TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 22, 2017 -- The Essentials - Bette Davis Actress Roles

The Essentials tonight features a trio of films with Bette Davis playing an actress, including one of her very best roles, All About Eve (1950). Oh, and Davis was Oscar nominated for each of the films! Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- BATHING BEAUTY (1944)
A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Red Skelton, Esther Williams, Basil Rathbone
C-101 mins, CC,

In one sequence Red Skelton's character is trapped inside a house by a large dog. He escapes by removing the hinge pins from the door, picking up the door and, as the dog comes inside he holds the door between them and goes out. Red said that they had written themselves into a corner and could not come up with a way for him to get out. They were going to scrap the scene when Buster Keaton visited the set, took one look and told them how to do it.


8:30 AM -- BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF (1953)
Love brings together two families of rival sponge fishers.
Dir: Robert D. Webb
Cast: Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland
C-101 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Edward Cronjager

The legal status of Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was eventually resolved by 20th Century Fox, and the movie was rescued from public domain so that a quality DVD could be released through Fox Cinema Archives. Fans are now able to enjoy the movie with stereo sound and a quality picture - complete with the "lost" scene in which Gilbert Roland stuffs a cigar into Peter Graves' mouth after beating him in a fist fight.


10:30 AM -- BOSTON BLACKIE'S RENDEZVOUS (1945)
A reformed thief helps the police stop an escaped maniac's killing spree.
Dir: Arthur Dreifuss
Cast: Chester Morris, Nina Foch, Steve Cochran
BW-64 mins,

Goof -- Steve Cochran, who's noticeably taller and broader than Chester Morris, steals one of his suits out of his closet, and it fits perfectly.


12:00 PM -- THE LION IN WINTER (1968)
England's Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.
Dir: Anthony Harvey
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow
C-134 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn (Tied with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968). Hepburn became the third performer to win consecutive awards, and the first to win three awards for lead roles. Anthony Harvey, the film's director, accepted the award on her behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- James Goldman, and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- John Barry

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Peter O'Toole (O'Toole became the second actor (after Bing Crosby) to be twice nominated for an Oscar for portraying the same character; he had previously portrayed King Henry II in Becket (1964).), Best Director -- Anthony Harvey, Best Costume Design -- Margaret Furse, and Best Picture

Katharine Hepburn bested Peter O'Toole as the top dog on the set. Known to be something of a tyrant on most of his shoots, O'Toole meekly obliged when she told him "Peter, stop towering over me. Come and sit down and try to look respectable." O'Toole readily admitted in her presence that she reduced him "to a shadow of my former gay-dog self." "She is terrifying. It is sheer masochism working with her. She has been sent by some dark fate to nag and torment me." Her reply: "Don't be so silly. We are going to get on very well. You are Irish and you make me laugh. In any case, I am on to you and you to me."


2:30 PM -- MOONFLEET (1955)
A British buccaneer is torn between three seductive women.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood
C-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filmed entirely on the MGM backlot, apart from some scenes of the Californian coast.


4:15 PM -- ROBINSON CRUSOE (1954)
A shipwrecked Englishman fights to survive on a desert island.
Dir: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Daniel O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernández, Felipe de Alba
C-89 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dan O'Herlihy

Luis Buñuel's first all-English film; the script was also written in English, but according to Dan O'Herlihy Bunuel only directed him in Spanish.


6:00 PM -- THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1975)
To maintain control of the French monarchy, Cardinal Richelieu kidnaps D'Artagnan's true love.
Dir: Richard Lester
C-106 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Yvonne Blake and Ron Talsky

Cardinal Richelieu says to d'Artagnan that he has no personal enemies, only enemies of France. This line is in neither the original novel, nor the script. Charlton Heston came across this quote of the Cardinal's when researching the role, and asked Richard Lester to find a place to include it in the film.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: BETTE DAVIS ACTRESS ROLES



8:00 PM -- ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
An ambitious young actress tries to take over a star's career and love life.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
BW-138 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Sanders, Best Director -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Charles Le Maire, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Baxter, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Celeste Holm, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Thelma Ritter, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Milton R. Krasner, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis, Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alfred Newman

Bette Davis had just turned 42 as she undertook the role of Margo Channing, and Anne Baxter, still an up-and-comer, not only wowed audiences with her performance, but successfully pressured the powers that be for an Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category, rather than Best Supporting Actress. This is thought to have split the vote between herself and Davis. The winner for the 1950 Best Actress was Judy Holliday for her noticeable turn in Born Yesterday (1950), so Baxter's actions in effect blocked Davis' chances for the win.


10:30 PM -- THE STAR (1952)
A faded film star fights to hold on to her past glamour despite failing finances.
Dir: Stuart Heisler
Cast: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood
BW-90 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis

Bette Davis reported that she modeled her performance as the aging, has been, drunken 'star' actress in the film after Joan Crawford, a real actress who was Bette Davis' contemporary, competition, and a lifelong enemy which she publicly ridiculed throughout both their careers; to what extent this is true could be argued, but there's no question about her wearing the famous Crawford ankle strap shoes when she views her disastrous screen test.


12:15 AM -- WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
BW-134 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Norma Koch

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Victor Buono, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Haller, and Best Sound -- Joseph D. Kelly (Seven Arts-Warner Bros. Glen Glenn Sound Department)

Early on, Bette Davis made the decision to create her own makeup for Jane. "What I had in mind no professional makeup man would have dared to put on me," said Davis. "One told me he was afraid that if he did what I wanted, he might never work again. Jane looked like many women one sees on Hollywood Boulevard. In fact author Henry Farrell patterned the character of Jane after these women. One would presume by the way they looked that they once were actresses, and were now unemployed. I felt Jane never washed her face, just added another layer of makeup each day." Davis' garish makeup made her look something akin to a grotesque version of an ageing Mary Pickford gone to seed, and she loved it. She took pride when Farrell visited the set one day and exclaimed, "My God, you look just exactly as I pictured Baby Jane." The outrageousness of Davis' appearance caused some concern for Aldrich and the producers who feared it might be too over-the-top. However, as time went on, they came to see that Davis' instincts for the character were right.


2:45 AM -- TERMINAL ISLAND (1973)
Civil War breaks out between the inmates on an island prison.
Dir: Stephanie Rothman
Cast: Phyllis Davis, Don Marshall, Ena Hartman
C-88 mins, Letterbox Format

Tom Selleck and Roger E. Mosley both went on to star in Magnum, P.I. (1980).


4:30 AM -- HOUSE OF WOMEN (1962)
A young woman is wrongly implicated in a crime and sent to prison for five years.
Dir: Walter Doniger
Cast: Shirley Knight, Andrew Duggan, Constance Ford
BW-85 mins, CC,

Produced by Bryan Foy, of the original Seven Little Foys, two of his sisters, Mary Foy and Madeline Foy also appear in the film in uncredited roles as inmates.