February 2021

[LsDoorMat]

52 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

I agree. Also I noticed THE HEIRESS popping up. They always cough up the dough to lease that one from Paramount for Oscar month to showcase Olivia de Havilland's winning performance.

So either they will have to ante up again when Oscar month occurs, or there will be less films from outside the Turner Library since they already used up their budget.

I think what is going on with "The Heiress" is that it is a Criterion release. From the schedule, for about the past year, it seems that TCM's schedule has lots of Criterion films, so it seems that Criterion and TCM have some kind of deal going. So I don't think that they have to pay Universal for that one. When they showed "Merrily We Go To Hell" - well, yes, that is a pre-1949 Paramount talking film and belongs to Universal, so TCM had to pay for that. 

[TopBilled]

23 minutes ago, LsDoorMat said:

I think what is going on with "The Heiress" is that it is a Criterion release. From the schedule, for about the past year, it seems that TCM's schedule has lots of Criterion films, so it seems that Criterion and TCM have some kind of deal going. So I don't think that they have to pay Universal for that one. When they showed "Merrily We Go To Hell" - well, yes, that is a pre-1949 Paramount talking film and belongs to Universal, so TCM had to pay for that. 

But Criterion does not own THE HEIRESS. They are also leasing it from the studio that owns it. So I would imagine if TCM is showing a Criterion restored version of something still owned by a studio (not in the public domain) they still have to pay a licensing fee.

For years TCM has shown THE HEIRESS and A PLACE IN THE SUN during Oscar month. These prestige films have been available to TCM long before Criterion came along.

The reason TCM signed the deal with Criterion was to gain access to restored foreign films, and the licensing/broadcast rights on those are not the same as product from the American studios.

TCM's deal with Criterion occurred near the end of FilmStruck. There were a bunch of Criterion restorations on FilmStruck, previously they had been on Hulu. The Criterion restorations seem to float from platform to platform.

My original point is that TCM had allocated and spent budget on films to air in February. Now they will have to re-lease/re-rent some of them to air later when the Oscar ceremony finally takes place. Or else they will have to do a cheaper version of 31 Days of Oscar programming with NORTH BY NORTHWEST airing ten times that month to fill up the holes.

[LsDoorMat]

14 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

But Criterion does not own THE HEIRESS. They are also leasing it from the studio that owns it. So I would imagine if TCM is showing a Criterion restored version of something still owned by a studio (not in the public domain) they still have to pay a licensing fee.

For years TCM has shown THE HEIRESS and A PLACE IN THE SUN during Oscar month. These prestige films have been available to TCM long before Criterion came along.

The reason TCM signed the deal with Criterion was to gain access to restored foreign films, and the licensing/broadcast rights on those are not the same as product from the American studios.

TCM's deal with Criterion occurred near the end of FilmStruck. There were a bunch of Criterion restorations on FilmStruck, previously they had been on Hulu. The Criterion restorations seem to float from platform to platform.

A Place In the Sun still belongs to Paramount. I am not privy to the wording of the deal with Criterion, but I have seen lots of  English speaking films that are Criterion - such as "Badlands" - show up on TCM pretty frequently in addition to their restored foreign films.  And yes, you are right, some Universal films such as The Heiress and All Quiet on the Western Front have been on TCM several times for years.  I do remember several years ago when TCM did 31 Days of Oscar by studio, that when they got to Universal, they showed mainly public domain films. That seemed like it wasn't in the spirit of what was advertised. 

"My original point is that TCM had allocated and spent budget on films to air in February. Now they will have to re-lease/re-rent some of them to air later when the Oscar ceremony finally takes place."

Or maybe they can drop the idea altogether for February or just do it in primetime?  I can always hope. 

[TopBilled]

8 minutes ago, LsDoorMat said:

A Place In the Sun still belongs to Paramount. I am not privy to the wording of the deal with Criterion, but I have seen lots of  English speaking films that are Criterion - such as "Badlands" - show up on TCM pretty frequently in addition to their restored foreign films.  And yes, you are right, some Universal films such as The Heiress and All Quiet on the Western Front have been on TCM several times for years.  I do remember several years ago when TCM did 31 Days of Oscar by studio, that when they got to Universal, they showed mainly public domain films. That seemed like it wasn't in the spirit of what was advertised. 

I agree. But at least they did show Universal films. They totally ignored Republic Pictures and that studio turned out nearly 1000 titles between 1935 and 1959, a large portion of them "A" films with notable directors and stars. (Paramount controls the Republic Library now.)

[LsDoorMat]

20 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

I agree. But at least they did show Universal films. They totally ignored Republic Pictures and that studio turned out nearly 1000 titles between 1935 and 1959, a large portion of them "A" films with notable directors and stars. (Paramount controls the Republic Library now.)

Other than "The Quiet Man", I'd have to look it up and see what Republic films were ever nominated for Oscars. Republic made SO  many westerns, and they tend not to get nominated. 

[TopBilled]

15 minutes ago, LsDoorMat said:

Other than "The Quiet Man", I'd have to look it up and see what Republic films were ever nominated for Oscars. Republic made SO  many westerns, and they tend not to get nominated. 

Your comment underscores why Republic is not honored...because people think all Republic made were B westerns. As I said in my previous post, they made a fair number of "A" films across genres.

THE QUIET MAN is the only one TCM shows with any frequency.

Over 40 feature films made by Republic were nominated for Oscars, plus the studio had some short films that were nominated in various categories.

[LsDoorMat]

21 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

Your comment underscores why Republic is not honored...because people think all Republic made were B westerns. As I said in my previous post, they made a fair number of "A" films across genres.

THE QUIET MAN is the only one TCM shows with any frequency.

Over 40 feature films made by Republic were nominated for Oscars, plus the studio had some short films that were nominated in various categories.

All I can find is the Wikipedia article on Republic Pictures films. No comment on which were nominated for Oscars. Sounds like a project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republic_Pictures_films

[TopBilled]

3 minutes ago, LsDoorMat said:

All I can find is the Wikipedia article on Republic Pictures films. No comment on which were nominated for Oscars. Sounds like a project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republic_Pictures_films

I already did the research, back in 2016:

ARMY GIRL (1938). Nominated for cinematography, score and sound.

BEHIND THE NEWS (1940).  Nominated for sound.

BRAZIL (1944). Nominated for score, song and sound.

BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951). Nominated for story.

CRAZYLEGS (1954). Nominated for editing.

DARK COMMAND (1940). Nominated for art direction and score.

THE DEVIL PAYS OFF (1941). Nominated for sound.

THE FIGHTING SEABEES (1944). Nominated for score.

FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST (1945). Nominated for sound and score.

FLYING TIGERS (1942). Nominated for sound, score and special effects.

HIT PARADE OF 1941 (1940). Nominated for score and song.

HIT PARADE OF 1943 (1943). Nominated for score and song.

HITCHHIKE TO HAPPINESS (1945). Nominated for score.

ICE-CAPADES (1941). Nominated for score.

IN OLD OKLAHOMA (1943). Nominated for score and sound.

JOHNNY DOUGHBOY (1942). Nominated for score.

MAN OF CONQUEST (1939). Nominated for interior decoration.

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND (1937). Nominated for art direction.

MERCY ISLAND (1941). Nominated for score.

MOONRISE (1948). Nominated for sound.

$1000 A MINUTE (1935). Nominated for sound.

PORTIA ON TRIAL (1937). Nominated for score.

THE QUIET MAN (1952). Nominated for picture, director, cinematography, supporting actor, screenplay, art direction and sound. Awards for director and cinematography.

RIDIN’ ON A RAINBOW (1941). Nominated for song.

SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950). Nominated for actor, screenplay, editing and sound.

SHE MARRIED A COP (1939). Nominated for score.

SINGING GUNS (1950). Nominated for song.

STORM OVER BENGAL (1938). Nominated for score.

UNDER WESTERN STARS (1938). Nominated for song.

WOMEN IN WAR (1940). Nominated for visual effects.

YOUTH ON PARADE (1942). Nominated for song.

[TopBilled]

It wasn't over 40 but rather 31 features from Republic Pictures that were nominated for Oscars. 

Plus I believe there were some short films also nominated.

[LsDoorMat]

11 minutes ago, TopBilled said:

It wasn't over 40 but rather 31 features from Republic Pictures that were nominated for Oscars. 

Plus I believe there were some short films also nominated.

So if I exclude all Republic films nominated for sound/score/song only then I get the following list:

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND (1937). Nominated for art direction.
ARMY GIRL (1938). Nominated for cinematography, score and sound.
MAN OF CONQUEST (1939). Nominated for interior decoration.
WOMEN IN WAR (1940). Nominated for visual effects.
DARK COMMAND (1940). Nominated for art direction and score.
FLYING TIGERS (1942). Nominated for sound, score and special effects.
SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950). Nominated for actor, screenplay, editing and sound.
BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951). Nominated for story.
THE QUIET MAN (1952). Nominated for picture, director, cinematography, supporting actor, screenplay, art direction and sound. Awards for director and cinematography.
CRAZYLEGS (1954). Nominated for editing.

Now if I include only those films that got nominated for "the big ones" - picture, director, screenplay or story, and acting - I get:

SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950). Nominated for actor, screenplay, editing and sound.

BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951). Nominated for story.

THE QUIET MAN (1952). Nominated for picture, director, cinematography, supporting actor, screenplay, art direction and sound. Awards for director and cinematography.

And so you only have three out of the 31 that would truly be entertaining to TCM audiences based on quality of nomination. Now I say this not to single out Republic Pictures, but just to shoot down the entire concept of 31 Days of Oscar. Because tons of films that aren't very good that are in the TCM library (WB/RKO/MGM) wind up on the schedule just because they were nominated for something. 

[TopBilled]

3 minutes ago, LsDoorMat said:

So if I exclude all Republic films nominated for sound/score/song only then I get the following list:

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND (1937). Nominated for art direction.
ARMY GIRL (1938). Nominated for cinematography, score and sound.
MAN OF CONQUEST (1939). Nominated for interior decoration.
WOMEN IN WAR (1940). Nominated for visual effects.
DARK COMMAND (1940). Nominated for art direction and score.
FLYING TIGERS (1942). Nominated for sound, score and special effects.
SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950). Nominated for actor, screenplay, editing and sound.
BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951). Nominated for story.
THE QUIET MAN (1952). Nominated for picture, director, cinematography, supporting actor, screenplay, art direction and sound. Awards for director and cinematography.
CRAZYLEGS (1954). Nominated for editing.

Now if I include only those films that got nominated for "the big ones" - picture, director, screenplay or story, and acting - I get:

SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1950). Nominated for actor, screenplay, editing and sound.

BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY (1951). Nominated for story.

THE QUIET MAN (1952). Nominated for picture, director, cinematography, supporting actor, screenplay, art direction and sound. Awards for director and cinematography.

And so you only have three out of the 31 that would truly be entertaining to TCM audiences based on quality of nomination. Now I say this not to single out Republic Pictures, but just to shoot down the entire concept of 31 Days of Oscar. Because tons of films that aren't very good that are in the TCM library (WB/RKO/MGM) wind up on the schedule just because they were nominated for something. 

Why narrow down the list? TCM airs anything that was nominated for an Oscar during 31 Days, regardless of category.

Music is an important part of filmmaking.

I don't agree with the idea of saying only the "big" films should air on TCM.

A monthlong Oscar celebration on TCM should highlight achievements by as many people as possible.

Yes, TCM airs a lot of "junk" because these titles are in the Turner Library. But that happens year round. In terms of Oscar, if something was nominated, then it should be honored. 

Of course you could make a distinction between whether something was merely nominated, or if it won. But then you'd have to leave out films like THE TURNING POINT (1977) and THE COLOR PURPLE (1985) that lost in every category for which they had nominations.

[LsDoorMat]

"Why narrow down the list? TCM airs anything that was nominated for an Oscar during 31 Days, regardless of category."

And that is exactly why I want to tie an anchor around this festival and sink it to the bottom of the ocean. Because there are plenty of films that were nominated for best song or score or cinematography that are a complete borefest.  Go watch "Broadway Hostess" (1935) sometime. I think it may still actually be on "Watch TCM". One of the most incoherent messes in film history. But it was nominated for Best Dance Direction. I sat through it just to say I've seen it.  I can truly say that I have suffered for art at this point as a result. 

This was always Robert Osborne's project. He will soon be gone from this earth four years. To remember him, let's celebrate him on his birthday. Play the great interviews he did, play his favorite films. Make it a 24 hour annual event. But for the love of Mike, let this awful festival that causes February to be the month that many of us catch up on our reading finally die. 

P.S. Nothing personal TB. You just report the schedule, you don't fill it out.

[Vidor]

3 hours ago, LsDoorMat said:

let this awful festival that causes February to be the month that many of us catch up on our reading finally die. 

But it's a good thing to catch up on your reading.

[jamesjazzguitar]

23 minutes ago, Vidor said:

But it's a good thing to catch up on your reading.

I always learn a few additional jazz standards during Oscar month,  so it's all good. 

[sewhite2000]

Lots of spirited discussion while I was out all day!

Daytime February 7 No-Theme Sunday

Roughly Speaking (Rosalind Russell, Jack Carson) (Warner Bros., 1945)

Then a repeat of last night's Noir Alley.

Then:
To Be or Not to Be (Jack Benny, Carole Lombard) (United Artists, 1942)
The Heiress (Olivia DeHavilland, Montgomery Clift) (Paramount, 1949)
Designing Woman (Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall) (MGM, 1957)
The Birds (Tippi Hedrin, Rod Taylor) (Universal, 1963)
 

I think all of those were Oscar nominees, right? I do wonder if TCM left their weekend schedule largely unchanged after originally slating a bunch of Oscar-nominated films, and they didn't have to worry about making them conform to some kind of theme.

[sewhite2000]

Woops, I went one movie too far in the above post to still be "daytime". I will edit.

[sewhite2000]

Primetime February 7 Crooked Lawyers Double Feature

The Nuisance (Lee Tracy, Madge Evans) (MGM, 1933)
The Fortune Cookie (Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau) (United Artists, 1966)

Then after that a documentary about Alice Guy Blache, we have three of her movies for Silent Sunday nights. I'm not really looking ahead, so I don't know if this is going to run the whole month like they did Pedro Almodovar for TCM Imports in January. I guess I'll find out. These films are all under 15 minutes, but along with the 100-minute doc, that fills the usual time allotment, I guess.

Then it's TCM Imports, three films all by the Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene. Not sure if he's getting the month-long Almodovar treatment either. I watched Black Girl in a world cinema class I took in college a looong time ago, so I have some tiny familiarity with him, but I don't know these films, two of which are shorts and the third isn't listed on his imdb resume, so I have very little info.

 

[TheOneandOnlyCritic2000]

2 hours ago, sewhite2000 said:

Lots of spirited discussion while I was out all day!

Daytime February 7 No-Theme Sunday

Roughly Speaking (Rosalind Russell, Jack Carson) (Warner Bros., 1945)

Then a repeat of last night's Noir Alley.

Then:
To Be or Not to Be (Jack Benny, Carole Lombard) (United Artists, 1942)
The Heiress (Olivia DeHavilland, Montgomery Clift) (Paramount, 1949)
Designing Woman (Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall) (MGM, 1957)
The Birds (Tippi Hedrin, Rod Taylor) (Universal, 1963)
 

I think all of those were Oscar nominees, right? I do wonder if TCM left their weekend schedule largely unchanged after originally slating a bunch of Oscar-nominated films, and they didn't have to worry about making them conform to some kind of theme.

I knew I wasn't wrong, they were going have but changed it due to the Oscars being in April, but they had to put the leftovers somewhere and that's why we have three best picture winners on the same day on February 27. (And those films you mentioned where nominated or won)

[TopBilled]

The month's themes:

1    golden turkeys
2    star of the month john garfield
3    special theme: noteworthy african americans
4    spotlight: kiss connection
5    journalists in danger
6    mel brooks & gene wilder
7    crooked lawyers
8    100th birthday tribute: lana turner
9    star of the month john garfield
10  special theme: noteworthy african americans
11   spotlight: kiss connection
12  tcm romantic weekend getaway
13  tcm romantic weekend getaway
14  tcm romantic weekend getaway
15  richard brooks
16  star of the month john garfield
17  special theme: noteworthy african americans
18  spotlight: kiss connection
19  girls with guns
20  happy birthday sidney poitier
21  precode classics
22  my brother's keeper
23  star of the month john garfield
24  special theme: noteworthy african americans
25  spotlight: kiss connection
26  tba
27  dances with wolves
28  tcm birthday tribute: zero mostel

[sewhite2000]

2 hours ago, TheOneandOnlyCritic2000 said:

I knew I wasn't wrong, they were going have but changed it due to the Oscars being in April, but they had to put the leftovers somewhere and that's why we have three best picture winners on the same day on February 27. (And those films you mentioned where nominated or won)

Interesting. I'm sure I will see more examples if I get enough of a chance to proceed on my day-by-day explorations. TopBilled has suggested that whenever they do 31 Days this year, whether March or April - who knows? - the variety of films may suffer because they have already "blown" whatever budget for films they intended to show outside of the usual library. But we shall see.

[sewhite2000]

February 8 Daytime and Primetime Lana Turner 100th Birthday Tribute

A full 24 hours of Lana Turner movies. Like her own SUTS day in February.

Dancing Co-Ed (Lana Turner, Richard Carlson) (MGM, 1939)
Ziegfeld Girl (James Stewart, Judy Garland) (MGM, 1941)
**** Tonk (Clark Gable, Lana Turner) (MGM, 1941)
Johnny Eager (Robert Taylor, Lana Turner) (MGM, 1942)
Slightly Dangerous (Lana Turner, Robert Young) (MGM, 1943)
Marriage is a Private Affair (Lana Turner, James Craig) (MGM, 1944)
Keep Your Powder Dry (Lana Turner, Larraine Day) (MGM, 1945)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Lana Turner, John Garfield) (MGM, 1946)
A Life of Her Own (Lana Turner, Ray Milland) (MGM, 1950)
The Bad and the Beautiful (Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner) (MGM, 1952)
Latin Lovers (Lana Turner, Ricardo Montalban) (MGM, 1953)
The Big Cube (Lana Turner, George Chakiris) (Warner Bros., 1969)

The Postman Always Rings Twice also airs on the first night of John Garfield's Star of the Month run, so it becomes the first non-Noir Alley movie to air twice this month.

[sewhite2000]

Fevbruary 9 Daytime Robert Ryan

Marine Raiders (Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1944)
Crossfire (Robert Young, Robert Mitchum) (RKO, 1947)
Woman on the Beach (Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1947)
Act of Violence (Van Heflin, Robert Ryan) (MGM, 1949)
The Set-Up (Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter) (RKO, 1949)
Born to Be Bad (Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1950)
The Secret Fury (Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1950)
Beware, My Lovely (Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1952)
Clash by Night (Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas) (RKO, 1952)

[TopBilled]

3 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:

Fevbruary 9 Daytime Robert Ryan

Marine Raiders (Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1944)
Crossfire (Robert Young, Robert Mitchum) (RKO, 1947)
Woman on the Beach (Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1947)
Act of Violence (Van Heflin, Robert Ryan) (MGM, 1949)
The Set-Up (Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter) (RKO, 1949)
Born to Be Bad (Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1950)
The Secret Fury (Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1950)
Beware, My Lovely (Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan) (RKO, 1952)
Clash by Night (Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas) (RKO, 1952)

Robert Ryan was an RKO contract player and these are some of his best films.

[sewhite2000]

February 9 Primetime Night Two of John Garfield Star of the Month

Juarez (Paul Muni, Bette Davis) (Warner Bros., 1939)
They Made Me a Criminal (John Garfield, Claude Rains) (Warner Bros., 1939)
The Sea Wolf (Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield) (Warner Bros., 1941)
Between Two Worlds (John Garfield, Paul Henreid) (Warner Bros., 1944)
Body and Soul (John Garfield, Lili Palmer) (United Artists, 1947)
We Were Strangers (Jennifer Jones, John Garfield) (Columbia, 1949)
The Breaking Point (John Garfield, Patricia Neal) (Warner Bros., 1950)

[TopBilled]

3 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:

February 9 Primetime Night Two of John Garfield Star of the Month

Juarez (Paul Muni, Bette Davis) (Warner Bros., 1939)
They Made Me a Criminal (John Garfield, Claude Rains) (Warner Bros., 1939)
The Sea Wolf (Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield) (Warner Bros., 1941)
Between Two Worlds (John Garfield, Paul Henreid) (Warner Bros., 1944)
Body and Soul (John Garfield, Lili Palmer) (United Artists, 1947)
We Were Strangers (Jennifer Jones, John Garfield) (Columbia, 1949)
The Breaking Point (John Garfield, Patricia Neal) (Warner Bros., 1950)

I still haven't seen JUAREZ. Brian Aherne is in it and was nominated for an Oscar. I love Brian Aherne.