TCM Schedule for Tuesday, December 22nd: TCM Prime Time Feature: The Same, but Different

[CBHagman]

Pygmalion and Ninotchka and their musical versions are on the agenda for tonight. :popcorn:

But if you're not in the mood for either of those, you'll find something on the schedule for your viewing pleasure. There's definitely a fair degree of variety here!

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

12:30 AM Meet John Doe (1941)
A reporter's fraudulent story turns a tramp into a national hero and makes him a pawn of big business. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-122 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS



2:45 AM Ladies of Leisure (1930)
A wealthy artist faces family pressure when he falls for a model with a past. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ralph Graves, Lowell Sherman. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-100 mins, TV-PG

4:30 AM Miracle Woman, The (1931)
A phony faith healer fights the temptation to go straight when she falls for a blind man. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, Beryl Mercer. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-90 mins, TV-PG

4:34 AM Short Film: Believe It Or Not #5 (1931)
BW-10 mins,

6:15 AM Forbidden (1932)
On an ocean voyage, a librarian falls for a married man. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Bellamy. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-85 mins, TV-G

7:45 AM Women, The (1939)
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays. Cast: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell. Dir: George Cukor. BW-133 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS



10:00 AM Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
In Russia before the revolution, a Jewish milkman tries to marry off his daughters who have plans of their own. Cast: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey. Dir: Norman Jewison. C-181 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format



1:15 PM Birdman Of Alcatraz (1962)
True story of Robert Stroud, the prison lifer who became an expert on birds. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Telly Savalas, Thelma Ritter. Dir: John Frankenheimer. BW-149 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

3:45 PM Short Film: Cavalcade Of San Francisco (1940)
C-9 mins,

4:00 PM Lilies of the Field (1963)
An itinerant handyman in the Southwest gets a new outlook on life when he helps a group of German nuns build a chapel. Cast: Sidney Poitier, Lilia Skala, Lisa Mann. Dir: Ralph Nelson. BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



5:49 PM Short Film: Seeing Hands (1943)
BW-11 mins,

6:00 PM Miracle Worker, The (1962)
True story of the determined teacher who helped Helen Keller overcome deafness and blindness to learn to communicate. Cast: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Inga Swenson. Dir: Arthur Penn. BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format, DVS

What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT

8:00 PM My Fair Lady (1964)
A phonetics instructor bets that he can pass a street urchin off as a lady. Cast: Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Stanley Holloway. Dir: George Cukor. C-172 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

11:00 PM Pygmalion (1938)
A linguistics professor bets he can turn a flower girl into a lady by teaching her to speak properly. Cast: Wendy Hiller, Leslie Howard, Wilfrid Lawson. Dir: Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard. BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC



12:40 AM Short Film: Scholastic England (1948)
In this "Traveltalk," we learn about the history of England's historic colleges and the towns that surround them. Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick C-8 mins,



1:00 AM Silk Stockings (1957)
A straitlaced Soviet agent is seduced by Paris and a high-stepping film producer. Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige. Dir: Rouben Mamoulian. C-118 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

3:00 AM Ninotchka (1939)
A coldhearted Soviet agent is warmed up by a trip to Paris and a night of love. Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire. Dir: Ernst Lubitsch. BW-111 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS



5:00 AM Divine Greta Garbo, The (1990)
Glenn Close hosts this documentary featuring film clips and rare behind-the-scenes footage that reveal how Greta Garbo's film career reflected her life. BW-46 mins, TV-G, CC

[Matilda]

1. "My Fair Lady" is one musical remake that I enjoy.

I think the casting was good, even though Audrey couldn't sing and had to be dubbed. Visually, how could you do
better? And I think she was at least as good an actress as Julie Andrews would have been.

"Silk Stockings" on the other hand ... no, I've never been able to sit through it. It turns a witty script into
something banal and clever direction into something static.

No, I'll take Lubitsch, Garbo and Douglas every time, especially with some of my favourite MGM supporting players
in tow. There's no comparison: "Ninotchka" wins hands down in my book.