TCM Schedule for Friday, September 20, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight - Future Shock!

[Staph]

We're celebrating the birth of director Norman Z. McLeod, born Norman Zenos McLeod on September 20, 1895, in Grayling, Michigan. In prime time, we continue this month's Friday theme of films about dystopic futures, including another 21st century film with Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- Topper (1937)
A fun-loving couple returns from the dead to help a henpecked husband.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young
BW-98 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Roland Young, and Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD)

Arthur Lake, the elevator boy/bell hop, went on to star as Dagwood Bumstead in the "Blondie" movies and TV series.


8:15 AM -- Merrily We Live (1938)
A society matron's habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants leads to romance for her daughter.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Alan Mowbray
BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Billie Burke, Best Art Direction -- Charles D. Hall, Best Cinematography -- Norbert Brodine, Best Music, Original Song -- Phil Charig (music) and Arthur Quenzer (lyrics) for the song "Merrily We Live", and Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD)

Although not credited onscreen or noted by reviewers or the SAB, this film is so similar to What a Man (same plot and even many of the same character names) that the source of the screenplay must surely be the same for both films. Both the 1924 novel "The Dark Chapter; a Comedy of Class Distinctions" by E.J. Rath and the play "They All Want Something" has been added to the writers section on IMDB. The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, on October 12, 1926, and closed in December 1926 after 62 performances.


10:00 AM -- There Goes My Heart (1938)
An heiress takes a job as a department store clerk.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Fredric March, Virginia Bruce, Patsy Kelly
BW-83 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring -- Marvin Hatley

According to a New York Times article on 16 October 1938, the Citizen's Chiropractic Committee of New York State sued the film producers, authors and Alan Mowbray for $100,000 claiming damages to the profession. One doctor was very upset that the film implied it was possible to go through a chiropractic school through a correspondence course. The outcome of the suit is not known.


11:30 AM -- Remember? (1939)
A bickering couple takes an amnesia potion so they can re-discover each other.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Robert Taylor, Greer Garson, Lew Ayres
BW-83 mins, TV-G, CC,

MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer quickly rushed this movie into production to cash in on the popularity of the newly discovered Greer Garson, who had just triumphed in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). But despite it's title, the movie was all but forgotten and was a box office dud.


1:00 PM -- Little Men (1940)
A con artist tries to save the boarding school where his son has found a home.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Kay Francis, Jack Oakie, George Bancroft
BW-83 mins, TV-G, CC,

Although Elsie the Cow is billed 8th playing Buttercup as "'Elsie' - The Moo Girl of the New York World's Fair" in the opening credits, she is billed last (26th) in the end credits, simply as 'Elsie' playing 'Buttercup.' In 1939, she was quite famous, appearing in ads for the Borden Milk Co.


2:30 PM -- Lady Be Good (1941)
Married songwriters almost split up while putting on a big show.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Eleanor Powell, Ann Sothern, Robert Young
BW-112 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) for the song "The Last Time I Saw Paris"

For Eleanor Powell's dance-version of the song "Lady, Be Good", MGM auditioned several dogs, but none of them was able to do the required tricks. Finally, Powell bought a dog off a propman and trained it herself for several weeks so that the dance could be done as she wanted.


4:30 PM -- Swing Shift Maisie (1943)
A brassy showgirl signs on to help the war effort as a factory worker.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Ann Sothern, James Craig, Jean Rogers
BW-86 mins, TV-G,

The seventh of ten movies starring Ann Sothern as the heroine Maisie Ravier.


6:00 PM -- Never Wave at a WAC (1952)
A divorced socialite joins the Army hoping it will improve her love life.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Paul Douglas, Marie Wilson
BW-87 mins, TV-G, CC,

Based on a story by Frederick Kohner and Frederick Brady.


7:30 PM -- Now Playing October (2013)
BW-17 mins, TV-PG, CC,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: FUTURE SHOCK!



8:00 PM -- La Jetée (1962)
A man's return to the past to stop a war could cost him his existence.
Dir: Chris Marker
Cast: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain
BW-28 mins, TV-PG,

This short film was the inspiration for the 1995 Terry Gilliam film "Twelve Monkeys".


8:45 PM -- Rollerball (1975)
The star of a bloodthirsty future sport tries to clean up the game before it kills him.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: James Caan, Ralph Richardson, John Houseman
C-125 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Norman Jewison said he cast James Caan as Jonathan E, the champion Rollerball player, after seeing him play Brian Piccolo, the real-life Chicago Bears running back in Brian's Song.


11:00 PM -- A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
A robot child dreams of becoming a real boy.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards
C-146 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Visual Effects -- Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri, and Best Music, Original Score -- John Williams

The movie was originally to be titled A.I., but after a survey it was revealed that too many people thought it was A1. The title was changed to A.I. Artificial Intelligence to prevent people from thinking it was about steak sauce.


1:45 AM -- Total Recall (1990)
Recurring dreams about Mars lead a man to discover his forgotten past as a government agent.
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Rachel Ticotin
C-114 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar Special Achievement Award for visual effects -- Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern and Alex Funke. Runners up, not nominees: Back to the Future Part III (1990), Dick Tracy (1990), Ghost (1990).

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing -- Stephen Hunter Flick, and Best Sound -- Nelson Stoll, Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios and Aaron Rochin

Both the adaptation of the screenplay (written by Piers Anthony) and early drafts of the script had the main character's name as Douglas Quail. The original Philip K. Dick story has the name Quail as well. The film was being made during the administration of President George Bush, in which Dan Quayle as Vice President and it is presumed that this was the reason for the change.


3:45 AM -- The Satan Bug (1965)
A mad millionaire bribes a scientist to steal a deadly virus.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis
C-115 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

In his memoirs, Charlton Heston says he was asked to play the lead. In The Omega Man he does play a doctor who develops a bug that kills most of the population of earth.


5:49 AM -- Let'S Sing A Song About The Moonlight (1948)
In this short film, four popular songs about moonlight are presented.
Dir: Jack Scholl
Cast: Pat McKee, Dennis Morgan, Ann Sheridan
BW-9 mins

The four songs are By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Music by Gus Edwards, Lyrics by Edward Madden, Sung by The Melody Makers; Moonlight Bay, Music by Percy Wenrich, Lyrics by Edward Madden, Sung by The Melody Makers; In the Evening by the Moonlight, Written by James Allen Bland, Sung by The Melody Makers; Shine On, Harvest Moon, Music by Nora Bayes, Lyrics by Jack Norworth, Sung by Ann Sheridan, then by The Melody Makers.