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Happy birthday to Peter Sellers, born on this date in 1925, in Southsea, Hampshire, UK, and died entirely too soon on July 24, 1980. TCM has a day of his films and another night of Merchant Ivory. Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- MGM Parade Show #5 (1955)
Tony Martin performs in a clip from "Till the Clouds Roll By"; John Hodiak introduces a clip from "Trial." Hosted by George Murphy.
26 min, TV-G
6:30 AM -- The Ladykillers (1955)
An eccentric bandit gang moves into a little old lady's boardinghouse to plot a major heist.
Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom.
91 min, TV-G, CC
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original -- William Rose
The producers originally rejected director Alexander Mackendrick's choice of Katie Johnson for the role of Mrs. Wilberforce on the grounds that she might be too frail for the project, and so they cast a younger actress - who died before filming began.
8:15 AM -- Tom Thumb (1958)
A six-inch-tall boy takes on a pair of comical crooks.
Dir: George Pal
Cast: Russ Tamblyn, Alan Young, June Thorburn.
C-92 min, TV-G, CC
Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Tom Howard
George Pal forgot to cast The Whipping Man and didn't realize his mistake until it was too late. Peter Sellers stepped in at the last minute and played the role, masked.
10:00 AM -- The Mouse That Roared (1959)
An impoverished nation declares war on the U.S. hoping to lose and score foreign aid.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Cast: Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg, William Hartnell.
C-83 min, TV-PG, CC
The New York invasion sequence was filmed in Manhattan on a Sunday morning, accounting for the city's empty streets.
11:30 AM -- I'm All Right Jack (1960)
A veteran starting out in business gets caught between management and labor.
Dir: John Boulting
Cast: Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough.
105 min, TV-14, CC
Ian Carmichael's character is called Stanley Windrush. MV Empire Windrush was the name of ship that bought the first group of West Indian immigrants to Britain in 1948.
1:30 PM -- The Millionairess (1961)
When the world's richest woman falls for an ascetic Indian doctor, they plan a test to decide whose dreams will come true.
Dir: Anthony Asquith
Cast: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim.
C-86 min, TV-PG
Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren recorded the novelty song "Goodness Gracious Me!" in order to promote the movie. The song became a big worldwide hit.
3:00 PM -- Lolita (1962)
Vladimir Nabokov's racy classic focuses on an aging intellectual in love with a teenager.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters.
153 min, TV-14, CC
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Vladimir Nabokov
The famous heart-shaped sunglasses that Lolita wears appear only in publicity photos taken by Bert Stern; Lolita wears cat eye sunglasses in the movie.
5:45 PM -- The Bobo (1967)
To land a job, an aspiring singer has to seduce a heartless gold digger.
Dir: Robert Parrish
Cast: Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, Rossano Brazzi.
C-96 min, 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.
7:30 PM -- Now Playing September (2011)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
16 min, TV-PG, CC
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: 50 YEARS OF MERCHANT IVORY
8:00 PM -- The Europeans (1979)
A New England household is upset by the arrival of two cousins from Europe.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Lee Remick, Robin Ellis, Wesley Addy.
C-91 min, TV-PG, CC
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Judy Moorcroft
The film features interaction between Englishwoman Eugenia Young and American Robert Acton; in fact, the British woman is played by an American (Lee Remick) and the American man is played by a Brit (Robin Ellis).
9:45 PM -- The Bostonians (1984)
A bored lawyer and a suffragette vie for the attentions of a faith healer's charismatic daughter.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Vanessa Redgrave, Madeleine Potter.
C-122 min, CC
Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vanessa Redgrave, and Best Costume Design -- Jenny Beavan and John Bright
The climatic scene at the "Boston Music Hall" was actually filmed at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York, finished in 1875. The Boston Music Hall was pulled down in the 1950s. But the film required a civic hall with a pipe organ in it for plot reasons. While we see the 1882 Odell organ in the Troy hall, the organ itself didn't work very well in 1983, so the music was actually recorded on the organ at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts.
12:00 AM -- Roseland (1977)
Three stories set in the famed dance hall center on the search for a perfect partner in dancing and life.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Teresa Wright, Lou Jacobi, Don Denatale.
C-104 min, TV-14, CC
Filmed in the actual Roseland Ballroom - 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan.
2:00 AM -- Quartet (1981)
When her husband's arrest leaves her penniless, a woman accepts an invitation to move in with a strange couple.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Anthony Higgins, Maggie Smith.
C-101 min, TV-MA
The book written by Jean Rhys was originally titled "Postures" when it was published in London in 1928 by Chatto and Windus. When the U.S. publishers Simon and Schuster published it in the United States, the name was changed to "Quartet".
3:51 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Pat Neal Is Back (1968)
This short focuses on Patricia Neal's return to motion pictures three years after she suffered a near-fatal stroke.
Dir: Edward Beyer
Cast: Patricia Neal
C-8 min
Features clips from Hud (1963) and The Subject Was Roses (1968).
4:00 AM -- Savages (1972)
Primitive mud people move into a Long Island estate and transform into social lions.
Dir: James Ivory
Cast: Susie Blakely, Margaret Brewster, Thayer David.
C-106 min, TV-MA, CC
First cinema film of Susan Blakeley.
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