TCM Schedule Saturday March 16 - Network, The China Syndrome, The Defiant Ones, Gypsy, Spencer's Mountain

Last edited Fri Mar 15, 2024, 11:53 AM - Edit history (1)

Saturday, March 16



At a Glance
SPOTLIGHT: WOMEN AT WORK - THE 1970's AND 1980's
China Syndrome, The (1979)
Network (1976)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
- TCM DAYTIME
WEEKEND FEATURES
Sunday Punch (1942) (6:30 am ET)
(P) MGM Cartoons: The First Swallow (1942)
Believe It or Not #4 (1932) (short)
Calling on Cape Town (1952) (short)
Sagebrush Law (1943)
Meet the Governor (1955)
Popeye: A Clean Shaven Man (1936)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)
I'm Much Obliged (1936) (short)
Gypsy (1962) (Musical Matinee)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Defiant Ones, The (1958)
Spencer's Mountain (1963)
- TCM PRIMETIME
STEWART GRANGER AND DEBORAH KERR
King Solomon's Mines (1950)
Prisoner of Zenda, The (1952)
- NOIR ALLEY
Le Samourai (1967)
- TCM LATE NIGHT
Night Shift (1982)
He Knows You're Alone (1980)

Full day schedule

12:00 AM The China Syndrome (1979)

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A TV reporter investigates the goings on in a shoddy nuclear power plant and ends up against more than she bargained for.
Dir: James Bridges Cast: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Lewis Arquette
Runtime: 122 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Jack Lemmon {"Jack Godell"}
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Jane Fonda {"Kimberly Wells"}
ART DIRECTION -- Art Direction: George Jenkins; Set Decoration: Arthur Jeph Parker
WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) -- Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, James Bridges

Trivia: When the film was first released on 16 March 1979, nuclear power executives soon lambasted the picture as being "sheer fiction" and a "character assassination of an entire industry". Then twelve days after its launch, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

2:15 AM Network (1976)



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Television programmers turn a deranged news anchor into the mad prophet of the airwaves.
Dir: Sidney Lumet Cast: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch
Runtime: 121 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Peter Finch {"Howard Beale"} (Finch had passed away by the time of the Oscar ceremony. Paddy Chayefsky was announced to accept it, but on the Oscar broadcast he then said, "There's only one person who should be up here" and he then called up Finch's wife, who accepted it.)
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- William Holden {"Max Schumacher"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Ned Beatty {"Arthur Jensen"}
(*WINNER*) ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Faye Dunaway {"Diana Christensen"}
(*WINNER*) ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Beatrice Straight {"Louise Schumacher"}
CINEMATOGRAPHY -- Owen Roizman
DIRECTING -- Sidney Lumet
FILM EDITING -- Alan Heim
BEST PICTURE -- Howard Gottfried, Producer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen--based on factual material or on story material not previously published or produced) -- Paddy Chayefsky

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Trivia: Peter Finch was desperate to win the role of Howard Beale once he had read the script. He even offered to pay his own airfare to New York City for the screen test. But Sidney Lumet was concerned about Finch's Australian accent. Finch won the part after sending Lumet a recording of himself reading the New York Times with a perfect American accent.

4:30 AM Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More (1974)



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A widow dreaming of a singing career ends up waiting tables in Phoenix.
Dir: Martin Scorsese Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd
Runtime: 113 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations: (*WINNER*) ACTRESS -- Ellen Burstyn {"Alice Hyatt"}. (Accepted by Martin Scorsese.)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Diane Ladd {"Flo"}
WRITING (Original Screenplay) -- Robert Getchell

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Trivia: Ellen Burstyn could not accept her Academy Award because she was in a play that night. Martin Scorsese accepted it in her place. Her Oscar was later delivered to her in a liquor box by Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau at the stage door of the Broadway theater where she was working. She asked Matthau what an Oscar really meant, and he told her, "Let's put it this way, Ellen. When you die, the newspapers will say, 'The Academy Award-winning actress Ellen Burstyn died today.'"

6:30 AM Sunday Punch (1942)



A young girl copes with a boarding house full of boxers.
Dir: David Miller Cast: William Lundigan, Jean Rogers, Dan Dailey Jr.
Runtime: 76 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: This film did poorly at the box office, resulting in a loss of $79,000 ($1.18M in 2017) for MGM according to studio records.


8:00 AM Cartoon: The First Swallow (1942)

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The story of a single swallow resting from a southern flight that brings about the famed migration to the mission at San Juan Capistrano.
Dir: Jameson Brewer, Rudolf Ising Cast: Pedro de Cordoba (narrator)
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: N

Trivia: At the time of this short, cartoons were shown in cinemas (a long with a news reel and a travelogue) so careful attention to background detail was norm. Everything here is rendered in meticulous detail, from the old wooden bucket to the tiles on the mission patio.


8:08 AM Short: Believe It or Not #4 (1932)
In this short film, Robert L. Ripley takes a dreaming boy on a tour of Believe-It-or-Not land to see many oddities. Vitaphone Release 1320.
Dir: Arthur Hurley Cast: Sigmund Shuster, Billy Hayes, Tom Green, Robert L Ripley
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:17 AM Short: Calling on Cape Town (1952)
This short film provides a look at Cape Town, South Africa, with an emphasis on the history of its settlers.
Dir: James A. Fitzpatrick Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick (narrator)
Runtime: 8 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:26 AM Sagebrush Law (1943)



A Western bank president is framed on embezzlement charges.
Dir: Sam Nelson Cast: Tim Holt, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Joan Barclay
Runtime: 56 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-G CC: N

Trivia: One of six films Tim Holt made for RKO between May 11-July 17, 1942, before he went into the US Army Air Forces--where he became an officer and bombardier on B-29 Superfortresses in the Pacific Theater, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart.

9:30 AM Meet the Governor (1955)
A country bumpkin takes on the state political machine to run for governor, in this episode of the Screen Directors Playhouse television series.
Dir: Leo McCarey Cast: Herb Shriner, Barbara Hale, Bobby Clark
Runtime: 30 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: N

10:00 AM Cartoon: A Clean Shaven Man (1936)

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Popeye and Bluto admire Olive Oyl as she sings "I Want A Clean-Shaven Man". Both in need of a shave, they rush to the barber shop only to find the barber is out. They decide to shave each other. Popeye does a good job on Bluto but is double-crossed when he gets shaved.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel. Cast: Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Gus Wickie
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


10:09 AM Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)



A socialite can't choose between the tough guy she's turned into a gentleman and the gentleman she's turned into a tough guy.
Dir: Mark Sandrich Cast: Charles Farrell, Wynne Gibson, William Gargan
Runtime: 73 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: N

Trivia: The original play was written by Jos Kesselring who later wrote the play, 'Arsenic and Old Lace.'

11:30 AM Short: I'm Much Obliged (1936)
In this short film, a newspaper columnist calls people at random and asks them "What would you like to do?" Vitaphone Release 1962-1963.
Dir: Roy Mack Cast: Vera Van, Ian Maclaren, George Dobbs
Runtime: 21 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: N


12:00 PM Gypsy (1962)



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During New York's vaudeville days a tough stage mother tries to get her daughters to become stars. After a long, seedy struggle, the shy "Gypsy" becomes a hit and then tries to turn her back on the mother who got her there.
Dir: Mervyn Leroy Cast: Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden
Runtime: 149 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- Harry Stradling, Sr.
COSTUME DESIGN (Color) -- Orry-Kelly
MUSIC (Scoring of Music--adaptation or treatment) -- Frank Perkins



Trivia: The real Gypsy Rose Lee visited the set and gave Natalie Wood some tips on her stripping routines.

Trivia: Three legendary women were considered to play Mama Rose on film: Broadway's original Rose, Ethel Merman (who was producer-director Mervyn LeRoy's first choice), Judy Garland and Judy Holliday.

Trivia: Before the decision was made to dub most of her vocals, Rosalind Russell attempted to do her own singing. The results are an extra feature on the soundtrack CD. After Ethel Merman died, a tape of the Russell recordings was found in a box in Merman's closet. Merman, furious that she had not been cast in the film, evidently kept a copy of the Russell vocals as a strange, somewhat vengeful consolation prize.


2:30 PM Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)



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A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Dir: John Sturges Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
Runtime: 81 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations: ACTOR -- Spencer Tracy {"John J. Macreedy"}
DIRECTING -- John Sturges
WRITING (Screenplay) -- Millard Kaufman

Trivia: John Sturges had already moved on to his next film, The Scarlet Coat (1955), so Herman Hoffman took charge of filming the opening. The plan was to shoot the train hurtling toward the audience, almost like a 3-D movie, but it would have been deadly to attempt a helicopter maneuver into the path of a speeding locomotive. Stunt flier Paul Mantz offered the perfect solution: have the train running backwards, fly the copter over the retreating engine, then project the footage in reverse. "It's a helluva shot," Sturges later said, "but I didn't make it."


4:00 PM The Defiant Ones (1958)



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Two convicts, a white racist and an angry black, escape while chained to each other.
Dir: Stanley Kramer Cast: Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel
Runtime: 97 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTOR -- Tony Curtis {"John 'Joker' Jackson"}
ACTOR -- Sidney Poitier {"Noah Cullen"}
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Theodore Bikel {"Sheriff Max Muller"}
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Cara Williams {"The Woman"}
(*WINNER*) CINEMATOGRAPHY (Black-and-White) -- Sam Leavitt
DIRECTING -- Stanley Kramer
FILM EDITING -- Frederic Knudtson
BEST MOTION PICTURE -- Stanley Kramer, Producer
(*WINNER*) WRITING (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) -- Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
[NOTE: Upon request of his widow and upon recommendation of the Writers Branch Executive Committee, the Board of Governors voted on June 22, 1993, to restore the name of Nedrick Young to the nominations and award presented to Nathan E. Douglas (Mr. Young's pseudonym during the blacklisting period).]

Trivia: Robert Mitchum turned down the role of John "Joker" Jackson (Tony Curtis' role). Mitchum, who claimed to have served on a Southern chain gang when he was 14, said that he didn't believe the premise that a Black man and a white man would be chained together, as such a thing would never happen in the very-strictly-segregated South. Over the years, this reason was corrupted to the point where many people believed Mitchum turned down the role because he didn't want to be chained to a Black man, an absolute falsehood. Curtis repeated the inaccurate story in his autobiography, but recanted after it was explained to him.

Trivia: Co-writers Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith were cast as the prison truck drivers, with the writing credits below their faces, because Young was blacklisted and writing under a pseudonym at the time, and producer Stanley Kramer wanted to identify them truthfully.

Trivia: The young man with the transistor radio is played by Our Gang/The Little Rascals graduate Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer in his final screen appearance before his untimely death in a shooting incident.

5:45 PM Spencer's Mountain (1963)



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A Wyoming farmer fights to build a better life for his oldest son.
Dir: Delmer Daves Cast: Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, James Macarthur
Runtime: 119 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: According to a Henry Fonda interview seen on the DVD version of this movie, many locals of Jackson Hole, Wyoming were used as extras for scenes in the movie, such as the graduation of Clayboy.

Trivia: In their book "How Underdog Was Born...", W. Watts Biggers and Chad Strover reveal that seeing Wally Cox's performance in this movie inspired them to ask him to voice their newly created character, Underdog.

Trivia: Debut of Barbara McNair and final film of Donald Crisp.

8:00 PM King Solomon's Mines (1950)





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A spirited widow hires a daredevil jungle scout to find a lost treasure in diamonds.
Dir: Compton Bennett Cast: Deborah Kerr, Stewart Granger, Richard Carlson
Runtime: 102 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: While filming on location in Carlsbad National Park's New Cave, Deborah Kerr took her lipstick and wrote the initials "DK" on a cave formation near the Klansman formation that was used as a background. An electrician also took a burned out lamp and tossed it in a hole under that formation. Since the cave is still 'active', meaning the formations are still slowly being encased in more minerals, the initials and the lamp are now solidly encased in a layer limestone that is thin enough to see through but thick enough to prevent removal. The Carlsbad Park Rangers refer to the "DK" as the Deborah Kerr formation. Both are still visible to this day.

10:00 PM The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)



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An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern
Runtime: 101 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: The film used the same basic script that was written for the 1937 David O. Selznick film version, The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), with Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll. Although many scenes and camera set-ups are exactly the same, there are a few notable differences - for example, the servant who is made to drink the drugged wine is now a woman. Also, although both John Balderstone and Wells Root retain their writing credit from the 1937 film, there is none for Donald Ogden Stewart, who was originally credited with "additional dialogue"; Stewart had, in the interim years, been blacklisted.

12:00 AM Le Samourai (1967)





A dedicated professional killer lies fully clothed in his monochromed apartment, then goes off to a day at the office: stealing a car, killing a man in a nightclub, setting up an ironclad alibi, and outsmarting the police. Two problems: his anonymous employers don't trust him and he's left one witness behind, a beautiful ...
Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville Cast: Alain Delon, Francois Perier, Nathalie Delon
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-14 CC: N

Trivia: When Jean-Pierre Melville brought a copy of the script to Alain Delon, Delon asked him what the title was. When he was told the title was "Le samouraï", Delon had Melville follow him to his bedroom, where there was only a leather couch and a samurai blade hanging on the wall.

2:00 AM Night Shift (1982)



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Chuck Lumley is a soft-spoken man who has the terrible job of being a morgue attendant during the night shift. Anxious to help a friendly prostitute named Belinda, and influenced by his enthusiastic assistant Bill, who always has an angle, Chuck attempts to help Belinda, and make some fast money by turning the morgue into ...
Dir: Ron Howard Cast: Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, Shelley Long
Runtime: 106 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-MA CC:

Trivia: First major Hollywood studio picture directed by Ron Howard.

Trivia: Breakthrough and first starring role for Michael Keaton and early screen roles for Kevin Costner and Shannen Doherty -- Costner as a frat boy in the morgue party scene (a non-speaking bit part), and Doherty plays a "Blue Bell" (liken to a "Girl Scout&quot in an elevator scene (with one line).

Trivia: Henry Winkler took the role of the wimpy morgue director to play a character opposite of the macho Fonzie character. "I thought I'd play Richie Cunningham for once," he said on Twitter.

4:00 AM He Knows You're Alone (1980)



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After Amy and her friends get married at the same time, the new husbands decide to leave their new wives and go on vacation. The young women who are left behind are stalked by a psychotic killer, and Amy tries to get help from a local policeman and one of her friends who works at a morgue.
Dir: Armand Mastroianni Cast: Don Scardino, Elizabeth Kemp, Caitlin O'Heaney
Runtime: 94 mins Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Trivia: First movie appearances of Tom Hanks. In the original script, Elliot (Tom Hanks' character) was supposed to fall victim to the killer. However, Hanks was so charismatic onscreen that the writers opted not to film Elliot's murder. Tom Hanks later described the preposterousness of the carnival scenes, noting how ridiculous it was to depict the rides being 'enjoyed' by patrons in freezing temperatures.