TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 10, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Black Magic

In the daylight hours, TCM has a selection of films about queens, from real and imaginary thrones. Then in prime time, TCM continues their usual October theme of horror classic films. Today's sub-theme is Black Magic. Enjoy!

(And a moment of personal privilege -- I'm going to the Ohio State University Cancer Center on Wednesday, for a consult. My cancer has returned for the second time, and we're trying to find someplace that can operate on my tumor. Thoughts and prayers would be highly appreciated!)



6:00 AM -- MARIE ANTOINETTE (1938)
Lavish biography of the French queen who "let them eat cake."
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore
BW-157 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Norma Shearer, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Morley, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons, and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

According to Wikipedia, the movie had thousands of costumes and lavish set designs. Adrian visited France and Austria in 1937 researching the period. He studied the paintings of Marie Antoinette, even using a microscope on them so that the embroidery and fabric could be identical. Fabrics were specially woven and embroidered with stitches sometimes too fine to be seen with the naked eye. The attention to detail was extreme, from the framework to hair. Some gowns became extremely heavy due to the embroidery, flounces and precious stones used. Norma Shearer's gowns alone had a combined weight of over 1,768 lb., the heaviest being the wedding dress.


8:45 AM -- CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945)
Julius Caesar gives the famed Egyptian queen lessons in government.
Dir: Gabriel Pascal
Cast: Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, Flora Robson
C-128 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- John Bryan

This movie was shot during World War II, which resulted in production being halted repeatedly, due to German bombing raids. The war also hampered the production's ability to get necessary materials, so the crew had to do the best they could with what they had.


11:00 AM -- LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955)
A scheming seductress plots to make herself queen of Egypt.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins, Dewey Martin
C-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to the liner notes of the soundtrack CD, the lyrics of most of the choruses heard throughout the film, often thought to be Asian, Semetic or Egyptian in origin, are actually "gibberish" that composer Dimitri Tiomkin concocted to evoke the period and "sound" like ancient Egyptian and are actually meaningless.


1:00 PM -- SHE (1965)
Explorers uncover a lost kingdom ruled by an immortal queen.
Dir: Robert Day
Cast: Ursula Andress, John Richardson, Peter Cushing
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Peter Cushing and Bernard Cribbins spent a day at Chessington Zoo learning to ride camels. They bonded over this and a mutual love of birdwatching.


3:00 PM -- THE VENGEANCE OF SHE (1968)
The queen of a lost city possesses the body of a young innocent destined to take her place.
Dir: Cliff Owen
Cast: John Richardson, Olinka Berova, Edward Judd
C-101 mins, CC,

Although planned as a sequel to Hammer's She (1965), a last-minute rewrite of the script removed all connections to the earlier movie. This now plays more as a remake of "She" with an immortal man in place of an immortal woman.


4:45 PM -- THE VIKING QUEEN (1967)
A Roman captain tries to keep Druids and his own unit from destroying a Viking empire.
Dir: Don Chaffey
Cast: Don Murray, Carita (actress), Donald Houston
C-91 mins, CC,

The storyline is very loosely based on the Iceni queen Boudica's revolt against the Roman colonisation of Britain in 60-61 AD. Despite the title, there are no Norse Viking characters in the film.


6:30 PM -- QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (1958)
A space mission to Venus discovers a society of Amazons.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Cast: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Lisa Davis
C-80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The film takes place in 1985.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BLACK MAGIC



8:00 PM -- THE BLACK CAT (1934)
A Satanist faces off with the vengeful man whose wife and daughter he has stolen.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer
Cast: Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners
BW-65 mins, CC,

The satanic prayer Poelzig chants during the black mass scene consists of random phrases in Latin, the most recognizable being "cum grano salis" (with a grain of salt). The complete chant, is as follows:

Latin Phrases: Cum grano salis. Fortis cadere cedere non potest. Humanum est errare. Lupis pilum mutat, non mentem. Magna est veritas et praevalebit. Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta. Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem. Amissum quod nescitur non amittitur. Brutum fulmen. Cum grano salis. Fortis cadere cedere non potest. Fructu, non foliis arborem aestima. Insanus omnes furere credit ceteros. Quem paenitet peccasse paene est innocens.

English translation: With a grain of salt. A brave man may fall, but he cannot yield. To err is human. The wolf may change his skin, but not his nature. Truth is mighty, and will prevail. External actions show internal secrets. Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even. The loss that is not known is no loss at all. Heavy thunder. With a grain of salt. A brave man may fall, but he cannot yield. By fruit, not by leaves, judge a tree. Every madman thinks everybody mad. Who repents from sinning is almost innocent.


9:15 PM -- CURSE OF THE DEMON (1958)
An anthropologist investigates a devil worshipper who commands a deadly demon.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis
BW-82 mins, CC,

Jacques Tourneur never planned to show the monster, but to leave it instead to the audience's imagination. However, the studio insisted that the monster be shown, and added it in post-production, allegedly without Tourneur's consent, approval or involvement. "The scenes where we really see the demon were shot without me. All except one: I shot the sequence in the woods where Andrews is pursued by this sort of cloud.


10:45 PM -- THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943)
A girl's search for her missing sister puts her in conflict with a band of satanists.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell
BW-71 mins, CC,

The character of Mimi, the dying prostitute, comes from the opera "La Bohème" by Giacomo Puccini. References such as this are common in Val Lewton's films.


12:00 AM -- ALL EYES ON SHARON TATE (1966)
A behind-the-scenes promo short for "Eye of the Devil" (1966), showcasing the late Sharon Tate, then a young, 22-year-old hopeful at MGM.
BW-10 mins,


12:15 AM -- THE DEVIL'S BRIDE (1968)
Small town Satanists lure an innocent brother and sister into their coven.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi
C-96 mins, CC,

The movie's U.S. title was changed to "The Devil's Bride" because its original title, "The Devil Rides Out", made it sound much too much like a Western.


2:00 AM -- THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW (1970)
When farmers unearth a strange skeleton, their children convert to Satanism.
Dir: Piers Haggard
Cast: James Hayter, Patrick Wymark, Avice Landone
BW-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The film was originally conceived as three stories that would play out separately, but all have the unearthed remains of Satan being the linking factor between them. The stories of Peter Edmonton and his mad fiance, the possessed village children, and the Judge's battle with evil were all at first suppose to take place independently. However when the script was rewritten it was decided that the plots should be combined to create one central story.


3:45 AM -- DRACULA A.D. 1972 (1972)
Cult members unwittingly resurrect Dracula in swinging London.
Dir: Alan Gibson
Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beacham
C-96 mins, CC,

The film was inspired by the story of the Highgate Vampire, a media sensation surrounding reports of supposed supernatural activity in Highgate Cemetery in London in the early 1970s.


5:30 AM -- EYE OF THE DEVIL (1966)
A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Cast: Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Donald Pleasence
BW-96 mins, CC,

Originally Kim Novak was cast in the role of Catherine de Montfaucon. Filming began in the fall of 1965 in France. Near every scene had been filmed when Kim Novak fell from a horse and wasn't able to complete her scenes. Deborah Kerr was hired to take over and every scene that featured Miss Novak had to be re-shot with her replacement.