TCM Schedule for Friday, January 14 -- TCM Prime Time Feature: John Payne

[Staph]

Today we celebrate the life and career of William Bendix, born on this day in 1906. And tonight TCM is featuring the films of John Payne. Enjoy!



5:15am -- The Bobo (1967)
To land a job, an aspiring singer has to seduce a heartless gold digger.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, Rossano Brazzi, Adolfo Celi
Dir: Robert Parrish
C-96 mins, TV-PG

Perhaps as an in-joke, Peter Sellers is whistling the theme to 'A Man and a Woman' to himself in one scene - the tune is written by Francis Lai, who composed this movie's score.


7:15am -- The Hairy Ape (1944)
A ship's stoker becomes obsessed with a society beauty who finds him repulsive.
Cast: William Bendix, Susan Hayward, John Loder, Dorothy Comingore
Dir: Alfred Santell
BW-91 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Michel Michelet and Edward Paul

Despite his classic Brooklyn accent, Bendix was actually born in Manhatten.


9:00am -- The Time Of Your Life (1948)
A philosophical drunk encourages his friends to live their dreams to the hilt.
Cast: James Cagney, William Bendix, Wayne Morris, Jeanne Cagney
Dir: H. C. Potter
BW-105 mins, TV-PG

The original Broadway production of "The Time of Your Life " by William Saroyan opened on October 25, 1939 at the Booth Theater, ran for 185 performances, won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1940 and closed on April 6, 1940. William Bendix, who plays Nick, originated the part of Krupp on the stage.


11:00am -- Cover-Up (1949)
An insurance investigator smells something wrong when he looks into a small-town suicide.
Cast: William Bendix, Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton, Art Baker
Dir: Alfred E. Green
BW-82 mins

The original screenplay was cowritten by actor Dennis O'Keefe.


12:30pm -- Two Knights from Brooklyn (1949)
The owners of a taxi company fight off gangsters and a sinister health guru.
Cast: Marjorie Woodworth, Max Baer, William Bendix, Joe Sawyer
Dir: Kurt Neumann
BW-71 mins, TV-PG

This film was re-edited from two previous features, Two Mugs from Brooklyn (1942) and Taxi, Mister (1943).


1:45pm -- Kill the Umpire (1950)
To appease his family, a retired baseball player signs up for umpire school.
Cast: William Bendix, Una Merkel, Ray Collins, Gloria Henry
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
BW-78 mins, TV-G

Filmed in part at Wrigley Field in Chicago.


3:15pm -- Gambling House (1951)
A gambler faces deportation when he gets mixed up with murder.
Cast: Victor Mature, Terry Moore, William Bendix, Zachary A. Charles
Dir: Ted Tetzlaff
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Remake of Mr. Lucky (1943), starring Cary Grant in the Victor Mature role. Cary Grant.... Victor Mature.... It boggles the mind!


4:45pm -- The Deep Six (1958)
A pacifist finds his values challenged by the outbreak of World War II.
Cast: Alan Ladd, Dianne Foster, William Bendix, Keenan Wynn
Dir: R. Maté
C-108 mins, TV-PG

This film marks comedian Joey Bishop's feature film debut.


6:30pm -- The Young and the Brave (1963)
Three American POWs fight to escape from North Korea.
Cast: Rory Calhoun, William Bendix, Richard Jaeckel, Manuel Padilla
Dir: Francis D. Lyon
BW-84 mins, TV-PG

In 1922, when he was 15, William Bendix was a bat boy for the New York Yankees, and became a favorite of Babe Ruth, who entrusted Bendix with various personal errands. Years later, in 1948, Bendix played Ruth in The Babe Ruth Story (1948).


8:00pm -- 99 River Street (1953)
A taxi driver gets mixed up with jewel thieves.
Cast: John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen
Dir: Phil Karlson
BW-83 mins, TV-PG

John Payne is a direct descendant of John Howard Payne (1791-1852), composer of the classic song "Home, Sweet Home" ("Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.").


9:30pm -- Kansas City Confidential (1952)
To commit the perfect crime, a former detective keeps his colleagues' identities secret from each other.
Cast: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand
Dir: Phil Karlson
BW-100 mins, TV-PG

Veteran actor Preston Foster plays a character whose last name is also Foster.


11:15pm -- The Crooked Way (1949)
A war hero's amnesia keeps him from dealing with his criminal past.
Cast: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams
Dir: Robert Florey
BW-86 mins

Payne was the first person in Hollywood interested in making the James Bond novels into a film series. In 1955, paid a $1,000 a month option for 9 months on the Bond novel Moonraker (he eventually gave up the option when he learned he couldn't retain the rights for the entire 007 series).


1:00am -- To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)
A brash young Marine has to redeem himself after trying to romance a female officer.
Cast: John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly
Dir: Bruce Humberstone
C-86 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Edward Cronjager and William V. Skall

Maureen O'Haras' first film in Technicolor. She looked so good in it that she later earned the nickname "Queen of Technicolor".


2:30am -- Jigoku (1960)
A student's life changes forever when his friend involves him in a hit and run.
Cast: Shigreu Amachi, Utako Mitsuya, Yoichi Numata.
Dir: Nobuo Nakagawa
C-101 mins, TV-MA

Known in the West as Hell, or as The Sinners of Hell.

The film's production company was going out of business while the film was being completed, leading to budget-saving tactics such as the actors helping dig their own holes in the movie's set for Hell. Critics kidded that this film killed the Shintoho Studio.


4:15am -- Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan (1959)
A samurai's wife returns from the dead for revenge.
Cast: Shigeru Amachi, Noriko Kitazawa, Katsuko Wakasugi.
Dir: Nobuo Nakagawa
C-77 mins, TV-14

Known in the West as The Ghost of Yotsuya.


5:45am -- Short Film: Duck and Cover (1951)
A monkey's prank on a turtle demonstrates how to survive a nuclear attack.
Cast: Leo M. Langlois, Ray J. Mauer, Robert Middleton.
Dir: Anthony Rizzo.
BW-9 mins, TV-PG