TCM Schedule for Saturday, June 16, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Wilderness Westerns

In the daylight hours, TCM has more Saturday morning matinee programming. Then in prime time, we're headed into the deep woods, into the back of beyond. Grab your compass and enjoy!



6:00 AM -- THE WHITE ANGEL (1936)
In this true story, Florence Nightingale defies military leaders to organize humanitarian nursing services during the Crimean War.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Donald Woods
BW-92 mins, CC,

Much disagreement to the origin of the source material exists. Some contemporary sources believed the source was Lytton Strachey's 1918 biographical essay in "Eminent Victorians". Others contend Michael Jacoby was the author. Warner Bros. executive Hal B. Wallis contended that the life of Florence Nightingale was in the public domain, and that screenwriter Mordaunt Shairp did his own research. The MPAA agreed with Wallis; no source credit was necessary.


8:00 AM -- SO YOU'RE GOING TO BE A FATHER (1947)
In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes faces numerous anxieties in becoming a new father. Vitaphone Release 1552A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Creighton Hale, Edward Gargan
BW-11 mins,


8:00 AM -- HOW I PLAY GOLF BY BOBBY JONES NO. 8 THE BRASSIE (1931)
In this short film, a father would rather have an impromptu lesson on playing with a brassie than thwarting his daughter's engagement. Vitaphone Release 4799.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Loretta Young, Greffoz, Allan "Rocky" Lane
BW-10 mins,

The officers were actual Pasadena motor cops. The officer who talks to Bobby is an Officer Greffoz who landed the part while asking a question about his hook while watching the filming on the sidelines.


8:00 AM -- MGM CARTOONS: PAPA GETS THE BIRD (1940)
Mama Bear tells Papa to give their canary a bath.
Dir: Hugh Harman
Cast: Rudolf Ising, Martha Wentworth
BW-8 mins, CC,


8:00 AM -- FREIGHTERS OF DESTINY (1932)
A young man seeks vengeance on the outlaws who killed his father.
Dir: Fred Allen
Cast: Tom Keene, Barbara Kent, Mitchell Harris
BW-58 mins,

The film's review, published in Variety 12 April 1932, at the time of its New York City opening, repeatedly, and erroneously, refers to actor Tom Tyler in the leading role, as opposed to top billed Tom Keene.


9:30 AM -- TAILSPIN TOMMY IN THE GREAT AIR MYSTERY: WRECK OF THE DIRIGIBLE (1935)
A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs as he foils a plan by corrupt profiteers to steal an island's oil reserves.
Dir: Ray Taylor
Cast: Clark Williams, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr.
BW-21 mins,

Part one.


10:00 AM -- TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL (1950)
A dying tribe kidnaps the jungle king's wife to help replenish their numbers.
Dir: Lee Sholem
Cast: Lex Barker, Vanessa Brown, Robert Alda
BW-74 mins, CC,

Vanessa Brown's first and only performance as Jane.


10:00 AM -- POPEYE: AXE ME ANOTHER (1934)
Popeye rescues Olive Oyl from a river and proceeds to beat Bluto in a lumberjack contest.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel
Cast: William Costello, William Pennell, Mae Questel
BW-7 mins, CC,

One of a number of Popeye shorts that were sent off to Asia in the '80s to undergo the infamous redraw and colorization process.


11:30 AM -- NERTSERY RHYMES (1933)
In this comedic short, a father and mother tell nursery stories to their three sons.
Dir: Jack Cummings
Cast: Moe Howard, Ted Healy, Bonnie Bonnell
C-20 mins,

Film debut of Curly Howard!


12:00 PM -- THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
The Japanese Army forces World War II POWs to build a strategic bridge in Burma.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
C-162 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness was not present at the awards ceremony. Jean Simmons accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Director -- David Lean, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson were blacklisted at the time and received no screen credit. They were posthumously awarded Oscars in 1984. Pierre Boulle was not present at the awards ceremony. Kim Novak accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Cinematography -- Jack Hildyard, Best Film Editing -- Peter Taylor (Peter Taylor was not present at the awards ceremony. William A. Lyon accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Music, Scoring -- Malcolm Arnold (Malcolm Arnold was not present at the ceremony. Morris Stoloff accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sessue Hayakawa

Initially Alec Guinness had doubts about playing the role of Col. Nicholson. Guinness had become a much-loved figure on screen, appearing in a series of popular comedies. The Nicholson character seemed humorless, unlovable and perhaps even dull. To remedy this, Guinness tried to inject some humor into his portrayal of the Colonel. David Lean was very much opposed to this idea, insisting that it be played straight. Thus began an argument between the two men that continued through shooting.

During shooting, Guinness continued to have doubts about his performance and the direction he was getting from David Lean. To put Guinness at ease, Lean decided to show the actor a rough cut of certain sequences. One night, Lean ran over an hour's worth of footage for Guinness, with the actor's wife and son also attending. During the screening nothing was said. At the end, the Guinness family thanked Lean and promptly walked out, leaving the director without a clue as to what to think of their reaction (or lack of). Later that night, Lean received a visit from Guinness, who told him that he and his family had decided that Nicholson was the best thing that Guinness had ever done.


3:00 PM -- THE SUNDOWNERS (1960)
An Australian sheepherder and his wife clash over their nomadic existence and their son's future.
Dir: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov
C-133 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Deborah Kerr, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Glynis Johns, Best Director -- Fred Zinnemann, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Isobel Lennart, and Best Picture

Gary Cooper was originally cast in the lead role of Paddy Carmondy, but had to back out due to poor health. Errol Flynn replaced him, but he suddenly passed away before production began. Robert Mitchum stepped into the role for the chance to act with his good friend Deborah Kerr, whom he had previously co-starred with in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957). Mitchum agreed to give Kerr top billing, joking to the production team, "You can design a 24-foot sign of me bowing to her if you like."


5:30 PM -- CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
A blue-collar worker's encounter with a UFO leaves him a changed man.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Terry Garr
C-135 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography -- Vilmos Zsigmond

Winner of an Oscar Special Achievement Award for Frank E. Warner for sound effects editing

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Melinda Dillon, Best Director -- Steven Spielberg, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Joe Alves, Daniel A. Lomino and Phil Abramson, Best Sound -- Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall and Gene S. Cantamessa, Best Film Editing -- Michael Kahn, Best Effects, Visual Effects -- Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein and Richard Yuricich, and Best Music, Original Score -- John Williams



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: WILDERNESS WESTERNS



8:00 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).


10:15 PM -- MAN IN THE WILDERNESS (1971)
Left for dead after a bear attack, a fur-trapper exacts revenge on his fellow companions who abandoned him in dangerous Indian territory.
Dir: Richard C. Sarafian
Cast: Richard Harris, John Huston, Henry Wilcoxon
BW-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Zachary Bass, who is based on real-life mountain man Hugh Glass, is shown to have had a wife and son in this movie. However, there's no record of the noted historical figure ever being married and having any children. Similarly, in The Revenant (2015) Glass was also shown to have a wife and son.


12:15 AM -- THE PITFALL (1948)
A married insurance man falls for a criminal's girlfriend.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt
BW-86 mins, CC,

To get by the Hayes Code office, that would normally not allow a good guy (John) to be an adulterer - and suffer no consequences - director De Toth met with two prominent officials with the office who were married and let them know he knew of their mistresses. The production did not have any problems with the Hayes Code after that meeting.


2:00 AM -- YOUR CHEATIN' HEART (1964)
Legendary country-western singer Hank Williams uses alcohol to deal with the pressures of fame.
Dir: Gene Nelson
Cast: George Hamilton, Susan Oliver, Red Buttons
BW-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Elvis Presley was considered for the role of Hank Williams. Wiliams' first wife, Audrey Williams, vetoed the idea. She felt that Elvis would become the focus of the movie.


4:00 AM -- HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (1980)
A country music star leads different lifestyles at home and on the road.
Dir: Jerry Schatzberg
Cast: Willie Nelson, Dyan Cannon, Amy Irving
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Willie Nelson for the song "On the Road Again"

This is the second remake of the Swedish movie Intermezzo (1936) - first remade as Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939) - replacing the classical music of the 1930s movies with country-and-western, and being made and released more than 40 years later.