TCM will run a tribute to Rod Taylor on Thursday, January 29, 2015, beginning at 8:00 PM EST. Here's their schedule, fi
-
Big G-2 — 11 years ago(January 29, 2015 07:42 AM)
Too bad TCM didn't give RT a full 24 hours, so they could have included other films they show less often, including 36 Hours, Dark of the Sun, Ask Any Girl, Fate is the Hunter, World Without End, The V.I.P.s and several others.
I was curious about that as well. Even here in the West Coast, some of the movies will be playing well past 11:00 pm, including the one I want to see the most YOUNG CASSIDY. But with our modern day recording devices, it won't be a problem (and I think TCM knows that!). -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(January 29, 2015 09:36 AM)
The other thing, which I believe I alluded to someplace above, is that as it happens TCM had run some of these films namely,
The Time Machine, The Birds
and
Sunday in New York
two or three times in the past six or eight weeks. Granted the importance to Rod's career of the first two, especially
TTM
, nonetheless you'd think they'd have sprung for a couple of different titles not recently shown.
Sunday in New York
is an okay romantic comedy and something different from Rod's action roles, but it's not
that
great and since it's been on very recently could easily have been jettisoned in favor of, say,
Hotel
, which also has romance and drama.
I guess he wasn't quite a big enough star to warrant a full 24, but on the other hand how many major stars covered by TCM's programming are left nowadays? Maybe they need to devote more time to the dwindling number of older movie stars as they pass away.
For the record, here is the list of movies TCM is preempting tonight (1/29/15) in order to run its tribute to Rod:
I Want to Live
(1958);
The Hoodlum Priest
(1961);
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
(1956);
Nora Prentiss
(1947);
The Ceremony
(1963). Crime dramas all, and an interesting mix.
But let's just say I wish they were still on the schedule meaning, that there were no need to preempt them in order to present a posthumous remembrance of Rod Taylor. -
clore_2 — 11 years ago(January 29, 2015 09:58 AM)
They can hold off on
Nora Prentiss
until they upgrade the print. It looks like a dupe of a 16mm print, Alpha Home Video quality.
I was looking forward to
The Ceremony
though as that one has escaped me all these years and the cast has me really curious.
It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me -
pouncemo — 11 years ago(January 29, 2015 05:08 PM)
Do you remember "old" people telling us that "inside, I still feel 25" or whatever? Now we know what they mean, and know that it is true.
I totally agree that Rod deserves a full 24 hour tribute. To me, Rod was a full-fledged
A-lister, a household name for anyone our generation.
I love what they are choosing to show, but would have liked to see some of his lesser known and more off-beat work.
I'm taping the 14 day SNL marathon on VH1 Classics, but will take a break to be in on the Rod tribute. -
Big G-2 — 11 years ago(February 02, 2015 09:05 PM)
Well, in seeing YOUNG CASSIDY for the16d0 first time, I agree Rod Taylor should have deserved an Oscar nom. Ending was hard for John Cassidy - damn that Maggie Smith! Speaking of Maggie Smith, I would later realize that this movie had three future CLASH OF THE TITANS actresses - Smith, Sin Phillips and Flora Robson.
Interesting seeing Julie Christie and I think this was done just before her breakthrough, DARLING.
Anyway, eventhough it was a smaller tribute and done virtually on late night / early morning, still glad TCM does these memorials when other outlets do not even mention the passing of older Hollywood stars anymore. -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(February 02, 2015 09:37 PM)
Rod and Maggie had a brief affair when they co-starred in
The V.I.P.s
in England in 1963. They remained friends, so starring together again in
Young Cassidy
I've read was a pleasant experience for them.
The film's original director, by the way, was John Ford, but he left the production after only one day. Jack Cardiff replaced him. Superb cinematographer, good director, but it would have been interesting to have had Taylor directed by John Ford, particularly given the movie's Irish setting.
I read in Taylor's bio that in 1963, after arriving in London and before meeting Smith, he and an old pal from Australia went to see her in a West End stage production. After seeing the play, Rod, anticipating their scenes together in
The V.I.P.s
, said to his friend, "She's going to eat me alive!"
Which, in a more pleasant way, I presume she did. -
Bogmeister — 11 years ago(February 02, 2015 11:38 PM)
This might be some more unusual trivia about
Young Cassidy- I watched most of it again during that TCM tribute and noticed this: as the credits begin, it reads "A JOHN FORD FILM" (btw, I thought I read months back that Ford was on it for 25b4 weeks before being replaced by Cardiff). So, I think when I see that credit '
hmm they gave the directing credit to Ford after all, strange
' but, at the end of the credits, it reads "Directed by JACK CARDIFF." So, this was one of those unusual instances when credit is given to two directors for one film, but in a sly kind of way. I guess they (whomever made the decision) wanted to acknowledge Ford somehow, even though Cardiff Directed 95% of the film. But, I wonder if Cardiff was annoyed by it being labeled A JOHN FORD FILM at the beginning.
- I watched most of it again during that TCM tribute and noticed this: as the credits begin, it reads "A JOHN FORD FILM" (btw, I thought I read months back that Ford was on it for 25b4 weeks before being replaced by Cardiff). So, I think when I see that credit '
-
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(February 03, 2015 02:53 PM)
I think you're right, it was two weeks. I re-read the portion of Rod's bio about the film and it said Ford left after two weeks, suffering from pneumonia. I was recalling something I'd read well over a decade ago, where it said Ford had been able to shoot only one day before leaving (although he was on the picture for longer than on16d0e day), but two weeks makes more sense. When he fell ill production shut down for two weeks until a replacement was found. The producers insisted on leaving Ford's footage in but some directors wanted to start from scratch and so were bypassed. Jack Cardiff was happy to keep Ford's footage, and he came to like Rod very much.
It's too bad Ford didn't get co-director credit, as he had with
Mister Roberts
. I assume the credit "A John Ford Film" was meant as a thank-you and as you say a way of crediting Ford in some alternate way. But I'm sure Cardiff didn't mind probably quite the reverse: to be associated with John Ford was an honor, and after all he wanted to retain Ford's scenes, so he obviously felt no jealousy, or territoriality over the film. -
Bogmeister — 11 years ago(February 03, 2015 09:00 PM)
But I'm sure Cardiff didn't mind probably quite the reverse: to be associated with John Ford was an honor, and after all he wanted to retain Ford's scenes, so he obviously felt no jealousy, or territoriality over the film.
The reason I brought that up is that I just read something yesterday in the IMDb trivia section for Young Cassidy, where it mentions that Cardiff made a point of telling people that only 4 & 1/2 minutes of footage in the film was Ford's. I also read earlier somewhere (can't remember where) how Cardiff did 99% of the film (probably too high a percentage - more like 95%). I'm not sure if Cardiff himself was saying this or others were. This doesn't mean that Cardiff was belittling Ford's involvement or being territorial, but I know that many film directors are touchy about who gets what credit. Not knowing Cardiff, I can only guess on how he felt about the whole thing. I just find it very unusual because I thought there are certain rules in the film business and that only one person can get credit as a director, unless it's a joint effort from the beginning and split 50/50 (for example, Richard Lester got sole directing credit on Superman II because he did about 51% of the film, Donner did 49% or less). So, they couldn't give the standard directing credit to both Cardiff & Ford, but managed to work Ford's name in there. -
hobnob53 — 11 years ago(February 03, 2015 11:03 PM)
There have been a number of films listing two co-directors. There is no rule that prevents giving multiple directors co-credit.
Ford's own
Mister Roberts
, as I pointed out before, was one such film (with Mervyn LeRoy). Others off the top of my head include
Come and Get It
(1936),
Curse of the Cat People
(1944),
King Solomon's Mines
(1950), and
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
(1963), and there are other examples. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins won Oscars for co-directing
West Side Story
(1961), the only pair of directors ever to win an Academy Award for helming a film. The British team "The Archers" always credited both Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger as co-writers, -producers and -directors.
Sometimes a director has
chosen
not to take credit. For example, in 1959 Charles Vidor began production on
Song Without End
then died 17 days into filming. The producers called in George Cukor to complete the film, but Cukor refused to take any credit, insisting out of respect that Vidor be listed as the sole director, even though Cukor directed something like 90% of the finished film. Despite Cukor's request for anonymity, the producers inserted a credit thanking Cukor for his contributions to the film, though not specifically citing him as a director. Similarly, star Laurence Harvey stepped in to direct
A Dandy in A****
(1967) when the original director, Anthony Mann, died suddenly during production, but out of respect for Mann he too refused any screen credit.
Back to John Ford: Robert Montgomery stepped in to direct part of
They Were Expendable
(1945) when Ford "fell ill" (i.e. got drunk) and was away for a short time, but Montgomery neither sought nor expected any director's credit.
Of course, in the studio era many films had portions directed by someone other than the credited director; this was so common it was almost the norm. In such cases the studio usually dictated who would receive screen credit, but in any cases where there was an actual dispute as to a credit the appropriate guild (directors, writers, whatever) is the final arbiter. But even today some directors come in to shoot small portions of a film but don't ask for credit. Directors who are fired off a film usually don't get any credit either.
I'm sure Jack Cardiff made no secret of his being chiefly responsible for most of
Young Cassidy
, but then he was the sole credited director and had no problem retaining the footage Ford had filmed, so I don't see he had any grievance or reason to be petty about it.
And here's one more tidbit: after Ford left
Young Cassidy
and they had to find a director, Rod Taylor himself volunteered to direct the film. But the producers knew his lack of experience made it too risky to allow him to do so, and one of them put Taylor off the idea by asking him if he really wanted to direct Edith Evans and Maggie Smith. Taylor realized he didn't and dropped the idea.