Classic Films

Auggie

(32,424 posts) Sat Jul 19, 2025, 08:16 AM Saturday

TCM Schedule for Thurs, July 24, 2025: British Productions / Studio Saviors (Chinatown & more)

Last edited Sat Jul 19, 2025, 10:47 AM - Edit history (1)

Looks like the theme tonight, Studio Saviors, refers to the financial impact Shirley Temple and Deanna Durbin made to their respective studios, 20th Century Fox and Universal.

Perhaps Chinatown represents the brilliant efforts of producer and Paramount studio executive Robert Evans, whose leadership led to some of the greatest films ever made. From wikipedia:

When Evans took over as head of production for Paramount, the floundering studio was the ninth largest. Despite his inexperience, Evans made Paramount the most successful studio in Hollywood and transformed it into a profitable enterprise. During his tenure, the studio turned out films such as Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Romeo and Juliet, Rosemary's Baby, The Italian Job, True Grit, Love Story, Harold and Maude, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Serpico, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Save the Tiger, The Conversation, Chinatown, The Great Gatsby, and many others. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Evans

As for Rin Tin Tin ...

Rin Tin Tin's first starring role was in Where the North Begins (1923), in which he played alongside silent screen actress Claire Adams. This film was a huge success and has often been credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. It was followed by 24 more screen appearances by Rin Tin Tin. Each of these films was very popular, making such a profit for Warner Bros. that Rin Tin Tin was called "the mortgage lifter" by studio insiders. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rin_Tin_Tin

Missing: A tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, often credited with saving RKO from bankruptcy.

-----------------

DAYTIME (EST)

6:15 AM | The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)
A group of 1902 Irish resistance members robs the Bank of England to finance their movement.
Dir: John Guillermin | Cast: Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter O'Toole

7:45 AM | A Taste of Honey (1961)
Deserted by her mother, a pregnant teen turns to a gay friend for help.
Dir: Tony Richardson | Cast: Dora Bryan, Rita Tushingham, Robert Stephens

9:30 AM | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
A boy from the Irish slums reviews his troubled past while training for a school race.
Dir: Tony Richardson | Cast: Tom Courtenay, Michael Redgrave, Avis Bunnage

11:15 AM | A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Mockumentary that follows "a day in the life" of the Beatles.
Dir: Richard Lester | Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

12:45 PM | All Neat in Black Stockings (1969)
An irresponsible window cleaner believes he has found true love with a woman he picked up in a tavern.
Dir: Christopher Morahan | Cast: Victor Henry, Susan George, Jack Shepherd

2:30 PM | Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
A factory worker lives for the chance to have fun on the weekends.
Dir: Karel Reisz | Cast: Albert Finney, Shirley Field, Rachel Roberts

4:00 PM | Look Back in Anger (1959)
An embittered young man spews venom on all around him, particularly his upper-class wife.
Dir: Tony Richardson | Cast: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Mary Ure

5:45 PM | Tom Jones (1963)
In 18th century England, an abandoned orphan is adopted by a Squire, and grows to become a bawdy womanizer.
Dir: Tony Richardson | Cast: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith

PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING

8:00 PM | Bright Eyes (1934)
An orphan is taken in by a rich family at the insistence of their crotchety uncle as a godfather fights for custody.
Dir: David Butler | Cast: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Jane Darwell

9:45 PM | Three Smart Girls (1937)
The daughters of a divorced couple try to keep their father from remarrying.
Dir: Henry Koster | Cast: Deanna Durbin, Binnie Barnes, Alice Brady

11:30 PM | Chinatown (1974)
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles gets caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Dir: Roman Polanski | Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

2:00 AM | Clash of the Wolves (1925)
In this silent film, a mountain fire forces a pack of wolves to interact with the local citizens of a desert town.
Dir: Noel Mason Smith | Cast: Rin-Tin-Tin, June Marlowe, Charles Farrell

-----------------

3:30 AM | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Prospectors fight bandits and each other after striking it rich in the Mexican mountains.
Dir: John Huston | Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt