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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Fri Nov 15, 2013, 02:26 AM Nov 2013

TCM Schedule for Friday, November 15, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: Screwball Comedies

Most of today's films feature Lizabeth Scott, who made 21 films in the 1940s and 1950s. And in the evening, we've got more screwball comedies -- what a great way to lighten the spirits on a gray November evening! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- So Big (1932)
A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Dickie Moore
BW-81 mins, TV-G,

One of Barbara Stanwyck's favorites of her own films.


7:30 AM -- Ladies They Talk About (1933)
A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she's sent to prison.
Dir: Howard Bretherton
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston S. Foster, Lyle Talbot
BW-69 mins, TV-G,

Film has some rather blatant and oddball plugs for Warner Brothers stars. In several scenes photos of Joe E. Brown (whom Lillian Roth sings to) and Dick Powell are seen in the women's cells.


8:45 AM -- The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946)
Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott
BW-116 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- John Patrick

Kirk Douglas's debut.



10:45 AM -- Dead Reckoning (1947)
A tough veteran sets out to solve his war buddy's murder.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lizabeth Scott, Morris Carnovsky
BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC,

In the train scene, after they discover that Drake is to receive the Medal of Honor, Murdock quips that maybe the president will let Drake "sit on top of his piano". This is a reference to a then-scandalous photo of Harry Truman playing piano with a leggy blonde on top that was taken at the National Press Club in 1945. The blonde was Lauren Bacall.


12:30 PM -- The Pitfall (1948)
A married insurance man falls for a criminal's girlfriend.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt
BW-86 mins, TV-PG,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 8, 1948 with Dick Powell, Jane Wyatt and Lizabeth Scott reprising their film roles.


2:00 PM -- Easy Living (1949)
An aging football star risks his health when his greedy wife won't let him retire.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Victor Mature, Lucille Ball, Lizabeth Scott
BW-77 mins, TV-G, CC,

Making his film debut is Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, then a first year member of "The Los Angels Rams (portraying a "Backfield" member of "The Chiefs&quot . He is "called out" by "The Chiefs" Coach Lenahan as "Hirsch". Elroy would later star in his film Bio, "Crazylegs" (1953) and the prison saga, "Unchained" (1955), the film which introduced the classic, "Unchained Melody".


3:30 PM -- The Company She Keeps (1951)
A lady con artist sets out to steal her parole officer's fiance.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer, Dennis O'Keefe
BW-83 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Feature film debut of Jeff Bridges. His older brother, Beau Bridges, and their mother, Dorothy Dean Bridges, also appear in the film.


5:00 PM -- The Racket (1951)
A tough cop has to fight his superiors in order to battle the mob.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan
BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC,

The only film that Robert Mitchum appeared in which was a remake of a silent film, The Racket (1928), starring Thomas Meighan in Mitchum's role.


6:30 PM -- Bad for Each Other (1954)
A doctor returned from the Korean War must choose between setting up a glamorous practice and helping the poor.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Dianne Foster
BW-82 mins, TV-PG,

About 55 minutes in, as Mrs. Nelson is being rushed to the hospital, the ambulance we see on the street is a Cadillac. When it enters the ramp to the emergency room, however, it has turned into a Buick.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: SCREWBALL COMEDIES



8:00 PM -- Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
A woman's two lives as small-town innocent and author of torrid romances collide.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Irene Dunne, Melvyn Douglas, Thomas Mitchell
BW-94 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Irene Dunne, and Best Film Editing -- Otto Meyer

The dialogue from this film is re-used in the film Bedtime Story, in which Fredric March portrays a playwright and Loretta Young his actress wife. All the dialogue in March's new "play" is actually from the screenplay of this film. It's virtually word for word, with only the heroine's name changed. The "gardener" referred to in the dialogue is of course Melvyn Douglas. Columbia Pictures, the distributor of "Bedtime Story," made this film, too, but none of the writers overlap between the films. Interestingly, in "Bedtime Story," the actors playing the onstage scene are not meant to be in a comedy. What is borrowed is the confrontation over the gardener between Theodora, her aunt, and the local club ladies. Also, in an early scene, March has an inspiration for the last line of his play - something about nobody in the town ever calling the heroine "baby" before - an idea that figures in "Theodora Goes Wild" as well.



9:45 PM -- Twentieth Century (1934)
A tempestuous theatrical director tries to win back the star he created and then drove away.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly
BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Howard Hawks was concerned when Carole Lombard could not perform the kicking scene very well. Hawks took her out for a walk and recalls, "I asked her how much money she was getting for this picture. She told me and I said, 'What would you say if I told you you'd earned your whole salary this morning and didn't have to act anymore?' And she was stunned. So I said, 'Now forget about the scene. What would you do if someone said such and such to you?' And she said, 'I'd kick him in the balls.' And I said, 'Well, he (John Barrymore) said something like that - why don't you kick him?' She said, 'Are you kidding?' And I said, 'No.'" Hawks ended the conversation with, "Now we're going back in and make this scene and you kick, and you do any damn thing that comes into your mind that's natural, and quit acting. If you don't quit, I'm going to fire you this afternoon." Hawks' white lies did the trick, and the scene was filmed. In addition, Hawks claimed that after that, Lombard never began another movie without sending him a telegram that read, "I'm gonna start kicking him."


11:30 PM -- Easy Living (1937)
When a working girl tries to return a lost fur coat, she gets caught up in a wealthy family's battles.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Esther Dale
BW-88 mins, TV-G,

Based on a story by Vera Caspary, who also wrote the novel Laura (made into a delicious film in 1944), and the screen adaptation of A Letter To Three Wives (1950).


1:15 AM -- It's A Wonderful World (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee
BW-86 mins, TV-G, CC,

Not to be mistaken for James Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life (1946). I guess Stewart was just wonderful all over!


2:45 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 Cinematography -- Norbert Brodine, Best Art Direction -- Charles D. Hall, Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD), Best Music, Original Song -- Phil Charig (music) and Arthur Quenzer (lyrics) for the song "Merrily We Live".

Alan Mowbray, Billie Burke, and Constance Bennett had worked on director Norman Z. McLeod's previous film, Topper. The commercial and critical success of Topper played a large role in their inclusion in this film.



4:30 AM -- If You Could Only Cook (1935)
An unhappy executive gets a job as a butler on a lark, only to fall for the family cook.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Jean Arthur, Leo Carillo
BW-72 mins, TV-G,

In order to cash in on Frank Capra's popularity in England, Columbia Pictures released this film in London as "A Frank Capra Production, produced by Frank Capra." Capra who had never even seen the film was furious. This led to a bitter year-long dispute between the head of Columbia Harry Cohn, and Capra (who sued Columbia for libel). It almost cost Cohn his job and almost resulted in Capra leaving the studio. It was resolved when Cohn relented and promised to buy for Capra, the rights to the play "You Can't Take It with You" for $200,000, and pay him some back salary if he would drop the suit. And Capra did.


5:48 AM -- Auto Antics (1939)
In this short film, a gang of kids join a soap box race hoping to win so that they can take the prize money and get their dog back from the dog-catcher.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: George McFarland (Spanky), Baldwin Cooke, Darla Hood
BW-10 mins,

Final Our Gang appearance by Eugene 'Porky' Lee, whose role as the "tag-along kid" was taken over by Mickey Guibitosi (aka Robert Blake), who had just taken over for 'Gary Jasgar' as the "toddler" of the group.


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