TCM Schedule for Friday, October 20, 2017 -- Star of the Month: Anthony Perkins

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM has a selection of films directed by Norman Taurog. At 32 years and 260 days, Taurog was the youngest person to win a Best Director Oscar (for Skippy (1931)) until Damien Chazelle won in 2017 for La La Land. Taurog held the record for 86 years. Then in prime time, it's more of Star of the Month Anthony Perkins. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- LITTLE NELLIE KELLY (1940)
The daughter of Irish immigrants patches up differences between her father and grandfather and rises to the top on Broadway.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger
BW-99 mins, CC,

Adapted from a musical play by George M. Cohan. The original stage production opened at the Liberty Theatre in New York on November 13, 1922 and ran for 248 performances. Most of the story was rewritten for the film, and only two of the songs from the play were used, "Nellie is a Darling" and "Nellie Kelly I Love You".


7:45 AM -- YOUNG TOM EDISON (1940)
As a precocious child, Tom Edison defies authority to develop his first inventions.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, George Bancroft
BW-86 mins, CC,

Followed by Edison, the Man (1940).


9:15 AM -- DESIGN FOR SCANDAL (1941)
A reporter is assigned to dig up dirt on a lady judge.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold
BW-85 mins, CC,

Crazy Credits -- Barbara Jo Allen is listed as "Barbara Jo Allen (Vera Vague)" in the opening credits. Vera Vague was the character name of the woman she played on the Bob Hope radio program.


10:45 AM -- A YANK AT ETON (1942)
An American playboy is sent to a British boarding school to learn discipline.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Edmund Gwenn, Ian Hunter
BW-88 mins, CC,

Based on a story by George Oppenheimer.


12:30 PM -- GIRL CRAZY (1943)
A womanizing playboy finds true love when he's sent to a desert college.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Gil Stratton
BW-99 mins, CC,

Judy Garland's character's name, Ginger Gray, is a tribute to Ginger Rogers, who played the part on Broadway when the character was named Molly Gray. Ginger Rogers wrote that one night onstage in the play, her costar Allen Kearns accidentally said: "Ginger, I love you" instead of "Molly". The mistake got such a huge laugh from the audience that they decided to continue to do that in subsequent performances, pretending it was a mistake.


2:15 PM -- PRESENTING LILY MARS (1943)
A small-town girl fights for her big chance on Broadway.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, Van Heflin, Fay Bainter
BW-104 mins, CC,

This film was originally purchased by MGM as a dramatic vehicle for Lana Turner. After Turner dropped out due to a scheduling conflict, the film was retooled as a screwball comedy/musical for Judy Garland.


4:15 PM -- THE BEGINNING OR THE END (1947)
True story of the Manhattan Project and the race to build the atomic bomb.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake
BW-112 mins, CC,

The idea for the film came from atomic scientists and the first scripts raised questions about the use of the new weapon against Japan and all uses of nuclear energy in the future. By the time the Pentagon and the White House got through with it, the movie took a 180-degree turn. President Harry S. Truman even got the actor playing him in the movie fired.


6:15 PM -- TICKLE ME (1965)
A singing cowboy signs on with an all-woman dude ranch.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Elvis Presley, Jocelyn Lane, Julie Adams
C-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Elvis Presley made this film in a deal with floundering Allied Artists, in which he took a pay cut and did not record any new material in exchange for 50% of the film's profits. The film was a big earner, credited with saving Allied Artists from bankruptcy.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ANTHONY PERKINS



8:00 PM -- MAHOGANY (1975)
A girl from the Chicago slums fights her way to a position as an international super model.
Dir: Berry Gordy
Cast: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Perkins
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Michael Masser (music) and Gerry Goffin (lyrics) for the song "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"

The role of Tracy Chambers was originally written for Liza Minelli but was eventually offered to Diana Ross.


10:15 PM -- WINTER KILLS (1979)
An assassinated president's brother investigates the unsolved crime.
Dir: William Richert
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Anthony Perkins, John Huston
C-94 mins,

The only ever film appearance (and uncredited) of John Warner. Warner was married to actress Elizabeth Taylor (who also appears in the film) at the time the movie was made. Warner was a government official who had served as Under secretary and then Secretary of the U.S. Navy during the Nixon Administration, 1972-1974, before he was appointed in 1974 to head up the federal government's American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. As such, his casting in this film provided a real life political nexus to the real life American politics that the film referenced.


12:15 AM -- THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (1972)
A self-appointed judge cleans up a corrupt western town twice.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Paul Newman, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs
C-123 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Maurice Jarre (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman for the song "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey"

John Milius wrote the screenplay with Lee Marvin in mind as Judge Roy Bean. He brought the script to Marvin when he was filming Pocket Money (1972), but Marvin fell asleep after one drink too many, his co-star Paul Newman found the screenplay, read it, loved it and petitioned for the part.


2:30 AM -- REMEMBER MY NAME (1978)
A young woman released from prison begins stalking a married construction worker.
Dir: Alan Rudolph
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Geraldine Chaplin, Moses Gunn
C-94 mins,

Geraldine Chaplin won Best Actress awards at the Paris Film Festival and Miami Film Festival.


4:15 AM -- DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1967)
A young gunman rides for vengeance against the crooks who killed his family.
Dir: Giulio Petroni
Cast: John Phillip Law, Lee Van Cleef, Luigi Pistilli
BW-115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The original title of the film was "Duel in the Wind." Lee Van Cleef came up with the Italian title while discussing the movie with John Phillip Law, who saw the film as a "man to man" story. Van Cleef remarked, "Why don't they call it 'From Man to Man'?" The Italian producers liked how it sounded in Italian (Da Uomo a Uomo) so much they used it. Then the film was subsequently retitled "Death Rides a Horse" in English-speaking markets, which Law said he never liked.