TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 22 -- New York vs. L.A.

[Staph]

Happy Birthday, Ann Southern! Today is the 100th anniversary of her birth, so we've got a day of her films. This evening, we have more of the NY vs LA competition, including Broadway vs Hollywood Part One -- Stars Are Born (42nd Street and A Star Is Born (1937)), Broadway vs Hollywood Part Two -- Fading Stars (All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard), and Broadway vs Hollywood Part Three -- Behind The Scenes (The Producers and Singin' In The Rain). Enjoy!


5:45am -- Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
A man poses as husband to his wife's best friend for one day that could turn into a lifetime.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, Dorothy Provine, Michael Connors
Dir: David Swift
C-130 mins, TV-PG

The name of the advertising firm for which Sam Bissel works, Burke & Hare, is clearly a reference to William Burke and William Hare, two Irish laborers living in 18th century Edinburgh, Scotland who became notorious as history's most famous "body snatchers" who, until they were discovered by the British authorities, killed at least 15 travelers and then sold their corpses to medical schools for dissection.


8:00am -- How To Murder Your Wife (1965)
After marrying while drunk, a cartoonist puts his murderous fantasies into his work.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, Terry-Thomas, Eddie Mayehoff
Dir: Richard Quine
C-118 mins, TV-G

Prior to filming How to Murder Your Wife (1965), co-star Virna Lisi's husband made her promise that she would not be talked into doing a nude scene in her first American film. She assured him that she would not, signed the contract and traveled to Hollywood. While filming the 'revelation' scene, where Lemmon awakes to discover in horror that he got married at the bachelor party, Virna had to disrobe and lay in the bed nude but discreetly covered with a bedsheet. However, it was this day that her husband, an architect, arrived unannounced at the set to surprise his wife. When he walked into the scene, he became very upset. He focused his anger toward her co-star. Lemmon, realizing that discretion was the better part of valor, exited the set at full run with Virna's husband in tow. Running past several sound stages on the MGM lot, he quickly found a garbage dumpster, jumped in and closed the cover. He waited there until security officers found him.


10:00am -- Smartest Girl In Town (1936)
A girl in search of a rich husband mistakes a millionaire for a male model.
Cast: Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore
Dir: Joseph Santley
BW-58 mins, TV-G

Ann Southern's younger sister was the prolific singer/songwriter Bonnie Lake who wrote several popular standards such as "Sandman", "I've Got Your Number" and "Gracias" - songs later recorded by such big band stars as Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. In the 1940s, Bonnie founded the Bonnie Lake Music Publishing Company.


11:00am -- Super Sleuth (1937)
A movie detective gets carried away with his role and starts trying to solve real-life crimes.
Cast: Jack Oakie, Ann Sothern, Eduardo Ciannelli, Alan Bruce
Dir: Ben Stoloff
BW-70 mins, TV-G

In 1981, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film, as an annual event.


12:15pm -- Walking On Air (1936)
A girl torments her parents by hiring a phony suitor.
Cast: Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, Jessie Ralph, Henry Stephenson
Dir: Joseph Santley
BW-70 mins, TV-G

Ann Southern was the mother of look-alike, sound-alike actress Tisha Sterling. The two appeared in The Whales of August (1987), with Tisha, in the prelude scene, portraying a younger-day Ann.


1:30pm -- Panama Hattie (1942)
A nightclub owner in Panama takes on Nazi spies.
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, "Rags" Ragland, Ben Blue
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Adapted from the Broadway musical "Panama Hattie", which opened at the 46th Street Theater in New York October 30, 1940 and ran for 501 performances. Ethel Merman played Hattie, Betty Hutton was Flo, Rags Ragland originated his movie role, Arthur Treacher played the butler, James Dunn was Bullet, and future film stars June Allyson, Lucille Bremer and Vera-Ellen were dancers.


3:00pm -- Three Hearts For Julia (1943)
When his wife threatens him with divorce, a reporter courts her again.
Cast: Ann Sothern, Melvyn Douglas, Lee Bowman, Richard Ainley
Dir: Richard Thorpe
BW-90 mins, TV-G

In an uncredited bit part as a cab driver is Joe Yule, father of Joe Yule Jr. (better known as Mickey Rooney).


4:30pm -- Nancy Goes To Rio (1950)
Mother-and-daughter singers compete for the same role and the same man.
Cast: Ann Sothern, Jane Powell, Barry Sullivan, Carmen Miranda
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
C-100 mins, TV-G

In the marketplace, both MGM Records and Decca released versions of Carmen Miranda's pair of frolicsome movie songs, "Yipsee-I-O" (music and lyrics by Ray Gilbert) and "Ca-Room-Pa-Pa" (music and lyrics by Luiz Gonzaga, Humberto Teixeira and Gilbert). The MGM soundtrack album contained the prerecordings. For her last Decca session, Carmen was matched with The Andrews Sisters on each side of the single.


6:15pm -- Cry Havoc (1943)
A group of war nurses fights to survive the siege of Bataan.
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Fay Bainter
Dir: Richard Thorpe
BW-97 mins, TV-PG

The title comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. After the death of Caesar, Marc Antony regrets his role in the murder and predicts the war to come:

Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.


What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: NEW YORK VS. L.A.


8:00pm -- 42nd Street (1933)
The definitive backstage musical, complete with the dazzling newcomer who goes on for the injured star.
Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
BW-89 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), and Best Picture

This film, released on March 9, 1933, single-handedly rescued the movie musical, which had been considered a money losing proposition since mid-1930. Early "all talking, all dancing" musicals typically suffered from severe camera restrictions coupled with poor musical staging, soured the public on the genre in general (Universal's huge losses from the lively King of Jazz (1930) had put an unofficial moratorium on the musical) and no other studio wanted to risk producing one. Warners, at the time of the film's release, had Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) nearing completion and pre-production plans were well underway for Footlight Parade (1933), all utilizing the talents of Busby Berkeley. The success of this film would convince Radio Pictures to produce Flying Down to Rio (1933) (released that December). Other major studios would continue to shy away from musicals throughout 1933, although Paramount would proceed with plans to produce the lavish Murder at the Vanities (1934) toward the end of the year.


9:45pm -- A Star Is Born (1937)
A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he's shepherded to stardom.
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson
Dir: William A. Wellman
C-111 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar® for Best Writing, Original Story -- William A. Wellman and Robert Carson

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Janet Gaynor, Best Assistant Director -- Eric Stacey, Best Director -- William A. Wellman, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Alan Campbell, Robert Carson and Dorothy Parker, and Best Picture

The film also received an Honorary Award for W. Howard Greene for the color photography of A Star Is Born (plaque). This award was recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year.

The Oscar® that Janet Gaynor receives in the film is her own Oscar, which she won for her role in Seventh Heaven (1927).


11:45pm -- All About Eve (1950)
An ambitious young actress tries to take over a star's career and love life.
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
BW-138 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars® for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Sanders, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head and Charles Le Maire, Best Director -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Best Sound Recording, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Baxter, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Celeste Holm. Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Thelma Ritter, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis, Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Milton R. Krasner, Best Film Editing -- Barbara McLean, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alfred Newman

Co-star Celeste Holm spoke about her experience with Bette Davis on the first day of shooting: "I walked onto the set . . . on the first day and said, 'Good morning,' and do you know her reply? She said, 'Oh shit, good manners.' I never spoke to her again--ever."


2:15am -- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
A failed screenwriter falls into a mercenary romance with a faded silent-film star.
Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Dir: Billy Wilder
BW-110 mins, TV-PG

Won Oscars® for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hans Dreier, John Meehan, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Franz Waxman, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D. M. Marshman Jr.

Nominated for Oscars® for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- William Holden, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Erich von Stroheim, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Gloria Swanson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Nancy Olson, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Film Editing -- Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison, and Best Picture

The Desmond mansion had been built by a William Jenkins in 1924 at a cost of $250,000. Its second owner was Jean Paul Getty, who purchased it for his second wife. Mrs. Getty divorced her millionaire husband and received custody of the house; it was she who rented it to Paramount for the filming. The "fee" for renting the Getty mansion was for Paramount to build the swimming pool, which features so memorably in the film.


4:15am -- The Producers (1968)
A Broadway producer decides to get rich by creating the biggest flop of his career.
Cast: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars
Dir: Mel Brooks
C-90 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar® for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Mel Brooks

Nominated for an Oscar® for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Wilder

Dustin Hoffman was set to play Franz Liebkind (author of Springtime For Hitler), but declined when he got the part of Benjamin in The Graduate (1967). Brooks only allowed Hoffman the chance to go off to the audition for the film because his wife (Anne Bancroft) was in it, and Brooks was familiar enough with the role of Benjamin to know Hoffman was utterly wrong for it (as written) and would never be cast.

[Staph]

1. 42nd Street (1933)

Hollywood conjures New York City to wonderful effect in 42nd Street (1933), which has been called "the virtual debut of the screen musical as a viable force in Hollywood." On huge sets constructed at the Warner Bros. studios, director Lloyd Bacon and choreographer Busby Berkeley create their own stylized Manhattan, epitomized by the production number built around the title song. Emerging star Ruby Keeler appears in close-up as she performs a dance routine, and as the camera pulls back she is discovered to be tapping atop a taxi at the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street. The surrounding skyline suddenly begins to move, as we realize that it is a series of buildings painted on boards held by Berkeley's celebrated dancing girls.

Berkeley, who also designed many of the sets used in his numbers, brought a scale to the movie musical that was truly gargantuan, involving hundreds of dancers moving in unison with all manner of props through fantastic environments. In one number for 42nd Street he created three enormous cylindrical turntables, each higher than the next, that spun in opposite directions as an army of chorus girls tapped on the discs.

42nd Street, which follows a Broadway musical from casting call to opening night, became a landmark film that turned the tide for the movie musical. At the time, the genre had slipped in popularity due to overexposure after numerous attempts to duplicate the success of MGM's Oscar-winning The Broadway Melody (1929). But 42nd Street, which won an Oscar nomination as Best Picture, helped Warner Bros. emerge as a major force in film production and established Berkeley as the "mad genius" of musical production numbers. "A lot of people used to believe I was crazy," Berkeley would later admit. "But I can truthfully say one thing: I gave 'em a show!"

Keeler (then Mrs. Al Jolson and making her film debut) plays Peggy, the starry-eyed chorus girl who replaces leading lady Bebe Daniels in the Broadway musical Pretty Lady. The show's director, Warner Baxter, famously tells her that "You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" In another star-making turn, Dick Powell is Peggy's leading man - a role he would fill for Keeler in several other musicals. 42nd Street was also an important movie in the career of the young Ginger Rogers, who plays a chorus girl named "Anytime Annie," of whom it was said, "She only said 'No' once, and that was when she didn't hear the question."

Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck, Hal B. Wallis (associate, uncredited)
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Screenplay: Rian James, James Seymour, Whitney Bolton (uncredited), from novel by Bradford Ropes
Cinematography: Sol Polito
Original Music: Harry Warren
Art Direction: Jack Okey
Editing: Thomas Pratt, Frank Ware
Costume Design: Orry-Kelly
Principal Cast: Warner Baxter (Julian Marsh), Bebe Daniels (Dorothy Brock), George Brent (Pat Denning), Ruby Keeler (Peggy Sawyer), Guy Kibbee (Abner Dillon), Una Merkel (Lorraine Fleming), Ginger Rogers (Ann Lowell), Ned Sparks (Thomas Barry), Dick Powell (Billy Lawler).
BW-90m. Closed captioning.

by Roger Fristoe

[Matilda]

2. Pre-Hayes Code?

"She only said 'no' once, and that was when she didn't hear the question."

I adore lines like that.

[lavenderdiva]

3. yet another great post!

I love reading all the background and interesting tidbits that you share with us! Thank you! :hi: