TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 3, 2016 -- The Essentials - Berlin Stories

The Essentials for tonight all take place in and were filmed in Berlin, generally East Berlin, considering that most were filmed during the time of the divided city. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1932)
An American missionary falls in love with a Chinese warlord.
Dir: Frank R. Capra
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Nils Asther, Toshia Mori
BW-87 mins, CC,

Swedish actor Nils Asther played Gen. Yen. Asian actors were never cast in lead roles in American productions at the time. Although multilingual, Asther did not speak Mandarin. However, he did use a Mandarin dialect for the part.


7:45 AM -- THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents' murder.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

In many scenes, there appear to be two of Fairbanks in the medium shot without trick photography. The director did it by having a stuntman wear a special Fairbanks mask, complete with mustache.


9:45 AM -- CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE (1939)
Secret Service agents try to solve the theft of treasury banknote plates.
Dir: Noel Smith
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Rosella Towne, Eddie Foy Jr.
BW-58 mins,

In interviews during his presidency, Ronald Reagan called this movie, "the worst picture I ever made" and also said, "never has an egg of such dimensions been laid". He recalled that a movie usher who had seen the film once told him, "You should be ashamed." However, the film did have one positive effect for Reagan. After seeing the movie, a young man named Jerry Parr was inspired to enter the Secret Service. On March 30, 1981, Parr was the agent who quickly pushed Ronald Reagan into his limousine when John W. Hinckley Jr. fired six shots at the President outside the Washington D.C. Hilton. Parr's quick reaction, and his decision to take the wounded Reagan immediately to George Washington University Hospital, were credited with saving the President's life.


10:45 AM -- NO HOLDS BARRED (1952)
The Bowery Boys enter the wrestling world when one of them develops superhuman powers.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Marjorie Reynolds
BW-65 mins, CC,

The 28th of 48 Bowery Boys movies, this film was shot in six days.


12:00 PM -- STAGECOACH (1939)
A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
BW-96 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Thomas Mitchell, and Best Music, Scoring -- Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold andLeo Shuken

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- John Ford, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Bert Glennon, Best Art Direction -- Alexander Toluboff, Best Film Editing -- Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, and Best Picture

Yakima Canutt explained how the stunt where he gets dragged behind the horses was accomplished - "You have to run the horses fast, so they'll run straight. If they run slow, they move around a lot. When you turn loose to go under the coach, you've got to bring your arms over your chest and stomach. You've got to hold your elbows close to your body, or that front axle will knock them off." After the stunt was completed, Canutt ran to Ford to make sure they got the stunt on film. Ford replied than even if they hadn't, "I'll never shoot that again."


1:40 PM -- WAGON WHEELS WEST (1943)
In this short film, a U.S. marshal seeks vengeance against the man who killed his father. Vitaphone Release 1147A.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Lou Marcelle, Joe Rickson, Victor Potel
BW-17 mins,


2:00 PM -- JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972)
An ex-soldier moves to the Colorado wilderness but cannot escape civilization.
Dir: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton
BW-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based upon a real-life trapper named John Johnston, nicknamed "Crow Killer" and "Liver Eater Johnston" for his penchant for cutting out and eating the livers of Crow Indians he had killed (several Crows had murdered his wife and he swore vengeance against the entire tribe).


4:06 PM -- THE MAN WHO MAKES THE DIFFERENCE (1968)
A behind-the-scenes promotional short for the action film "Ice Station Zebra" (1968).
C-7 mins,


4:15 PM -- HOUR OF THE GUN (1967)
Wyatt Earp tracks down the survivors of the Clanton Gang after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: James Garner, Jason Robards Jr., Robert Ryan
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Prior to production, United Artists had made it quite clear to director John Sturges that none of the primary roles were to be filled by the actors who played the same characters in Sturges' previous Wyatt Earp film, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). Wanting to distinguish this film from the previous one, they demanded different actors be cast in the roles. However, Sturges believed that the roles of Virgil and Morgan Earp from the previous film were small enough that the same actors who played them could do it again without harming the film's uniqueness. The studio agreed and allowed Sturges to cast John Hudson (Virgil Earp) and DeForest Kelley (Morgan Earp). Unfortunately, Hudson had retired from acting in the early '60s and was unwilling to do the role. Kelley, on the other hand, was currently working on the TV series Star Trek (1966) and was unable to break away to play Morgan Earp. Thus, both Earp brothers were recast. (Kelley's Star Trek later paid homage to this movie in Star Trek: Spectre of the Gun (1968).)


6:00 PM -- A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964)
A mysterious stranger plays dueling families against each other in a Mexican border town.
Dir: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, Gian Maria Volontè
C-100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

After considering Henry Fonda, director Sergio Leone offered the role of the Man With No Name to James Coburn, who proved too expensive. Charles Bronson then turned it down after describing it as the "worst script I have ever seen". Third choice Richard Harrison also declined the role but pointed Leone in the direction of Rawhide (1959). Leone then offered the part to "Rawhide" star Eric Fleming, who turned it down but suggested his co-star Clint Eastwood for the part. The rest, as they say, is history.


7:50 PM -- THE BOTTLE AND THE THROTTLE (1965)
In this short film, a teenager runs down a mother and child after having one too many alcoholic beverages.
C-10 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: BERLIN STORIES



8:00 PM -- CABARET (1972)
A young writer gets mixed up with a pleasure-loving singer in the decadent world of 1930s Berlin.
Dir: Bob Fosse
Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem
C-124 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Liza Minnelli, Best Actor in a Supporting Role-- Joel Grey, Best Director -- Bob Fosse, Best Cinematography -- Geoffrey Unsworth, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Rolf Zehetbauer, Hans Jürgen Kiebach and Herbert Strabel, Best Sound -- Robert Knudson and David Hildyard, Best Film Editing -- David Bretherton, and Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation -- Ralph Burns

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Jay Presson Allen, and Best Picture

British author Christopher Isherwood, who originated the character of Sally Bowles in his short story "Goodbye to Berlin", enjoyed the attention the movie "Cabaret" brought to his career, but felt Liza Minnelli was too talented for the role. Sally, an amateur talent who lived under the delusion she had star quality, was, according to Isherwood, the antithesis of "Judy Garland's daughter".


10:15 PM -- A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948)
A prim Congresswoman gets caught up in the romantic decadence of post-war Germany.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, John Lund
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Richard L. Breen, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Charles Lang

Future Emmy-winning editor John Woodcock, assisting in the cutting of the picture, recalls a moment when Billy Wilder was reviewing the footage he shot in Berlin. Seeing aerial shots of block after block of levelled buildings, Woodcock remarked that he felt a little sorry for the Germans. Wilder jumped up in a rage: "To hell with those bastards! They burned most of my family in their damned ovens! I hope they burn in hell!"


12:15 AM -- ESCAPE FROM EAST BERLIN (1962)
An East German helps dig a tunnel beneath the Berlin Wall.
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Cast: Don Murray, Christine Kaufmann, Werner Klemperer
BW-89 mins, CC,

Actually filmed in Berlin, during the time of the Berlin Wall. Gutsy!


2:00 AM -- ZARDOZ (1974)
In the far future, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
Dir: John Boorman
Cast: Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

John Boorman used Irish Travellers as extras. He said that they were the best extras that he'd ever had, extremely pleasant and reliable. He cast them, because he thought they looked like people who'd actually lived an outdoor life.


3:51 AM -- A LOOK INTO THE 23RD CENTURY (1976)
This promotional short gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the science fiction classic "Logan's Run" (1976).
Dir: Ronald Saland
C-9 mins,


4:00 AM -- LOGAN'S RUN (1975)
A future police officer uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
Dir: Michael Anderson
Cast: Michael York, Richard Jordan, Jenny Agutter
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar Special Achievement Award for L.B. Abbott, Glen Robinson and Matthew Yuricich for visual effects

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Ernest Laszlo, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Dale Hennesy and Robert De Vestel

Michael York initially didn't think the movie was for him. "But this young member of the (Ahmanson Theatre) company was deputed to drive me back and forth, so we would chat all the time," York told Den of Geek. "I mentioned that I'd had this script, and he asked to take a look at it, so I said 'Of course.' He came to pick me up the next day practically wagging a finger at me saying 'You've got to do this-you may not be aware of it, but it's pressing a lot of buttons.' And he was absolutely right."