Saturday, November 18 8:00 p.m. (ET)/5:00 p.m. (PT) THE OUTLAW (1943) * Requested by Irina Nayvelt of New Jersey The Outlaw (1943), Howard Hughes' would-be epic about the adventures of Billy the Kid, was a triumph of motion-picture marketing. Originally intended as the Western to break all the conventions of Westerns, the film's controversial sex appeal and salacious ad campaign turned the picture into an outlaw itself. Though a film about the notorious Billy the Kid was hardly groundbreaking at the time, The Outlaw could have taken an innovative approach to its portrayal of him. However, Hughes wasn't interested in pushing the envelope in regards to the basic storyline which opens with Billy the Kid, played by newcomer Jack Beutel, befriending Walter Huston's Doc Holliday. After Billy narrowly avoids capture by the law, he and Doc Holliday retreat to Holliday's ranch where Billy meets Doc's sexy mistress, Rio (Jane Russell). From this point on, the real stars of The Outlaw emerge - Russell's breasts and a peasant blouse that refuses to stay buttoned. Directing the picture himself, Hughes attempted to coach winning performances from his two green-horn stars, though that wasn't really his main goal. Not concerned at all with talent, Hughes had cast Jane Russell from a stack of publicity photos knowing that he could put her two real assets to use - a strategy that ignited the subsequent fervor over the film. From the very beginning, it was Hughes' goal to make a different, sexier kind of western that would break with the old genre clichˇs. It was that very goal which intrigued the publicist Russell Birdwell into taking the job. Both savvy businessmen, Hughes and Birdwell realized that the best publicity is controversy. And they didn't have to wait long. As soon as production began, The Hayes Office, charged with upholding the moral fiber of motion pictures, demanded a copy of the script for review. After reading it, The Hayes Office demanded several changes to what it considered "racy dialogue and situations," and cautioned Hughes to "avoid sexual suggestiveness." But Hughes had no intention of pouring water on his smoldering screenplay, and when the picture was finally released, Hughes got exactly what he expected. Censors objected not only to Russell's low-cut blouse, but also the treatment of her character as merely a sex object. Adding fuel to the fire was Birdwell's ad campaign, which employed seductive billboards of Russell on the famed haystack with the caption "What are the two reasons for Jane Russell's rise to stardom?" The dubious publicity not only peaked curiosity in The Outlaw, but made Russell into one of the favorite pin-up girls during WWII. Due to its notoriety, The Outlaw had a very successful ten week run, before Hughes pulled the film and shelved it for three years. When he reissued the picture in 1946, it once again ran into controversy when The Hayes Office threatened to revoke its Seal of Approval. Not yet exhausted from his fight, Hughes sued the MPAA, sending shock waves through Hollywood which feared that if The Hayes Office could not enforce it's policy on films, then the government might step in. Unable to sway the judges, Hughes eventually backed down and agreed to make the demanded cuts. To be fair, Hughes did achieve at least part of his goal to break the mold of conventional westerns. Regardless of Hughes' intentions, the controversy and lawsuit over The Outlaw, forced Hollywood to address its hypocritical attitude about sex. At a time when married couples on screen slept in separate twin beds, Hughes was able to show an alluring young woman climbing into bed with a man, bold steps that subsequent filmmakers have gladly followed off into the sunset. Director: Howard Hughes, Howard Hawks (uncredited) Producer: Howard Hughes Screenplay: Jules Furthman, Howard Hawks (uncredited), Ben Hecht (uncredited) Cinematography: Gregg Toland Editor: Wallace Grissell Music: Victor Young Cast: Jack Buetel (Billy the Kid), Jane Russell (Rio), Thomas Mitchell (Pat Garrett), Walter Huston (Doc Holliday), Mimi Aguglia (Guadalupe), Joe Sawyer (Charley). BW-116m. By Bill Goodman 10:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (PT) MR. LUCKY (1943) * Requested by Susan Tyrrell of Wisconsin It's one scheme after another for Cary Grant in Mr. Lucky (1943). As the owner of a gambling ship, Grant finds his lying, swindling, draft-dodging days numbered when heiress Laraine Day comes on board and his get-rich plan falls apart in the face of romance. Apparently Cary Grant wasn't so easily swayed by love in real life. Grant married Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heir and niece of E.F. Hutton, in July of 1942. A few months later, when Mr. Lucky was being cast, Louella Parsons ran an item claiming Grant's wife Hutton would play opposite him in the film. That was news to the Grant. It seems his wife had taken a look at his copy of the script for Mr. Lucky and decided she would be perfect as the glamorous heiress. Used to getting what she wanted, Hutton approached RKO head Charles Koerner with her idea. Koerner could practically smell the publicity and thought the real-life husband and wife pairing a grand idea. Grant did not agree, refusing to even consider the idea, and Laraine Day was soon cast. Grant also had a hand in getting Mr. Lucky from script to screen. Milton Holmes, the co-screenwriter of the film, once worked as a tennis pro at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. While there he had the opportunity to meet many stars and studio executives. One day he approached Cary Grant with the storyline for Mr. Lucky. Grant liked Holmes' idea, and Holmes was teamed with seasoned writer Adrian Scott to draft the screenplay. Unfortunately, Scott's career would come to a grinding halt in 1947 when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and was sentenced to a year of imprisonment as one of the "Hollywood Ten." Mr. Lucky would go on to be RKO's biggest grosser since 1939's Gunga Din. A TV series produced by Blake Edwards would follow. 34 episodes of Mr. Lucky aired from October 1959 to June 1960 on CBS. Director: H.C. Potter Producer: David Hempstead Screenplay: Adrian Scott, Milton Holmes (based on the story "Bundles of Freedom") Cinematography: George Barnes Editor: Theron Warth Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino, Mark-Lee Kirk Music: Roy Webb Cast: Cary Grant (Joe Adams), Laraine Day (Dorothy Bryant), Charles Bickford (Hard Swede), Gladys Cooper (Capt. Steadman), Alan Carney (Crunk), Henry Stephenson (Mr. Bryant). BW-100m. By Stephanie Thames 12:00 a.m. (ET)/9:00 p.m. (PT) THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944) * Requested by Bill Schwarcz of Arizona Long before Saving Private Ryan (1998) amazed audiences with its brutal portrayal of war, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) was the special effects blockbuster which brought home the experiences of World War II for the American public. Based on the memoirs of Captain Ted Lawson, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a documentary style re-creation of the first American strike on Japan in retaliation for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Following Capt. Lawson, played by Van Johnson in his first major screen role, we watch the flight team, which includes Spencer Tracy as Col. James Doolittle, and Robert Mitchum in his last minor role as Bob Gray, prepare for their dangerous mission. Because island bases near the target were unavailable, twin-engine bombers, in a historic first, had to take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. When a storm forces the mission to depart ahead of schedule, an unpredictable situation occurs after Capt. Lawson and his crew complete their mission. They are forced to crash land in Mainland China where they become dependent on Chinese guerillas to smuggle them to safety. Though the actual mission was planned as a publicity stunt rather than a military maneuver, MGM felt that a picture based on the dramatic events of the bombing would contribute to public morale. Seizing on the opportunity for high profile propaganda, the War Department cooperated within the limits of security, providing twelve B-25 bombers along with pilots to fly them. Because an aircraft carrier could not be loaned to the production, MGM's head of Special Effects, Buddy Gillespie, was called in to reconstruct the dramatic launch of the bombers. Employing miniatures built on a scale of one inch to one foot, Gillespie built a 60-foot version of the aircraft carrier Hornet, and launched it in the studio's 300 square foot water tank. Miniature bombers attached to an overhead trolley with piano wire were then shot, and the photography combined with newsreel footage. The result was a breathtaking sequence that could have been lifted directly from an actual Air Force documentary. Refreshingly free of contrived heroics and forced wisecracks, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo was a huge critical and commercial success when it opened for the first time in 1944. Thrilling audiences to the tune of $4.5 million - a huge figure at that time - 'and garnering an Oscar for Best Special Effects, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo was labeled by Newsweek Magazine as "one of the finest war movies to date," and it's just as enjoyable today. Director: Mervyn LeRoy Producer: Sam Zimbalist Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo Cinematography: Harold Rosson, Robert Surtees Editor: Frank Sullivan Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse Music: Herbert Stothart Cast: Van Johnson (Lt. Ted Lawson), Robert Walker (Corporal David Thatcher), Tim Murdock (Lt. Dean Davenport), Don DeFore (Lt. Charles McClure), Phyllis Thaxter (Ellen Lawson). BW-139m. Close captioning. By Bill Goodman 2:30 a.m. (ET)/11:30 p.m. (PT) FINGERS AT THE WINDOW (1942) * Requested by Madeline Lucas of Washington MGM's mystery-thriller Fingers at the Window (1942) stars Lew Ayres as a young Chicagoan who suspects that a series of ax murders in his city are being committed by people under the spell of an evil hypnotist. This was Ayres' last film until the end of World War II since he announced that he was a conscientious objector - an event that sent shock waves through his home studio, MGM, where Ayres had established himself as a sensitive young actor in the Dr. Kildare series. Public outrage, at a time when other film stars including MGM "King" Clark Gable were heading off to war, meant that Ayres' acting opportunities vanished. Exhibitors refused to show his films, and they were withdrawn from circulation. Some felt that his pacifist leanings could be traced to his greatest role, the disillusioned young German soldier in Lewis Milestone's anti-war All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Ayres, well cast as a doctor because of early medical training, volunteered for non-combatant duties during the war, working as a medic and distinguishing himself under fire. He later served as a chaplain's aide. Partly appeased, the public accepted him in films again after the end of the war. He claimed a few good roles and was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a kindly doctor in Johnny Belinda (1948); but old resentments seemed to die hard, and much of his work until his death in 1996 was in minor film and TV productions. Laraine Day, Ayres' leading lady (and a potential ax-murder victim) in Fingers at the Window, had also played his love interest, Nurse Mary Lamont, in the Dr. Kildare films. Because MGM was grooming her for bigger roles, she was written out of the series in Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941) - a tragic one because the bride is killed off on the eve of the big event! Day later married baseball manager Leo Durocher and was known for a time as "the First Lady of Baseball." Director: Charles Lederer Producer: Irving Starr Screenplay: Lawrence P. Bachmann, Rose Caylor Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari Costume Design: Howard Shoup Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr., Harry Stradling Sr. Editing: George Boemler Original Music: Bronislau Kaper Principal Cast: Lew Ayres (Oliver Duffy), Laraine Day (Edwina Brown), Basil Rathbone (Cesar Ferrari, alias Dr. Santelle), Walter Kingsford (Dr. Cromwall), Miles Mander (Dr. Immelman), Charles D. Brown (Inspector Gallagher). BW-81m. By Roger Fristoe