TCM Schedule for Thursday, February 5 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- Reproductive Biology

[Staph]

Cinematically, it's my favorite time of the year -- TCM's 31 Days of Oscar. Every day for a month, there are movies that are a part of our cultural heritage, movies that are the folklore and legends that we use for our common communications. This year's theme is Turner Classic Movies University, with a different course of study for each evening's prime time viewing.

Today, we have time-based science fiction in the morning (One Million BC (1940), The Time Machine (1960), and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)), twins in the afternoon (get your mind out of the gutter -- we're talking about two fifteen-year-old Hayley Millses in The Parent Trap (1960), as well as two Bette Davises, two Douglas Fairbankses Junior, and two Louis Haywards), and an evening in the study of reproductive biology (sigh...okay...get your mind back in the gutter...). Enjoy!


5:09am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Service With The Colors (1940)
Men with diverse backgrounds enlist in the army and are all assigned to the same post.
Cast: Robert Armstrong, William Lundigan, Henry O'Neill, William T. Orr
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
C-21 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel -- From the National Defense Series

Filmed at the Presidio, San Francisco, at the Army training facility there.


5:30am -- One Million B.C. (1940)
An exiled caveman finds love when he joins another tribe.
Cast: Victor Mature, Carole Landis, Lon Chaney Jr., John Hubbard
Dir: Hal Roach, Hal Roach Jr.
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Roy Seawright (photographic) and Elmer Raguse (sound), and Best Music, Original Score -- Werner R. Heymann

The special effects were so good that special effect footage from this film was used in numerous other films produced well into the 1960s.


7:00am -- The Time Machine (1960)
A turn-of-the-century inventor sends himself into the future to save humanity.
Cast: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot
Dir: George Pal
C-103 mins, TV-G

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

Director George Pal was a close friend of fellow animator Walter Lantz, ever since Lantz did some cut-rate Woody Woodpecker work for Pal's Destination Moon (1950). As tribute, Pal tried to include Woody Woodpecker references in all his subsequent films. In the scenes where the Eloi are having a good time, every so often you can distinctly hear the "Woody Woodpecker" laugh.

Also, during the air raid scene, as all the people rush into the shelter a little girl crossing the street stops to pick something up that she dropped. When she does, you can quickly see she picks up a small Woody Woodpecker figure.


9:00am -- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Classic sci-fi epic about a mysterious monolith that seems to play a key role in human evolution.
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
C-149 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Stanley Kubrick

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Anthony Masters, Harry Lange and Ernest Archer, Best Director -- Stanley Kubrick, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke

By the year 2001 some of the product placements had become outdated. RCA Whirlpool, the maker of the zero-gravity food preparation unit on the moon shuttle, had become Whirlpool. The Bell System had been divested and the long-distance service became AT&T. Pan Am had ceased operations as an international air carrier (in fact, the Whirlpool change had already happened by the time of the film's original release).


11:30am -- A Stolen Life (1946)
A twin takes her deceased sister's place as wife of the man they both love.
Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark, Walter Brennan
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
BW-107 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- William C. McGann (visual) and Nathan Levinson (audible)

Because of her constant insistence for better productions to work on, and an overall better atmosphere on set, Jack L. Warner asked Bette Davis to produce the film. It would be the first and only time she would be able to do this. Reportedly, she was so overworked and also intrigued by this job that she started a relationship with the director of this film to iron out her mind.


1:30pm -- The Parent Trap (1961)
Twins separated by divorce plot to bring their parents back together.
Cast: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charlie Ruggles
Dir: David Swift
C-129 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Philip W. Anderson, and Best Sound -- Robert O. Cook (Walt Disney SSD)

Susan Henning took on the role as Hayley Mills' body double for several of the twin shots in the film. As part of her contract, she signed away her rights to be credited. At the wrap party, Walt Disney presented her with a small statue of Donald Duck, called The Duckster, in recognition of the "best unseen performance on film." Only 2 other Ducksters have ever been awarded. To her credit, Ms. Henning did later star with Elvis Presley.


3:49pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Army Champions (1941)
The film uses the analogy of the speed, accuracy, and teamwork of sports and how these qualities are translated into the weapons training of American soldiers.
Narrator: Pete Smith
Dir: Paul Vogel
BW-11 mins

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

One of the rare serious entries in the Pete Smith Speciality series.


4:00pm -- The Corsican Brothers (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents' murder.
Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff, J. Carrol Naish
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
BW-111 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin

One of nearly a dozen versions of the Alexandre Dumas père novel, beginning with a silent version made in 1898, through the famous (or infamous) Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984) (Cheech and Chong as Siamese twins!).


6:00pm -- The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
The Three Musketeers rescue the king's unjustly imprisoned twin.
Cast: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William, Joseph Schildkraut
Dir: James Whale
BW-112 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Lud Gluskin and Lucien Moraweck

Nearly all of the characters in this film actually existed, but none of the characters who die in it actually died that way in real life.


What's On Tonight: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY


8:00pm -- The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
During World War II, a 4F tries to help the woman he loves cover up a surprise pregnancy.
Cast: Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, William Demarest
Dir: Preston Sturges
BW-99 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Preston Sturges

The character Gov. McGinty is Dan McGinty, from the earlier film by Preston Sturges, The Great McGinty (1940). Brian Donlevy played the character in both films.


9:42pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Jammin' The Blues (1944)
In this short, prominent jazz musicans of the 1940s get together for a rare filming of a jam session.
Cast: Lester Young, Marie Bryant, George 'Red' Callender.
Dir: Gjon Mili.
BW-10 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead

Reportedly, during the filming of this short Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart paid a visit to the set and observed filming (hearing that something great was happening). According to one musician, Bogart came up to him and said "Are you getting paid good money for this? If you aren't, you should strike!"


10:00pm -- Georgy Girl (1966)
A misfit fights for happiness in the world of swinging London.
Cast: James Mason, Alan Bates, Lynn Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling
Dir: Silvio Narizzano
BW-99 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- James Mason, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Lynn Redgrave, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Kenneth Higgins, and Best Music, Original Song -- Tom Springfield (music) and Jim Dale (lyrics) for the song "Georgy Girl" (Jim Dale is much better known as an actor (the Carry On series of British films) and narrator (Pushing Daisies and the Harry Potter audio books). I saw him on Broadway as P. T. Barnum in Barnum, for which he won a 1980 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. He was amazing!)

Lynn Redgrave's Best Actress Oscar nomination for this movie coincided with sister Vanessa Redgrave's similar nomination for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966). Such a coincidence had occurred only once before when sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland respectively vied for the Best Actress Oscar for Suspicion (1941) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941). Fontaine was the only winner of the four actresses in this particular curiosity.


12:00am -- Fanny (1961)
An old waterfront character tries to help his daughter when her lover leaves her pregnant.
Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer, Horst Buchholz
Dir: Joshua Logan
C-134 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Charles Boyer, Best Cinematography, Color -- Jack Cardiff, Best Film Editing -- William Reynolds, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman, and Best Picture

This production of "Fanny" began as a hit Broadway musical in 1954, with the libretto co-authored by Joshua Logan, who also directed the show, which starred Ezio Pinza, in his last stage role before his death, as Cesar, Walter Slezak as Panisse, and Florence Henderson as Fanny. When the musical was filmed, Logan stayed on as director, and the film was faithful to the show, except for the fact that Logan dropped all of the songs and simply used them as background scoring.


2:15am -- Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Onetime college friends cope with the sexual revolution of the '60s.
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Arthur Garfunkel, Ann-Margret
Dir: Mike Nichols
C-98 mins, TV-MA

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ann-Margret

When Jack Nicholson would get ready to play his nude scenes, he'd prepare everyone on set by warning, "Here comes Big Steve!"


4:00am -- Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
A modern married couple attempts to lure their best friends into an exploration of the liberated lifetsyles of the late 60s.
Cast: Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon
Dir: Paul Mazursky
C-104 mins, TV-MA

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Elliott Gould, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Dyan Cannon, Best Cinematography -- Charles Lang, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker

Natalie Wood decided to gamble her $750,000 salary on a percentage of the gross, earning $3 million. She had earlier declined a similar offer with West Side Story (1961).

[Staph]

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - The Essentials

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) -- SYNOPSIS

A tribe of prehistoric ape men learn to use weapons after discovering a mysterious black monolith. Centuries later, U.S. astronauts discover a similar object on the Moon, only to be nearly deafened by the high-pitched signal it emits on being uncovered. Astronauts tracing the signal to Jupiter are placed in a perilous situation by the ship's computer when it malfunctions and develops a super-ego of its own. The sole survivor of the mission is eventually confronted by another monolith that sends him on a cosmic journey through space and time, leading to a re-birth in some other form.

Producer/Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke
Based on the short story "The Sentinel" by Clarke
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Editing: Ray Lovejoy
Art Direction: John Hoesli
Cast: Keir Dullea (David Bowman), Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole), William Sylvester (Dr. Heywood Floyd), Daniel Richter (Moonwatcher), Leonard Rossiter (Smyslov), Margaret Tyzack (Elena), Frank Miller (Mission Controller), Vivian Kubrick ("Squirt," Dr. Floyd's Daughter), John Ashley (Astronaut), Douglas Rain (The Voice of HAL)
C-139 m.

Why 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is Essential

The creation of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was as big an epic as the movie itself. Employing teams of professionals in every field from space flight to food services, Stanley Kubrick set out to make what he simply described as a "good science fiction film." His first step was to contact famed author Arthur C. Clarke, and over the next four years the two men crafted a "fictionalized science lesson" which was to be a coming of age of the entire human race.

One of the crowning achievements of 2001: A Space Odyssey was the level of detail, which surpassed even Kubrick's usual demands. With the help of Scientific Consultant, Frederick Ordway, the production collaborated with companies like Whirlpool, RCA, GE, IBM, Pan Am, and NASA to provide a technological product placement. In exchange for discussing their plans for the future, and providing feasible designs for futuristic devices, cooperating companies would earn a place in the movie's environments. Hence, 2001 ASO is littered with amusing logos like Pan Am on the shuttle, and Howard Johnson's on the hotel in the space station. These little touches make life in space that much more believable.

This same commitment to detail was extended to the groundbreaking special effects in the film. During the "Dawn of Man" sequence, Kubrick employed front projection rather than rear projection, which was most common. Kubrick felt that rear projection never looked convincing, so he mounted a projector from above and projected the background slide behind the set pieces at very low light. The result was a completely realistic environment. But without convincing ape-men, the background would have gone entirely to waste, so Kubrick employed British makeup artist Stuart Freeborn to bring early man to life. Though Freeborn was snubbed for an Oscar for makeup in lieu of Planet Of the Apes (1968), Freeborn's complex masks and prosthetics actually allowed actors to articulate their lips more convincingly than those used for Planet of the Apes. Stuart Freeborn went on to design creatures for the Star Wars films.

With only 40 minutes of dialogue, 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most purely cinematic film experiences since the coming of sound. In a Playboy interview, Kubrick described it as "...a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the subconscious with emotional and philosophic content." Many hailed it as the mainstream's absorption of underground filmmaking techniques and the death knell of the big-budget, traditional narrative Hollywood film. It clearly inspired later filmmakers to view their work more as visual experience than cohesive storytelling.

The space sequences proved no less imaginative. Because characters would be traveling and living in a variety of environments onboard spaceships, Kubrick needed to find a realistic way to blend both gravity and weightless conditions. The techniques ranged from the simple method of mounting a pen on a piece of rotating plexi-glass so that it appeared to be floating, to actually rotating the set, while the actors roamed about inside. The weightless space walk sequences were achieved by suspending actors, and in some cases set pieces like the "pod" transports, from the ceiling by wires. The "floating" actors were then shot from below, their bodies hiding the wires. For the "stargate" sequence, FX Supervisor Douglas Trumbull devised what was called a "slitscan machine." The machine helped with the process of photographing backlit transparencies of artwork, exposing each frame for a full minute, and moving the camera and artwork in sync, recording the art with a "streaked," stylized fashion. The result was the appearance that Dave Bowman was moving through time and space at infinite speeds.

Taking just over four years, and costing MGM $11 million, 2001: A Space Odyssey was met with mixed reviews when it premiered on April 12, 1968. Critics pretty much hated the film, calling it slow, boring, and confusing. Luckily, for Kubrick and Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey struck a cord with younger audiences, who made the film the second biggest box office draw of 1968.

2001: A Space Odyssey is now widely praised as a remarkable achievement for its realistic depiction of space flight during a time when our space program was in its infancy. Years before we actually set foot on the moon, Kubrick and Clarke not only envisioned settlements there; they showed us an unsettlingly accurate portrayal of the lunar surface.

True, the film can be confusing ¿a point that Clarke concedes. During a trip to Hawaii from his home in Sri Lanka, Clarke was detained by an immigration official who joked, "I'm not going to let you in until you explain the ending of 2001 to me." But the film's ambiguity is part of its importance. Had Kubrick spelled it out entirely, he would have robbed viewers of the experience, and we would not still debate it today. As Kubrick himself commented, "...it's a non verbal experience - the truth is in the feel of it, not the think of it."

by Bill Goodman

[Staph]

2. 2001 -- The full text of the Zero Gravity Toilet Instructions:

ZERO GRAVITY TOILET PASSENGERS ARE ADVISED TO READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USE

- 1. The toilet is of the standard zero-gravity type. Depending on requirements, System A and/or System B can be used, details of which are clearly marked in the toilet compartment. When operating System A, depress lever and a plastic dalkron eliminator will be dispensed through the slot immediately underneath. When you have fastened the adhesive lip, attach connection marked by the large "X" outlet hose. Twist the silver coloured ring one inch below the connection point until you feel it lock.

- 2. The toilet is now ready for use. The Sonovac cleanser is activated by the small switch on the lip. When securing, twist the ring back to its initial-condition, so that the two orange lines meet. Disconnect. Place the dalkron eliminator in the vacuum receptacle to the rear. Activate by pressing the blue button.

- 3. The controls for System B are located on the opposite wall. The red release switch places the uroliminator into position; it can be adjusted manually up or down by pressing the blue manual release button. The opening is self adjusting. To secure after use, press the green button which simultaneously activates the evaporator and returns the uroliminator to its storage position.

- 4. You may leave the lavatory if the green exit light is on over the door. If the red light is illuminated, one of the lavatory facilities is not properly secured. Press the "Stewardess" call button on the right of the door. She will secure all facilities from her control panel outside. When green exit light goes on you may open the door and leave. Please close the door behind you.

- 5. To use the Sonoshower, first undress and place all your clothes in the clothes rack. Put on the velcro slippers located in the cabinet immediately below. Enter the shower. On the control panel to your upper right upon entering you will see a "Shower seal" button. Press to activate. A green light will then be illuminated immediately below. On the intensity knob select the desired setting. Now depress the Sonovac activation lever. Bathe normally.

- 6. The Sonovac will automatically go off after three minutes unless you activate the "Manual off" over-ride switch by flipping it up. When you are ready to leave, press the blue "Shower seal" release button. The door will open and you may leave. Please remove the velcro slippers and place them in their container.

- 7. If the red light above this panel is on, the toilet is in use. When the green light is illuminated you may enter. However, you must carefully follow all instructions when using the facilities during coasting (Zero G) flight. Inside there are three facilities: (1) the Sonowasher, (2) the Sonoshower, (3) the toilet. All three are designed to be used under weightless conditions. Please observe the sequence of operations for each individual facility.

- 8. Two modes for Sonowashing your face and hands are available, the "moist-towel" mode and the "Sonovac" ultrasonic cleaner mode. You may select either mode by moving the appropriate lever to the "Activate" position. If you choose the "moist-towel" mode, depress the indicated yellow button and withdraw item. When you have finished, discard the towel in the vacuum dispenser, holding the indicated lever in the "active" position until the green light goes on... showing that the rollers have passed the towel completely into the dispenser. If you desire an additional towel, press the yellow button and repeat the cycle.

- 9. If you prefer the "Sonovac" ultrasonic cleaning mode, press the indicated blue button. When the twin panels open, pull forward by rings A & B. For cleaning the hands, use in this position. Set the timer to positions 10, 20, 30 or 40... indicative of the number of seconds required. The knob to the left, just below the blue light, has three settings, low, medium or high. For normal use, the medium setting is suggested.

- 10. After these settings have been made, you can activate the device by switching to the "ON" position the clearly marked red switch. If during the washing operation, you wish to change the settings, place the "manual off" over-ride switch in the "OFF" position. you may now make the change and repeat the cycle.