TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 1, 2015 -- The Essentials: Gene Tierney

Tonight's theme for the Essentials is the films of the beautiful Gene Tierney (though TCM is featuring her films throughout the day). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Never Let Me Go (1953)
An American correspondent and his Russian ballerina wife are separated by the Soviet authorities.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Clark Gable, Gene Tierney, Bernard Miles
BW-94 min, CC

Based on the novel, Come The Dawn, by Paul Winterton (writing as Roger Bax).


7:45 AM -- Plymouth Adventure (1952)
Epic dramatization of the Pilgrims' journey to the new world on the Mayflower.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Lowell Gilmore, Tommy Ivo, John Dehner
C-105 min, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

For once, the colonists are correctly shown building framed houses, and not log cabins as is commonly supposed - the latter were introduced by Swedish settlers along the Delaware in 1638, and did not become popular until the eighteenth century.


9:45 AM -- The Egyptian (1954)
An ancient Egyptian doctor uses court intrigue to discover his birthright.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Gene Tierney
C-140 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy

After shooting was completed, Fox made back some of the film's immense cost by selling many of the set pieces, props and costumes to Paramount, which then employed them in an even bigger epic, Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956).


12:15 PM -- Black Widow (1954)
The murder of a scheming female writer throws a group of theatrical friends into turmoil.
Dir: Nunnally Johnson
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney
C-95 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Nunnally Johnson originally offered the role played by Ginger Rogers to Tallulah Bankhead, who called the writer-producer and--in a 25-minute phone conversation--gave him her reasons for rejecting the role. Rogers turned the part down as well, but had a change of heart after Johnson sent her a letter asking her to reconsider--on the proviso that she could take the relatively minor role and make it into a star-turn.


2:00 PM -- Whirlpool (1949)
A kleptomaniac falls into the clutches of a quack hypnotist.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, Jose Ferrer
BW-97 min, CC

At one point in the film, Theresa Randolph (Barbara O'Neil) tells Ann (Gene Tierney) that she is old enough to be her mother. However, in reality, O'Neil was only ten years older than Tierney.


3:45 PM -- Laura (1944)
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb
BW-88 min, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Clifton Webb, Best Director -- Otto Preminger, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller and Thomas Little

This movie is famous for the haunting "Laura Theme". When asked why she had turned down the part of Laura, Hedy Lamarr said, "They sent me the script, not the score."


5:30 PM -- The Razor's Edge (1946)
A young man's quest for spiritual peace threatens his position in society.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne
BW-145 min, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Anne Baxter

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Clifton Webb, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day, Nathan Juran, Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox, and Best Picture

Edmund Goulding was a director actors either loved or hated. He had a habit of asking to "be" the actor to get what he wanted. In her autobiography, Gene Tierney relates exactly how Goulding did it: "When he wanted to describe to you how a particular scene should be played, he would step in front of the camera and say, 'May I be you?' Then he would promptly act out the entire scene." Tierney found it delightful and even wrote, "I don't recall a set where there was more cheerfulness." Others, like Clifton Webb, adamantly disagreed, remarking, "He had everybody entranced but me, and I'm afraid I remained cold to this type of thing to the very end."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: GENE TIERNEY



8:00 PM -- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
A spirited widow rents a haunted cottage and builds an emotional bond with the resident ghost.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders
BW-104 min, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang

Gene Tierney's first approach to the character of Lucy Muir was playful, almost screwball. After a conference between Darryl F. Zanuck and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the first two days shooting were redone so that Tierney could give the character more depth. The change resulted in huge critical acclaim for the actress.


10:00 PM -- Heaven Can Wait (1943)
An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn
C-112 min, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Ernst Lubitsch, Best Cinematography, Color -- Edward Cronjager, and Best Picture

Gene Tierney recalled that during production, "Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it - but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously." (From Gene Tierney's autobiography 'Self-Portrait'.)


12:00 AM -- Advise & Consent (1962)
A controversial presidential nomination threatens the careers of several prominent politicians.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray
BW-138 min, CC, Letterbox Format

Gene Tierney's comeback film after she had withdrawn from acting for several years due to her ongoing struggle with bipolar disorder.


2:30 AM -- Close to My Heart (1951)
A journalist's wife insists on adopting an abandoned child.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Ray Milland, Gene Tierney, Fay Bainter
BW-90 min, CC

Based on the novel, A Baby For Midge, by James R. Webb. He later won an Oscar for the screenplay for How The West Was Won (1962).


4:05 AM -- Make Mine Memories (1955)
This short film provides a funny twist on two silent films.
Dir: Richard O. Fleischer
BW-8 min


4:15 AM -- Toys In The Attic (1963)
Man finds trouble when he brings young bride back to his New Orleans home.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, Yvette Mimieux
BW-91 min

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Bill Thomas

1n 1960, female cast members announced were Katharine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh (parts later taken by Wendy Hiller and Vivien Leigh), with Olivia DeHavilland in role eventually played by Gene Tierney.