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Today's star is Burton Stephen Lancaster. An unabashed political liberal, chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and an active campaigner for George McGovern in the 1972 Presidential election, Lancaster was one of the 575 people named on President Richard Nixon's 1973 "Enemies List," along with fellow actors Gene Hackman and Paul Newman, "Playboy" magazine publisher Hugh M. Hefner and TV producer Norman Lear. Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- Jim Thorpe--All American (1951)
The famous Native American athlete fights prejudice in his pursuit of sports stardom.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Steve Cochran.
105 min, TV-PG, CC
Although some people may be confused at the sight of Burt Lancaster playing a native American, in fact, Thorpe himself was not a full-blooded Native American, being part Irish on his mother's side.
7:51 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Game Warden (1955)
In this Sportscope series entry, a real-life "game protector" for New York state, is shown performing his various duties.
Dir: Harry W. Smith
Cast: Peter Roberts, Brian Burgin
8 min
Filmed on location in Margaretville, NY.
8:00 AM -- His Majesty O'Keefe (1954)
A Yankee sea captain tries to make his fortune in the South Seas.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, Andre Morell.
C-90 min, TV-PG
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1829 - 1877) was a South Sea pirate born in Cleveland, Ohio. He ran trading missions throughout the South Pacific (including the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, New Zealand , Australia), specialising in rum and rifles, but he was not averse to "blackbirding" (slaving). He was killed after a violent disagreement and his body was thrown into the ocean. His murderer was never brought to justice.
9:36 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Tell-Tale Heart (1941)
A man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Joseph Schildkraut, Roman Bohnen
20 min
Based on the Edgar Allen Poe story.
10:00 AM -- Trapeze (1956)
An aging trapeze star and his protigi fall for the same woman.
Dir: Carol Reed
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida.
C-106 min, TV-PG, CC
Burt Lancaster performed all of the trapeze stunts himself, having worked in a circus before entering films. He insisted on doing the climactic triple flip, but technical adviser Eddie Ward initially was hesitant on Lancaster performing the stunt, so Ward doubled for Lancaster during the first weeks of shooting, but Lancaster told director Carol Reed that he knew how to do the stunt from the get-go so it is Lancaster you see in the final cut of the film.
12:00 PM -- Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)
A crooked press agent stoops to new depths to help an egotistical columnist break up his sister's romance.
Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison.
96 min, TV-PG, CC
This film's shoot was filled with macho tensions and at one point, the temperamental Burt Lancaster threatened to punch the film's writer, Ernest Lehman. The witty scribe replied, "Go ahead, I need the money."
1:40 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Let's Ask Nostradamus (1953)
Nostradamus writes a letter for his young son, and his prophecies are compared to events of the French Revolution.
Dir: Peter Balbusch
Cast: Carey Wilson, John Burton
11 min
Most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power. Moreover, none of the sources listed offers any evidence that anyone has ever interpreted any of Nostradamus's quatrains specifically enough to allow a clear identification of any event in advance. -- Wikipedia
2:00 PM -- South Sea Woman (1953)
A Marine sergeant battles Nazi agents to help a showgirl escape war torn China.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo, Chuck Connors.
98 min, TV-G
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the opening of the court martial, when the judge asks, "Is the prosecution ready to proceed?" the JAG lieutenant (Hayden Rorke) responds, "Aye, sir." US Marines and Naval personnel use "yes" to respond to a question in the affirmative, and "aye" to respond to an order. A lieutenant would know this.
3:48 PM -- One Reel Wonder: So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947)
Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) learns what a bumpy road it can be to become an Hollywood star.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Jane Harker, Jack Carson.
11 min
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead
Actor and future President Ronald Reagan is referred to by the narrator as "Ronnie" Reagan as he walks through the studio streets.
4:00 PM -- Brute Force (1947)
Tough, disgruntled prisoners plan a daring, possibly bloody escape while on a drain pipe detail.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford.
98 min, TV-14
When the Group Theater (1931-1940), the first American acting company to attempt to put the Russian Stanislavski's principles into action, disbanded many of the actors who had participated in its revolutionary realistic productions on Broadway ("Awake and Sing" "Waiting for Lefty") made their way to Hollywood in search of work;, Roman Bohnen ("Warden"), and Art Smith ("Dr. Walters") - all of whom can be seen in this film. As many of the actors in The Group were members of the Communist Party or leftist organizations, they would soon be blacklisted during the HUAC period along with the director of this film, Jules Dassin. In 1946, a year before the release of this film, Elia Kazan, one of the members of The Group Theater who named names, happened to be in Hollywood and saw a production of one of Tennessee Williams's early plays "Portrait of a Madonna" directed by Hume Cronyn - who plays the sadistic Capt. Munsey in this film. Kazan was so impressed by the work of Cronyn's wife, Jessica Tandy, that he offered her the role of Blanche Dubois in his Broadway production of "Streetcar Named Desire."
5:40 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Smart As A Fox (1946)
The life of a young fox cub.
Narrator: Knox Manning
10 min
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead
6:00 PM -- A Child Is Waiting (1963)
An emotionally fragile woman takes a job teaching mentally handicapped children.
Dir: John Cassavetes
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands.
104 min, TV-PG
Director John Cassavetes (for whom this was his first major studio production) and Producer Stanley Kramer had many creative / economic differences and during the editing phase, Cassavetes was fired.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: BURT LANCASTER
8:00 PM -- The Leopard (1963)
A Sicilian aristocrat tries to protect his family from social upheavals.
Dir: Luchino Visconti
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale.
C-186 min, TV-PG
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color -- Piero Tosi
Luchino Visconti wanted to cast Nikolai Cherkasov as Prince Salina (apparently, he saw the Russian actor in Sergei M. Eisenstein's movies, "Ivan the Terrible" and "Alexander Nevsky"). But Cherkassov refused for unknown reasons. Burt Lancaster later told to film critic Roger Ebert: "They wanted a Russian, but he was too old. They wanted Olivier, but he was too busy. When I was suggested, Visconti said, 'Oh, no! A cowboy!' But I had just finished 'Judgment at Nuremberg,' which he saw, and he needed $3 million, which 20th Century-Fox would give them if they used an American star, and so the inevitable occurred. And it turned out to be a wonderful marriage".
11:19 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Cape Breton Island (1948)
In this "Traveltalk," we learn about the history, land, and people of Cape Breton island.
Narrator: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 min
Filmed on location at Bras d'Or Lake, Margaree River, and Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
11:30 PM -- The Killers (1946)
An insurance investigator uncovers a string of crimes when he tries to find a murdered boxer's beneficiary.
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien.
102 min, TV-14, CC
Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Robert Siodmak, Best Film Editing -- Arthur Hilton, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Anthony Veiller
Author of the original short story Ernest Hemingway liked the film. Prior to its release, producer Mark Hellinger sent publicity man Al Horwits to Sun Valley, Idaho, to give Hemingway a private screening. Hemingway had a pint of gin in one pocket of his overcoat and a pint of water in the other so that he could sip from them if the film got bad. After the screening, Hemingway held up the full bottles, grinned and said "Didn't need 'em".
1:20 AM -- One Reel Wonder: The Capital City Washington D.C. (1940)
An installment of James A. Fitzpatrick's Travel Talks honoring Washington D.C.
Narrator: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 min
The sites include the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Capitol, the Smithsonian, the Supreme Court Building, the Department of the Interior, the Willard Hotel, and Washington's cherry blossoms.
1:30 AM -- Seven Days In May (1964)
An American military officer discovers his superiors are planning a military coup.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March.
118 min, TV-14, CC
Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Edmond O'Brien, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cary Odell and Edward G. Boyle
For security reasons, the Pentagon forbids camera crews near the entrances to the complex. John Frankenheimer wanted a shot of Kirk Douglas entering the building. So they rigged up a station wagon with a camera to film Douglas, in a full Marine colonel's uniform, walking up the steps of the Pentagon. The salutes Douglas received in that scene were real, as the guards had no reason to believe it was for a movie!
3:45 AM -- Scorpio (1973)
A CIA hit man is stalked by a former partner when the agency turns on him.
Dir: Michael Winner
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Paul Scofield.
C-114 min, TV-PG
Burt Lancaster, who was a circus acrobat, performed his stunts in the film during the chase scene.
5:49 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Scenic Oregon (1943)
A view of the sights of Oregon, from the mighty Columbia River to Crater Lake National Park.
Narrator: James A. FitzPatrick
C-10 min
Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1844. Happy Valentine's Day, Oregon!
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