TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 2 -- Based on Alexandre Dumas

[Staph]

Happy birthday, Obi Wan Kenobi! We're celebrating today with many of the best of Alec Guinness, including The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957), Our Man In Havana (1960), and Damn The Defiant! (1962). Tonight we have films based on the works of Alexander Dumas. Enjoy!


5:30am -- Short Film: The MGM Story (1951)
A collection of MGM previews with an introduction by Lionel Barrymore.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Dore Schary
BW-57 mins, TV-G

Dore Schary became head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M-G-M) after ousting its longtime head and founder Louis B. Mayer, and held the post from 1951 to 1956.


6:30am -- The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
The Japanese Army forces World War II POWs to build a strategic bridge in Burma.
Cast: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Dir: David Lean
C-162 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Alec Guinness (Alec Guinness was not present at the awards ceremony. Jean Simmons accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Cinematography -- Jack Hildyard, Best Director -- David Lean, Best Film Editing -- Peter Taylor, Best Music, Scoring -- Malcolm Arnold, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson were blacklisted at the time and received no screen credit. They were posthumously awarded Oscars in 1984. Pierre Boulle was not present at the awards ceremony. Kim Novak accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Picture

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sessue Hayakawa

David Lean initially wanted Nicholson's soldiers to enter the camp while singing "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball", a popular (during World War II) parody version of the "Colonel Bogey March" poking fun at Adolf Hitler and various other Nazi leaders. Sam Spiegel told him it was too vulgar, and the whistling-only version was used instead.


9:17am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: So You Want To Play The Horses (1946)
Joe McDoakes is addicted to betting on horse races.
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Monte Blue, Jane Harker
Dir: Richard L. Bare
BW-11 mins

He uses various systems to pick winners, including astrological charts. Unfortunately, his methods never work, until one day when he bets $100 on a 999-to-1 shot with his bookie and wins.


9:30am -- The Horse's Mouth (1958)
An unscrupulous artist fights to realize his vision of the perfect mural.
Cast: Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Renee Houston, Mike Morgan
Dir: Ronald Neame
C-95 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Alec Guinness

Joyce Carey, the author of the novel which inspired the film, based the role of the self-destructive painter on his good friend, the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.


11:15am -- Our Man in Havana (1960)
A salesman in Cuba takes up spying to support his spendthrift daughter.
Cast: Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ernie Kovacs
Dir: Carol Reed
BW-107 mins, TV-G

Fidel Castro's government gave permission for this film, which presents the fallen regime of Fulgencio Batista, in an unflattering light and also condemns American and British meddling, to shoot on location in Havana, only months after the revolution. It was completed during the brief period in 1959 before Cuba had aligned itself with the Soviet Union.


1:03pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Cuban Rhythm (1941)
From the rhumba to the conga, Pete Smith gives a Cuban dancing lesson.
Cast: Pete Smith
Dir: Will Jason
BW-9 mins

Two professional dancers beautifully demonstrate the rumba and conga while actors humorously display some incorrect techniques for those dances.


1:15pm -- Tunes of Glory (1960)
When a popular colonel loses a promotion, it sets the stage for conflict with his new superior officer.
Cast: Alec Guinness, John Mills, Dennis Price, Kay Walsh
Dir: Ronald Neame
C-107 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- James Kennaway

The name of the Highland regiment portrayed is never mentioned, although the screenwriter served in the Gordon Highlanders. However, the same regimental tartan (designed for this film) and bonnet badges were worn by the Highland regiment in Carry On Up the Khyber (1968), and so the regiment in Tunes of Glory may well be the "3rd Foot & Mouth."


3:15pm -- Damn The Defiant! (1962)
The crew of a British sailing ship threatens mutiny during the Napoleonic wars.
Cast: Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde, Maurice Denham, Nigel Stock
Dir: Lewis Gilbert
C-101 mins, TV-PG

Last film role of Joy Shelton.


5:15pm -- Cromwell (1970)
A Puritan leader sparks a revolution in 17th century England.
Cast: Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin
Dir: Ken Hughes
C-140 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Vittorio Nino Novarese

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score -- Frank Cordell

The final version of Cromwell at one stage was 180 minutes long, but it was cut down to 141 minutes, deleting a number of featured roles in the process including: Felix Aylmer (in his final film) as a Archbishop, and Bryan Pringle.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: BASED ON ALEXANDRE DUMAS


8:00pm -- 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 a dozen versions of the Dumas classic. The Corsican twins have been played by everyone from Dustin Farnum to Richard Greene to Gene Wilder/Donald Sutherland to Cheech and Chong!


10:00pm -- 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.


12:00am -- The Three Musketeers (1948)
Athletic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure about the king's musketeers and their mission to protect France.
Cast: Lana Turner, Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Van Heflin
Dir: George Sidney
C-126 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert H. Planck

Fearing pressure from church groups, MGM had the script refer to Richelieu to as prime minister rather than Cardinal and almost all traces of him being a cardinal or a man of the church have been removed (although Jean Heremans is still credited as "Cardinal Guard"), even though other versions of this story kept Richelieu a cardinal without any repercussions.


2:15am -- The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
After escaping prison, an innocent man seeks revenge on the men who framed him.
Cast: Robert Donat, Elissa Landi, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer
Dir: Rowland V. Lee
BW-113 mins

One of nearly thirty versions of the tale. The Count has also been played by John Gilbert, Louis Hayward, Louis Jourdan, Alan Badel, Richard Chamberlain, Gérard Depardieu, and James Caviezel.


4:15am -- Mask of the Avenger (1951)
When his father is murdered, an Italian nobleman becomes an outlaw to avenge the crime.
Cast: John Derek, Anthony Quinn, Jody Lawrance, Arnold Moss
Dir: Irving Pichel
C-83 mins, TV-G

John Derek was never a top-tier actor, but he married well -- Pati Behrs, Ursula Andress, Linda Evans, and Bo Derek.

[Staph]

1. Cromwell

Although repeatedly told by skittish studio executives and potential backers that the days of the big historical epic were over, writer-director Ken Hughes finally got to put his nearly decade-long obsession with Oliver Cromwell on screen in 1970 in Cromwell, a lavish production devoted to the life of the famous anti-Royalist and his short reign (1653-1658) as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. Taking substantial liberties with many of the facts about England’s civil war period, Hughes’s film portrays Cromwell as a reluctant rebel drawn into a distasteful struggle for the sake of the “common people.”

Hughes became hooked on the subject after reading a biography of Cromwell in the early 60s. Over the next nine years, he read more than 120 books about him and toured England in his spare time between film jobs visiting historic sites and conducting research in museums and record offices. Hughes was determined to pull together a tragic drama that would have “all the haunting inevitability of Greek tragedy.” His dream became possible when he met Irving Allen, a producer who shared his obsession with Cromwell. By the time principal photography began in the spring of 1969, they had poured their mutual interest into a huge cinematic undertaking, with more than 200 workers at Shepperton Studios building the largest outdoor set ever constructed for an English-made film, a two-acre recreation of London’s Parliament Square as it looked in 1642, complete with House of Commons, Westminster Palace and Abbey, and roughly 50 other buildings. Close to 4,000 costumes were made, 16,000 separate props items found or made, and thousands of wigs ordered from all over Europe.

Hughes’s care was not limited to mere period detail. He also secured the services of some of England’s most respected actors, among them Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin, Timothy Dalton, Patrick Magee, and Frank Finlay. For the part of doomed King Charles I, Hughes went straight to the top of Britain’s acting A-list and hired Sir Alec Guinness. For the title role, one of the hottest actors in the business at the time was campaigning heavily for the part—Richard Harris, fresh off the successes of Camelot (1967) and a hit pop song, “MacArthur Park.”

Harris was perhaps the least likely candidate for the role of the Puritan leader who, according to many historians, carried out near genocide in Ireland. Although a fierce Irish nationalist, Harris saw past the historical circumstances and became intrigued with Cromwell as “a symbol of integrity, anxious to reform society,” as the actor described him. Harris insisted it wasn’t necessary for an actor to strictly believe in the character he was playing. Instead Harris drew inspiration from Cromwell’s idealistic nature, his goal to take the country out of aristocratic hands, and his “rigorous self-discipline,” a trait Harris admired.

Self-discipline, however, was not really Harris’s strong suit. By this point in his career, directors who hired him usually added time to their shooting schedules to cover the inevitable days when his heavy drinking made it impossible for him to work. On Cromwell, however, the actor exceeded even his own reputation, going so far off the deep end (and immersing himself so completely in the character), that he crossed the line into a complete mental breakdown upon seeing Guinness in costume for the beheading of King Charles. Convinced it was happening for real, Harris went hysterical, desperately trying to stop the “execution.” He had to be heavily tranquilized and filming suspended for 18 hours while he slept off his momentary nervous breakdown.

In addition to the massive set at Shepperton, Cromwell was also shot in Spain, where Hughes and Allen were able to secure locations and ample trained cavalry and infantry extras for the huge battle scenes.

Critics were equally divided over Cromwell on its theatrical release. Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times complained that "Ken Hughes' direction doesn't seem adequate for the epic form" and on the performances, he noted, that Harris "doesn't inhabit the role or even seem to care much about it. Even worse is Alec Guinness, as King Charles, who is so concerned with doing a character turn that he doesn't do a character." Variety, on the other hand, stated that "Richard Harris and Alec Guinness, respectively, give powerhouse performances" and "The battle scenes...at Nazeby and Edgehill are excitingly drawn." Regardless of what the reviewers thought, the most important critics - the moviegoers - stayed away in droves and the film was a financial disappointment. Cromwell did, however, score two Oscar® nominations - for Best Score (by Frank Cordell) and for Best Costume Design (by Vittorio Nino Novarese), which won in the latter category.

Director: Ken Hughes
Producer: Irving Allen
Screenplay: Ken Hughes
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Editing: Bill Lenny
Art Direction: Herbert Westbrook
Original Music: Frank Cordell
Cast: Richard Harris (Cromwell), Alec Guinness (King Charles I), Robert Morley (Earl of Manchester), Dorothy Tutin (Queen Henrietta Maria), Timothy Dalton (Prince Rupert), Frank Finlay (John Carter).
C-140m. Letterboxed.

by Rob Nixon

[Matilda]

2. I've never seen that film.

It has a good cast; I must check it out on Quickflix.

When I was very young, I was in love with the image of the Cavaliers,
and used to write stories about children getting caught up in the
Civil War (as you do). My childhood hero was Prince Rupert of the Rhine,
who used to ride into battle with his Irish Wolfhound by his side. I
thought he was so romantic.

Later on, I came to realise that the Parliamentarians had right on their
side, at least initially. But my secret heart always remained
sympathetic to the Cavaliers - they didn't try to ban dancing, and they
wore much better clothes.