TCM Schedule for Saturday, March 2, 2019 -- 31 Days of Oscar - Favorite Gender-Bending Role

Today's Oscar-ish themes -- in the daylight hours, Science Fiction (following up last night's 2001 with 2011, and a lot of other classic sci-fi films from 1950's Destination Moon to 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind), in prime time, Favorite Gender Bending Role (1982's Tootsie vs. 1982's Victor/Victoria -- I never noticed that those two films came out in the same year!), and in the late night hours, Best Coming of Age (1967's The Graduate vs. 1971's The Last Picture Show). Enjoy!


8:00 AM -- Marooned (1969)
Three U.S. astronauts face a slow death when their rockets fail during a space voyage.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen
C-129 mins, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Robie Robinson

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Daniel L. Fapp, and Best Sound -- Les Fresholtz and Arthur Piantadosi

In the film, the astronauts are seen using what appears to be the early concept of the Manned Maneuvering Unit - during the real-life Skylab missions, the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (the AMU) was tested inside the space station and never tested in the vacuum of space. The first use of the MMU was during STS-41-B (the fourth flight of the Challenger) on February 7, 1984.


10:15 AM -- The Time Machine (1960)
A turn-of-the-century inventor sends himself into the future to save humanity.
Dir: George Pal
Cast: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux
C-103 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Gene Warren and Tim Baar

It has been noted that the long shot of George's street in the 1966 air raid scene is a left and right composite shot, but it is even more complicated than that. The right side of the scene, with Filby's department store, was shot on the Victorian-styled David Copperfield Court, at one end of Lot-2, MGM. The left side of the shot is of the Vinegar Tree House in the middle of Lot-2, MGM. And the top half of the shot is a superimposed matte painting of modern architecture reflecting 1966.


12:00 PM -- Forbidden Planet (1956)
A group of space troopers investigates the destruction of a colony on a remote planet.
Dir: Fred McLeod
Wilcox Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie, Irving G. Ries and Wesley C. Miller

Star Trek (1966) creator Gene Roddenberry has been quoted as saying that this film was a major inspiration for that series. Perhaps not accidentally, Warren Stevens, who plays "Doc" here, would later be a guest star in 1968's Star Trek: By Any Other Name (1968), where the true shape of the alien Kelvans, like the Krell in this movie, was implied to be extremely non-humanoid but never shown. 1701, which is the serial number of the Starship Enterprise, allegedly comes from the clock mark 17:01 when the C57D enters orbit around Altair IV.


2:00 PM -- Them! (1954)
Federal agents fight to destroy a colony of mutated giant ants.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
BW-92 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Walt Disney screened the movie because he was interested in casting James Arness as Davy Crockett. However, he was so impressed by Fess Parker as the "Crazy Texan Pilot", that he chose him for the part.


3:45 PM -- Destination Moon (1950)
A crusading scientist defies the government to launch an expedition to the moon.
Dir: Irving Pichel
Cast: John Archer, Warner Anderson, Tom Powers
C-92 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Ernst Fegté and George Sawley

Although many reviewers connect "Destination Moon" with Heinlein's 1950 novel "Rocketship Galileo", the film's story has much more in common with Heinlein's novelette "The Man Who Sold the Moon", also published in 1950. Heinlein actually published a third Moon-trip story in 1950, a novelette featured in the September issue of Short Stories Magazine under the title "Destination Moon". This version is so similar to the film it was probably intended as a promotional piece, but it does include one fascinating story element not in the film. The explorers find evidence of previous lunar visitors either Russians or aliens, they aren't sure which.


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, 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

The John Williams score was created before the film was edited. Steven Spielberg edited the film to match the music, a reverse of what is usually done in the film scoring process. Both Spielberg and Williams felt that it ultimately gave the film a lyrical feel.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: FAVORITE GENDER BENDING ROLE



8:00 PM -- Tootsie (1982)
An unemployed actor masquerades as a woman to win a soap-opera role.
Dir: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Terry Garr
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jessica Lange

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dustin Hoffman, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Teri Garr, Best Director -- Sydney Pollack, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Larry Gelbart (screenplay/story), Murray Schisgal (screenplay) and Don McGuire (story), Best Cinematography -- Owen Roizman, Best Sound -- Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Rick Alexander (as Dick Alexander) and Les Lazarowitz, Best Film Editing -- Fredric Steinkamp and William Steinkamp, Best Music, Original Song -- Dave Grusin (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "It Might Be You", and Best Picture

Dustin Hoffman tried out his role as Dorothy by passing himself off as his daughter's Aunt Dorothy at her parents' evening at school. His performance was so strong he actually convinced the teachers present. They never suspected.


10:15 PM -- Victor Victoria (1982)
An unemployed female singer poses as a female impersonator and becomes a star.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Cast: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston
C-134 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score -- Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Julie Andrews, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Robert Preston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lesley Ann Warren, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Blake Edwards, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Rodger Maus, Tim Hutchinson, William Craig Smith and Harry Cordwell, and Best Costume Design -- Patricia Norris

The costume worn by Julie Andrews in the number "The Shady Dame From Seville" is in fact the same costume worn by Robert Preston at the end of the film. The costume was made to fit Preston, and then, using a series of hooks and eyes at the back, it was drawn in tightly to fit Andrews' shapely figure. Additional black silk ruffles were also added to the bottom of the costume, to hide the differences in height. It's a pleasure to watch the costume being purposefully damaged by Preston. Now in a private collection, the rips and tears are still present. The fabric is a black and brown crepe, with fine gold threads woven into it, which when lit, appears to have an almost wet look about it.


12:45 AM -- The Graduate (1967)
A recent college graduate has an affair with his neighbor's wife, then falls for their daughter.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Director -- Mike Nichols

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dustin Hoffman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Bancroft, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Katharine Ross, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, and Best Picture

Two interesting camera techniques are used in the film. In the scene where Benjamin is running, he is shown at some distance running straight at the camera, an effect which makes him look as if he is getting nowhere as he's running. (This technique is accomplished with a very long telephoto lens, which foreshortens distances in relation to the camera.) In another scene, Benjamin is walking from the right side of the screen to the left, while everyone else in the scene is moving from left to right. In western culture, things that move left to right seem natural (think of the direction you read words on a page), those that move right to left seem to be going the wrong way. These two visual techniques echo the themes of the film, Benjamin is going the wrong way, and getting nowhere in life.


2:45 AM -- The Last Picture Show (1971)
Changing times take their toll on high schoolers growing up in a small Western town.
Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd
BW-126 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ben Johnson, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Cloris Leachman

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jeff Bridges, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ellen Burstyn, Best Director -- Peter Bogdanovich, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, and Best Picture

Upon selecting the town of Archer City, Texas, as a filming location, production designer Polly Platt and director Peter Bogdanovich decided that the town should have a bleak, colorless look about it. After considering several options, such as painting all the buildings gray, Platt and Bogdanovich consulted close friend Orson Welles about the viability of shooting the film in black and white. Welles simply said, "Of COURSE you'll shoot it in black and white!"


5:00 AM -- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Shakespeare's classic about two pairs of lovers and an amateur actor who get mixed up with fairies.
Dir: Max Reinhardt
Cast: Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh
BW-143 mins, CC

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Hal Mohr (First and only write-in nominee to actually win.), and Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson

Nominee for Oscars for Best Assistant Director -- Sherry Shourds, and Best Picture

1935 proved professionally to be a big year for Ross Alexander (who played Demetrius), the young actor being groomed by Warner Brothers to be their next big star. Two of his films from that year - this one and Michael Curtiz's Captain Blood (1935) - were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film. But Alexander's world started unraveling badly at the tail end of 1935, when his wife Aleta Friele (sometimes spelled "Freel" ) committed suicide. Speculation about her motive ranged from despair over her acting career to her having caught Alexander with another woman -- or perhaps with another man. Two years later, Alexander also took his own life, reportedly with the same gun that Friele used to kill herself.