TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 17 -- Primetime Feature -- Christmas Classics

[Staph]

Today we're celebrating the 115th birthday of writer/director/producer/actor David Butler . He was a survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which happened when he was 11 years old. He said the quake shook the city so violently and for so long that he remembered his father saying, "I think this is the end. Get down and pray". He and his family escaped uninjured.

Then this evening, we've got more Christmas Classics, including one of my favorites, Barbara Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut. Enjoy!


4:15am -- Road to Bali (1952)
Two song-and-dance men on the run dive for treasure while competing for a beautiful princess.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Murvyn Vye
Dir: Hal Walker
C-91 mins, TV-G

This was the only "Road" picture of the seven to be photographed in Technicolor. Ten years later, the British-made "Hong Kong" finale would revert to black and white.


6:00am -- MGM Parade Show #15 (1955)
George Murphy hosts a special Christmas show featuring Judy Garland performing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in a clip from "Meet Me in St. Louis."
Archive footage: Judy Garland, Gene Lockhart, Reginald Owen
BW-26 mins, TV-G

Upon George Murphy's election to the Senate, singer/satirist Tom Lehrer good-naturedly saluted him in the song "George Murphy" as "at last we've got a senator who can really sing and dance." Lehrer went on to say that "we can't expect America to win against its foes without someone in the Senate who can really tap his toes." If Murphy had any thoughts on this joking tribute, they weren't recorded for posterity.


6:30am -- Have A Heart (1934)
A street vendor tries to help a dancing teacher who's lost the use of her legs.
Cast: Jean Parker, James Dunn, Una Merkel, Stuart Erwin
Dir: David Butler
BW-80 mins, TV-G

In an interview by writer Marcia Borie in 1972, Jean Parker admitted that at age 16 she invented her real last name and birthplace to make herself more interesting. The truth is she was born in Butte, Montana, not Deer Lodge, which to her sounded more romantic. She also changed her real name, Luis Stephanie Zalinska (she was of Polish-French descent), to Lois Mae Green. Child star Mitzi Green was the Broadway rage at the time so she adopted her last name, changed the Mitzi to Mae and inverted a vowel in her first name to Lois.


8:00am -- That's Right--You're Wrong (1940)
A band leader has to overcome a film studio head's hatred to make it on the big screen.
Cast: Kay Kyser, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Lucille Ball
Dir: David Butler
BW-94 mins, TV-G

This movie provides a rare opportunity to see three of the most influential Hollywood columnists active at the time. Sheilah Graham, Hedda Hopper and Jimmy Starr all appear as themselves in the press conference / party scene at the house.


9:50am -- One Reel Wonders: Personalities (1942)
A 1942 short extolling the virtues of MGM stars of the day.
Narrator: Frank Whitbeck
BW-9 mins

From the up and coming Mickey Rooney, who went on to a long career, to Susan Peters, who met a tragic end just a few years after this was made.


10:00am -- Playmates (1941)
A bandleader enlists a down-on-his-luck actor to teach him Shakespeare.
Cast: Kay Kyser, John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms
Dir: David Butler
BW-95 mins, TV-G

This film contains the only screen footage of John Barrymore reciting Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy.


11:50am -- One Reel Wonders: Let's Sing A Song About The Moonlight (1948)
This short is one of the "Memories From Melody Lane" series that features the Music Makers.
Narrator: Art Gilmore
Dir: Jack Scholl
BW-9 mins

Features four "moon" songs, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Moonlight Bay, In the Evening By the Moonlight, and Shine On, Harvest Moon.


12:00pm -- Shine On Harvest Moon (1944)
Song-filled look behind the scenes of vaudeville, based on the lives of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Irene Manning
Dir: David Butler
C-112 mins, TV-G

Film debut of Merv Griffin.


2:00pm -- San Antonio (1945)
A reformed rustler tracks down a band of cattle thieves and tries to reform a crooked dance-hall girl.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Victor Francen
Dir: David Butler
C-109 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Ted Smith and Jack McConaghy, and Best Music, Original Song -- Ray Heindorf (music), M.K. Jerome (music) and Ted Koehler (lyrics) for the song "Some Sunday Morning"

Because of his befuddled amiability on-screen, his trademark jowls and comical exasperation, S. Z. Sakall was nicknamed "Cuddles" and was often billed that way.


4:00pm -- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Seven American gunmen hire themselves out to protect a Mexican village from bandits.
Cast: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson
Dir: John Sturges
C-128 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Elmer Bernstein

Steve McQueen wanted to act in this film but couldn't at first because the schedule of his TV series, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958), wouldn't allow it. He crashed a car and while he was "out sick", he shot this film.


6:15pm -- The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
A retired gunman fights to save a group of kidnapped women from the man who raped and murdered his wife.
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Stefanie Powers, Michael Callan, Mariette Hartley
Dir: George McCowan
C-100 mins, TV-PG

The last in the original series of four "Magnificent Seven" movies.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: CHRISTMAS CLASSICS


8:00pm -- Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
A homemaking specialist who can't boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner
Dir: Peter Godfrey
BW-102 mins, TV-G

The Connecticut home is the same set used in Bringing Up Baby (1938),


9:46pm -- One Reel Wonders: Let's Talk Turkey (1939)
It's turkey 101 in this Pete Smith Specialty showing the do's and don'ts of turkey carving.
Cast: Pete Smith, Max O. Cullen
Dir: Felix E. Feist
BW-10 mins

Max O. Cullen, meat cutter and carver extraordinaire was a staff member of the National Live Stock & Meat Board for 34 years. Max is best remembered for his flawless cutting demonstrations in a tuxedo and was influential in devising creative methods for meat cutting, cooking and carving.


10:00pm -- Holiday Affair (1950)
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert
Dir: Don Hartman
BW-87 mins, TV-G

Remade as a TV movie in 1996, with David James Elliot (JAG) and Cynthia Gibb (Fame (the television series)) in the Mitchum and Leigh roles.


11:30pm -- Never Say Goodbye (1946)
A husband tries to win back his wife before she can divorce him.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson, S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall
Dir: James V. Kern
BW-94 mins, TV-PG

When Errol Flynn dons a disguise as Humphrey Bogart, it's Bogart himself who's doing the voice-over.


1:08am -- One Reel Wonders: Star In The Night (1945)
A modern version of the Christmas story.
Cast: J. Carrol Naish, Rosina Galli, Anthony Caruso
Dir: Don Siegel
BW-22 mins

Won an Oscar as Best Short Subject, Two-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead

Tony Caruso, the Joseph character in this short, made more than 240 appearances in films and television. I best remember him as the mob boss in the original Star Trek episode A Piece of the Action (1968).


1:30am -- Period Of Adjustment (1962)
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is disrupted by their friends' marital problems.
Cast: Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton, Lois Nettleton
Dir: George Roy Hill
BW-112 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Edward C. Carfagno, Henry Grace and Richard Pefferle

The original Broadway production of "Period of Adjustment" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on November 10, 1960 and ran for 132 performances. It starred James Daly, Barbara Baxley and Robert Webber in the Franciosa/Fonda/Hutton roles.


3:30am -- Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
A ghost tries to smooth the way for two young lovers he knew during his lifetime.
Cast: Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Alex Melesh
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
BW-84 mins, TV-G

Features many Christmas carols, sung by Richard Carlson.


5:00am -- Short Film: Now Playing December (2009)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
BW-25 mins

[Staph]

1. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan star in Christmas in Connecticut (1945), a romantic comedy set during the holidays at wartime. Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a columnist for "Smart Housekeeping," THE magazine for aspiring homemakers. Every month she details her domestic triumphs from the idyllic setting of her farm in Connecticut. Touted as the "greatest cook in the country," she seems to have it all - a beautiful home, a happy husband, an adorable baby and of course, plenty of livestock. Elizabeth Lane is a role model to millions of readers who turn to her every month for guidance and inspiration.

One such reader is wartime hero, Jefferson Jones, played by Morgan. Lost at sea for many days without food, he dreams of elaborate meals such as those described in Lane's column. As a promotional stunt for the magazine, the publisher arranges for Jones to spend the holidays at Lane's farm. Sydney Greenstreet, more commonly associated with films noir than light comedies, plays the role of publishing magnate, Alexander Yardley. Yardley is so enthused with the idea of a war hero coming "home" for the holidays that he decides to join the festivities on the farm. The only hitch is that there is no actual farm, house, husband, child or livestock, for that matter. All of the material in Lane's monthly column comes from one place - her imagination. And of course, it is this same source that she must draw upon in order to continue the elaborate charade without losing her job.

Best known as a serious actress - Stanwyck's most notable role was in Double Indemnity (1944) for which she received an Oscar nomination. Early in her career she alternated between dramatic and comedic roles. Apparently, Stanwyck preferred to take on lighter roles in an effort to unwind after working on a serious film.

Director Peter Godfrey, who got his start in productions on the London stage, had only been in Hollywood six years when he began work on the film. It was the first of three in which he directed Stanwyck-the others Cry Wolf (1947) and The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) dealt with weightier matters than the first. The two became close friends after their collaboration on these films. In fact, Godfrey was close to many of the cast members on this particular film. He and Sydney Greenstreet, another veteran from the London theatre, were as successful off-screen in their comedic talents as on-screen. The pair was notorious for keeping both cast and crew doubled over in laughter with their witty spoofs. The chemistry among all involved paid off. Christmas in Connecticut was well received at the time of its release and remains a treasured holiday classic today.

Director: Peter Godfrey
Producer: William Jacobs
Screenplay: Aileen Hamilton (story), Lionel Houser, Adele Comandini
Cinematography: Carl E. Guthrie
Editor: Frank Magee
Art Direction: Stanley Fleischer
Music: Adolph Deutsch (uncredited), Frederick Hollander
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck (Elizabeth Lane), Dennis Morgan (Jefferson Jones), Sydney Greenstreet (Alexander Yardley), Reginald Gardiner (John Sloan), S.Z. Sakall (Feliz Bassenak).
BW-102m. Close captioning.

by Mary Anne Melear