TCM Schedule for Sunday, October 12 -- TCM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: PAUL NEWMAN

[Longhorn]

4:15am 13 Ghosts (1960)
A family inherits a house haunted by 13 ghosts and a living killer.
Cast: Charles Herbert, Rosemary DeCamp, Martin Milner. Dir: William Castle. BW-82 mins, TV-PG

5:38am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Live Ghost, The (1934)
A sea captain hires comedic duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to trick sailors into working on his supposedly haunted boat.
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy Dir: Charles Rogers BW-20 mins

6:00am Rack, The (1956)
A Korean War veteran is accused of cracking under enemy torture.
Cast: Paul Newman, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis. Dir: Arnold Laven. BW-100 mins, TV-14

7:51am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Picturesque New Zealand (1952)
This travel short highlights some of the attractions of New Zealand, including their pastoral tradition and the native Maori people. Background music is provided by the Rangitoto Maori Choir.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick C-8 mins

8:00am Until They Sail (1957)
Four sisters in New Zealand fall for Allied sailors en route to World War II.
Cast: Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-95 mins, TV-PG

9:38am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: In The Valley Of The Rhine (1953)
This travel talk tours the Rhine River in Western Europe, stopping at various cities and attractions, including still-war-ravaged Cologne, the fertile wine country, and its proud musical heritage. This remains an interesting travel short in a recovering region, less than a decade after WWII.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick C-8 mins

10:00am Torn Curtain (1966)
A U.S. scientist pretends to defect to follow his mentor behind the Iron Curtain.
Cast: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-128 mins, TV-PG

12:15pm Exodus (1960)
A young Israeli activist fights to set up a homeland for his people.
Cast: Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Sal Mineo. Dir: Otto Preminger. C-208 mins, TV-PG

3:45pm Sweet Bird Of Youth (1962)
A young gigolo returns to his southern hometown in search of the lost love of his youth.
Cast: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight. Dir: Richard Brooks. C-120 mins, TV-PG

6:00pm Hud (1963)
An amoral modern rancher clashes with his rigid father.
Cast: Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas. Dir: Martin Ritt. BW-112 mins, TV-14

What's On Tonight: TCM MEMORIAL TRIBUTE: PAUL NEWMAN

8:00pm Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
True story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.
Cast: Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Eileen Heckart. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-114 mins, TV-PG

10:00pm Cool Hand Luke (1967)
A free-spirited convict refuses to conform to chain-gang life.
Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin. Dir: Stuart Rosenberg. C-126 mins, TV-14

12:15am Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)
A dying plantation owner tries to help his alcoholic son solve his problems.
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives. Dir: Richard Brooks. C-108 mins, TV-PG

2:15am Rachel, Rachel (1968)
Small town teacher tries to overcome her shyness.
Cast: Joanne Woodward, James Olson, Kate Harrington. Dir: Paul Newman. C-101 mins, TV-14

4:00am Outrage, The (1964)
A Mexican bandit's crimes receive wildly different interpretations from four witnesses.
Cast: Paul Newman, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson. Dir: Martin Ritt. BW-96 mins, TV-PG

[Longhorn]

1. Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

Somebody Up There Likes Me
Based on Graziano's autobiography, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) reveals the life of the boxer as he evolves from a young, poor ruffian, to a reform school student, to a prison inmate, to a middleweight boxing champion. Pier Angeli plays his supportive wife, Norma. Whereas Newman won rave reviews in his portrayal of Graziano, the part was originally intended for James Dean. Though Dean held a Warner Bros. contract at that time, MGM acquired his services for one film when MGM lent Elizabeth Taylor to Warners for Giant. To fulfil their agreement with Warners, MGM considered giving Dean the lead in Somebody . Dean read Graziano's autobiography and met with MGM head Dore Schary one Friday afternoon. Sadly, the following day, Saturday afternoon, Dean was killed in a head-on collision en route to a racing event in Salinas, California.

After Dean's death MGM decided that Newman should be his replacement. In his autobiography Heyday, Schary writes, "We liked Paul very much. Though he had not yet punched his way into real stardom, I felt he needed only one juicy part to get there." Newman, fresh off of two box-office disappointments (1954's The Silver Chalice and 1956's The Rack) jumped at the chance to star in the film. To some, regardless of how Newman came to be the lead in Somebody, he was better suited for the role than Dean. Says director Robert Wise: "I always had in my mind that maybe Dean was not physically a middleweight, somehow. And Paul did one of his best characterizations in it; he really caught that man." On his third film attempt, Newman finally achieved the box-office success that had eluded him previously and went on to become a major Hollywood star.

On the other hand, neither Angeli's career nor love life improved after Dean's death. Angeli had dated Dean in the 1950s and never got over his untimely demise. After she separated from her second husband in 1963, Angeli announced, "I am still in love, deeply and eternally with Jimmy Dean." With good film roles hard to come by and her love life in shambles, she sank into severe depression. When a suicidal Angeli overdosed on barbiturates in 1971, her motivation may have been her failure to come across decent film roles coupled with her inability to get over the loss of James Dean.

Despite the vast difference in how their lives turned out, Paul Newman and Pier Angeli will always be remembered for their knockout performances in Somebody Up There Likes Me.

Director: Robert Wise
Producer: Charles Schnee
Screenplay: Ernest Lehman (based on the autobiography of Rocky Graziano written with Rowland Barber)
Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Editor: Albert Akst
Music: Bronislau Kaper
Principal Cast: Paul Newman (Rocky Graziano), Pier Angeli (Norma Graziano), Everett Sloane (Irving Cohen), Eileen Heckart (Ma Barbella), Sal Mineo (Romolo), Harold Stone (Nick Barbella), Robert Loggia (Frankie Peppo), Frank Campanella (Detective), Steve McQueen (Fidel).
BW-114m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. Descriptive Video.

by Georgelle Cole