TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 22, 2014 -- Robert Osborne's Picks

[Staph]

It's an evening of Bob's picks, which should include some interesting stories. Enjoy!


7:00 AM -- Thousands Cheer (1943)
An egotistical acrobat joins the Army and falls in love with his commander's daughter.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor
C-125 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis and Jacques Mersereau, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Herbert Stothart

Put out as a morale-booster/propaganda movie the whole romance story was designed for two purposes: first, to show, through Eddie Marsh (Gene Kelly), that everyone had to cooperate and work together for the war effort and, second, to provide a framework for cameo performances by many of the studio stars. These performances were either lifted from existing, but not released films, or were done in the studio and spliced into the "camp show". This is especially obvious during the "Honeysuckle Rose" segment performed by Lena Horne.


9:15 AM -- Seven Chances (1925)
To inherit a fortune, a man races to find a bride by 7 p.m.
Dir: Buster Keaton
Cast: Buster Keaton, T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Edwards
BW-56 mins,

The most famous scene of this film originated by an accident. In the filming of a chase scene down a steep slope, Buster Keaton inadvertantly dislodged some rocks which tumbled down after him as if in pursuit and he had to scramble to dodge them. At a preview showing, Buster saw that that accident got the biggest laughs in the film. Thus inspired, Buster decided to reshoot the scene with over a hundred papier-maiche "rocks" with sizes ranging from pebbles to six foot boulders so his character would have to deal with a massive avalanche in the scene.


10:15 AM -- The Silver Horde (1930)
An Alaskan fisherman is dogged by a ruthless competitor and an ambitious dance hall girl.
Dir: George Archainbaud
Cast: Evelyn Brent, Louis Wolheim, Joel McCrea
BW-75 mins,

The title refers to migrating salmon.


11:45 AM -- Danger Lights (1931)
A family railroad is threatened when the owner's girl falls for a conductor.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Louis Wolheim, Robert Armstrong, Jean Arthur
BW-74 mins,

Features rare footage of a tug of war between two steam locomotives, actual documentary footage of the activities in the Miles City yard, and what is believed to be the only motion picture footage of a dynamometer car from the steam railroad era.


1:00 PM -- Public Hero No. 1 (1935)
An undercover G-man helps with a jailbreak to learn the mob's secrets.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Chester Morris
BW-90 mins, CC,

The shooting of Johnny was inspired by gangster John Dillinger's being gunned down outside a movie theatre the year before this film was released.


2:30 PM -- The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
A detective teams with his ex-wife to solve a murder.
Dir: Stephen Roberts
Cast: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason
BW-82 mins, CC,

Paula refers to Brad as "Lochinvar back from the wars". 'Lochinvar' is the title of a romantic poem by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1808.


4:00 PM -- History Is Made at Night (1937)
A romantic headwaiter fights to save a woman from her possessive ex-husband.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur, Leo Carrillo
BW-97 mins, CC,

The Hindenburg is mentioned as (successfully) completing a transatlantic trip, with the husband on board. This movie was released (USA) March 5, 1937. The Hindenburg disaster occurred on May 6, 1937. It never made that return flight to Europe.


5:45 PM -- The Talk Of The Town (1942)
An escaped political prisoner and a stuffy law professor vie for the hand of a spirited schoolteacher.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman
BW-117 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Story -- Sidney Harmon, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Buchman and Irwin Shaw, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ted Tetzlaff, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lionel Banks, Rudolph Sternad and Fay Babcock, Best Film Editing -- Otto Meyer, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Friedrich Hollaender and Morris Stoloff, and Best Picture

Jean Arthur was 41 when she made this film.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ROBERT OSBORNE'S PICKS



8:00 PM -- The House on 92nd Street (1945)
An FBI agent infiltrates a Nazi spy ring.
Dir: Henry Hathaway
Cast: William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso
BW-88 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Charles G. Booth

The scene near the beginning of the film where a man is killed by a car is based on a real-life incident. He was identified as Julio Lopez Lido but was in actuality Capt. Ulrich von der Osten, a Nazi army officer in the Abwehr (German military intelligence). He was struck and killed by a cab on March 18, 1941, and his body went unclaimed for a time. The man who ran from the scene was actually Kurt Frederick Ludwig, known as Joseph K, a German agent who was eventually caught and sentenced to Alcatraz Prison. He was deported in 1953. The cab driver who hit von der Osten was a man named Sam Lichtman.


9:45 PM -- The House On 56th Street (1933)
A woman loses her family after being falsely convicted of a crime.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond
BW-68 mins, CC,

From a story by Joseph Santley.


11:00 PM -- Hobson's Choice (1954)
A widower father fights to control the lives of his three strong-willed daughters.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie
BW-108 mins, CC,

John Mills was an 11th hour casting decision, but he often cited this as being his favorite film.


1:00 AM -- The Belle Of New York (1952)
A turn-of-the-century playboy courts a Salvation Army girl.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Marjorie Main
C-81 mins, CC,

There are two versions of Fred Astaire's "I Wanna be a Dancin Man" number. The first was shot in front of a red curtain in a more casual attire. Other than that it had the exact same choreography. MGM wasn't pleased with the costume, so they reshot the number in front of a different backdrop, with Astaire in a far more debonair suit. When they made "That's Entertainment III" they did a split screen comparison of the two numbers.


2:30 AM -- Mrs. O'Malley And Mr. Malone (1950)
A lawyer and a widow encounter murder on a train ride.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Marjorie Main, James Whitmore, Ann Dvorak
BW-69 mins, CC,

Intended as the first of a planned film series with stars Main and Whitmore.


3:45 AM -- Susan And God (1940)
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Joan Crawford, Fredric March, Ruth Hussey
BW-117 mins, CC,

The play was originally bought for Norma Shearer. At the age of 38, she balked at playing the mother of a 14-year old, so Joan Crawford got the role.

[CBHagman]

1. Wow! What a collection!

Seven Chances is one comedy classic I didn't even know existed until a few years back.

Hobson's Choice and The Talk of the Town also deserve to be better known.