TCM Schedule for Friday, February 8, 2019 -- 31 Days of Oscar - Most Effective Therapy Session

Last edited Mon Feb 25, 2019, 10:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Today's themes for 31 Days of Oscar -- daylight - Comedies (and there's a bunch of goodies! Ninotchka (1939), Tom Jones (1963) and My Favorite Wife (1940)), prime time - Most Effective Therapy Session (Bette Davis being treated by Claude Rains in 1940's Now Voyager vs Nick Nolte treated by Barbra Streisand in 1991's The Prince of Tides), and late night - Best True Crime (Bonnie and Clyde (1967) vs Dog Day Afternoon (1975)). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- ADAM'S RIB (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women's rights case.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday
BW- 101 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin

Inspired by the real-life story of husband-and-wife lawyers William Dwight Whitney and Dorothy Whitney, who represented Raymond Massey and his ex-wife Adrienne Allen in their divorce. After the Massey divorce was over, the Whitneys divorced each other and married the respective Masseys.


7:44 AM -- MOVIE PESTS (1944)
This comedic short looks at annoying movie-going habits that disrupt the viewing experience.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: William Norton Bailey, Ben Hall, Dave O'Brien
BW- 11 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Pete Smith


8:00 AM -- NINOTCHKA (1939)
A coldhearted Soviet agent is warmed up by a trip to Paris and a night of love.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire
BW- 110 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greta Garbo, Best Writing, Original Story -- Melchior Lengyel, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch and Billy Wilder, and Best Picture

The review of "Ninotchka" in Time Magazine was written by Whittaker Chambers. Chambers had been an undercover spy for Russia until 1938. Of course, his relationship to Russia and Communism was not known when he wrote his review. Chambers went on to become famous when, in 1948, he accused Alger Hiss of being a spy.


10:00 AM -- TOM JONES (1963)
In this adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel, a country boy in 18th-century England becomes a playboy.
Dir: Tony Richardson
Cast: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith
C- 122 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- Tony Richardson (Tony Richardson was not present at the awards ceremony. Edith Evans accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- John Osborne, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- John Addison (John Addison was not present at the awards ceremony. Elmer Bernstein accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Albert Finney, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Hugh Griffith, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Diane Cilento, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Edith Evans, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Joyce Redman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Ralph W. Brinton, Edward Marshall, Jocelyn Herbert and Josie MacAvin

Hugh Griffith was reportedly drunk through much of the production; the scene in which his horse falls on him was not planned, and many believed he was saved by virtue of his inebriated condition. The film incorporated every frame of footage before rescuers entered the frame to save him.


12:15 PM -- THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940)
A Jewish barber takes the place of a war-hungry dictator.
Dir: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
BW- 125 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Chaplin, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Oakie, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Chaplin, Best Music, Original Score -- Meredith Willson, and Best Picture

Charles Chaplin got the idea when a friend, Alexander Korda, noted that his screen persona and Adolf Hitler looked somewhat similar. Chaplin later learned they were both born within a week of each other (Chaplin 4/16/1889, Hitler 4/20/1889), were roughly the same height and weight and both struggled in poverty until they reached great success in their respective fields. When Chaplin learned of Hitler's policies of racial oppression and nationalist aggression, he used their similarities as an inspiration to attack Hitler on film. According to documentaries on the making of the film, Chaplin began to feel more uncomfortable lampooning Adolf Hitler the more he heard of Hitler's actions in Europe. Ultimately, the invasion of France inspired Chaplin to change the ending of his film to include his famous speech.


2:30 PM -- MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)
A shipwrecked woman is rescued just in time for her husband's re-marriage.
Dir: Garson Kanin
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott
BW- 88 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Story -- Leo McCarey, Bella Spewack and Sam Spewack, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk, and Best Music, Original Score -- Roy Webb

Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, who play rivals in this film, lived on and off together for twelve years from 1932 to 1944. The nature of their relationship is speculated upon to this day.


4:00 PM -- MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936)
When he inherits a fortune, a small-town poet has to deal with the corruption of city life.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft
BW- 116 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Director -- Frank Capra

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert Riskin, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), and Best Picture

Columbia and Frank Capra intended to make a sequel to this movie, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, entitled "Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington", based on the story "The Gentleman from Wyoming" (alternately called "The Gentleman from Montana" by both contemporary and modern sources) by Lewis R. Foster. This story was instead turned into the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), directed by Frank Capra and starring Arthur and James Stewart.


6:00 PM -- THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1975)
A feuding comedy team reunites for a television comeback.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Walter Matthau, George Burns, Richard Benjamin
C- 111 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Burns

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Matthau, Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material -- Neil Simon, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Albert Brenner and Marvin March

Based on the lives and careers of vaudeville comics Joe Smith and Charles Dale (né Sultzer and Marks). Unlike the characters in the Broadway play and later film, Smith and Dale were almost inseparable friends. In fact, when Dale died in 1971, Smith commissioned a single tombstone to be prepared for them both, ordering that the inscription read "Smith and Dale". The pair's strained relationship is based on another old-time vaudeville duo, Gallagher and Shean, the latter of whom was Groucho Marx's uncle.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: MOST EFFECTIVE THERAPY SESSION



8:00 PM -- NOW, VOYAGER (1942)
A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
BW- 117 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gladys Cooper

For the first scene after Charlotte's metamorphosis, Hal B. Wallis asked Orry-Kelly to put her in a wide-brimmed hat so the audience wouldn't get a full look at her new face until later. He also wanted to maintain a sense of her shyness. Jack L. Warner objected to the choice, but Wallis ignored him.


10:15 PM -- THE PRINCE OF TIDES (1991)
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Dir: Barbra Streisand
Cast: Nick Nolte, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner
C- 132 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Nick Nolte, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Kate Nelligan, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published -- Pat Conroy and Becky Johnston, Best Cinematography -- Stephen Goldblatt, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Paul Sylbert and Caryl Heller, Best Music, Original Score -- James Newton Howard, and Best Picture

Chris O'Donnell, who would soon become a star in Scent of a Woman, won the role of Streisand's teenage son, Bernard, but Pat Conroy didn't think he was right. Looking through photos of other young actors, he picked one out, telling Streisand that she should hire him, instead. The actor was Streisand's own son, Jason Gould.


12:33 AM -- MORE ABOUT NOSTRADAMUS (1940)
This short film provides a short biography of Nostradamus, highlighting some of his prophecies.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: James Dime, John George, Hans Conried
BW- 11 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel


12:45 AM -- BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
The legendary bank robbers run riot in the South of the 1930s.
Dir: Arthur Penn
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard
C- 111 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Estelle Parsons, and Best Cinematography -- Burnett Guffey

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Warren Beatty, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Faye Dunaway, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Hackman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Michael J. Pollard, Best Director -- Arthur Penn, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- David Newman and Robert Benton, Best Costume Design -- Theadora Van Runkle, and Best Picture

Warner Brothers had so little faith in the film that, in an unprecedented move, they offered first-time Producer Warren Beatty forty percent of the gross, instead of a minimal fee. The movie went on to gross over fifty million dollars.


2:45 AM -- DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation.
Dir: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane
C- 125 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Frank Pierson (Frank Pierson was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenter Gore Vidal accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Al Pacino, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Chris Sarandon, Best Director -- Sidney Lumet, Best Film Editing -- Dede Allen, and Best Picture

Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather: Part II (1974) and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was being considered.


5:00 AM -- THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936)
Lavish biography of Flo Ziegfeld, the producer who became Broadway's biggest starmaker.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
C- 176 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Luise Rainer, Best Dance Direction -- Seymour Felix for "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Robert Z. Leonard, Best Writing, Original Story -- William Anthony McGuire, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons, Eddie Imazu and Edwin B. Willis, and Best Film Editing -- William S. Gray

The sequence "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" was filmed in two lengthy takes after several weeks of rehearsals and filming (a definite cut is made when moving to a close-up on the singer dressed as Pagliacci, presumably to effect a change of camera position, necessary to start the inexorable move up the huge staircase). It features 180 performers and cost $220,000; 4,300 yards of rayon silk were used for the curtains in the scene.