TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 18

[Staph]

7:00 AM -- Always a Bride (1940)
A society girl pushes her working class boyfriend into politics.
Cast: Rosemary Lane, George Reeves, John Eldredge.
Dir: Noel Smith.
BW-58 mins, TV-G


8:00 AM -- The Unfaithful (1947)
While her husband is away, a woman gets mixed up in murder.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott, Lew Ayres.
Dir: Vincent Sherman.
BW-109 mins, TV-PG


10:00 AM -- Grand Hotel (1932)
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through scandal and heartache.
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford.
Dir: Edmund Goulding.
BW-113 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS


12:00 PM -- Between Two Worlds (1944)
Passengers on a luxury liner realize they are en route to the afterlife.
Cast: John Garfield, Edmund Gwenn, Eleanor Parker.
Dir: Edward A. Blatt.
BW-112 mins, TV-G, CC


2:00 PM -- A Life Of Her Own (1950)
An innocent small-town girl climbs to the top of the modeling business man by man.
Cast: Lana Turner, Ray Milland, Tom Ewell.
Dir: George Cukor.
BW-109 mins, TV-PG, CC


4:00 PM -- All Through The Night (1942)
A criminal gang turns patriotic to track down a Nazi spy ring.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Jane Darwell.
Dir: Vincent Sherman.
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC


6:00 PM -- East Side, West Side (1949)
A chic New York couple is torn apart by a seductive model.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, James Mason, Ava Gardner.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy.
BW-108 mins, TV-G, CC


What's On Tonight: STAR OF THE MONTH: HENRY FONDA


8:00 PM -- Too Late The Hero (1970)
During World War II, a British platoon goes behind enemy lines in the Pacific.
Cast: Michael Caine, Cliff Robertson, Henry Fonda.
Dir: Robert Aldrich.
C-134 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format


10:30 PM -- In Harm's Way (1965)
An aging Naval officer leads his men against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor.
Cast: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal.
Dir: Otto Preminger.
BW-167 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format


1:30 AM -- The Fugitive (1947)
A revolutionary priest flees a Central American dictatorship.
Cast: Henry Fonda, Dolores Del Rio, Pedro Armendariz.
Dir: John Ford.
BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC


3:15 AM -- Directed By John Ford (2006)
Newly updated and re-edited version of the 1971 documentary chronicling the career of maverick director John Ford. Narrated by Orson Welles.
Cast: Orson Welles
Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
BW-110 mins, TV-14, CC


5:00 AM -- The Telegraph Trail (1933)
An Army scout volunteers to string telegraph wires through Indian territory.
Cast: John Wayne, Marceline Day, Frank McHugh.
Dir: Tenny Wright.
BW-54 mins, TV-G

[Staph]

1. Too Late The Hero

It was not the box office bonanza that ABC Studios hoped would be another The Dirty Dozen (1967), director Robert Aldrich's previous mega-hit war picture. And whether it succeeds or not as the subversive Vietnam allegory of cult legend is an open question. Such expectations may be too much of a burden upon the 1970 production Too Late the Hero, a thoughtful action movie with complex characters displaying varying degrees of cowardice, stupidity and off-handed heroism within the insanities of war.

One such bit of almost Kafka-esque craziness is the movie's set piece, a spacious open field surrounded by jungle that is the only way in and out of the Allied camp on a Japanese-occupied island during World War II. Soldiers on missions to rout the Japanese from their stronghold must make broken field runs across this football arena-sized space while under fire from the unseen enemy in the dense underbrush (giving the movie its British release title, Suicide Run). When goldbricking, cowardly U.S. Navy Lt. Sam Lawson is ordered to accompany British soldiers across that field on a mission to destroy the Japanese radio installation, the dire turn of events soon reveals the foolhardiness of gung-ho heroes versus the unexpected bravery of ordinary men.

Aldrich had written the story in 1959 before his runaway box office success with such films as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). After his biggest hit to date, The Dirty Dozen (1967), ABC Pictures came to him looking for a repeat of that success, so he dusted off his 10-year-old script and agreed to hire a big name for marquee value. Cliff Robertson got his first leading role in Aldrich's Autumn Leaves (1956) and at the time of this picture's production was an Oscar contender for Charly (1968). Aldrich said he wanted "anybody but Cliff Robertson. You, me, anybody." But he relented. Perhaps this reluctance was behind the big rift between actor and director during the production of Too Late the Hero — Aldrich's refusal to give Robertson time off from shooting to return to the U.S. for the 1969 Academy Awards ceremony at which he won Best Actor.

Too Late the Hero was filmed in the Philippines, the largest production to be shot in that country at that time. A World War II landing strip was specially constructed and hundreds of Japanese uniforms were made. According to Michael Caine, who labeled it his worst location ever, cast and crew were plagued by insects, thorns and 120 degree temperatures with "the highest humidity that it is possible to measure." Caine was wary of what organisms might be living in the food under the horrendous jungle conditions, so he confined his diet to tins of sardines and Austrian cheese from packets opened in his presence in order to be sure they were fresh and untainted. Because of the dire conditions, Aldrich had everyone work a rotation of 14 days on, then five days off, enough time to leave the country for a break.

Despite his disdain for the location, Caine exhibited an amazing talent in the Philippines. During filming in the thick jungle, he had an unerring sense of direction and always managed to find his way around. On the first day of filming back on a studio lot in Hollywood, however, Caine delayed production by getting himself hopelessly lost.

Look for a sly bit of self-promotion by Aldrich in scenes set in the head nurse's office. A sign there identifies "Sister George" ("sister" being a common British term for nurse). The little joke references Aldrich's previous release The Killing of Sister George (1968).

Director: Robert Aldrich
Producer: Robert Aldrich
Screenplay: Robert Aldrich, Lukas Heller, Robert Sherman
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Editing: Michael Luciano
Art Direction: James Dowell Vance
Original Music: Gerald Fried
Cast: Michael Caine (Pvt. Tosh Hearne), Cliff Robertson (Lt. Sam Lawson), Ian Bannen (Pvt. Jock Thornton), Harry Andrews (Col. Thompson), Henry Fonda (Capt. John Nolan). C-144m. Letterboxed.

by Rob Nixon