TCM Schedule for Friday, May 15, 2015 -- Friday Night Spotlight - Orson Welles

Last edited Fri May 15, 2015, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

During the day, we're are mostly seeing films that have been remade over and over again, with the exception of North by Northwest (1959). North by Northwest has never been remade (thank heavens!), but it has been imitated and copied numerous times in both films and television. This month's Friday night theme of the films of Orson Welles continues with a couple of different takes on Shakespeare. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Reckless Moment (1949)
A mother attempts to protect her murderous daughter.
Dir: Max Opuls
Cast: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks
BW-82 mins, CC,

Walter Wanger, who produced "Reckless Moment", and Joan Bennett were married from 1940 until 1965. In 1951 Wanger shot Bennett's agent, Jennings Lang, apparently based on the assumption of a romantic involvement between the two.

Version of The Deep End (2001) based on the same Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel "The Blank Wall"


7:30 AM -- The Prisoner Of Zenda (1952)
An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern
C-101 mins, CC,

The Ruritanian Royal Train seen briefly as Rassendyl and the others travel to Strelsau for the coronation is stock footage of the Salzkammergut Lokalbahn, a narrow-gauge railway in the Salzburg area of Austria, that closed in 1957.

Based on the novel by Baroness Orczy and also filmed as The Prisoner of Zenda (1913), The Prisoner of Zenda (1915), The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), The DuPont Show of the Month: The Prisoner of Zenda (1961) (TV Episode), The Prisoner of Zenda (1979), The Prisoner of Zenda (1984) (TV Mini-Series), Prisoner of Zenda (1988), and The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. (1996) (TV Movie).


9:15 AM -- A Star Is Born (1954)
A falling star marries the newcomer he's helping reach the top.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson
C-176 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Mason, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Judy Garland (Judy Garland couldn't attend the ceremony because she was giving birth to her third child and only son, Joey Luft. Even though she did not win the Academy Award, as everyone really expected her to win, she always stated that Joey was the best "Academy Award" she ever received that night.), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Malcolm C. Bert, Gene Allen, Irene Sharaff and George James Hopkins, Best Costume Design, Color -- Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg and Irene Sharaff, Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) for the song "The Man that Got Away", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf

Groucho Marx called Judy Garland not winning an Oscar for A Star Is Born (1954), "the biggest robbery since Brink's." Hedda Hopper later reported that her loss to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that didn't end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was a heartbreak from which she never really recovered and which has remained a matter of some controversy ever since.

Also filmed as What Price Hollywood? (1932), A Star Is Born (1937), Robert Montgomery Presents: A Star Is Born (1951) (TV Episode), and A Star Is Born (1976).


12:12 PM -- Some Of The Greatest (1955)
This short film showcases scenes from "Don Juan" (1926), starring John Barrymore.
Dir: Robert Youngson
BW-11 mins,


12:30 PM -- North By Northwest (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
C-136 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Ernest Lehman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Robert F. Boyle, Merrill Pye, Henry Grace and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Film Editing -- George Tomasini

Alfred Hitchcock filmed Cary Grant's entrance into the United Nations building from across the street with a hidden camera. When he gets to the top of the stairs a man about to walk down does a double take upon seeing the movie star.


2:48 PM -- A Visit With Debbie Reynolds (1959)
In this promotional short for Boston's Jimmy Fund, Debbie Reynolds asks the movie audience to contribute donations to assist with child cancer treatment and research.
BW-3 mins,


3:00 PM -- Lolita (1961)
Vladimir Nabokov's racy classic focuses on an aging intellectual in love with a teenager.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters
BW-153 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Vladimir Nabokov

Sue Lyon was chosen for the title role partly due to the size of her breasts. Stanley Kubrick had been warned that the censors felt strongly about the use of a less developed actress to portray the sexually active 14-year-old.

Remade as Lolita (1997) and Nishabd (2007).


5:45 PM -- The Last of Sheila (1973)
A game of murder among wealthy vacationers turns into the real thing.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: James Coburn, Raquel Welch, Dyan Cannon
C-119 mins, Letterbox Format

The plot is based on murder-mystery party games that co-authors and puzzle enthusiasts Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim wrote and performed in their homes. Perkins and Sondheim plotted sophisticated games with very esoteric clues for their own and their friends' entertainment, as James Coburn's character does, and the film grew from that.

A new version of The Last of Sheila is currently in development, according to IMDB.


7:46 PM -- On Location With Westworld (1973)
This promotional short shows what occurred behind-the-scenes during the shooting of "Westworld" (1973).
C-9 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: ORSON WELLES



8:00 PM -- Chimes at Midnight (1967)
An aging knight uses his wits to survive in war and peace.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford
BW-116 mins,

The film was based on the play "Five Kings". It was written by Orson Welles and condensed William Shakespeare's "Henry IV, V, VI" and "Richard III" into one show. He produced the show in New York in 1939 but the opening night, during which Part 1 was performed, was a disaster and Part 2 was never put on. He revamped the show and revisited it in 1960. Again, it was not successful. However, this later production was used as the basis for the movie.


10:15 PM -- Orson Welles: The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (1952)
The legendary Moor of Venice battles his growing suspicions that his wife is unfaithful.
BW-93 mins,


12:00 AM -- Macbeth (1948)
A Scottish warlord and his wife murder their way to a pair of crowns.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy
BW-107 mins, CC,

Although the film was a critical and commercial disaster in both the USA and England, it was a huge success in many non-English speaking countries, especially France, where critics could not understand how the American and British press failed to appreciate the highly stylized and surrealistic approach Orson Welles took to the play. Today it is very highly regarded in English-speaking countries.


2:00 AM -- Throne of Blood (1957)
Spurred by his wife and a witch's prediction, a samurai murders his lord to steal the throne. Based on Shakespeare's MacBeth.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
BW-109 mins,

Takeshi Katô (Guard killed by Washizu) was worried about the thrust of Toshirô Mifune's sword, so he placed a block of wood in his arm pit. Unfortunately Mifune's thrust split the block and wounded Katô. He is alive in 2014 and still carries a scar.


4:00 AM -- Yojimbo (1961)
A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu
BW-111 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Yoshirô Muraki

Sergio Leone was inspired by this film and made the famous Spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars with a similar plot. However, because Leone was unable to secure copyright laws to Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa sued him.