TCM Schedule for Friday, October 2 -- TCM Primetime Feature -- Thrillers

[Staph]

Happy birthday, Groucho Marx (and Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding and Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff and Rufus T. Firefly and Otis B. Driftwood and Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush)! Julius Henry Marx was born 119 years ago today on the Upper East Side of Manhatten. To celebrate, we've got five Marx Brothers films and a couple others starring Groucho alone.

One of my favorite Groucho stories -- in the 1950s Groucho was invited to take a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. While in the observation booth, he grabbed the public address system handset and began singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady". Upon hearing silence coming from the trading floor, he walked into view, was given a loud cheer by the traders, and shouted, "Gentlemen, in 1929 I lost eight hundred thousand dollars on this floor, and I intend to get my money's worth!" For fifteen minutes, he sang, danced, told jokes, and all this time, the Wall Street stock ticker was running blank.

Some of my favorite Groucho quotes:

• I do not care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
  
• Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
  
• While shooting elephants in Africa, I found the tusks very difficult to remove. But in Alabama, the Tuscaloosa...
  
• You're only as young as the woman you feel.
  
• Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
  
• I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
  
• In America you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and kid the people.
  
• Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.
  
• Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?
  
• (on Margaret Dumont) She was a wonderful woman. She was the same off the stage as she was on it -- always the stuffy, dignified matron. And the funny thing about her was she never understood the jokes. At the end of Duck Soup (1933) Margaret says to me, "What are you doing. Rufus?". And I say, "I am fighting for your honor, which is more than you ever did." Later she asked me what I meant by that.
  

A couple of great Hitchcock thrillers tonight as well... Enjoy!


6:00am -- A Night at the Opera (1935)
Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protege's romance with the leading lady.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle
Dir: Sam Wood
BW-91 mins, TV-G

Producer Irving Thalberg would often call people in for meetings, and then keep them waiting in his office for hours while he attended other meetings on the MGM lot. One day, during pre-production for A Night at the Opera (1935), Thalberg kept the Marx Brothers waiting for several hours in his secretary's office, while he was in his own office making phone calls. When Thalberg's secretary went home for the day, the brothers decided they'd had enough. They pushed the office file cabinets against Thalberg's door, trapping the producer in his office. Afterwards, Thalberg kept his appointments with the Marx Brothers, but would often interrupt his meetings with them and step out to attend other meetings - again keeping the brothers waiting for hours. One day, Thalberg came back from another meeting to find Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, and Harpo Marx sitting in his office completely naked, and roasting potatoes on sticks in his office fireplace. Thalberg sat down with them, had a potato, and never missed or interrupted another meeting with the Marx Brothers.


7:32am -- Short Film: The Opry House (1929)
The Mound City Blue Blowers and Doris Walker perform popular songs of the day.
Cast: Lew Hearn, Doris Walker, Emma Perkins
Dir: Murray Roth
BW-9 mins

Song selections include "I Ain't Got Nobody Much (and Nobody Cares for Me)", "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", and "My Gal Sal".


7:45am -- A Day At The Races (1937)
A group of zanies tries to save a pretty girl's sanitarium.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Allan Jones
Dir: Sam Wood
BW-109 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Dave Gould for "All God's Children Got Rhythm".

The "Grand Steeplechase" sequence at the end had to be shot twice. Both times a crew member persuaded Chico Marx to gamble on it and not only to bet on the outcome of a rigged non-race, but to bet on a horse other than the one scripted to win. Chico, all his life an avid gambler, could offer as excuse only, "The odds were 20 to one."


9:45am -- Room Service (1938)
Three zany producers try to extend their hotel credit until they can get a play mounted.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Lucille Ball
Dir: William A. Seiter
BW-79 mins, TV-G

This is the only film that the Brothers made at R-K-O studios. During salary negotiations with R-K-O, erstwhile member Zeppo Marx represented his brothers, threatening to rejoin the group if their demands weren't met!


11:15am -- Go West (1940)
Three zanies tackle outlaws and Indians when they head westward.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, John Carroll
Dir: Edward Buzzell
BW-80 mins, TV-PG

The name of Groucho Marx's character, "S. Quentin Quayle", caused a stir when the film was first released due to the subtle but clear joke: the use of the term "San Quentin quail", which means "jail bait".


12:45pm -- A Night In Casablanca (1946)
A hotel manager in postwar Casablanca tackles renegade Nazis.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Charles Drake
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
BW-85 mins, TV-G

A Hollywood legend claims that Warner Brothers, makers of Casablanca (1942), threatened to sue the Marx Brothers for using the word "Casablanca" in the title. Groucho Marx wrote a letter to Warner Brothers in which he threatened to sue them for using the word "Brothers": "Professionally, we were brothers before they ever were." However, film critic Richard Roeper claims (correctly) that the story is fake. In fact, Warner Brothers never threatened to sue, but merely inquired about the story of the Marx Brothers' film, to make sure there was no copyright infringement. Groucho used the inquiry as an excuse for a publicity stunt. He wrote a series of comic letters to Warner Brothers (in which he told the studio, "Professionally, we were brothers before you ever were.") The letters were published in "The Saturday Evening Post" to publicize the movie.


2:15pm -- Double Dynamite (1951)
A bank teller reaps the rewards of saving a gangster's life, but can't reveal where he got the money.
Cast: Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Don McGuire
Dir: Irving Cummings
BW-81 mins, TV-G

Frank Sinatra was originally supposed to receive top billing in the film, but was reduced to third at the insistence of producer Howard Hughes.


3:45pm -- A Girl In Every Port (1952)
Two sailors invest in a racehorse.
Cast: Groucho Marx, Marie Wilson, William Bendix, Don DeFore
Dir: Chester Erskine
BW-87 mins, TV-G

Based on the short story They Sell Sailors Elephants by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan.


5:15pm -- Dangerous Mission (1954)
A woman flees westward after witnessing a mob killing.
Cast: Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, William Bendix, Vincent Price
Dir: Louis King
C-75 mins, TV-G

Filmed in part at Glacier National Park in Montana.


6:30pm -- The Young and the Brave (1963)
Three American POWs fight to escape from North Korea.
Cast: Rory Calhoun, William Bendix, Richard Jaeckel, Manuel Padilla
Dir: Francis D. Lyon
BW-84 mins, TV-PG

In 1955, Rory Calhoun's agent, Henry Willson, disclosed information about Calhoun's years in prison to Confidential magazine in exchange for the tabloid not printing an exposé about the secret homosexual life of Rock Hudson, another Willson client. The disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his bad boy image.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: THRILLERS


8:00pm -- TCM's Night at the Movies: Thrillers (2009)
A look at thrillers from all sides, including different types of thrillers and the stylistic tools filmmakers use to give their audiences a shot of adrenaline.
Cast: Robert Osborne, Ken Follett, Bryan Singer, Kenneth Branaugh
Dir: Laurent Bouzereau

Turner Classic Movies is launching a new series of one-hour specials that will provide a Film Studies 101 look at top cinematic genres. Future installments of A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will include a look at other genres, including a December special on epic cinema. The specials come to TCM from DreamWorks Television, with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (Las Vegas, TNT’s Into the West) serving as executive producers.


9:00pm -- Rear Window (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
C-114 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Burks, Best Director -- Alfred Hitchcock, Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount), and Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Michael Hayes

Ross Bagdasarian, who plays the songwriter seen in one of the windows with Hitchcock, later became better known as David Seville, a novelty recording artist. In the late 1950s he popularized the fad of speeding up voices recorded at lower speeds and using them as characters in his recordings such as "Witch Doctor" (#1 US Pop) , "The Chipmunk Song" and "Alvin's Harmonica". He also supplied the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore in the cartoon series The Alvin Show (1961).


11:00pm -- TCM's Night at the Movies: Thrillers (2009)
A look at thrillers from all sides, including different types of thrillers and the stylistic tools filmmakers use to give their audiences a shot of adrenaline.
Cast: Robert Osborne, Ken Follett, Bryan Singer, Kenneth Branaugh
Dir: Laurent Bouzereau

Turner Classic Movies is launching a new series of one-hour specials that will provide a Film Studies 101 look at top cinematic genres. Future installments of A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES will include a look at other genres, including a December special on epic cinema. The specials come to TCM from DreamWorks Television, with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (Las Vegas, TNT’s Into the West) serving as executive producers.


12:00am -- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
A young girl fears her favorite uncle may be a killer.
Cast: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, MacDonald Carey, Henry Travers
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
BW-108 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Gordon McDonell

"Shadow of a Doubt" was the script title but was listed as only a "temporary title" until a better title could be found.


2:00am -- Shack Out on 101 (1955)
A greasy spoon diner provides a base for a spy smuggling nuclear secrets.
Cast: Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Keenan Wynn, Lee Marvin
Dir: Edward Dein
BW-80 mins, TV-PG

Title was supposed to be "Shack Up on 101", but star Terry Moore objected on the grounds that it was too suggestive.


3:30am -- The Wild Party (1956)
A former pro-football player falls on hard times.
Cast: Anthony Quinn, Carol Ohmart, Arthur Franz, Jay Robinson
Dir: Harry Horner
BW-82 mins, TV-PG

In the role of a teen-aged girl in this film is Kathryn Grant, who later married Bing Crosby. Her daughter Mary Crosby went on to murder J.R. Ewing in 1980 in the television series Dallas, playing the character Kristen Shephard.


5:15am -- Perversion For Profit (1965)
This anti-porn documentary shows a floodtide of filth engulfing the country in the form of newsstand obscenity
Cast: George Putnam narrates.
BW-31 mins, TV-MA

Closing words from the film -- "This same type of rot and decay caused sixteen of the nineteen major civilizations to vanish from the Earth. Magnificent Egypt, classical Greece, imperial Rome, all crumbled away not because of the strength of the aggressor, but because of moral decay from within. But we are in a unique position to cure our own ills: our Constitution was written by men who put their trust in God and founded a government based in His laws. These laws are on our side. We have a constitutional guarantee of protection against obscenity. And, in this day especially, we must seek to deliver ourselves from this twisting, torturing evil. We must save our nation from decay and deliver our children from the horrors of perversion. We must make our land, 'the land of the free', a safe home. O God, deliver us, Americans, from evil." Sounds like Glenn Beck!

[Staph]

1. A Night at the Opera

Con man and "promoter" Otis B. Driftwood is trying to woo the wealthy Mrs. Claypool into investing in an opera company by promising to secure her entry into high society. The stars of the Milan-based company are the vain, mean-spirited Rodolfo and the sweet, talented Rosa. Rosa is in love with the tenor Riccardo, who has been consigned to the chorus by his rival, Rodolfo. Riccardo's agent, Fiorello, and Rodolfo's put-upon dresser, Tomasso, also become involved in Driftwood's scheme, which brings everyone together on an ocean liner bound for New York. Once in the States, Rodolfo has both Driftwood and Rosa fired from the company. They get their revenge, however, by totally devastating the company's production of Il Trovatore, kidnapping Rodolfo, and triumphantly substituting Rosa and Riccardo in the leads.

A Night at the Opera was the first Marx Brothers film without Zeppo. Feeling his talent was being wasted playing the bland straight man in their first five movies, he left the group shortly after the debacle of Duck Soup (1933). When Groucho, Harpo and Chico first met with Irving Thalberg to discuss working at MGM, the producer asked if three brothers would cost less than four. "Don't be silly," Groucho shot back. "Without Zeppo we're worth twice as much."

But despite all the games and pranks the Marx Brothers were fond of playing, Kitty Carlisle said the atmosphere on the set was "deadly earnest." She recalled how Groucho would come up to her from time to time, try out a line, and ask, "Is this funny?" If she said "no," he would "go away absolutely crushed and try it out on everyone else in the cast." On the other hand, Chico, she said, was always off in a back room playing cards. And Harpo would work very diligently until about 11 a.m. and then plop himself down on the nearest piece of furniture and begin yelling, "Lunchie! Lunchie!"

While some Marx Brothers fans prefer the earlier Paramount features like Horse Feathers (1932) to the MGM features they made, the majority opinion is that A Night at the Opera is their finest film. Here are some of the most famous Marx Brothers scenes: 15 people crowding into Groucho's tiny shipboard stateroom; Groucho ordering two hardboiled eggs from the ship steward, changing it to three each time Harpo honks his horn; Groucho and Chico agreeing on the terms of Riccardo's contract by tearing away all disputed passages until they're left with only a scrap of paper. And despite MGM's introduction of a "kinder, gentler" Marx Brothers, A Night at the Opera still contains many elements of their trademark zany, anarchic humor: Chico, Harpo and Allen Jones disguising themselves as rather strange and inexplicably bearded aviator heroes to escape the authorities; the brothers eluding a private detective by leading him on a mad chase through a hotel suite whose furniture they keep rearranging; and, of course, Groucho's one-liners, particularly those hurled at Margaret Dumont in what is half courtship, half character assassination.

Director: Sam Wood

Producer: Irving G. Thalberg
Screenplay: George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind
Cinematographer: Merritt B. Gerstadt
Editor: William Levanway
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Original Music: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Groucho Marx (Otis B. Driftwood), Chico Marx (Fiorello), Harpo Marx (Tomasso), Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont), Rosa (Kitty Carlisle), Riccardo (Allen Jones), Rodolfo (Walter Woolf King).
BW-92m. Closed captioning. Descriptive Video.

by Rob Nixon

[CBHagman]

2. Hooray for Groucho, and they misspelled Branagh's name.

Groucho




Kenneth Branagh

[Staph]

3. Good catch on Branagh!

I missed that entirely.