TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 26, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - TCM Spotlight: American International

It's a day full of birthday boy John Wayne, born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa. I can't abide his politics, but he was a wonderfully unrated actor, who didn't always get parts that allowed him to stretch his acting muscles. Today's selection is mostly his early Westerns, from before his star-making turn in Stagecoach (1939). Interesting fact according to IMDB -- Wayne holds some kind of record for most leading parts. He had the leading role in all but 11 eleven of his films. And in prime time, we finally finish up TCM's salute to American International Pictures. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)
A cowboy tames a wild horse suspected of killing a man, then rides out to find the real culprit.
Dir: Fred Allen
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Ruth Hall
BW-55 mins, CC,

An adaptation of The Unknown Cavalier (1926), starring Ken Maynard.


7:00 AM -- The Big Stampede (1932)
A new sheriff faces the rustlers who killed his predecessor.
Dir: Tenny Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Noah Beery
BW-54 mins, CC,

A remake of The Land Beyond the Law (1927), starring Ken Maynard, and The Land Beyond the Law (1937), starring Dick Foran the Singing Cowboy.


8:00 AM -- Haunted Gold (1932)
A cowboy and his girl fight bandits and a ghost over an abandoned mine.
Dir: Mack V. Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Sheila Terry
BW-58 mins, CC,

Remake of The Phantom City (1928), once again starring Ken Maynard. I think we may be onto a theme here!


9:00 AM -- The Telegraph Trail (1933)
An Army scout volunteers to string telegraph wires through Indian territory.
Dir: Tenny Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Frank McHugh
BW-54 mins, CC,

This is the film that James Cagney is shown as an example of talking pictures (and the reason for his impending unemployment) in Footlight Parade (1933). (And it's a remake of yet another Ken Maynard film, The Red Raiders (1927).


10:00 AM -- Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw's life when he's falsely accused of a crime.
Dir: Mack V. Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Henry B. Walthall
BW-58 mins, CC,

Remake of Somewhere in Sonora (1927), starring, you guessed it, Ken Maynard!


11:00 AM -- The Man From Monterey (1933)
A U.S. Cavalry officer tries to protect Spanish landowners in California.
Dir: Mack V. Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Ruth Hall
BW-57 mins, CC,

This film's predecessor was Ken Maynard's The Canyon of Adventure (1928).


12:00 PM -- Reunion in France (1942)
A Frenchwoman tries to help a downed U.S. flyer escape the Nazis.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Philip Dorn
BW-104 mins, CC,

Originally scheduled as a February 1943 release under the name "Reunion", the movie was moved up to a Christmas 1942 release with the final title because of the increased interest in the war in France. Most trade papers reviewed the film with the title "Reunion" due to early press previews, and the copyright registry bears that title also.


1:45 PM -- Tycoon (1947)
While building a tunnel through the Andes, an engineer falls in love with his possessive boss's daughter.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: John Wayne, Laraine Day, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
C-129 mins, CC,

James Agee's review of the film included one of the most famous critical quotes of all time: "Several tons of dynamite are set off in this film, none of it under the right people."


4:00 PM -- Angel And The Badman (1947)
When a Quaker girl nurses a notorious gunman back to health, he tries to adopt her peaceful ways.
Dir: James Edward Grant
Cast: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey
BW-100 mins,

It was the first motion picture produced by John Wayne's production company, Patnel Productions.It also was Wayne's first producing effort for Republic.


5:45 PM -- McLintock! (1963)
A cattle baron fights to tame the West and his estranged wife.
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne
C-122 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The "mudhole" in which the famous brawl took place wasn't actually made of mud. It was made of a material called bentonite, which is used in the drilling of oil wells and has the consistency of chocolate syrup. According to actor Leo Gordon (the first one to be knocked down it), that scene took a week to shoot.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES



8:00 PM -- The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
A madman uses the plagues of ancient Egypt to avenge his wife's death.
Dir: Robert Fuest
Cast: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Joseph Cotten would grumble on the set that he had to remember and deliver lines, while Vincent Price's were all to be post-dubbed. Price responded, "Yes, but I still know them, Joe." In fact, Price was well-known in Hollywood for his ability to memorize all of the characters' lines in a given production, not just his own.


9:48 PM -- Soul In Cinema Filming Shaft On Location (1971)
A short behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of "Shaft" (1971), focusing on Gordon Parks' directing and Isaac Hayes' score.
Dir: Hugh A Robertson
C-11 mins,


10:00 PM -- Boxcar Bertha (1972)
A union leader enlists his girlfriend in a plot to get back at the railroad's evil management.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus
C-89 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

After he finished this film, Martin Scorsese screened it for John Cassavetes. Cassavetes, after seeing it, hugged Scorsese and said, "Marty, you've just spent a whole year of your life making a piece of shit. It's a good picture, but you're better than the people who make this kind of movie. Don't get hooked into the exploitation market, just try and do something different." Scorsese's next film was Mean Streets (1973).


11:49 PM -- A Look At The World Of "Soylent Green" (1973)
This short film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the science fiction film "Soylent Green" (1973).
C-10 mins,


12:00 AM -- Sisters (1973)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
C-92 mins,

Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt were roommates in Southern California in the early 1970s while they were struggling performers. They held parties for their friends and neighbors who included Paul Schrader, Blythe Danner, Bruce Paltrow and Brian De Palma. One year at Christmas, Kidder and Salt opened separate boxes under their Christmas tree and each one contained the script to this film. This project was De Palma's gift to them.


1:49 AM -- All Talking... All Singing... All Dancing (1971)
This promotional short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the musical "The Boy Friend" (1971).
C-9 mins,


2:00 AM -- Bloody Mama (1970)
Machine gun totin' Ma Barker lead her sons on a crime spree in the Depression era.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Shelley Winters, Pat Hingle, Don Stroud
BW-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Shelley Winters was such an extreme method actress that she spent the entire evening before the grave scene at a funeral parlor staring at a real corpse in a coffin convincing herself she was staring at her dead son, in addition to listening to loud opera just before shooting a scene to work herself up emotionally, and throwing a very real wine bottle at Lloyd (Robert De Niro) in order to make him cry.


3:45 AM -- Blacula (1972)
An African prince bitten by Dracula stalks the Los Angeles night in search of his lost princess.
Dir: William Crain
Cast: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas
C-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

While the film was in its production stages, William Marshall worked with the producers to make sure his character had some dignity. His character's name was changed from Andrew Brown to Mamuwalde and received a background story about his being an African prince who had been turned into a vampire.


5:30 AM -- A Matter of Time (1976)
An eccentric countess teaches a hotel chambermaid to follow her dreams.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Liza Minnelli, Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer
C-98 mins, CC,

This is the only film in which both Ingrid Bergman (Countess Sanziani) and her daughter Isabella Rossellini (Sister Pia) appear together.