TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 3, 2018 -- TCM Spotlight: Robert Osborne Birthday Tribute

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is running a month-long series of movie series. Tell us more about it, Roger.

The movie series, in which a collection of related films share the same characters or a fictional universe, has been a cinematic staple from the comedies and Westerns of the silent era to today's elaborately produced adventure franchises.

This month's TCM Spotlight concentrates on the movie series of Hollywood's Golden Age, a period when each of the major studios developed a lineup of movies based on already-established characters and recurring themes. In many cases, these films utilized secondary stars--although there were such major exceptions as Mickey Rooney, William Powell and Myrna Loy--and were used as a training ground for up-and-coming talent.

Our far-reaching tribute to the world of the movie series features 165 films and covers a variety of subjects, some of which are outlined below:

. . .

Maisie (1939) was the first film in a series of ten MGM comedies starring Ann Sothern in the role of Mary Anastasia O'Connor, a good-natured Brooklyn burlesque dancer whose stage name is Maisie Ravier. After five years of struggle at Columbia Pictures and RKO, Sothern finally enjoyed a big success as MGM's Maisie, a role originally intended for Jean Harlow. TCM has all 10 films in the series, which ran from 1939 to 1947 and spawned a popular radio show, also starring Sothern, that was broadcast from 1945-47 and 1949-53.

Actor Harold Peary created the character Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve for radio in 1939, and then revived the role on film in the 1940s in six RKO films, all of which are in our Spotlight, starting with The Great Gildersleeve. Peary first played the garrulous girdle manufacturer (and later water commissioner of the town where he lives) on the NBC radio show Fibber McGee and Molly, then continued it on his own NBC show. (Willard Watereman also played the role on radio and TV.)

. . .

by Roger Fristoe

Then in prime time, TCM has the first of two days saluting the birthday of original TCM host, Robert Osborne. Take it away again, Roger:

TCM celebrates the birthday of Robert Osborne, our beloved host for more than 20 years beginning with the channel's inception in 1994. Appearing on this special night to offer tribute to Robert is his close friend, actress Diane Baker, and his cousin Susan Wright. We are screening Robert Osborne's 25th Anniversary Tribute (2015), a TCM special event in which Baker and Wright also appeared; along with Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014), a special edition of our series in which Robert had the tables turned on him by Alec Baldwin, who revealed that Robert himself was the subject of that night's interview.

Born on May 3, 1932 in the small town of Colfax, Washington, Robert Jolin Osborne fell in love with movies at an early age. He graduated from the University of Washington's School of Journalism and served two years in the Air Force in Seattle. During his free time, he performed in local theater productions. An ambition to become a professional actor eventually led him to Los Angeles, where he secured a spot as a contract actor at Dezi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's Desilu Studios.

After a few small roles on television, Robert was advised by Ball to focus his energies on becoming an entertainment writer - as he liked to kid, "especially after she saw me act." In 1977, he started his long tenure as the "Rambling Reporter" for The Hollywood Reporter. Beginning with Academy Awards Illustrated in 1965, he published a number of authoritative books on film history and the Oscars. He began hosting for The Movie Channel in 1984 and 10 years later he was selected by Ted Turner to host TCM. For over 20 years at TCM, he connected with audiences before passing away in 2017.

Robert developed a rapport with his TCM audience, who not only valued his knowledge and perceptions regarding classic film but looked upon him as an old friend. In celebrating his birthday, we are screening two of his favorite films, William Wyler's Dodsworth (1936), starring Walter Huston; and Otto Preminger's Laura (1944), starring Gene Tierney.

I visited Robert a few years back in his apartment in New York City, located on 57th Street in Manhattan and named, not so coincidentally, The Osborne. (He chose the building because of its name.) Bette Davis, no less, originally helped him settle into his living quarters.

Robert told me that, since his youth, Gene Tierney had been his all-time favorite classic-film actress. He proudly showed off one of his most prized pieces of movie memorabilia, the original portrait of Tierney that played such an important role in Laura. In the film, a detective (Dana Andrews) investigating the supposed death of Tierney's character, Laura, becomes obsessed with her picture. This portrait took a spot of honor on a wall of Robert's apartment, which featured other framed mementoes from the movies, including a painting of Lana Turner and a photograph of Marlene Dietrich.

The Laura portrait came with an interesting story as told by Robert. The film's original director, Rouben Mamoulian, planned to use an oil painting done by his wife-to-be, Azadia Newman. When Otto Preminger stepped in at the last minute as director, he wanted a different look in the portrait. Since time was running short, Preminger had an actual studio photograph of Tierney glossed over with oils and varnishes to make it look like a painting. The effect was perfect, creating just the right aura of glamour and mystery. It's the knowledge of these film history details that made Robert Osborne such a joy to his viewers on TCM.

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
On a trip to Reno, a Brooklyn showgirl tries to stop a soldier and his wife from divorcing.
Dir: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Ann Sothern, John Hodiak, Tom Drake
BW-90 mins

Bill's shoulder patch on his uniform indicates he's a member of the Army Ground Forces command, responsible for training units for deployment overseas. It was one of the three major commands of the U.S. Army during WWII, the other two being the Army Air Forces and the Army Service Forces. The shoulder insignia has been in use since 1942, and as of 2017 is still worn by members of the U.S. Army Forces Command.


8:30 AM -- Up Goes Maisie (1946)
A showgirl working for an inventor battles crooks out to steal his ideas.
Dir: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Ann Sothern, George Murphy, Hillary Brooke
BW-89 mins, CC

The ninth of ten movies starring Ann Sothern as the heroine Maisie Ravier.


10:15 AM -- Undercover Maisie (1947)
A stranded showgirl joins the police force and risks her life to expose a phony psychic.
Dir: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Ann Sothern, Barry Nelson, Mark Daniels
BW-90 mins, CC

The last of MGM's 10 "Maisie" frolics released between 1939 and 1947, this film was the only installment which failed to net a contemporary New York Times review.


12:00 PM -- Look Who's Laughing (1941)
A radio star plans to build an airplane plant in a sleepy small town.
Dir: Allan Dwan
Cast: Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Jim Jordan
BW-79 mins, CC

Second in the film series based on the Fibber McGee and Molly Show, a radio show that ran from 1935 to 1959, and the first with Harold Peary as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve.


1:30 PM -- Here We Go Again (1942)
While on their second honeymoon, Fibber McGee and Molly get mixed up with con men.
Dir: Allan Dwan
Cast: Edgar Bergen, Fibber McGee and Molly, Harold Peary
BW-77 mins, CC

Fibber's comment about "the local 400" refers to the supposed social elite of New York City in the late 19th century. The term was coined by Ward McAllister, based on the number of people that supposedly could fit in the ballroom of Mrs William Backhouse Astor.*


3:00 PM -- The Great Gildersleeve (1942)
A small-town blowhard runs for water commissioner while fighting to win custody of his niece and nephew.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, Nancy Gates
BW-62 mins,

This was the first of four feature films based on Harold Peary's popular radio character "The Great Gildersleeve". The next two features would be released later the same year, and the fourth released the following year (1944).


4:15 PM -- Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943)
A small-town politician is the jury hold-out in a sensational murder case.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Harold Peary, Jane Darwell, Nancy Gates
BW-63 mins, CC

Film debut of Barbara Hale, best remembered by me as Perry Mason's ever loyal secretary, Della Street, in the television series from 1957 to 1966 and in television movies from 1986 to 1995.


5:30 PM -- Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943)
On a trip to New York, a small-town blowhard gets caught between a wealthy widow and a gold digger.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Harold Peary, Billie Burke, Claire Carleton
BW-65 mins, CC

The uncredited bellhop is played by Walter Tetley, who played Leroy in the radio version of The Great Gildersleeve. Leroy was a child character, easy for an adult to play on radio, but difficult on the big screen!


6:45 PM -- Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)
Two ghosts help a small-town eccentric run for mayor.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Harold Peary, Marion Martin, Richard LeGrand
BW-63 mins, CC

The epitaph for each ghost reads: Jonathan Q. Gildersleeve 1851-1892 "Here was a man with a sense of humor, We're glad to have him as a roomer." Randolph Q. Gildersleeve 1790-1857 "This man has crossed to the other shore, He thought he could laugh at his mother-in-law."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ROBERT OSBORNE BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE



8:00 PM -- Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014)
TCM host Robert Osborne sits down with Alec Baldwin to discuss Osborne's life and career.
C-74 mins,

Osborne passed away on March 5, 2017, two months away from what would have been his 85th birthday on May 3.
His body was donated to New York University for medical science.


9:30 PM -- Dodsworth (1936)
A husband whose wife left him looks for new love in Europe.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas
BW-101 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Art Direction -- Richard Day

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Walter Huston, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Maria Ouspenskaya, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard, Best Sound, Recording -- Oscar Lagerstrom (United Artists SSD), and Best Picture

William Wyler thought the characterization of Mrs. Dodsworth was too black and white and insisted on some subtleties to the performance. Ruth Chatterton vigorously disagreed with this interpretation and the two would often argue fiercely on the subject. At one point Chatterton slapped Wyler across the face and retreated to her dressing room. In her memoirs, Mary Astor observed that Chatterton's character "was that of a woman trying to hang onto her youth--which was exactly what Ruth herself was doing. It touched a nerve."


11:30 PM -- Robert Osborne's 20th Anniversary Tribute (2015)
A look back at Robert Osborne's life and career as host of Turner Classic Movies.
C-47 mins, CC

Filmed during the 2014 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. First aired on TCM 4/14/2015.


12:30 AM -- Laura (1944)
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb
BW-88 mins, CC

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Clifton Webb, Best Director -- Otto Preminger, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Leland Fuller and Thomas Little

Darryl F. Zanuck was opposed to casting Clifton Webb because of Webb's well-known (in Hollywood) homosexuality, but producer/director Otto Preminger prevailed and the 54-year-old Webb, making his first screen appearance since 1925, was nominated for an Oscar.


2:15 AM -- Private Screenings: Liza Minnelli (2010)
The actress discusses her life and career with host Robert Osborne.
Dir: Sean Cameron
C-46 mins, CC

Features clips from The Wizard of Oz (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Clock (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), The Pirate (1948), In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Madame Bovary (1949), An American in Paris (1951), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), Brigadoon (1954), A Star Is Born (1954), Funny Face (1957), Gigi (1958), Home from the Hill (1960), A Matter of Time (1976), and Stepping Out (1991).


3:15 AM -- Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine (2009)
Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine sits down with Robert Osborne to discuss his life and career.
C-58 mins, CC

Borgnine was the very first "center square" on The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965) (during its premiere week in October 1966).


4:30 AM -- Private Screenings: Robert Osborne (2014)
TCM host Robert Osborne sits down with Alec Baldwin to discuss Osborne's life and career.

Quote from Osborne: "Somebody, I think it was Pauline Kael, called Around the World in 80 Days (1956) the worst Best Picture, and you know, I'd like to slap her silly for that. It's very hard to judge, because it may look like a mistake to you today, judging from 2010 while watching it on TCM or whatever, but at the time it meant something totally different. In the case of Around the World in Eighty Days, that's a movie that truly has to be seen on a big screen, preferably in Todd-AO and all of that. Because when I saw that in those conditions, it was a fabulous movie."

[longship]

1. Sounds great! "Laura" is absolutely incredible!

And I also adore Gene Tierney!

If you haven't seen this noir classic, take some time. Watch for Vincent Price in a prominent romantic support role.

Trailer:

David Raskin's theme music is stunning.

Don't miss this one.