TCM to televise Connery tribute Nov. 25

TCM, the U.S. movie channel, said on social media it will show an evening of Sean Connery films on Nov. 25.

The channel will start off at 8 p.m. eastern time with Thunderball, followed by You Only Live Twice at 10:15 p.m.

In a way, that’s appropriate. Connery’s fourth and fifth films for Eon Productions would be shown a number of times as a double feature before the Bond films were broadcast on television.

After that, TCM will televise Marnie, the 1964 Alfred Hitchcock film with Connery at 12:45 a.m., Nov. 26. The Hill, Connery’s first pairing with director Sidney Lumet, will be shown at 3:15 a.m. and The Man Who Would Be King, directed by John Huston, will be telecast at 5:30 a.m.

Connery died last month at the age of 90. TCM already has put out a short tribute video.

Steven Soderbergh catches up on his U.N.C.L.E.

Director Steven Soderbergh, who has said he’s “obligated” to direct a movie based on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., at least has been getting acquainted with the likes of Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.

Sodbergh kept a list, starting in February 2010 and running for a year, of the movies and TV shows he would watch. The list is online (we can’t put in a link right now, but will do so later). It includes 27 of 29 first-season episodes of Man From U.N.C.L.E., an indication Soderbergh is taking the prospective movie seriously. He also read Jon Heitland’s 1987 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. book. He watched the U.N.C.L.E.s starting in late October 2010 through mid-January 2011.

Other things of interest on his list were the three Harry Saltzman-produced Harry Palmer movies (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) as well as movies directed by the late Sidney Lumet that starred Sean Connery (The Hill and The Anderson Files Tapes). He also watched some episodes of Mad Men, the acclaimed drama that’s set in the 1960s and Soderbergh reportedly wants his U.N.C.L.E. movie to be set in the ’60s. Coincidence? Probably (he watched the Mad Men episodes in the summer of 2010). But who knows?

More interesting? No James Bond movies. Perhaps that’s a sign Soderbergh won’t try to make an U.N.C.L.E. movie into a warmed over 007 film, similar to the 1983 television movie, The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.

UPDATE: To view Soderbergh’s list of movies and TV shows he watched for a year, JUST CLICK HERE. Warning: it’s a PDF file. The existance of the list was first disclosed by the Vulture Web site in a post IN A POST YOU CAN READ BY CLICKING HERE. The Vulure site, in turn, is part of New York Magazine’s Web site. You can view the main page of the magazine’s Web site BY CLICKING HERE.

TCM 007 update

On the Saturday afternoon telecast of Diamonds Are Forever, TCM weekend host Ben Mankiewicz didn’t mention his family’s connection to the movie. According to imdb.com, Ben is cousin once removed of Diamonds co-screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz.

Ben Mankiewicz in his introduction said United Artists paid Sean Connery $2 million to come back to the role. Robert Osborne, in the Friday night telecast, quoted $1.25 million, a sum also referenced in the documentary Inside Diamonds Are Forever. Mankiewicz described On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as the series’ first “major hiccup.”

Mankiewicz’s summary after the movie concentrated on how Diamonds was the last film appearance of Bruce Cabot, whose best-known credit was appearing in the original King Kong.

After the movie, TCM telecast a short bit where director Sidney Lumet, who worked with Connery on five films, discussed Connery. Lumet said the Bond films “appeared to be nothing but charm.” The director added, “‘Nothing but charm’ ain’t easy” and that most of that was because of Connery’s acting. Most of this short feature had Lumet talking about Connery’s work in The Hill, their first movie together.