TCM Schedule for Friday, January 16 -- Tribute to the Screen Actors Guild

TCM is honoring Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award Winners this evening, including James Garner and Audrey Hepburn (in The Children's Hour (1961)), Kirk Douglas (in The War Wagon (1967)), and Elizabeth Taylor (in Elephant Walk (1954)). Next Friday, we'll celebrate the films of the 2009 SAG Lifetime Achievement Honoree, James Earl Jones. Enjoy!


4:15am -- The Big Sleep (1946)
Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a society girl's involvement in the murder of a pornographer.
Cast: Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Dir: Howard Hawks
BW-116 mins, TV-PG

While working on the script, writers William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett couldn't figure out from the novel who murdered a particular character. So they phoned Raymond Chandler, who angrily told them the answer was right there in the book. They shrugged and returned to their work. Chandler soon phoned to say that he looked at the book himself and couldn't figure out who killed the character, so he left it up to them to decide. In the original cut, shown to the armed services, this question is resolved; in the film as released, it isn't.


6:15am -- Thousands Cheer (1943)
An egotistical acrobat joins the Army and falls in love with his commander's daughter.
Cast: Mary Astor, Kathryn Grayson, Jose Iturbi, Gene Kelly
Dir: George Sidney
C-125 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis and Jacques Mersereau, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Herbert Stothart

Eleanor Powell's number for this film was originally shot for "Broadway Melody of 1943," a project MGM abandoned before it was completed. "Broadway Melody of 1943" was to have co-starred Powell and Gene Kelly, who both appear in "Thousands Cheer" but are never seen together.


8:30am -- National Velvet (1944)
A British farm girl fights to train a difficult horse for the Grand National Steeplechase.
Cast: Donald Crisp, Anne Revere, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor
C-124 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Anne Revere, and Best Film Editing -- Robert Kern

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis and Mildred Griffiths, Best Cinematography, Color -- Leonard Smith, and Best Director -- Clarence Brown

The Pie was played by King Charles, a grandson of Man o' War and whose owner had trained him as a show jumper.


10:35am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Hollywood Scout (1945)
One of Pete Smith's assistants auditions animal acts for his short subjects.
Narrator: Pete Smith
BW-8 mins

Pete Smith started out as publicist for Famous Players, Paramount, and MGM, before beginning to write, produce and narrate his short subjects called "Pete Smith Specialities".


11:00am -- tom thumb (1958)
A six-inch-tall boy takes on a pair of comical crooks.
Cast: Jessie Matthews, Peter Sellers, Russ Tamblyn
Dir: George Pal
C-92 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar® for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Tom Howard

The head of MGM's British operations was so impressed that George Pal brought this film in under budget that he suggested that Pal submit a script for his favorite unproduced project. Pal chose The Time Machine (1960)


12:42pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Wagon Wheels West (1943)
A deputy US marshal returns to his childhood hometown to find the men who murdered his father.
Cast: Robert Shayne, Nina Foch, Charles Middleton
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
BW-17 mins

Remake of Song of the Saddle (1936), with the same actor as bad guy Phineas P. Hook.


1:00pm -- Wagon Master (1950)
Two wandering cowhands sign on to help a wagon train headed for Utah.
Cast: Ward Bond, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, Ben Johnson
Dir: John Ford
BW-86 mins, TV-PG

When Elder Wiggs breaks up the fight between Sandy and Jackson, a dog joins in and tears one of the legs of his pants. This was not in the script. It just happened on the set, and John Ford had liked it so much he kept it in the film.


2:30pm -- Three Strangers (1946)
Three people who share a sweepstakes ticket travel a tangled road to collect their winnings.
Cast: Geraldine Fitzgerald, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring
Dir: Jean Negulesco
BW-93 mins, TV-PG

John Huston was inspired to write the story after he bought an odd statue in London.


4:04pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Three On A Rope (1938)
This short looks at the sport of rock climbing.
Narrator: Pete Smith
Dir: Willard Van der Weer
BW-10 mins

Filmed on Tahquitz Rock (Lily Rock) above Idyllwild, California


4:30pm -- Torrid Zone (1940)
A Central American plantation manager and his boss battle over a traveling showgirl.
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, Helen Vinson
Dir: William Keighley
BW-88 mins, TV-PG

When Frank Puglia says, "I don't believe in a third term," he was referring to the then speculative run of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term as U. S. President in 1940.


6:00pm -- Watch On The Rhine (1943)
Nazi agents pursue a German freedom-fighter and his family to Washington.
Cast: Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Paul Lukas, Lucile Watson
Dir: Herman Shumlin
BW-112 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar® for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Lukas

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lucile Watson, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Dashiell Hammett, and Best Picture

Based on the play by Lillian Hellman, longtime companion to Dashiell Hammett. The movie Julia (1977, starring Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave) is based on the Hellman's recollections of WWII.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: TRIBUTE TO THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD


8:00pm -- The Children's Hour (1961)
A malicious student tries to destroy the teachers at a girls' school.
Cast: James Garner, Audrey Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine
Dir: William Wyler
BW-108 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Fay Bainter, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Fernando Carrere and Edward G. Boyle, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Franz Planer, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins, and Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Shirley MacLaine, in the documentary The Celluloid Closet (1995), said that nobody on the set of The Children's Hour (1961) discussed the ramifications of the issues regarding homosexuality that are implied, but never spoken about outright, in the film. She said, "none of us were really aware. We might have been forerunners, but we weren't really, because we didn't do the picture right. We were in the mindset of not understanding what we were basically doing. These days, there would be a tremendous outcry, as well there should be. Why would Martha break down and say, 'Oh my god, what's wrong with me, I'm so polluted, I've ruined you.' She would fight! She would fight for her budding preference. And when you look at it, to have Martha play that scene--and no one questioned it--what that meant, or what the alternatives could have been underneath the dialog, it's mind boggling. The profundity of this subject was not in the lexicon of our rehearsal period. Audrey and I never talked about this. Isn't that amazing. Truly amazing."


10:00pm -- The War Wagon (1967)
A rancher and a hired gun join forces to take on the criminal who betrayed them both.
Cast: Bruce Dern, Kirk Douglas, Robert Walker Jr., John Wayne, Keenan Wynn
Dir: Burt Kennedy
C-101 mins, TV-PG

During the production, Kirk Douglas was late to the set because he was shooting a commercial endorsement for the Democratic Governor of California, Edmund G. Brown (Jerry Brown's father). John Wayne was furious, and was late to work the next day because he was shooting a commercial for the Republican candidate Ronald Reagan.


12:00am -- Elephant Walk (1954)
A rich planter's young bride tries to cope with life on a Ceylonese plantation.
Cast: Dana Andrews, Peter Finch, Abraham Sofaer, Elizabeth Taylor
Dir: William Dieterle
C-103 mins, TV-PG

Vivien Leigh was originally cast. Her mental illness begun affecting things during filming, and so she was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor. Many long shots and shots from behind are still of Leigh.


1:46am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Seeing Ceylon (1953)
A tour of the British colony of Ceylon, today know as Sri Lanka. This travel talk explores the culture and customs of the native people, as well as the natural beauty and scenery of the island.
Narrator: Art Gilmore
C-8 mins

Art Gilmore is a graduate of Washington State University. An announcing award is given each year in his name. He is part of a long and proud history of WSU graduates that include Edward R. Murrow and Keith Jackson.


2:00am -- The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)
A cast of little people helps a beautiful ranch owner fight off an evil rustler.
Cast: Billy Curtis, Yvonne Moray, Little Billy Rhodes
Dir: Sam Newfield
BW-60 mins, TV-G

Following this film's release, it was reported that Jed Buell planned to use the same cast in a film version of the story of Paul Bunyan (with a large gentleman playing Bunyan). It is assumed this idea never got past the pre-production phase.


3:11am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Three Chumps Ahead (1934)
In this Todd/Kelly short, Thelma falls for a gentleman but Patsy has her doubts.
Cast: Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd
Dir: Gus Meins
BW-19 mins

Thelma Todd proved to be a savvy businesswoman with the opening of "Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe", a
nightclub/restaurant that catered to show business people. It also, unfortunately, attracted some shady underworld types as well, and there were rumors that they were trying to take over her club and use it as a gambling establishment in order to fleece the wealthy Hollywood crowd. According to these stories, Thelma and her boyfriend, director Roland West, wouldn't sell their establishment once they found out what the gangsters had in mind, thereby incurring the enmity of people it was not a good idea to become enemies of.

Whether the stories were true or not, on December 16, 1935, Thelma was found dead in her car, in her garage, in Los Angeles. Her death was ruled a suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning. She was only 30 years old. At the time, as today, many felt that her death was actually a murder connected to the goings-on at her club, a theory that was lent credence by the fact that no one who knew her had ever seen her depressed or morose enough to the point of being worried about her committing suicide. Another factor that aroused suspicion was that her death was given a cursory investigation by the - at the time - notoriously corrupt Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the case was quickly and unceremoniously closed. Her death has remained a controversial one even to this day.


3:30am -- The Unholy Three (1930)
A ventriloquist, a strong man and a midget form a criminal alliance.
Cast: Lon Chaney, Harry Earles, Lila Lee, Elliott Nugent
Dir: Jack Conway
BW-72 mins, TV-G

Lon Chaney's one and only talkie.


4:45am -- Freaks (1932)
A lady trapeze artist violates the code of the side show when she plots to murder her midget husband.
Cast: Roscoe Ates, Olga Baclanova, Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams
Dir: Tod Browning
BW-62 mins, TV-PG

During the 1920s and 1930s, photographer Edward J. Kelty took a succession of group photographs of members of the Barnum and Bailey freak show. What is interesting is how many cast members can be spotted in them (this film is the only movie credit for most of them). Familiar faces include Harry Earles (Hans), Daisy Earles (Frieda), Peter Robinson (human skeleton), Elvira Snow (pinhead), Jenny Lee Snow (pinhead), Elizabeth Green (bird girl) and Olga Roderick (bearded lady).

"Child, love, friend, woman - every word has a new meaning" muses Karen Wright (Audrey Hepburn) in The Children's Hour (1961), after a cruel rumor ignited by a malevolent little girl destroys her life and livelihood, as well as that of her friend Martha Dobie (Shirley MacLaine). Hepburn and MacLaine deliver deft, gripping performances as teachers who may or may not be "unnaturally" in love. Flinty eyed Karen Balkin plays rotten little Mary Tilford, a manipulative, hysterical, extortionist schoolgirl. Eavesdropping on allusions made behind closed doors, Mary manufactures a lie to convince her grandmother to take her out of The Wright-Dobie School for Girls, where she is disliked. Mary is flesh-crawlingly mean, and the repercussions caused by her fib move the plot of The Children's Hour to a somber, thought provoking conclusion.

Directed by William Wyler (Ben-Hur, 1959) and released on December 19, 1961, the film is a faithful adaptation of Lillian Hellman's stage play. In 1936, Wyler directed These Three, an earlier film version of Hellman's play, in which the scandal was portrayed as a heterosexual love triangle, presumably more palatable to audiences of the time. Hellman adapted her text for The Children's Hour for screenwriter John Michael Hayes (Rear Window, 1954). Delicate Hepburn plays Wright as an ethical woman whose need for emotional truth ultimately ends her engagement to the convivial school doctor, Joe Cardin (James Garner). MacLaine gives a fiery portrayal of Martha Dobie, maintaining her dignity as she is ostracized by her community and her school is shuttered.

Veronica Cartwright (Alien, 1979) who appears as Rosalie, a classmate tortured by Mary's lies, has a history of playing disturbing children; she had a recurring role as smarmy Violet Rutherford in Leave it to Beaver. Miriam Hopkins (Trouble in Paradise, 1932), who played Martha Dobie in the 1936 film alongside Merle Oberon and Joel McCrea, appears as Martha's selfish aunt Lily. Fay Bainter's performance as Mary's high-society grandmother is a pleasure to watch, registering annoyance, indignation, and finally, remorse as Mary's destructive lie is finally exposed.

Awarded an Oscar for Costume Design, Black & White, The Children's Hour is a must-see in the pantheon of Evil Children classic movies.

Director: William Wyler
Producer: Robert Wyler, William Wyler
Screenplay: John Michael Hayes, Lillian Hellman
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Editor: Robert Swink
Art Direction: Fernando Carrere
Music: Alex North
Cast: Audrey Hepburn (Karen Wright), Shirley MacLaine (Martha Dobie), James Garner (Dr. Joe Cardin), Miriam Hopkins (Mrs. Lily Mortar), Fay Bainter (Mrs. Amelia Tilford), Karen Balkin (Mary Tilford).
BW-108m. Letterboxed.

by Jessica Handler