TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 6, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - TCM Spotlight - Trailblazing Women

[Staph]

Happy birthday to Carole Lombard, born Jane Alice Peters, on October 6, 1908, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She died on January 16, 1942, in a plane crash in Nevada returning from a war bond sale drive. My father was stationed near Las Vegas at the time, in the Army Air Corps, and was a part of the teams searching the mountains for the crashed plane. He never forgot, and told us the story when we were kids.

This is the second night of Trailblazing Women, titled Controlling Their Own Destiny. As the TCM website states, "During Hollywood’s Studio era, there were a number of actresses who fought to have more control over their lives and careers, including Olivia de Havilland’s landmark case against Warner Brothers that ended the contract system between studios and stars. The evening will also look at films featuring such stars as Marilyn Monroe, Mae West and Katharine Hepburn." Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- NOTHING SACRED (1937)
When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an ambitious newspaper man turns her into a national heroine.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger
C-74 mins, CC,

This was Carole Lombard's only Technicolor film.


7:45 AM -- MADE FOR EACH OTHER (1939)
A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn
BW-93 mins, CC,

David O. Selznick's experience of trying to have life-saving serum flown in for his critically ill brother was the basis for the flying sequences ending the movie.


9:30 AM -- VIGIL IN THE NIGHT (1940)
A good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Carole Lombard, Brian Aherne, Anne Shirley
BW-102 mins, CC,

The production of the movie was held up several weeks when Carole Lombard was admitted to the hospital after suffering a miscarriage. The press dubbed it an 'appendectomy' to cover up.


11:15 AM -- IN NAME ONLY (1939)
A wealthy man falls for a widow but can't get his wife to divorce him.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Kay Francis
BW-95 mins, CC,

This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby (1938) at the box office from the previous year, Hepburn left RKO being after deemed "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was subsequently brought in as her replacement.


1:00 PM -- MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941)
A quarrelsome couple discovers their marriage isn't legal.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond
BW-95 mins, CC,

Carole Lombard was a devoted Democrat, while Robert Montgomery was a Republican. During breaks in filming, Lombard made a point of running into the studio parking lot and putting election bumper stickers advocating the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Montgomery's car.


2:45 PM -- FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall
BW-121 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Albert Bassermann, Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Maté, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (photographic) and Thomas T. Moulton (sound), and Best Picture

Shooting was completed on May 29, 1940, after which Alfred Hitchcock made a visit to England. He returned on July 3 with the word that the Germans were expected to start bombing at any time. Ben Hecht was hurriedly called in and wrote the tacked-on final scene set at a London radio station. It was filmed on July 5, and the real-life bombing started on July 10, 1940.


5:00 PM -- BON VOYAGE (1944)
A downed British flyer is used by Nazi agents in World War II France.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: John Blythe ,
BW-26 mins,

Apart from John Blythe all the other actors in this film were French, and were simply credited as "The Molière Players" in order to protect their families from the Nazis.


5:30 PM -- NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
C-136 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Ernest Lehman, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- William A. Horning, Robert F. Boyle, Merrill Pye, Henry Grace and Frank R. McKelvy, and Best Film Editing -- George Tomasini

Alfred Hitchcock had planned a sequence where Roger Thornhill hid in Abraham Lincoln's nose and had a sneezing fit. Park officials would not allow this to be filmed, but Hitchcock tried again and again. Finally, someone asked Hitchcock how he would feel if it were the other way around and Lincoln was having a sneezing fit in Cary Grant's nose. Hitchcock immediately understood and the scene was never filmed. However, "The Man in Lincoln's Nose" was used as a "gag" working title.


7:48 PM -- CARY GRANT: IN A TRIBUTE TO THE WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (1940)
In this short film, Cary Grant asks moviegoers to donate to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, a hospital and recovery center for tuberculosis patients.
BW-2 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: TRAILBLAZING WOMEN



8:00 PM -- DEVOTION (1946)
The Bronte sisters and their brother fight personal demons to realize their artistic ambitions.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Ida Lupino, Paul Henreid, Olivia De Havilland
BW-107 mins, CC,

Filmed between November 11, 1942 and mid-February 1943, the movie premiered on April 5, 1946 at the Strand Theater in Manhattan. While it is partly possible that the release had been delayed while Olivia de Havilland, after completing Government Girl (1943) on loan to RKO, successfully sued Warner Bros. to terminate her contract without providing the studio an extra six months to make up for her time on suspension, it is far more likely that its release was delayed because it was a costume drama and, while likely to well in the USA, would be impossible to market on the war torn side of the Atlantic. Warner Bros would not have realistically shelved an expensive film like this, purely to spite an actress who was in litigation with the studio.


10:00 PM -- THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1957)
An American showgirl in London creates an international incident when she falls for a European prince.
Dir: Laurence Olivier
Cast: Richard Wattis, David Thorne, Jeremy Spenser
C-117 mins, CC,

Marilyn got one-up on Olivier when she discovered that someone in the crew-she suspected it was Olivier himself- was running a book on how many takes she would need for a fairly tricky scene. She went home and studied hard so that on the day of shooting she was more than prepared. She delivered the line and then left the room, closing the door behind her as directed. However, within seconds the door flew open again and Marilyn stuck her head through the gap. 'Pretty good huh?' she exclaimed, before shutting the door for a final time. This line was not in the script and was an obvious dig at those who doubted her ability to do the scene. However, it fitted in so well that it wasn't re-shot and can now be seen in the final cut.


12:15 AM -- SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933)
A saloon singer fights off smugglers, an escaped con and a Salvation Army officer out to reform her.
Dir: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore
BW-65 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

The National Legion of Decency was formed in October of 1933, six months after the release of this film. Legion officials cited Mae West and the film as one of the major reasons for the "necessity" of the organization.


1:30 AM -- THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
Tabloid reporters crash a society marriage.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart
BW-112 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Stewart, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Donald Ogden Stewart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ruth Hussey, Best Director -- George Cukor, and Best Picture

Katharine Hepburn starred in the Broadway production of the play on which this film was based and owned the film rights to the material; they were purchased for her by billionaire Howard Hughes, then given to her as a gift.


3:30 AM -- THE SWAN (1956)
On the eve of her marriage to a prince, a noblewoman falls for her brother's tutor.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

MGM released the film on 18 April 1956, to correspond with the wedding day of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.


5:30 AM -- TCM PRESENTS ELVIS MITCHELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE: RICHARD GERE (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-27 mins, CC, Letterbox Format