, Achievement -- Frances Marion, and Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (sound director)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Wallace Beery, and Best Picture

In Frances Marion's original script, the characters played by Leila Hyams and Robert Montgomery were husband and wife. After the film flopped in a preview screening, MGM studio executive Irving Thalberg decided that the problem was that audiences, especially women, didn't want to see the Chester Morris character have an affair with a married woman. So the script was rewritten to make Montgomery and Hyams brother and sister. Scenes were reshot and the film, in its modified form, became a major hit.


12:30 AM -- The Champ (1931)
A broken-down prizefighter battles to keep custody of his son.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich
BW-86 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Wallace Beery (Tied with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Frances Marion

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- King Vidor, and Best Picture

Wallace Beery actually got one less vote than Fredric March in the 1931/1932 Academy Awards voting for best actor, but the rules at the time considered anyone with one or two votes less than the leader as being in a tie. So both got Academy Awards.


2:00 AM -- The Christmas Party (1931)
In this holiday short, Jackie Cooper throws a Christmas party with the help of some friends at MGM.
Dir: Charles F. Reisner
Cast: Jimmy Durante,
BW-9 mins,


2:15 AM -- Deathdream (1972)
A woman wishes her son, killed in Vietnam, back to life with disastrous results.
Dir: Bob Clark
Cast: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus
C-88 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This film and its themes can in many ways be seen as an early reflection of the popular awareness of the effect of combat trauma on soldiers that the Vietnam War helped bring to light. Much of Andy's disposition and symptoms, e.g. sudden violent behaviour due to the re-living of traumatic experiences, would later be associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, defined by the American Psychiatric Association in the Third Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1980).


3:45 AM -- First To Fight (1967)
A former war hero returning to train new recruits can't decide if he should stay in the military, or settle down.
Dir: Christian Nyby
Cast: Chad Everett, Marilyn Devin, Dean Jagger
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filmed on location at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, California.


5:30 AM -- Perversion For Profit (1965)
This anti-porn short film shows a floodtide of filth engulfing the country in the form of newsstand obscenity.
Cast: Damian O'Flynn,
C-31 mins,