TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 12 -- The Korda Brothers

[Staph]

Today we celebrate cowboys, with a passel of shoot 'em ups during the daylight hours. Then this evening we return to the Korda Brothers, with a quintet of films directed and/or produced by Alexander Korda. Enjoy!


4:30am -- Going Places (1938)
A sporting-goods salesman poses as a jockey to stimulate sales.
Cast: Dick Powell, Anita Louise, Allen Jenkins, Ronald Reagan
Dir: Ray Enright
BW-84 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "Jeepers Creepers".

Fifteen-year-old Dorothy Dandridge, as part of The Dandridge Sisters, performed in the "Mutiny in the Nursery" production number (music by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren, lyrics by Johnny Mercer). Other members of The Dandridge Sisters were Dorothy's 17-year-old sister Vivian Dandridge and their friend Etta Jones.


6:00am -- Sergeant Murphy (1938)
A lowly private becomes attached to a trained military horse.
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Mary Maguire, Donald Crisp, Ben Hendricks
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
BW-57 mins, TV-G

James Cagney was offered the lead in the movie, but turned it down. It was then offered to Ronald Reagan, who was a reserve officer in the U.S. Cavalry at the time. (Lucky for Reagan that he left the 7th Cavalry before Custer got to the Little Big Horn.)


7:00am -- The Squaw Man (1931)
After saving the life of a British aristocrat, an Indian maiden bears his child.
Cast: Warner Baxter, Lupe Velez, Eleanor Boardman, Charles Bickford
Dir: Cecil B. DeMille
BW-107 mins, TV-G

In his autobiography, Cecil B. DeMille wrote "I do not know whether M-G-M or I was more relieved that my contract had come to an end." The production was almost halted by the studio, but DeMille convinced them it would cost just as much to complete it as it would to stop it.


9:00am -- Annie Oakley (1935)
The famed female sharpshooter learns that you can't get a man with a gun when she falls for a rival marksman.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Melvyn Douglas, Moroni Olsen
Dir: George Stevens
BW-90 mins, TV-G

Betty Hutton was the first of many women to play Annie Oakley in the movies and on television, including Betty Hutton, Ethel Merman, Geraldine Chaplin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Reba McEntire.


10:32am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Annie Laurie (1936)
In late 18th century Scotland, Annie Laurie and William Douglas love each other, but their clans are on opposite sides of the country's civil war.
Cast: Ann Rutherford, Dennis Morgan, David Torrence
Dir: Joseph Sherman
BW-10 mins

One of Dennis Morgan's first film credits, under his birth name Stanley Morner.


10:45am -- Gentle Annie (1944)
A frontierswoman turns her family into a band of bank robbers.
Cast: James Craig, Donna Reed, Marjorie Main, Henry Morgan
Dir: Andrew Marton
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Production of the movie actually began in October 1942 with W.S. Van Dyke as director and Robert Taylor, Susan Peters, Spring Byington, Charley Grapewin, Van Johnson, Morris Ankrum and James Craig. The production was halted and finally shelved when Van Dyke became ill after 4 weeks of shooting, and when it was revived in 1944, only Ankrum and Craig remained in the cast, but in different roles.


12:15pm -- Trail Street (1947)
Bat Masterson fights to make Kansas safe for wheat farmers.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George "Gabby" Hayes
Dir: Ray Enright
BW-84 mins, TV-G

Primarily a man of pacifist beliefs, Robert Ryan often found it a challenge playing sadistic and racist characters that very much were at odds with his own personal ideals. Additionally, Ryan actively campaigned for improved civil rights, restricting the growth of nuclear weapons and he strongly opposed McCarthyism and its abuse of innocent persons.


1:45pm -- The Younger Brothers (1949)
Three law-breaking brothers try to go straight, only to be hounded by a vengeful detective.
Cast: Wayne Morris, Janis Paige, Bruce Bennett, Geraldine Brooks
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
C-77 mins, TV-G

A nitrate print of this film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.


3:15pm -- Ambush (1949)
A Westerner searches for a white woman held by the Apaches.
Cast: Robert Taylor, John Hodiak, Arlene Dahl, Don Taylor
Dir: Sam Wood
BW-89 mins, TV-G

Movie debut of Jean Hagen, the screechy-voiced silent star Lina Lamont from Singin' In The Rain (1952).


4:45pm -- Arena (1953)
A rodeo star fights to mend his broken marriage.
Cast: Gig Young, Jean Hagen, Polly Bergen, Henry Morgan
Dir: Richard Fleischer
C-71 mins, TV-PG

M-G-M's first 3-D production shot at a rodeo in Tucson, Arizona is a story surrounded by objects flying into the camera.


6:00pm -- Tribute to a Bad Man (1956)
A brutal rancher has to soften his ways to win the woman he loves.
Cast: James Cagney, Don Dubbins, Stephen McNally, Irene Papas
Dir: Robert Wise
C-96 mins, TV-PG

Spencer Tracy was cast as Jeremy Roderick, but was replaced by James Cagney.


What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: THE KORDA BROTHERS


8:00pm -- Rembrandt (1936)
The respected painter takes to drink and faces down scandal after his wife dies.
Cast: Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester, Edward Chapman
Dir: Alexander Korda
BW-81 mins, TV-G

In a memoir written after his death, Charles Laughton's widow, Elsa Lanchester, stated they never had children because he was homosexual. According to Maureen O'Hara, however, Laughton once told her that not having children was his biggest regret, and that it was because Elsa could not bear children as a result of an botched abortion she had early in her career while performing burlesque. It is possible both stories are true. Whether Lanchester ever had an abortion (which would have been illegal at the time) is not known, but it is known that Charles Laughton was gay. That fact, however, would not have precluded parenthood. There is, additionally, Laughton's reputed great dislike of children. It is possible he said what he did to Maureen O'Hara because he knew she was a VERY devout Roman Catholic and, having been schooled by Jesuits himself, he wanted to play a little joke on her sensibilities.


9:30pm -- That Hamilton Woman (1941)
Naval hero Lord Nelson defies convention to court a married woman of common birth.
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Alan Mowbray, Sara Allgood
Dir: Alexander Korda
BW-125 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Jack Whitney (General Service SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Vincent Korda and Julia Heron, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Lawrence W. Butler (photographic) and William A. Wilmarth (sound)

Reportedly Winston Churchill's favorite movie. He claimed to have seen it 83 times. One of Churchill's hobbies was writing for movies as ghost writer. He wrote two of Nelson's speeches, as propaganda pieces against Germany, which was invading Europe at the time the movie was filmed and released.


11:47pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: So You Want To Hold Your Wife (1947)
Joe McDoakes goes on "The Hour of Agony" radio and tells Dr. Agony of his marriage problems.
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Jane Harker, Ted Stanhope
Dir: Richard L. Bare
BW-11 mins

George O'Hanlon is not a familiar face. So close your eyes and listen -- it's George Jetson! (And his cousin Virginia is the subject of the famous editorial "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus".)


12:00am -- Vacation From Marriage (1945)
After World War II service changes them, a married couple dread their postwar reunion.
Cast: Robert Donat, Deborah Kerr, Glynis Johns, Ann Todd
Dir: Alexander Korda
BW-93 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Clemence Dane

Though he is uncredited, this is Roger Moore's film debut.


2:00am -- The Third Man (1949)
A man's investigation of a friend's death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
Dir: Carol Reed
BW-104 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Krasker

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Carol Reed, and Best Film Editing -- Oswald Hafenrichter

This was meant to be the first of a series of collaborations between mega-producers David O. Selznick and Alexander Korda. However, as the production grew difficult, they decided to take it one film at a time. Ironically, due to the success of the film, since both producers were at each other's throats for the credit for the film, they never collaborated again.


4:00am -- Fire Over England (1936)
A British spy infiltrates the Spanish court to thwart their planned invasion of England.
Cast: Flora Robson, Raymond Massey, Leslie Banks, Laurence Olivier
Dir: William K. Howard
BW-89 mins, TV-G

When Korda re-released this film circa 1944, he commissioned a new trailer which implied that James Mason (by then a huge box office star for rival studio Gainsborough) was a major star of the film. In fact, Mason plays a tiny role in “Fire Over England” and his name does not even appear in the credits!

[Staph]

1. Vacation From Marriage

In 1943, with considerable fanfare, it was announced that the MGM British Studios and Alexander Korda's London Films had signed a co-production deal that would include a number of projects including Perfect Strangers, which would be known in the U.S. as Vacation From Marriage (1945). The other proposed films ranged from a version of War and Peace to be directed by Orson Welles, with Merle Oberon (then Korda's wife) as star, to The Hardy Family in England. As it turned out, Vacation From Marriage was the only film to be made under the deal. Korda biographer Paul Tabori wrote that it was because Korda grew tired of "dancing attendance" on MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer and attending his lavish dinner parties. "To hell with roast goose," remarked Korda, restoring his London Films to its former independence.

Vacation From Marriage tells the story of an English couple (Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr) whose listless marriage is energized by the outbreak of World War II and romantic dalliances with others. Korda made the film under trying circumstances, struggling with his writers to create an acceptable script and taking on the role of director when his original choice, Wesley Ruggles, gave it up and returned to his native America. The movie was shot at London's Denham Studios during harrowing wartime conditions, which included a bomb that fell on the studio grounds, blasting the offices and dressing rooms and leaving Korda's script torn to shreds by flying glass.

The timely subject helped make Vacation From Marriage a commercial success in both Britain and the U.S., and Clemence Dane won an Oscar® for her original story. The film proved to be especially significant for its female players, who also included Ann Todd as a nurse and Glynis Johns as Kerr's service-woman pal. Korda and cinematographer Georges Perinal handled the actresses with special care, making them appear both believable and glamorous. Todd soon moved on to international stardom in The Seventh Veil (1945), and Johns quickly emerged as an outstanding character actress and leading lady.

Perhaps most importantly, the movie began Kerr's relationship with MGM, the studio that would bring her to America and Hollywood stardom. Because of her outstanding performance in multiple roles in the British-made The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Ben Goetz, head of MGM in Britain, had bought half of her contract from European producer-director Gabriel Pascal. It was under this arrangement that Kerr made her MGM debut in Vacation From Marriage. Upon seeing the film, Louis B. Mayer was said to have exclaimed, "That girl's a star!" Soon Kerr was established as a leading MGM light, beginning with The Hucksters (1947) and continuing through such successes as Edward, My Son (1949), King Solomon's Mines (1950), Quo Vadis (1951) and Tea and Sympathy (1956).

Ironically, Vacation From Marriage was Donat's last film for MGM, where his achievements had included his Oscar®-winning performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939).

Producer/Director: Alexander Korda
Screenplay: Anthony Pelissier, Clemence Dane, from story by Dane
Art Direction: Vincent Korda
Cinematography: Georges Perinal
Editing: Edward B. Jarvis
Original Music: Clifton Parker
Cast: Robert Donat (Robert Wilson), Deborah Kerr (Catherine Wilson), Glynis Johns (Dizzy Clayton), Ann Todd (Elena), Roland Culver (Richard), Allan Jeayes (Commander).
BW-93m. Closed Captioning.

by Roger Fristoe

[Matilda]

2. Set your recorders for "Vacation from Marriage".

It's quite delightful, and if you like Deborah Kerr and/or Robert Donat, you'll enjoy it. The plot is predictable,
but the dialogue is well-written, and beautifully delivered by its sterling cast, which also includes Glynis Johns.

It's also not available anywhere on DVD or video, so this is the only way you'll ever see it, unless you want to
trawl through the story on a series of youtube segments.