TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 1: Peter Ustinov

[Staph]

Today is the 92nd celebration of the birth of Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford, better known as Glenn Ford (who passed away in 2006). This evening features Peter Ustinov, a most interesting character, and a fine actor to boot. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Ustinov said in an interview (concerning his role in Quo Vadis), "I don't know whether I played Nero or whether I played George W. Bush."

More Ustinov quotes:

• As for being a General, well, at the age of four with paper hats and wooden swords, we're all Generals. Only some of us never grow out of it.
  
• I imagine hell like this: Italian punctuality, German humour and English wine.
  
• The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.
  
• Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.
  
• Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.
  
• Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.

On 31 October 1984, Ustinov was waiting in the garden of Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, to interview her for an Irish television documentary - when she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards (Beant Singh, killed day of assassination, Satwant Singh, sentenced to hang in 1988), as she was approaching Ustinov and his film crew.



4:45am -- Charley's Big-Hearted Aunt (1940)
A student tries to escape expulsion by pretending to be his own rich aunt.
Cast: Arthur Askey, Phyllis Calvert, Murdoch, Felix Aylmer.
Dir: Walter Forde.
BW-76 mins, TV-G

One of at least thirty different versions of the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas, including the musical Where's Charley? (1952) starring Ray Bolger. The earliest film was a silent version in 1925. Others were made in Sweden, Germany, France, Argentina, Denmark, Austria, the Soviet Union, Spain, and Hungary.


6:00am -- The Desperadoes (1943)
When someone robs the town bank before he can, a bandit joins forces with the sheriff to catch the real crooks.
Cast: Randolph Scott, Glenn Ford, Claire Trevor.
Dir: Charles Vidor.
C-87 mins, TV-PG

This was Columbia's first Technicolor feature.


7:30am -- A Stolen Life (1946)
A twin takes her deceased sister's place as wife of the man they both love.
Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt.
BW-107 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- William C. McGann (visual) and Nathan Levinson (audible)

Because of her constant insistence for better productions to work on, and an overall better atmosphere on set, Jack L. Warner asked Bette Davis to produce the film. It would be the first and only time she would be able to do this. Reportedly, she was so overworked and also intrigued by this job that she started a relationship with the director of this film to iron out her mind.


9:30am -- Young Man With Ideas (1952)
A country lawyer moves his family to Los Angeles.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Ruth Roman, Nina Foch.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen.
BW-85 mins, TV-G

Ruth Roman and her son Dickie Hall were passengers on the Andrea Doria in 1956 when it collided with the Stockholm and sank.


11:00am -- Plunder of the Sun (1953)
Mexican Aztec ruins hold the secret of a long-buried treasure.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina.
Dir: John Farrow.
BW-82 mins, TV-PG

Based on a novel by David Dodge, who also wrote the novel that became To Catch A Thief (1955).


12:30pm -- Pocketful Of Miracles (1961)
A good-hearted gangster turns an old apple seller into a society matron so she can impress her daughter.
Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Hope Lange.
Dir: Frank Capra.
C-137 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Falk, Best Costume Design, Color -- Edith Head and Walter Plunkett, and Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Pocketful of Miracles"

The last film of Thomas Mitchell. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Stagecoach (1939), the year he made a few other pretty good films (Gone With The Wind, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Only Angels Have Wings, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.


3:00pm -- Experiment in Terror (1962)
A master criminal tries to force a bank teller to help him pull off a big heist.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Ross Martin.
Dir: Blake Edwards.
BW-123 mins, TV-PG

The end credits only list one person, the actor who played the villain, followed by "The End".


5:15pm -- The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1962)
Members of an Argentinian family fight on opposite sides during World War II.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli.
C-153 mins, TV-PG

Parts of Andre Previn's score were used on the original trailers for "Doctor Zhivago," the film itself being scored by Maurice Jarre.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: PETER USTINOV


8:00pm -- Quo Vadis (1951)
A Roman commander falls for a Christian slave girl as Nero intensifies persecution of the new religion.
Cast: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy.
C-169 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Leo Genn, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Ustinov, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Cedric Gibbons, Edward C. Carfagno and Hugh Hunt, Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Surtees and William V. Skall, Best Costume Design, Color -- Herschel McCoy, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

In An Audience with Peter Ustinov (1988) (TV), Ustinov recalled that he had been attached to the role of Nero for over a year before filming began. During this time he received a memo from the producers, informing him that they still wanted him for the part, but were concerned that he was too young. Ustinov replied that Nero died when he was 31; if they waited much longer, he would be too old for the part. He then received a reply, which he said he had kept and treasured. The reply stated: "Historical research has proved you correct."


11:00pm -- Death On The Nile (1978)
Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an heiress during an Egyptian tour.
Cast: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Bette Davis.
Dir: John Guillermin.
C-140 mins, TV-MA

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design -- Anthony Powell

Aboard ship, no one was allowed his or her own dressing room, so Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury all shared a room.


1:30am -- Topkapi (1964)
An international band of thieves plots to steal a priceless treasure from a heavily guarded museum.
Cast: Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov.
Dir: Jules Dassin.
C-119 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Ustinov (Ustinov was not present at the awards ceremony. Sophia Loren accepted the award on his behalf.)

Cited by "Mission: Impossible" (1966) TV series creator Bruce Geller as the inspiration for his own series.


3:45am -- Hot Millions (1968)
A computer whiz and his pregnant girlfriend set out to rob a massive corporation.
Cast: Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Bob Newhart.
Dir: Eric Till.
C-107 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Ira Wallach and Peter Ustinov

In the film Maggie Smith takes Bob Newhart shopping where she is seen trying on clothes and buying an outfit for £20 at the Apple Boutique on Baker Street, London, a boutique owned and operated by The Beatles. The boutique, which was the first venture of their Apple Corps Ltd company, and featured a large psychedelic mural on the external wall, was only operated for several months in 1968 before being closed down and the contents given away to the public for free. Hot Millions provides one of the few rare filmed glimpses of the boutique's interior.

[CBHagman]

1. Love those Peter Ustinov quotes.

He was quite a character. I remember seeing him on TV during the Tony Awards, and of course reading about his work for UNICEF years back (Yes, Danny Kaye wasn't the only actor to work for UNICEF!).