TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 15, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Christmas Classics

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has a selection of films with music directed by Leo F. Forbstein, long time head of the music department at Warner Bros. And in prime time, more Christmas Classics, including a bunch of my favorites - The Shop Around the Corner (1940) with Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan; Christmas In Connecticut (1945) with Barbara Stanwyck and Cuddles Sakal; and Desk Set (1957) with Tracy and Hepburn. The portrayal of computers in business was inaccurate even in 1957, but . . . it's Tracy and Hepburn! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- THE MATCH KING (1932)
An ambitious young man corners the market on matches, then faces the destruction of his empire.
Dir: Howard Bretherton
Cast: Warren William, Lily Damita, Glenda Farrell
BW-79 mins, CC,

Warren William's most immediately prior film was titled Three on a Match (1932). That film's title refers to the "superstition" that if three people light their cigarettes with the same match, the third person will soon die. The so-called superstition was actually part of a promotional campaign designed by Ivar Kreuger (the real-life counterpart to William's character) to increase the use of matches by cutting down sharing.


7:30 AM -- BABBITT (1934)
A small-town businessman bumbles into blackmail and a real-estate swindle.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee, Claire Dodd
BW-74 mins, CC,

Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis. The novel was also filmed in 1924, with Willard Louis and Mary Alden as the Babbitts.


9:00 AM -- KANSAS CITY PRINCESS (1934)
A pair of con women masquerade as girl scouts to escape to New York.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Robert Armstrong
BW-64 mins,

Based on a story by Sy Bartlett.


10:15 AM -- THE RIGHT TO LIVE (1935)
A crippled war hero's death turns out to be murder.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Josephine Hutchinson, George Brent, Colin Clive
BW-69 mins, CC,

Based on M. Somerset Maugham's novel The Sacred Flame, and also filmed in 1929 as The Sacred Flame, starring Conrad Nagel. According to IMDB, the 1929 film "is believed lost. Please check your attic."


11:30 AM -- GOD'S COUNTRY AND THE WOMAN (1936)
A lady lumberjack falls for one of her workers, not realizing it's a business rival in disguise.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: George Brent, Beverly Roberts, Barton MacLane
C-85 mins, CC,

Warner Brothers' first feature-length film in full Technicolor.


1:00 PM -- SECRETS OF AN ACTRESS (1938)
A leading lady falls for a married architect who's invested in her play.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Kay Francis, George Brent, Ian Hunter
BW-70 mins, CC,

At the opening night of Fay's (Kay Francis) play "Springboard", pages from the program are shown to indicate the play's progress. The one for the second act reads: "Springboard, Act II, Interior Fay Carter's living room, next day." Fay Carter is the *actress*. Unless the character has the same name as the star, this was an error.


2:15 PM -- YES, MY DARLING DAUGHTER (1939)
A freethinker's liberal ways are tested when her daughter announces plans for a premarital fling.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Jeffrey Lynn, Roland Young
BW-86 mins, CC,

Omaha, Nebraska, March 1, 1939: "The City Welfare Board has voted unanimously to ban 'Yes, My Darling Daughter' here. The film was scheduled to open tomorrow at the Brandeis. Action of the board followed a preview of the picture. Members reported there was a general objection to the theme of the movie. A small group of women representing church and other organizations attended the meeting. The stage version of the play is now in rehearsal at the Omaha Community Playhouse, scheduled to open March 6. The board will review it on March 2 at a Playhouse rehearsal. Reports from the Playhouse are to the effect that the play has been considerably altered."


3:45 PM -- THE FIGHTING 69TH (1940)
A braggart soldier learns the true meaning of heroism when he joins World War I's all-Irish unit.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent
BW-90 mins, CC,

The poem read at the funeral of the soldiers killed in the dugout is"'Rouge Bouquet" by Joyce Kilmer (portrayed by Jeffrey Lynn). This scene and preceding ones are based on an actual incident in the war, when a German heavy artillery bombardment on March 12, 1918, buried 21 men of the 69th; 14 of the bodies were never recovered.


5:30 PM -- PLAY GIRL (1932)
A young innocent falls for a compulsive gambler.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Winnie Lightner, Loretta Young, Norman Foster
BW-60 mins, CC,

The $305 hospital bill Bus worries about would be the equivalent of $5,326 in 2016.


6:30 PM -- OLD ENGLISH (1930)
A bankrupt businessman risks everything to provide for his grandchildren.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: George Arliss, Leon Janney, Doris Lloyd
BW-86 mins, CC,

Based on the novel Old English by John Galsworthy.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CHRISTMAS CLASSICS



8:00 PM -- THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940)
Feuding co-workers don't realize they're secret romantic pen pals.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
BW-99 mins, CC,

To make sure his film was stripped of the glamour usually associated with him, Ernst Lubitsch went to such lengths as ordering that a dress Margaret Sullavan had purchased off the rack for $1.98 be left in the sun to bleach and altered to fit poorly.


10:00 PM -- CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945)
A homemaking specialist who can't boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-101 mins, CC,

When Felix (S.Z. Sakall) first meets Yardly (Sydney Greenstreet), he takes an immediate dislike to him and mumbles under his breath, "Fat man" and walks away. In The Maltese Falcon (1941) Greenstreet played the role of Kasper Gutman whose code name was "Fat Man".


12:00 AM -- LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938)
A small-town boy tries to juggle two girlfriends at once.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker
BW-91 mins, CC,

Shot on a 19-day production schedule with an additional week allotted for Judy Garland's production numbers. Released a mere two months after production wrapped.


1:35 AM -- LOEWS CHRISTMAS GREETING (THE HARDY FAMILY) (1939)
In this short film, Andy Hardy and the rest of the Hardy family give a holiday greeting to the audience.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Fay Holden, Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney
BW-3 mins,


1:45 AM -- DESK SET (1957)
A computer expert tries to prove his electronic brain can replace a television network's research staff.
Dir: Walter Lang
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young
C-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Improvised Scene: Sumner is leaving Bunny's apartment, shortly after Mike leaves and Peg arrives, when Bunny and Sumner are recapping the afternoon's events for Peg. Tracy goes "offstage" and returns with his hat pulled down over his ears, his shirt dangling out of his pants, staggering as though drunk and talking crazy. This moment, including the women's hysterical laughter and Hepburn's literally falling out of her chair, is not in the script.


3:45 AM -- PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT (1962)
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is disrupted by their friends' marital problems.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Edward C. Carfagno, Henry Grace and Richard Pefferle

The original Broadway production of "Period of Adjustment" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on November 10, 1960 and ran for 132 performances. The Tennessee Williams play was adapted for this movie by Isobel Lennart.


5:45 AM -- FONDA ON FONDA (1992)
Jane Fonda recalls her father Henry's career as a star of stage and screen.
Dir: David Heeley
BW-46 mins, CC,

Features clips from Slim (1937), Jesse James (1939), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), Mister Roberts (1955), 12 Angry Men (1957), Fail-Safe (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), Clarence Darrow (1974) (TV Movie), Wanda Nevada (1979), The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1979) (TV Special), The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981) (TV Special), and On Golden Pond (1981).