TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 19, 2013 -- Star of the Month - Kim Novak

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is roaming the wild west, and in prime time, it's more of Star of the Month Kim Novak. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Across The Wide Missouri (1951)
An explorer leads the way west for 19th-century settlers along the American frontier.
Dir: William Wellman
Cast: Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak
C-78 mins, TV-G, CC,

When the original version of the finished film was submitted to MGM executives, they didn't like it. The film went through heavy editing, and a producer had the idea of tying together the surviving pieces by adding voice-over narration from Mitchell's grown up son, as if he is telling his father's life story. Howard Keel, who had just finished making Show Boat, was brought in for this purpose. The changes led to director William A. Wellman effectively disowning the film. When asked about it in an interview, he said "I've not seen it, and I never will."


7:30 AM -- The Lusty Men (1952)
A faded rodeo star mentors a younger rider but falls for his wife.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy
BW-113 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Robert Parrish directed for several days when Nicholas Ray fell ill.


9:30 AM -- Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
Ranchers in New Mexico have to face Indians and bandits.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel
C-90 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Written by Frank Fenton.


11:00 AM -- The Man From Laramie (1955)
A wandering cowboy gets caught in the rivalry between an aging rancher's sons.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp
C-102 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

The film has been described as a western version of King Lear.


12:45 PM -- Great Day In The Morning (1956)
The Civil War triggers unrest in Colorado.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Virginia Mayo, Robert Stack, Ruth Roman
C-92 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Based on a novel by Robert Hardy Andrews.


2:18 PM -- The Boss Didn't Say Good Morning (1937)
In this short film, an office worker fears for his job after his boss fails to respond to his "good morning."
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Ernie Alexander, Roger Moore, Granville Bates
BW-10 mins,

Though Tourneur was best known for his horror films like Cat People (1942) and I Walked With A Zombie (1943), he got his start directing short films like this one.


2:30 PM -- Saddle The Wind (1958)
A rancher with a questionable past tries to stop his outlaw brother.
Dir: Robert Parrish
Cast: Robert Taylor, Julie London, John Cassavetes
C-84 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

A first score was written and recorded by Jeff Alexander but had to be replaced due to extensive re-cutting.


4:00 PM -- The Badlanders (1958)
Western outlaws join forces for a daring gold robbery in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado
C-84 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

When Alan Ladd observes Sam Edwards being flogged inside the Arizona Territorial Prison, he does so with a practiced eye having been flogged himself in "Two Years Before the Mast" (1946) and "Botany Bay" (1953).


5:30 PM -- Rio Bravo (1959)
A sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
C-141 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

The sets in Old Tucson are built to 7/8th scale, so the performers look larger than life.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: KIM NOVAK



8:00 PM -- Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
A beautiful witch puts a love spell on an unknowing publisher.
Dir: Richard Quine
Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon
C-102 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color -- Cary Odell and Louis Diage, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color -- Jean Louis

This was James Stewart's final appearance as a romantic lead. This was because many of the leading ladies that were playing his romantic interest were becoming younger and a few were half his age. The critics in 1958 felt that Stewart was miscast as a suave New York businessman, and he apparently agreed. After this film he would concentrate more on roles that portrayed him as an everyman or as a father figure.


10:00 PM -- Kim Novak: Live From the TCM Classic Film Festival (2013)
The legendary actress talks with TCM host Robert Osborne during the TCM Classic Film Festival.
BW-50 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

On July 24 2000, she watched her memento-filled house in Eagle Point, Oregon, go up in flames. A deputy fire marshal said that the blaze was probably the result of a tree that fell across an electrical power line. Included in the loss were scripts to some of her movies as well as her computer, which contained her long-gestating autobiography. Spared, however, were her menagerie of animals, including horses and llamas, as well as the star's husband of 24 years, veterinarian Bob Malloy. She later said that the fire was a sign that she shouldn't be writing an autobiography.


11:00 PM -- Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
A small-town songwriter tries to sell his work to a stranded singing star.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston
BW-125 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

During a costume fitting on St. Patrick's Day, Kim Novak made people laugh by wearing an emerald in her navel instead of a rhinestone.


1:15 AM -- The Notorious Landlady (1962)
A junior diplomat in London falls in love with his landlady even though she's a murder suspect.
Dir: Richard Quine
Cast: Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Fred Astaire
BW-123 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

During a conversation with his landlady Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon asks her, "Do you know 'My Funny Valentine?'" In the 1957 film Pal Joey, Kim Novak's character Linda English performs the song, "My Funny Valentine" during the rehearsals prior to Joey's night club's opening.


3:30 AM -- Phffft! (1954)
A couple divorce but can't stop getting mixed up in each other's lives.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Jack Carson
BW-88 mins, TV-G,

The title "Phffft" comes from Walter Winchell's column which was widely read during the 50s. When a celebrity couple's marriage broke up, Winchell would describe the break-up as "phffft".


5:00 AM -- The Awful Truth (1937)
A divorced couple keeps getting mixed up in each other's love lives.
Dir: Leo McCarey
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy
BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Director -- Leo McCarey

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ralph Bellamy, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Irene Dunne, Best Film Editing -- Al Clark, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Viña Delmar, and Best Picture

Much of the film was improvised by director Leo McCarey and the cast during filming each day.

[CBHagman]

1. This calls for a picture of Kim Novak.