TCM Schedule for Thursday, February 26 -- 31 Days of Oscar -- Geology Department

[Staph]

Today's course work is at TCM University's Geology Department. This morning we begin with Mining Geology -- specifically the search for gold in the American west. This afternoon, we have a serious discussion on Plate Tectonics, looking at earthquake zones in San Francisco, Japan, New Zealand, and India. In prime time our subject is Hydrogeology, including the effects of rivers in the African Congo, Montana, Los Angeles, and Egypt. Enjoy!


4:00am -- Mister Buddwing (1966)
A man suffering from amnesia confronts a series of women in his search for his memory.
Cast: James Garner, Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, Katharine Ross
Dir: Delbert Mann
BW-99 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Paul Groesse, Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

Based on the novel Buddwing by Evan Hunter, who also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963).


5:41am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: La Fiesta De Santa Barbara (1935)
A musical/sketch comedy revue staged as a fiesta in Santa Barbara. Included are cameos, sketch comedy, and musical performances from famous stars such as Andy Devine, Buster Keaton, and Judy Garland.
Cast: Ralph Forbes, Andy Devine, Warner Baxter, Buster Keaton
C-19 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Color

This was Judy Garland's very first appearance on 3-strip Technicolor. She would not appear in color film again until The Wizard of Oz (1939).


6:00am -- The Gold Rush (1925)
In this silent film, a lost soul in the Yukon seeks love and wealth.
Cast: Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Georgia Hale, Betty Morrissey
Dir: Charlie Chaplin
BW-69 mins, TV-G

When re-released in 1943 with a musical score added, nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Terr, and Best Sound, Recording -- James L. Fields (RCA Sound)

The scene where The Lone Prospector and Big Jim have a boot for supper took three days and 63 takes to suit director Charles Chaplin. The boot was made of licorice, and Chaplin was later rushed to hospital suffering insulin shock. The licorice boots were made by the American Licorice Company at their San Francisco, CA, location opened in 1925. The Company, founded in Chicago, IL, in 1914, is still in production today at both locations.


7:10am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Wanted - A Master (1936)
A dog living in a junk yard finds out that all stray dogs will be exterminated by 3 o'clock that afternoon, so sets off to find a master before the deadline.
Narrator: Pete Smith
Dir: Arthur J. Ornitz, Gunther von Fritsch
BW-10 mins

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

This was Arthur Ornitz' only work as a director; he was cinematographer on 50 films, including Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and Serpico (1973).


7:30am -- Way Out West (1938)
A pair of tenderfeet try to get the deed to a gold mine to its rightful owner.
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynne, James Finlayson
Dir: James W. Horne
BW-64 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Marvin Hatley

In an interview on Turner Classic Movies, "The Simpsons" (1989) creator Matt Groening said that Homer's famous "Doh!" came about because Dan Castellaneta knew that James Finlayson sometimes said that in his movies, including this one. One example: when Finlayson's character, Mickey Finn, accidentally fires his rifle in bed.


8:45am -- Paint Your Wagon (1970)
Two California miners share a gold claim and a wife.
Cast: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell
Dir: Joshua Logan
C-159 mins, TV-14

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Nelson Riddle

This film version bears little resemblance to the Broadway musical on which it is ostensibly based. After the success of several musical films in the 1960s, most notably The Sound of Music (1965), producers went looking for other projects to make, and "Paint Your Wagon" made the list. The original plot, about an inter-ethnic love story, was discarded as being too dated. The only elements retained from the original were the title, Gold Rush setting and about half of the songs.


11:30am -- San Francisco (1936)
A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the big earthquake.
Cast: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
BW-115 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Assistant Director -- Joseph M. Newman, Best Director -- W.S. Van Dyke, Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert E. Hopkins, and Best Picture

Spencer Tracy, playing a priest, makes a note to himself in one scene, "That Rooney kid skipped Mass again..." Two years later, he again plays a priest in Boys Town (1938) and is charged with reforming a boy played by Mickey Rooney. The comment about "Rooney kid" is an ad-lib (watch Jeanette MacDonald's expression reacting to it). Tracy had worked with Mickey Rooney earlier that year in Riffraff (1936) and knew that director W.S. Van Dyke abhorred retakes, priding himself on bringing in productions fast and under budget - hence his nickname, "One-Take Woody".


1:30pm -- Penny Serenade (1941)
A woman on the verge of divorce recalls her heartbreaking attempts to adopt a child.
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan
Dir: George Stevens
BW-119 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Cary Grant

Irene Dunne often said that this was her favorite film because it reminded her of her own adopted daughter.


3:30pm -- Green Dolphin Street (1947)
In 19th-century New Zealand, two sisters compete for the same man against a backdrop of political unrest and natural disaster.
Cast: Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Richard Hart
Dir: Victor Saville
BW-141 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (visual), Warren Newcombe (visual), Douglas Shearer (audible) and Michael Steinore (audible)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George J. Folsey, Best Film Editing -- George White, and Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)

In a January 1986 Hollywood Reporter article, Donna Reed, initially did not want to play the role of "Marguerite" because she thought that Lana Turner was prettier and that audiences would not believe that "William" would chose her over Lana.


6:00pm -- The Rains Came (1939)
A Hindu doctor's affair with a British noblewoman is disrupted by a violent flood.
Cast: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce
Dir: Clarence Brown
BW-104 mins

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Fred Sersen (photographic) and Edmund H. Hansen (sound)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- William S. Darling and George Dudley, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur C. Miller, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman, and Best Sound, Recording -- Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD)

This movie was a monumental undertaking for the studio. Of the 100 shooting days, almost half were spent filming the man-made rain and floods, for which 33 million gallons of water were used.


7:45pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Sword Fishing (1939)
A group of fishermen go in search of marlin off the California coast.
Cast: Howard Hill, Ronald Reagan (narrator)
Dir: De Leon Anthony
BW-10 mins

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

Howard Hill, the "world's greatest archer", was the archery instructor for The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).


What's On Tonight: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR: Hydrogeology


8:00pm -- The African Queen (1951)
A grizzled skipper and a spirited missionary take on the Germans in Africa during World War I.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull
Dir: John Huston
C-105 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Humphrey Bogart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn, Best Director -- John Huston, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- James Agee and John Huston

n Katharine Hepburn's autobiography, John Huston had been dissatisfied with Hepburn's performance, finding it too serious-minded. He came calling at her hut one day and suggested that she model her performance on Eleanor Roosevelt - to put on her "society smile" in the face of all adversity. Huston left the hut, and Hepburn sat for a moment before deciding, "That is the best piece of direction I have ever heard."


10:00pm -- A River Runs Through It (1992)
A preacher's sons, one serious, one wild, look out for each other while growing up in rural Montana.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn
Dir: Paul G Ryan
C-124 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography -- Philippe Rousselot

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Score -- Mark Isham, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Richard Friedenberg

William Hurt wanted to play the role of Paul Maclean and once went fishing with Norman Maclean in Montana. When Hurt asked if he'd fished well enough to portray his brother, Maclean replied: "Well, Bill, you're a pretty good fisherman but not good enough to be my brother."


12:15am -- Chinatown (1974)
A Los Angeles private eye unwittingly sets up an innocent man for murder, then joins his seductive widow to unearth the corruption behind the crime.
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Perry Lopez, John Huston
Dir: Roman Polanski
C-130 mins, TV-MA

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Robert Towne

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Nicholson, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Faye Dunaway, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Richard Sylbert, W. Stewart Campbell and Ruby R. Levitt, Best Cinematography -- John A. Alonzo, Best Costume Design -- Anthea Sylbert, Best Director -- Roman Polanski, Best Film Editing -- Sam O'Steen, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score -- Jerry Goldsmith, Best Sound -- Charles Grenzbach and Larry Jost, and Best Picture

This was the first film of a planned trilogy about corruption in the development of Los Angeles. It was set in the 1930s and was about the water department. The second film, The Two Jakes (1990), was set in the 1940s and was about the gas company. The third film of the trilogy was about the building of the massive freeway system and was to be called "Cloverleaf", named after the famous interchange in downtown L.A., but it was never filmed. However, certain elements (like the building of a massive freeway by a corporation called called "Cloverleaf") were eventually incorporated into Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), also a hard-boiled detective story.


2:30am -- Death On The Nile (1978)
Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an heiress during an Egyptian tour.
Cast: Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury
Dir: John Guillermin
C-140 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Anthony Powell

Albert Finney was initially asked to reprise his role as Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express (1974). However, he had found the make-up he had to wear for the first movie very uncomfortable in the hot interior of the train, and on realizing that he would have to undergo the same experience, this time in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, he declined the role.

[Staph]

1. San Francisco (1936)

Director Woodbridge Strong (W.S.) Van Dyke II's most ambitious film, San Francisco rocked everyone's local bijou and bank accounts when it premiered in 1936. It hit theater epicenters shortly after the death of MGM producer extraordinaire, Irving Thalberg, who was its behind-the-scenes benefactor. The film was a qualifying success with audiences and with the Academy Awards. The film earned several Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, and others. Spencer Tracy was nominated Best Actor, his first of nine Oscar nominations, still quite a record among male performers. (Beat that, Tom Hanks!) The epic won for Best Sound. The film's startling earthquake sequence surely would have garnered an Oscar for Best Special Effects, if only such a category existed at the time. The Best Special Effects category was created in 1939.

San Francisco may have won for its sound recording, but its ties to the silent era were particularly significant. W.S. Van Dyke had been an assistant to silent film pioneer D.W. Griffith, and openly admitted that he learned everything he knew about filmmaking from the master. It was rumored that Griffith directed a scene for San Francisco, but which scene is in dispute to this day. One report had him directing one of Jeanette MacDonald's operetta scenes, while another had him responsible for some mob scenes at a nightclub. Some claimed it was the incredible 20-minute earthquake climax. Griffith's own experience directing grandiose scenes in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916) gives this theory some merit. Griffith was not the only silent film figure to benefit from Van Dyke's affection and loyalty to the silent period. Long forgotten silent film performers who had fallen on hard times during the Great Depression were give! n small, bit parts in the picture: Early slapstick comedienne Flora Finch; one-time Vitagraph star Naomi Childer; Rudolph Valentino's first wife, Jean Acker (a star in her own right during the silent days); and King Baggott and Rhea Mitchell, whom Van Dyke had directed in The Hawk's Lair (1918). Van Dyke even used silent film director Erich von Stroheim to write additional dialogue for the Anita Loos/Robert Hopkins script.

And speaking of Anita Loos, San Francisco was really her and fellow writer Robert "Hoppy" Hopkins's picture in spirit. The two long-time friends and co-workers were both from San Francisco and were only too eager to write about their native city. The script was actually based on a story by Hopkins, a writer best known for his witty dialogue and almost exclusively used by the studios as a "gag" writer. This was a good living for a talented writer, one who would be called in to supply a much-needed bit of humor in a quip for a specific character type.

Meanwhile, Loos was well known in Hollywood for her scripts that were frothy and full of puns and gags, after several decades in the film biz that started, ironically enough, with D.W. Griffith. Loos worked mostly at MGM as a scenarist, script doctor, title writer, and dialogist. Her best written characters were those like herself: worldly, cynical, sharp-tongued. And more often than not, she created characters based on people she knew personally. In fact, the character of Blackie Norton, played by Clark Gable, is based on Wilson Mizner, a real-life adventurer that both writers actually knew in old San Francisco. Mizner, a dapper man-about-town in every outward appearance, was a rascal who led a notoriously scandalous life in San Francisco, New York, and Hollywood. Having met in 1927, Mizner became a close friend to Loos, so close that Loos thereafter insisted their relationship would have been closer if she were not already married. Mizner died in 1933, leaving Loos and Hopkins an opportunity to pay homage to him in San Francisco three years later.

The film's true star is, of course, the earthquake. It is believed that an uncredited James Basevi, one of MGM's resident special effects artist, did the major work in engineering the massive sequence in San Francisco, even though another special effects expert named Arnold Gillespie is actually credited. The following year Basevi moved to Fox Studios, where he created the horrendous storm that marks the climax of director John Ford's The Hurricane (1937). In 1939, Basevi returned to his original craft of art direction, subsequently working for Ford's later productions, including My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), and Three Godfathers (1949). Basevi won an Academy Award for the art direction of The Song of Bernadette in 1943.

Producer: John Emerson, Bernard H. Hyman
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Screenplay: Anita Loos, Robert Hopkins (story)
Cinematography: Oliver T. Marsh
Costume Design: Adrian
Film Editing: Tom Held
Original Music: Edward Ward
Principal Cast: Clark Gable (Blackie Norton), Jeanette MacDonald (Mary Blake), Spencer Tracy (Father Tim Mullin), Jack Holt (Jack Burley), Jessie Ralph (Mrs. Maisie Burley)
BW-116m. Closed captioning.

by Scott McGee