TCM Schedule for Friday, January 6 -- What's On Tonight: Betty Grable

[Staph]

It's a happy birthday for Loretta Young, born Gretchen Michaela Young on January 6, 1913, in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have a day of her films and an evening with pin-up girl Betty Grable. Enjoy!

(And sorry I'm late -- real life intervened!)



6:30 AM -- Caesar And Cleopatra (1945)
Julius Caesar gives the famed Egyptian queen lessons in government.
Dir: Gabriel Pascal
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger.
C-128 min, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- John Bryan

It was the last film version of a George Bernard Shaw play made during his lifetime. His verdict afterward on Leigh's performance: "She's not right at all."


8:45 AM -- Heroes For Sale (1933)
A veteran fights drug addiction to make his way in the business world.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Aline MacMahon, Loretta Young.
72 min, TV-G

Director William A. Wellman used real hoboes for the fight scene and real laundry workers for the laundry scenes.


10:00 AM -- She Had To Say Yes (1933)
A secretary pads her salary by dating prospective buyers for her company.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Loretta Young, Winnie Lightner, Lyle Talbot.
66 min, TV-G , CC

The first film directed by Busby Berkeley.


11:15 AM -- The Unguarded Hour (1936)
A blackmailer tries to stop a woman from revealing evidence that could save a condemned man.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Loretta Young, Franchot Tone, Lewis Stone.
87 min, TV-G , CC

Bernard Merivale's adapted play opened in London, England, UK on 31 July 1935.


12:45 PM -- The Bishop's Wife (1947)
An angel helps set an ambitious bishop on the right track.
Dir: Henry Koster
Cast: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven.
109 min, TV-G , CC

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Henry Koster, Best Film Editing -- Monica Collingwood, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer, and Best Picture
Best Picture

Teresa Wright was playing the bishop's wife in the William A. Seiter version until the director was abruptly fired. She was not recast as she was then pregnant. Samuel Goldwyn's decision to start the film over again was a costly one, as $1 million had already been spent.


2:45 PM -- The Stranger (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
95 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Victor Trivas

Orson Welles originally wanted Agnes Moorehead to play the FBI part. The studio said no and instead gave him Edward G. Robinson.


4:45 PM -- Rachel And The Stranger (1948)
A mail-order bride finds herself attracted to a handsome drifter.
Dir: Norman Foster
Cast: Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum.
79 min, TV-PG , CC

Loretta Young was famous for placing a "swear jar" on the sets of all of her films, charging anyone in the cast or crew who used foul language 25 cents for doing so, then giving the funds to one of her favorite charities. While making this film with her, Robert Mitchum reputedly held his tongue about his pious co-star until shooting was completed. As he exited the set on the final day of production, Mitchum smiled, dropped a $20 bill into the jar, and said, "This should just about cover everything I've been wanting to say to Loretta."


6:15 PM -- Key To The City (1950)
Two mayors meet and fall in love during a convention in San Francisco.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Frank Morgan.
101 min, TV-G , CC

Dore Schary , the head of MGM, personally asked Loretta Young to be Clark Gable's costar even though he knew about the affair and love child (Judy Lewis ) between the two actors fifteen years earlier. She accepted because refusing would lead to more rumors than during their affair.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BETTY GRABLE



8:00 PM -- Pigskin Parade (1936)
College football scouts recruit a country bumpkin with a killer kick.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley.
93 min, TV-G , CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Stuart Erwin

Fourteen-year-old Judy Garland made her feature-film debut as the young hillbilly Sairy Dodd. This Twentieth Century-Fox picture was Judy's one loan-out during her 15 years with MGM (1935-1950).


10:00 PM -- A Yank In The R.A.F. (1941)
A hot shot flyer discovers the hero within when he joins the British Air Force during World War II.
Dir: Henry King
Cast: Tyrone Power, Betty Grable, John Sutton.
98 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Fred Sersen (photographic) and Edmund H. Hansen (sound)

The original screenplay for the film had the American fly-boy character, Tim Baker, played by Tyrone Power, die at the end of the movie during a German aircraft attack. According to notes from the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, a 25 November 1940 conference stated "the serious objection to Ty Tyrone Power' would be that audiences would resent his dying at the finish, and not getting the girl." Moreover, according to the book 'The Films of World War II' by Joe Morella, Edward Z. Epstein and John Griggs, the British military establishment requested that the studio allow the character to live because "apparently they didn't want to give American moviegoers the impression that Americans helping Britain would die." Notes from the Script Collection report a further conference on 31 January 1941 substantiates this by saying that Zanuck had had discussions, "unofficially with some British officials." The English officialdom had felt that the lead character should not die thereby not showing any more deaths than those that were absolutely essential to the movie's story. Further, a movie star-vehicle at that time with Tyrone Power was also unlikely to have him killed at the end which also may have affected the box-office. The original ending where Baker was killed was actually filmed. On 18 August 1941, 'The Hollywood Reporter' stated that Darryl F. Zanuck ordered a new ending to be filmed. The 13 September 1941 'Motion Picture Herald' article states "the happy ending was filmed after early preview audiences protested the killing of the hero at Dunkirk."


12:00 AM -- My Blue Heaven (1950)
A married song and dance team tries to adopt a child.
Dir: Henry Koster
Cast: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, David Wayne.
C-96 min, TV-G , CC

The reason that Dan Dailey sings "Friendly Island" in such an odd voice is that he is making fun of Ezio Pinza the basso profundo opera star who was starring in the then current stage show "South Pacific".


2:00 AM -- Little Darlings (1980)
Girls at a summer camp compete to see who can find romance first.
Dir: Ron Maxwell
Cast: Tatum O'Neal, Kristy McNichol, Armand Assante.
C-95 min, TV-14

Featured 'Cynthia Nixon', the future Miranda Hobbes of "Sex and the City," in her film debut. She played Sunshine, the little Hippie flower-power girl.


3:45 AM -- Ice Castles (1978)
A young girl is on top of the world until a tragic accident dashes her hopes and dreams of becoming a world-class figure skater.
Dir: Donald Wrye
Cast: Robby Benson, Colleen Dewhurst, Lynn-Holly Johnson.
C-110 min, TV-14

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Marvin Hamlisch (music) and Carole Bayer Sager (lyrics) for the song "Theme from Ice Castles (Through the Eyes of Love)"

Lynn-Holly Johnson says she was repeatedly pressured to do a nude scene in this film, which she refused to do. She says this incident makes her laugh and say "if you only knew!" whenever someone tells her what a great family film this movie was.


5:45 AM -- Live and Learn (1952)
The perils of children acting first and thinking later are illustrated in these stories of what happens to children who exhibit such rash behavior.
Dir: Sid Davis
Cast: Jill Davis
12 min, TV-PG