TCM Schedule Saturday March 9 - 31 Days of Oscar/Best Picture: The Maltese Falcon, Top Hat, Lawrence of Arabia, Ben-Hur

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TCM Schedule Saturday March 9 - 31 Days of Oscar/Best Picture: The Maltese Falcon, Top Hat, Gigi, Lawrence of Arabia, Ben-Hur, Mutiny on the Bounty ('35)







Saturday March 9 At a Glance
31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 29 - BEST PICTURE
Annie Hall (1977)
Apartment, The (1960)
Gigi (1958)
Great Ziegfeld, The (1936)
Saturday, March 9 - TCM DAYTIME
31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 30 - BEST PICTURE
Champ, The (1931) (7:30 am ET)
Top Hat (1935)
Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
Last Emperor, The (1987)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- TCM PRIMETIME
31 DAYS OF OSCAR - DAY 30
- BEST PICTURE
Ben-Hur (1959)
Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Cimarron (1931)

10:30 PM Annie Hall (1977)

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A comedian and an aspiring singer try to overcome their neuroses and find happiness.
Dir: Woody Allen Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Woody Allen {"Alvy Singer"}
(*WINNER*) ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Diane Keaton {"Annie Hall"}
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- Woody Allen
(*WINNER*) BEST PICTURE -- Charles H. Joffe, Producer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen--based on factual material or on story material not previously published or produced) -- Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman

Trivia: Woody Allen and Diane Keaton had trouble keeping a straight face when working together. An example of the uncontrollable laughter between the two was the lobster dinner scene. It was the first scene shot for the movie and neither Woody nor Diane had to do much acting for the scene, for their laughter was completely spontaneous.

12:15 AM The Apartment (1960)



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Oscar nominations: ACTOR -- Jack Lemmon {"C.C. 'Bud' Baxter"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Jack Kruschen {"Dr. Dreyfuss"}
ACTRESS -- Shirley MacLaine {"Fran Kubelik"}
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION (Black-and-White) -- Art Direction: Alexander Trauner; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Joseph LaShelle
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- Billy Wilder
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Daniel Mandell
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Billy Wilder, Producer
SOUND -- Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) -- Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond

An aspiring executive lets his bosses use his apartment for assignations, only to fall for the big chief's mistress.
Dir: Billy Wilder Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine, Fred Macmurray
Runtime: 125 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: Billy Wilder originally thought of the idea for the film after seeing Brief Encounter (1945) and wondering about the plight of a character unseen in that film -- the person who lends his apartment for an extramarital tryst. Shirley MacLaine was only given forty pages of the script because Wilder didn't want her to know how the story would turn out. She thought it was because the script wasn't finished.

Trivia: For this film, Billy Wilder became the first person to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

2:30 AM Gigi (1958)



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The story of an illegitimate waif in late 1800s Paris who is pushed upon by her grandmother to become a courtesan and mistress of a young, handsome and wealthy heir. They fall in love and he wants her to become his wife.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan
Runtime: 116 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION -- Art Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- Joseph Ruttenberg
(*WINNER*) COSTUME DESIGN -- Cecil Beaton
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- Vincente Minnelli
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Adrienne Fazan
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Scoring of a Musical Picture) -- Andre Previn
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Song) -- "Gigi," Music by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Arthur Freed, Producer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Alan Jay Lerner

Trivia: The day after the movie won nine Oscars, MGM telephone operators were instructed to answer all phone calls with "Hello, M-Gigi-M."

4:30 AM The Great Ziegfeld (1936)



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The larger-than-life career of stage genius Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. is aptly celebrated in this marvelous musical biography.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
Runtime: 180 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: A.A. Trimble, who portrays Will Rogers in the film, was a Cleveland map salesman who frequently impersonated Rogers at Rotarian lunches.

7:30 AM The Champ (1931)



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A broken-down prizefighter battles to keep custody of his son.
Dir: King Vidor Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich
Runtime: 86 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations: (*WINNER*) ACTOR -- Wallace Beery {"Champ"}
[NOTE: A tie. Mr. Beery had one vote less than Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), and rules at the time stated that if any achievement came within three votes of the First Award, it would be considered a tie.]
DIRECTING -- King Vidor
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Original Story) -- Frances Marion

Trivia: Wallace Beery was none too thrilled to be working with Jackie Cooper, sharing most adult actors' distrust of child stars. Cooper would later accuse the star of trying to upstage him and treating him like "an unkempt dog," behaviour he ascribed to jealousy.

9:00 AM Top Hat (1935)



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A woman believes that an enamored dancer is her best friend's husband.
Dir: Mark Sandrich Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ART DIRECTION -- Van Nest Polglase, Carroll Clark [came in 2nd]
DANCE DIRECTION -- "Piccolino" and "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" numbers; Hermes Pan [came in 2nd]
MUSIC (Song) -- "Cheek To Cheek," Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin [came in 2nd]
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- RKO Radio

Trivia: The film "Top Hat" was the first time Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had a screenplay written specifically for them.

Trivia: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers frequently denied any major rivalry between them. But because so much of the praise and attention for the quality of the pictures has been focused on him, she was quick to point out she had plenty of input into the dance routines and was known as the "button finder", a show biz term for the person who can come up with just the right last word or finishing touch on a scene or number. She also wasn't innocent of telling a deflating story or two about her co-star. As she relates in her autobiography, director Mark Sandrich wanted a little something extra to cap the film and told his two stars to break into a dance as they descended the stairs at the end. They grumbled, preferring never just to start dancing without rehearsal, but they tried it anyway. And as Fred pivoted Ginger around him, his top hat came off and nearly plunged into the "canal" built on the Venice set. Rogers said he yelled "no, no, no!" and kicked the wall of the set hard - twice a reaction she thought uncharacteristically heated of him until she realized the cause of his anger. He had neglected to put his toupee on under the hat.

Trivia: Thirteen canes were prepared for the finale of "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" production number with Fred Astaire miming his cane as a weapon "attacking" his supporting dancers. During shooting, Astaire, ever the unforgiving perfectionist, was continually breaking his canes in frustration at his mistakes, which concerned the crew that he was running out of them. As it turns out, the shooting of the scene was finished with the last remaining cane.

11:00 AM The Maltese Falcon (1941)



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Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Runtime: 100 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Sydney Greenstreet {"Kaspar Gutman"}
OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE -- Warner Bros.
WRITING (Screenplay) -- John Huston

Trivia: Eight Maltese Falcons were used for the movie - two lead and six plaster ones. The lead falcons weighed about 50 pounds each, and Lee Patrick accidentally dropped one on Humphrey Bogart's foot during shooting. It is on display in the movie museum at Warner Bros. studios, and its tail feathers are visibly dented from when it was dropped. Three of the Maltese Falcon statuettes still exist and are conservatively valued at over $1 million each. This makes them some of the most valuable film props ever made. Each is now worth more than three times what the film cost to make.


1:00 PM The Last Emperor (1987)



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(Robin Williams gives the best director award to Bernardo Bertolucci.)

The story of the last Imperial ruler of China.
Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci Cast: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole
Runtime: 163 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations:

(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION -- Art Direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti; Set Decoration: Bruno Cesari, Osvaldo Desideri
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY -- Vittorio Storaro
(*WINNER*) COSTUME DESIGN -- James Acheson
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- Bernardo Bertolucci
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Gabriella Cristiani
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Original Score) -- Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, Cong Su
(*WINNER*) BEST PICTURE -- Jeremy Thomas, Producer
(*WINNER*) SOUND -- Bill Rowe, Ivan Sharrock
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) -- Mark Peploe, Bernardo Bertolucci

Trivia: This was the first Western film made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.

4:00 PM Lawrence of Arabia (1962)



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Sweeping epic about the real life adventures of T.E. Lawrence, a British major who unified Arab tribes and led them in the fight for independence from the Ottoman Turks in the 1920s.
Dir: David Lean Cast: Peter O'toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Runtime: 226 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Peter O'Toole {"T.E. Lawrence"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Omar Sharif {"Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish"}
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION (Color) -- Art Direction: John Box, John Stoll; Set Decoration: Dario Simoni
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- Fred A. Young
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- David Lean
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Anne Coates
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Music Score--substantially original) -- Maurice Jarre
(*WINNER*) BEST PICTURE -- Sam Spiegel, Producer
(*WINNER*) SOUND -- Shepperton Studio Sound Department, John Cox, Sound Director
WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson
[NOTE: The Board of Governors voted on September 26, 1995 to grant then-blacklisted writer Michael Wilson an Academy Award nomination, along with Robert Bolt, for Lawrence of Arabia. This was the result of a Writers Guild of America finding that Wilson and Bolt share the credit for the screenplay.]

Trivia: This movie was banned in many Arab countries as they felt Arab historical figures and the Arab peoples were misrepresented. Omar Sharif arranged a viewing with President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt to show him that there was nothing wrong with the way they were portrayed. Nasser loved the movie and allowed it to be released in Egypt, where it went on to become a monster hit.

Trivia: King Hussein of Jordan lent an entire brigade of his Arab Legion as extras for the movie, so most of the film's "soldiers" are played by real soldiers. Hussein frequently visited the sets and became enamored of a young British secretary, Antoinette Gardiner, who became his second wife in 1962. Their eldest son, Abdullah II King Of Jordan, ascended to the throne in 1999.

Trivia: On his first location scouting trip in Jordan, director Sir David Lean discovered the remains of the Turkish locomotives and railroad tracks T.E. Lawrence had destroyed during the Arab Revolution. After forty years in the sun, they hadn't even rusted.

8:00 PM Ben-Hur (1959)



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While seeking revenge, a rebellious Israelite prince crosses paths with Jesus Christ.
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd
Runtime: 212 mins Genre: Epic Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ACTOR -- Charlton Heston {"Judah Ben-Hur"}
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Hugh Griffith {"Sheik Ilderim"}
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION (Color) -- Art Direction: William A. Horning, Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Hugh Hunt
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- Robert L. Surtees
(*WINNER*) COSTUME DESIGN (Color) -- Elizabeth Haffenden
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- William Wyler
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Ralph E. Winters, John D. Dunning
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Miklos Rozsa
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Sam Zimbalist, Producer
(*WINNER*) SOUND -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Franklin E. Milton, Sound Director
(*WINNER*) SPECIAL EFFECTS -- Visual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie, Robert MacDonald; Audible Effects by Milo Lory
WRITING (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) -- Karl Tunberg

Trivia: The chariot race required 15,000 extras on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film.

Trivia: The only Hollywood film to make the Vatican-approved film list in the category of religion.


12:00 AM The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)



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Upon returning to small-town America, three World War II veterans have difficulty readjusting to life at home, discovering that both they and their families have irrevocably changed.
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews
Runtime: 172 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ACTOR -- Fredric March {"Al Stephenson"}
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Harold Russell {"Homer Parrish"}
(*WINNER*) DIRECTING -- William Wyler
(*WINNER*) FILM EDITING -- Daniel Mandell
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) -- Hugo Friedhofer
(*WINNER*) BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Samuel Goldwyn Productions
SOUND RECORDING -- Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay) -- Robert E. Sherwood
(*WINNER*) SPECIAL AWARD -- To Harold Russell for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives.

Trivia: For his performance as Homer Parrish, Harold Russell became the only actor to win two Academy Awards for the same role. The Academy Board of Governors thought he was a long shot to win, so they gave him an honorary award "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance." Later in the ceremony, he won for Best Supporting Actor.


3:00 AM Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)



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As the cruel captain of the HMS Bounty, a ship bound for Tahiti, William Bligh (Charles Laughton) wins few friends. When the crew members finally tire of his abuse, Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) leads a mutiny, resulting in Bligh's unceremonious removal from the ship. Classic seafaring adventure, based on the real-life 1789 mutiny.
Dir: Frank Lloyd Cast: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone
Runtime: 132 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations: ACTOR -- Clark Gable {"Fletcher Christian"}
ACTOR -- Charles Laughton {"Captain Bligh"} [came in 3rd]
ACTOR -- Franchot Tone {"Roger Byam"}
DIRECTING -- Frank Lloyd
FILM EDITING -- Margaret Booth [came in 2nd]
MUSIC (Scoring) -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Music Department, Nat W. Finston, head of department (Score by Herbert Stothart) [came in 2nd]
(*WINNER*) OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
WRITING (Screenplay) -- Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman, Carey Wilson [came in 2nd]


5:15 AM Cimarron (1931)



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A husband and wife fight to survive in the early days of the Oklahoma Territory.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles Cast: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Runtime: 131 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations: ACTOR -- Richard Dix {"Yancey Cravat"}
ACTRESS -- Irene Dunne {"Sabra Cravat"}
(*WINNER*) ART DIRECTION -- Max Rée
CINEMATOGRAPHY -- Edward Cronjager
DIRECTING -- Wesley Ruggles
(*WINNER*) OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- RKO Radio
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Adaptation) -- Howard Estabrook

Trivia: The first Western to win a Best Picture Oscar. It would be another 59 years before a Western would win the Academy Award for Best Picture again when Dances with Wolves (1990) took the main prize.