TCM Schedule for Friday, March 8, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Ann Margret

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birthday of Cyd Charisse. Tell us more, Roger!

During a dance number in 1953's The Band Wagon, Fred Astaire says of the seductive Cyd Charisse that, "She came at me in sections." Audiences knew exactly what he meant, since Charisse's body, and particularly those long, expressive legs, seemed to have a life of their own.

As an actress, Charisse had a natural reserve that meant she could seem remote in dramatic scenes. But the moment she hit the dance floor, all bets were off. She was arguably the best female dancer of the movies' Golden Age--and certainly its most sensual.

Born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, on March 8, 1922, Charisse began dancing lessons as a child to strengthen her body after suffering from polio. Her childhood nickname "Sid" came from a younger brother who was attempting to call her "Sis." While still a teen, she performed with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under the stage names Felia Siderova and Maria Istomina. During a European tour in 1939, she married fellow dancer Nico Charisse in Paris. Their son, Nicky, was born in 1942.

Cyd Charisse made her film debut in an uncredited bit as a flamenco dancer in the Continental Pictures production Escort Girl (1941) and began working as a chorus dancer at MGM with Thousands Cheer (1943). For her professional name in movies, MGM producer Arthur Freed changed the spelling of her nickname to "Cyd" and used the last name of her husband, whom she would divorce in 1947.

Charisse spent a nine-year apprenticeship at MGM as a dancer, supporting actress and occasional leading lady. After being somewhat taken for granted during that time, she created an unexpected sensation in the "Broadway Ballet" number opposite Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain (1952). She then blossomed as a star opposite Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon and for the next five years played leading roles to spectacular effect in musicals opposite him or Kelly. Astaire said of Charisse that, "When you danced with her, you stayed danced with."

As the movie musical faded away, Charisse turned to dramatic roles such as Universal's Twilight for the Gods (1958) and MGM's Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). Her final role in a feature film came in Warlords of the Deep (1978), but she continued performing on television and the stage. In 1992, she made her Broadway debut in Grand Hotel, and in 1994 she was one of the onscreen narrators of That's Entertainment! III.

In 1956, The Hollywood Reporter writer Jack Moffitt wrote this tribute: "Cyd is so beautiful, her life has been such a credit to Hollywood, her dancing is so lovely and her body is such a perfect medium of expression, that everyone who enthuses over the movies wishes her well."

Charisse was married to singer/actor Tony Martin from 1948 until her death of a heart attack in 2008. The couple had a son, Tony Martin Jr. Here are the films in TCM's birthday tribute, all produced by MGM:

Tension (1949) is a film noir about an unassuming drug-store manager (Richard Basehart) who seeks revenge on a faithless wife (Audrey Totter). In a non-dancing role, Charise gets third billing as the sympathetic young woman Basehart takes up with.

The Wild North (1952), an adventure set in Northern Canada, stars Stewart Granger as a man accused of murder and Wendell Corey as the Mountie who pledges to bring him in. Charisse has a non-musical supporting role as a Native American girl who befriends Granger.

Brigadoon (1954), Vincente Minnelli's screen version of the Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe musical, reunites Charisse and Gene Kelly as the lovers who meet in an ancient, enchanted Scottish village. The emphasis in this version is on the dancing, of course, and the two stars perform with the requisite magic.

Kelly and Charisse deut again in It's Always Fair Weather (1955), which tells a more contemporary story in which three ex-GI's stage a reunion. This musical, co-directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, offers Charisse a sensational solo, "You Knock Me Out," choreographed for her by Kelly in a boxing gym.

Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956), written and designed as a showcase for Charisse, shows off her abilities as a dancer in everything from classical ballet to countrified hoedown. The highlight is an exciting 13-minute ballet based on the song "Frankie and Johnny." Dan Dailey costars, with guest appearances and cameos by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne to Charisse's husband, Tony Martin.

Silk Stockings (1957), a screen version of a Cole Porter stage musical based on the 1939 Garbo film Ninotchka, marked Charisse's final pairing with Fred Astaire. Her cool "remoteness" made her perfect casting as the Russian envoy wooed by Westerner Astaire, and the sizzle of the Charisse dancing became a perfect metaphor for her romantic thawing.

Party Girl (1958), Charisse's final film under her MGM contract, casts her as a cabaret dancer in Chicago during the early '30s, with Robert Taylor (another departing studio star) as the crooked lawyer she helps to go straight. Nicholas Ray directed. Still in top form at age 36, Charisse enjoys some effective dance numbers including one performed to only a drum accompaniment.

by Roger Fristoe

Then in prime time, TCM brings us the beautiful Ann Margret. It's not her birthday, but TCM has a trio of her films from the 1960s. Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- PARTY GIRL (1958)
A showgirl and a crooked lawyer try to break with a powerful mob boss.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Director Nicholas Ray was certainly impressed with Robert Taylor's commitment. "He worked for me like a true Method actor," said Ray, who remembered Taylor going to an osteologist, poring over X-rays and asking probing questions so that he would have an understanding of where in his body the pain would be from his character's crippled leg.


8:30 AM -- THE WILD NORTH (1952)
A Mountie tracks an accused killer through the Canadian wilderness.
Dir: Andrew Marton
Cast: Stewart Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse
C-97 mins, CC,

Cyd Charisse's character is listed only as "Indian Girl" in the on-screen credits. It is stated in the dialogue that she is only half Chippewa Indian. The one time anyone refers to her by a name, Jules introduces her as "Adjidaumo," the same name he gave his adopted stray cat, but it's clear from the situation that it is an alias.


10:15 AM -- TENSION (1950)
A man who had planned to murder his wife's lover becomes the prime suspect when somebody beats him to it.
Dir: John Berry
Cast: Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse
BW-91 mins, CC,

When Richard Basehart's character of Quimby decides to create another identity for himself, he gets the idea for the name Sothern when he sees a movie fan magazine with Ann Sothern on the cover. "Tension" producer Robert Sisk was then in the process of prepping Shadow on the Wall (1950) to star Miss Sothern in the last film of her long-term MGM contract.


12:00 PM -- MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS (1956)
A ballerina becomes a gambler's lucky charm.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- George Stoll and Johnny Green

INSIDE JOKE: Shortly after Maria Corvier (Cyd Charisse) storms off, a man tells her assistant that he would like to meet her and is told that he is out of luck. The man is played by Tony Martin, Charisse's real-life husband.


2:00 PM -- SILK STOCKINGS (1957)
A straitlaced Soviet agent is seduced by Paris and a high-stepping film producer.
Dir: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Cyd Charisse's striptease to the title number was met with a least a couple of raised eyebrows from the Hays film censors. For one 2-second instance, she is seen at length in a silk camisole exposing her legendary legs. This was considered too risqué by the Hays office, and a high-back chair was quickly integrated into the dance for her to run behind. When she next emerges from behind the chair she has quickly slipped on a swirling petticoat, but it is transparent and gives quick glimpses of her legs anyway, which by now were what most viewers wanted to see anyway.


4:00 PM -- BRIGADOON (1954)
Two American hunters in Scotland discover a mystical village that only materializes once every century.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, and Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M)

Howard Keel and Jane Powell were originally slated to play the leads. When commitments on other films left them unavailable, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse were cast instead, and dancing subsequently emphasized over singing.


6:00 PM -- IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955)
World War II buddies get mixed up with gangsters and an egotistical TV star when they hold a 10-year reunion.
Dir: Gene Kelly
Cast: Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn

Betty Comden and Adolph Green originally conceived this musical as a sequel to their smash, On the Town (1949), having the new film reunite Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin. It was originally intended as a stage musical but that changed when Kelly insisted on filming it. Studio boss Dory Schary did not want to hire Sinatra because the singer had acquired a reputation for being difficult and nixed Munshin because he was no longer popular with audiences.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ANN MARGRET



8:00 PM -- BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963)
A rock star's personal appearance turns a small town into a disaster area.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Johnny Green, and Best Sound -- Charles J. Rice (Columbia SSD)

Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde, both veterans of the 1960 Broadway hit, were displeased with the film version. Van Dyke especially felt it had become too much of a vehicle for Ann-Margret. In the Broadway version of the show, Van Dyke's role of Albert was much more prominent than that of Kim, who Ann-Margret played in the film version. In his autobiography, Van Dyke said he knew Ann-Margret's role was going to be expanded when he once came on the set and found her sitting in the lap of George Sidney, the director. Interestingly, in HER autobiography, Ann-Margret mentions being cast in the role and that the film was a big hit, but makes absolutely no mention of anything that happened during the filming.


10:00 PM -- THE CINCINNATI KID (1965)
Card sharps try to deal with personal problems during a big game in New Orleans.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret
C-103 mins, CC,

Edward G. Robinson wrote in his autobiography, "In the film I played Lancey Howard, the reigning champ of the stud poker tables...I could hardly say I identified with Lancey; I was Lancey. That man on the screen, more than in any other picture I ever made, was Edward G. Robinson with great patches of Emanuel Goldenberg [his real name] showing through. He was all cold and discerning and unflappable on the exterior; he was ageing and full of self-doubt on the inside....Even the final session of the poker game was real...I played that game as if it were for blood. It was one of the best performances I ever gave on stage or screen or radio or TV, and the reason for it is that is wasn't a performance at all; it was symbolically the playing out of my whole gamble with life."


12:00 AM -- VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964)
A race-car driver falls for a pretty swimming instructor who wants him to slow down his career.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova
C-85 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Surprisingly, according to Variety, "Viva Las Vegas" earned more in distributors rentals than "A Hard Day's Night" despite both films being released in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania. "Viva Las Vegas" grossed $9,442,967 compared to $6,165,000 for the Beatles' debut feature.


1:45 AM -- ROMANTIC NEVADA (1943)
This short film takes the viewer to Nevada, with looks at the natural wonders of the state and the city of Reno.
C-9 mins,

This short film places a significant emphasis on the ease of divorce in Nevada. At the time of the film's release, and for several preceding decades, Nevada had gained a reputation for having extraordinarily liberal laws for divorce in relation to the rest of the country. A prospective divorcée simply had to establish residence for a few weeks in the state, usually at a hotel or resort, and then legally file for divorce. Contemporary viewers may find this emphasis on divorce odd out of context.


2:00 AM -- RABID (1977)
A young woman develops a taste for human blood after undergoing experimental plastic surgery.
Dir: David Cronenberg
Cast: Joe Silver, Evelyn Lang, Susan Roman
BW-91 mins, CC,

Sissy Spacek was David Cronenberg's first choice to play Rose. Ivan Reitman suggested Marilyn Chambers because he wanted sex appeal.


4:00 AM -- SCANNERS (1981)
A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.
Dir: David Cronenberg
Cast: Michael Ironside, Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill
C-103 mins,

This was the nearest thing to a conventional science fiction thriller David Cronenberg had made up to that point, lacking the sexual content of Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), or The Brood (1979). It was also his most profitable film until The Fly (1986) six years later.