TCM Schedule for Thursday, February 24 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- Most Directing Nominations

The morning begins with the most honored foreign director -- Federico Fellini, who has four nominations for Best Director, along with eight nominations for Best Writing. Next is a salute to the actor associated with more Oscar nominated and winning films, Sir Alec Guinness. The primetime schedule is a salute to William Wyler, who has received the most directing nominations, three wins and an additional nine nominations. Wyler also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1966. Enjoy!



5:40am -- One Reel Wonders: Main Street On The March (1941)
A chronicle of America's Main Street as it gears up for World War II.
Narrator: John Nesbitt
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
BW-20 mins

Won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel

This short was released one month after the attack on Pearl Harbor.


Most honored foreign director -- Federico Fellini

6:00am -- 8 1/2 (1963)
A world-famous film director juggles his romantic relationships while trying to come up with an idea for his next picture.
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo
Dir: Federico Fellini
BW-138 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Piero Gherardi, and Best Foreign Language Film -- Italy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Piero Gherardi, Best Director -- Federico Fellini, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi

The title refers to the number of movies Federico Fellini had directed up until that point - six features, two short (1/2) films and "half a picture" (Luci del Varieta', his first, co-directed with Alberto Lattuada), for a total of 7 1/2. So this one is number 8 1/2.


8:30am -- La Strada (1954)
A traveling strongman buys a peasant girl to be his wife and co-star.
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Dir: Federico Fellini
BW-108 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- Italy

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original -- Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli

Anthony Quinn said in an interview a few years before his death that he originally accepted a deal that would have paid him a percentage of the profits this film generated instead of an upfront salary. When his agent found out about it, the agent changed the deal and insisted an upfront salary and no percentage. Quinn said that decision cost him several million dollars.


Awards by association -- actor associated with most awards in his movies -- Alec Guinness

10:30am -- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
An overlooked gold transporter with twenty years service plots to steal a million pounds of gold.
Cast: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass
Dir: Charles Crichton
BW-81 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- T.E.B. Clarke

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness

Audrey Hepburn was considered for a larger role in this film, but stage work made her unavailable. Alec Guinness was impressed with the young actress and arranged for her to appear in a bit part. This is considered to be Hepburn's first appearance in a major film.


12:00pm -- Great Expectations (1946)
A mysterious benefactor finances a young boy's education.
Cast: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan
Dir: David Lean
BW-118 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Bryan and Wilfred Shingleton, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Guy Green

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- David Lean, Best Writing, Screenplay -- David Lean, Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Best Picture

David Lean was not a particularly well-read man, and only became aware of the power of Charles Dickens' story when his wife Kay Walsh dragged him along to a theatrical production of "Great Expectations" in 1939. Incidentally, playing Herbert Pocket in this production, was a young Alec Guinness, whom Lean subsequently cast in the same role in the film version. Aside from bit parts, it was Guinness' first major screen role and was also the first of six films he made with Lean. Martita Hunt was also in the stage production, playing Miss Havisham, a role she reprised in the film.


2:00pm -- Cromwell (1970)
A Puritan leader sparks a revolution in 17th century England.
Cast: Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin
Dir: Ken Hughes
C-140 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Vittorio Nino Novarese

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Frank Cordell

It was casting director Maude Spector that first suggested Timothy Dalton for the role of Prince Rupert.


4:30pm -- Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Illicit lovers fight to stay together during the turbulent years of the Russian Revolution.
Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, Alec Guinness
Dir: David Lean
C-200 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- John Box, Terence Marsh and Dario Simoni, Best Cinematography, Color -- Freddie Young, Best Costume Design, Color -- Phyllis Dalton, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Maurice Jarre, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Robert Bolt

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Tom Courtenay, Best Director -- David Lean, Best Film Editing -- Norman Savage, Best Sound -- A.W. Watkins (M-G-M British SSD) and Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD), and Best Picture

In an interview years after making the film, Rod Steiger said he was almost the only American among so many great British actors. "All I wanted to do was not embarrass myself."


Most directing nominations -- William Wyler

8:00pm -- Dodsworth (1936)
A husband whose wife left him looks for new love in Europe.
Cast: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor
Dir: William Wyler
BW-101 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Art Direction -- Richard Day

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Huston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Sound, Recording -- Oscar Lagerstrom (United Artists SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard, and Best Picture

At the time of filming, Mary Astor was going through a very public and very scandalous divorce from her husband, who used Astor's diary to prove that she had been having an affair with playwright George S. Kaufman. With the press constantly stalking her, she sometimes slept on the set to avoid confrontation. Many of the cast sided with Astor throughout the ordeal, including William Wyler, Samuel Goldwyn and Ruth Chatterton, who appeared as a character witness on Astor's behalf.


10:00pm -- Ben-Hur (1959)
While seeking revenge, a rebellious Israelite prince crosses paths with Jesus Christ.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins
Dir: William Wyler
C-222 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charlton Heston, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Hugh Griffith, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Edward C. Carfagno and Hugh Hunt (In case of Horning the Oscar win was posthumously.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Surtees, Best Costume Design, Color -- Elizabeth Haffenden, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (visual), Robert MacDonald (visual) and Milo B. Lory (audible), Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer SSD), and Best Picture

Nominated for an Oscar -- Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Karl Tunberg

The chariot race segment was directed by legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt. Joe Canutt (Yak's son) doubled for Charlton Heston. During one of the crashes, in which Judah Ben-Hur's horses jump over a crashed chariot, the younger Canutt was thrown from his chariot onto the tongue of his chariot. He managed to climb back into his chariot and bring it back under control. The sequence looked so good that it was included in the film, with a close-up of Heston climbing back into the chariot. Canutt got a slight cut on his chin, but it was the only injury in the incredibly dangerous sequence. Stuntman Nosher Powell, who worked on the film, states in his biography, that Yakima Canutt went pale as a ghost when the chariot crashed. The crash was not planned, and everybody - including Yakima Canutt - believed that Joe Canutt had died.


2:00am -- Friendly Persuasion (1956)
A peaceful Quaker family's sanctity is tested during the Civil War.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Marjorie Main, Anthony Perkins
Dir: William Wyler
BW-138 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Anthony Perkins, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Music, Original Song -- Dimitri Tiomkin (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)", Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon R. Glennan (Westrex Sound Services) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Michael Wilson (Due to being blacklisted Michael Wilson did not receive a screen credit, which under special Academy by-law made him ineligible personally although the writing achievement itself could be eligible. In early 1957 AMPAS instructed Price Waterhouse & Co. not to list any nomination declared ineligible under the by-law and thus this nomination was not included on the final voting ballot. The by-law was laster declared unworkable in January 1959. In December 2002 the Academy reinstated Mr. Wilson's nomination.), and Best Picture

Gary Cooper originally did not want to play a father of grown up children, despite the fact that he was 55 in real life.


4:30am -- The Collector (1965)
A disturbed young man kidnaps a woman he's been stalking.
Cast: Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, Mona Washbourne, Maurice Dallimore
Dir: William Wyler
C-119 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Samantha Eggar, Best Director -- William Wyler, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stanley Mann and John Kohn

According to Terence Stamp, Wyler wouldn't let Samantha Eggar off the set during the day. He also wouldn't allow her to eat with anyone else during the lunch break. Stamp argues Wyler knew what he was doing, as the director whispered to him one day on set, "I know this looks cruel, but we're going to get a great performance out of her."