TCM Schedule for Tuesday, August 23rd: Summer Under the Stars: Conrad Veidt

[CBHagman]

Until I read Aljean Harmetz's book on Casablanca, I really had no sense of Conrad Veidt's career, aside from his acclaimed work in silent films and of course his turn as Major Strasser. Here's a sample from TCM's profile. Go to the link for extras!

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/197845%7C33894/Conrad-Veidt/

Veidt studied under the legendary Max Reinhardt in Berlin's Deutsches Theater, before being drafted to serve in the WWI. Invalided out of the army due to jaundice, he found acting work in the front-line theaters organized by actress Lucie Mannheim. With his experience and the wartime shortage of talent, he was eventually asked to perform in motion pictures. In the light of his later career, it is ironic that his first role was in a 1917 film entitled "The Spy/Der Spion".

Although he did play tyrants and mad killers from Ivan the Terrible to Mr. Hyde in the German silent cinema, Veidt later portrayed Frederic Chopin, Lord Nelson and Don Carlos. In his British films he often portrayed German officers torn between their sense of duty and personal desires. His reputation for playing tormented characters was augmented by his role in "Anders Als Die Anderen/Different From the Others" (1919), a film that argued for reform of the harsh German laws regarding homosexuality.

Invited to Hollywood in the mid-1920s, where he starred in the superb semi-horror melodrama "The Man Who Laughs" (1928), Veidt returned with the advent of sound films to Germany, where his beautiful speaking voice consolidated his position. By 1930, Veidt had already worked in British co-productions and his unease at the looming Nazi political victory prompted him to emigrate to England. His marriage to a half-Jewish woman must have influenced his decision, although Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels tried to reassure him about her safety. The Nazis briefly tried to keep him in Germany under the pretext of poor health, until British producer Michael Balcon sent a British doctor to Berlin to retrieve him.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_94wGm5Prdv0/SXFCDzEOfHI/AAAAAAAAAPo/SilFX6_lFXk/s400/Conrad+Veidt.jpg

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

1:00 AM Sadie McKee (1934)
A working girl suffers through three troubled relationships on her road to prosperity.
Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Joan Crawford , Gene Raymond , Franchot Tone .
BW-93 mins, TV-G, CC,

2:45 AM Shining Hour, The (1938)
A nightclub dancer marries into society and has to contend with her jealous sister-in-law.
Dir: Frank Borzage Cast: Joan Crawford , Margaret Sullavan , Melvyn Douglas .
BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC,

4:05 AM One Reel Wonder: Let'S Sing A Song About The Moonlight (1948)
BW-9 mins,

4:15 AM Montana Moon (1930)
A flapper weds a cowboy and has to adjust to life out West.
Dir: Malcolm St. Clair Cast: Joan Crawford , John Mack Brown , Dorothy Sebastian .
BW-89 mins, TV-G, CC,

5:50 AM One Reel Wonder: Do Someone A Favor (1954)
BW-9 mins,

6:00 AM Above Suspicion (1943)
A honeymooning couple are asked to spy on the Nazis in pre-war Europe.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Joan Crawford , Fred MacMurray , Conrad Veidt .
BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC,

7:45 AM Contraband (1940)
While held up in a British port, a Danish sea captain tussles with German spies
BW-87 mins, TV-PG,



9:30 AM All Through The Night (1942)
A criminal gang turns patriotic to track down a Nazi spy ring.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Humphrey Bogart , Conrad Veidt , Kaaren Verne .
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC,

11:30 AM Jew Suss (1934)
A Jewish businessman using his wealth to benefit his people discovers he's not Jewish.
Dir: Lothar Mendes Cast: Conrad Veidt , Frank Vosper , Cedric Hardwicke .
BW-104 mins,

1:15 PM Spy In Black, The (1939)
A German sub tries to sink the British fleet during World War I.
Dir: Michael Powell Cast: Conrad Veidt , Sebastian Shaw , Valerie Hobson .
BW-77 mins, TV-PG,

2:45 PM Whistling In The Dark (1941)
A radio detective is kidnapped and forced to plan the perfect murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon Cast: Red Skelton , Conrad Veidt , Ann Rutherford .
BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC,

4:15 PM Escape (1940)
A Nazi officer's mistress helps an American free his mother from a concentration camp.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Norma Shearer , Robert Taylor , Conrad Veidt .
BW-98 mins, TV-G,

6:00 PM Woman's Face, A (1941)
Plastic surgery gives a scarred female criminal a new outlook on life.
Dir: George Cukor Cast: Joan Crawford , Melvyn Douglas , Conrad Veidt .
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC,

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: CONRAD VEIDT

8:00 PM Hands of Orlac, The (1925)
An experimental graft gives an injured concert pianist the hands of a murderer.
BW-113 mins, TV-14,

10:00 PM Thief of Baghdad, The (1940)
A young thief faces amazing monsters to return Bagdad's deposed king to the throne.
Dir: Ludwig Berger Cast: Conrad Veidt , Sabu , June Duprez .
C-106 mins, TV-G, CC,



12:00 AM Casablanca (1942)
An American saloon owner in North Africa is drawn into World War II when his lost love turns up.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Humphrey Bogart , Ingrid Bergman , Paul Henreid .
BW-103 mins, TV-PG, CC,

1:45 AM Nazi Agent (1942)
An Allied sympathizer discovers his twin brother is a Nazi spy.
Dir: Jules Dassin Cast: Conrad Veidt , Ann Ayars , Frank Reicher .
BW-84 mins, TV-G,

3:15 AM Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, The (1919)
A carnival performer uses a hypnotized sleepwalker to murder his enemies.
Dir: Robert Wiene Cast: Werner Krauss , Conrad Veidt , Friedrich Feher .
BW-72 mins, TV-PG,

4:30 AM Dark Journey (1937)
Rival spies fall in love during World War I.
Dir: Victor Saville Cast: Conrad Veidt , Vivien Leigh , Joan Gardner .
BW-79 mins, TV-G,