TCM Schedule for Friday, January 25, 2013 -- What's On Tonight -- Jimmy Van Heusen

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM appears to be featuring the films of George Brent, though it's not his birthday or other significant date. During prime time, we are continuing the celebration of the centennial of Jimmy Van Heusen, born on January 26, 1913, in Syracuse, New York. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- Looking Forward (1933)
A man fights to keep the family department store open during the Depression.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Benita Hume
BW-82 mins, TV-G,

The title of the movie was taken from the book written by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and credited to him onscreen. Somehow I can't imagine the Hollywood of today producing a drama called The Audacity of Hope.


8:15 AM -- Night Flight (1933)
An airline's owner runs his business with ruthless disregard for safety.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Clark Gable
BW-85 mins, TV-G, CC,

There was to have been a scene in which Clark Gable jumped out of a plane at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The stuntman Jim Unger, who was to double for Clark, passed out at 20,000 feet from lack of oxygen and the shot never got made.


9:45 AM -- The Rains Came (1939)
A Hindu doctor's affair with a British noblewoman is disrupted by a violent flood.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC,

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

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- William S. Darling and George Dudley, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur C. Miller, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman, and Best Sound, Recording -- Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD)

This movie was a monumental undertaking for the studio. Of the 100 shooting days, almost half were spent filming the man-made rain and floods, for which 33 million gallons of water were used.


11:30 AM -- The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)
Romantically involved reporters compete to solve a murder on a famous actress' estate.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: George Brent, Joan Blondell, Adele Jergens
BW-87 mins, TV-G,

Based on a novel by Jimmy Starr.


1:00 PM -- Silver Queen (1942)
A girl is dismayed to discover that her deceased father has left her destitute and in debt.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: George Brent, Priscilla Lane, Bruce Cabot
BW-80 mins, TV-G,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Ralph Berger and Emile Kuri, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young

In a package deal, producer Harry Sherman borrowed George Brent, Priscilla Lane and director Lloyd Bacon from Warner Bros.


2:30 PM -- You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
Although she's been demoted to writing the advice column, a newspaper woman still tries to expose a racketeer.
Dir: Jo Graham
Cast: George Brent, Brenda Marshall, Gene Lockhart
BW-78 mins, TV-G,

A remake of Love Is On The Air (1937, starring Ronald Reagan and June Travis.


4:00 PM -- The Gay Sisters (1942)
A New York aristocrat marries for the money to save the family mansion.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC,

The lead role was originally offered to Bette Davis, who sent a memo to Jack L. Warner, saying, "I do wish you'd give 'The Gay Sisters' to someone else." At the time freelance actress Mary Astor was considered for the Geraldine Fitzgerald role but ultimately assigned to The Maltese Falcon instead.


6:00 PM -- Submarine D-1 (1937)
Recruits on a new submarine fall for the same girl.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Pat O'Brien, George Brent, Wayne Morris
BW-94 mins, TV-G,

Two cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Ronald Reagan (Paul) and Broderick Crawford (Mike). Reagan is billed 6th in Daily Variety's preview cast list, indicating he was in the preview print. In addition, his character is mentioned in the pressbook as pivotal and a friend of Ann since childhood. However, none of the reviews mention him or his character, in all likelyhood because he was cut from the final released print.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: JIMMY VAN HEUSEN



8:00 PM -- The Tender Trap (1955)
A swinging bachelor finds love when he meets a girl immune to his line.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne
C-111 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song &quot Love Is) The Tender Trap"

The original Broadway production of "The Tender Trap" by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith opened at the Longacre Theater on October 13, 1954 and ran for 102 performances. The original cast included Robert Preston and Kim Hunter.

Jimmy Van Heusen song: "Love Is The Tender Trap"


10:00 PM -- Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964)
A Chicago gangster stumbles into philanthropic work during a gang war.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.
C-123 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "My Kind of Town", and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Nelson Riddle

Making this film should have been fun. Instead, by more than one account, it was a waking nightmare for all involved. John F. Kennedy was assassinated soon after filming started, casting a pall over the entire set. Not long after that, Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped from his dressing room at Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Upon payment of a large ransom, he was released, unharmed, a few days later). Victor Buono, who played Deputy Sherrif Alvin Potts, later observed that it was a minor miracle that filming was completed at all.

Jimmy Van Heusen songs: "My Kind of Town", "Mr. Booze", "All for One and One for All", "Don't be a Do-Badder", "Any Man Who Loves His Mother", "Style", and "Bang! Bang!"


12:15 AM -- Ocean's Eleven (1960)
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra
C-127 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

According to Frank Sinatra Jr. on the DVD Commentary, Sammy Davis Jr. was forced to stay at a "colored only" hotel during the filming because Las Vegas would not allow blacks to stay at the major hotels despite his appearing with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the others at the Sands Hotel. He was only allowed to stay at the major hotels, therefore breaking Vegas' unofficial color barrier after Frank Sinatra confronted the casino owners on his behalf.

Jimmy Van Heusen songs: "AIN'T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD", "Eee-O-11", and "The Tender Trap"


2:30 AM -- The House of Seven Corpses (1974)
A director courts disaster by filming his horror movie in a real haunted house.
Dir: Paul Harrison
Cast: John Ireland, Faith Domergue, John Carradine
C-88 mins, TV-14,

The final film of Faith Domergue.


4:30 AM -- House On Haunted Hill (1959)
A millionaire offers total strangers a fortune to spend the night in a haunted house.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
BW-75 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

The large grosses for this film were noticed by Alfred Hitchcock. This led him to create his own low-budget horror film - Psycho.

[graham4anything]

1. Gotta watch a couple of these in the morning.

btw, I think Ocean's eleven is better than the remakes of it.
They were posing and winking at the audience in the remakes.