TCM Schedule for Friday, December 17 -- TCM Prime Time Feature: Christmas Classics

[Staph]

The last (or first) of the Andy Hardy series for an appetizer, a day full of Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning films, and an evening of Christmas films. Enjoy!


5:45am -- You're Only Young Once (1938)
Andy Hardy and his sister find romance during a family vacation in Catalina.
Cast: Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker, Mickey Rooney, Fay Holden
Dir: George B. Seitz
BW-78 mins, TV-G

The second of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney, and the first film that Lewis Stone played Judge Hardy. Judge Hardy was played by Lionel Barrymore in the first film.


7:15am -- A Family Affair (1936)
In the first Hardy Family film, a small-town judge fights for re-election while dealing with family problems.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Cecilia Parker, Eric Linden, Mickey Rooney
Dir: George B. Seitz
BW-69 mins, TV-G

Aurania Rouverol's play, "Skidding," opened in New York on 21 May 1928.


8:30am -- Now Playing January (2011)


9:00am -- Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)
A married violinist deserts his family when he falls for his accompanist.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best, John Halliday
Dir: Gregory Ratoff
BW-70 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gregg Toland, and Best Music, Scoring -- Louis Forbes

When Selznick fired the cinematographer Harry Stradling Sr. and hired the great Gregg Toland to take over the photography of Selznick's remake of the 1936 Swedish version of "Intermezzo", he asked Toland how it was possible that Bergman looked so beautiful in the original European production and so ghastly in his Hollywood version. Toland replied, "In Sweden they don't make her wear all that makeup." Selznick immediately ordered retakes with the "natural look" which so dazzled the world a year later when he loaned her out to Warner Bros. for their production "Casablanca".


10:15am -- Duel In The Sun (1946)
A fiery half-breed comes between a rancher's good and evil sons.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore
Dir: King Vidor
C-144 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jennifer Jones, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lillian Gish

David O. Selznick had originally intended this property as his artistic follow-up to Gone with the Wind (1939). He envisioned a lavish production with no expense spared, and ultimately he got his wish. Constant production delays, many caused by Selznick's meddling and the hiring and firing of as many as seven directors (including Selznick himself), as well as an extended editing period to cut the film from its original 26-hour running time, caused the budget to balloon to a then-horrifying sum of $6 million, plus an additional $2 million in marketing costs. Though the film eventually did turn a profit, it effectively marked the end of Sleznick's career. However, he went on to produce prestige films such as The Paradine Case (1947), Portrait of Jennie (1948), The Third Man (1949) and A Farewell to Arms (1957).


12:45pm -- Road to Morocco (1942)
Two castaways get mixed up in an Arabian nightmare when they're caught between a bandit chief and a beautiful princess.
Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn
Dir: David Butler
BW-82 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD), and Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Frank Butler and Don Hartman

The scene where the camel spits in Turkey's (Bob Hope's) face wasn't planned. The camel did it of its own accord while the cameras were rolling, and Hope's recoil and Bing Crosby's reaction were so funny that it was left in the final cut of the film.


2:15pm -- Tea For Two (1950)
An heiress has to say no to every question for 24 hours if she wants to star on Broadway.
Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, Eve Arden
Dir: David Butler
C-98 mins, TV-PG

On the DVD release and Turner Classic Movies showings, beneath the credit "Screen Play by Harry Clork" the credit for the play "No, No, Nanette" and its writers as source material is obscured by a reddish-brown smudge. Furthermore, lyricist Irving Caesar was omitted.


4:00pm -- By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
A small-town girl's love life goes ballistic when her sweetheart returns from World War I.
Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp
Dir: David Butler
C-102 mins, TV-PG

This film departs from "On Moonlight Bay" in three main ways. First, the film opens with Stella breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience directly as she introduces the Winfield family. Second, the song and dance numbers are played like a traditional musical, while the original film incorporated the songs more organically within the story. Finally, the bespectacled music teacher, although the same basic character with the same mannerisms, has a different name and is played by a different actor, the only member of the cast who did not carry over from the original film.


5:45pm -- The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
A college dropout has no choice but to go into the Army.
Cast: Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Jesse Royce Landis, Jim Backus
Dir: David Butler
BW-103 mins, TV-G

Lots of future big names in small roles -- James Garner, Alan King, David Janssen, and Jim Backus.


7:30pm -- 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."
BW-26 mins, TV-G


8:00pm -- 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

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 18, 1950 with Robert Mitchum reprising his film role.


9:30pm -- In The Good Old Summertime (1949)
In this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner, feuding co-workers in a small music shop do not realize they are secret romantic pen pals.
Cast: Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Spring Byington
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
C-103 mins, TV-PG

Buster Keaton was working as a gag writer at MGM when this movie was made. The filmmakers approached him to devise a way for a violin to get broken that would be both comic and plausible. Keaton came up with an appropriate fall, and the filmmakers then realized he was the only one who would be able to execute it properly, so they cast him in the film. Keaton also devised the sequence in which Van Johnson inadvertently wrecks Judy Garland's hat, and coached Johnson intensively in how to perform the scene. This was the first MGM film Keaton appeared in since being fired from the studio in 1933.


11:17pm -- One Reel Wonders: Silent Night: Judy Garland (1937)
Judy Garland sings "Silent Night, Holy Night", accompanied by the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers of Long Beach, California.
BW-2 mins

Judy Garland was only 15 when this short was filmed.


11:30pm -- Little Women (1949)
The four daughters of a New England family fight for happiness during and after the Civil War.
Cast: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
C-122 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis and Jack D. Moore

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert H. Planck and Charles Edgar Schoenbaum

The basket that Margaret O'Brien carries around in this movie is the same basket that Judy Garland carried in The Wizard of Oz (1939).


1:36am -- One Reel Wonders: L.B. Mayer Ceremonies (1950)
Louis B. Mayer accepts an award for his contribution to the motion picture industry. This MGM promotional short highlights some of the more spectacular works that MGM has produced under Mayer's leadership.
BW-15 mins

Louis B. Mayer was so feared by his employees that, when told that there was a large turnout at Mayer's funeral, Red Skelton was said to have remarked, "See, it just goes to show you that if you give people what they want, they'll show up for it".


2:00am -- Black Christmas (1974)
A deranged killer terrorizes the women staying in a sorority house over Christmas.
Cast: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin
Dir: Bob Clark
C-98 mins

Around 1986, Olivia Hussey met producers for the film Roxanne (1987), who were interested in casting her for the title role, co-star Steve Martin met her and said "Oh my God Olivia, you were in one of my all time favorite films", thinking it was her classical performance in the phenomenal Romeo and Juliet (1968/I), Olivia was surprised to find out it was indeed Black Christmas (1974), Martin claimed he had seen it over 20 times.


3:45am -- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Martians kidnap Santa Claus to cheer up their children.
Cast: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck, Victor Stiles
Dir: Nicholas Webster
C-81 mins, TV-PG

This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE, and is one of the films included in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and how they got that way)" by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell. The film found new "popularity" following its appearance on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988).


5:15am -- Short Film: Visit to Santa (1963)
Two children dreaming of Christmas visit Santa at the North Pole.
Dir: Clem Williams
BW-12 mins


5:30am -- Short Film: Delicious Dishes (1950)
Experts demonstrate such innovative kitchen gadgets as the cheese slicer and the melon baller.
BW-13 mins


5:45am -- Short Film: Holiday From Rules (1959)
In this educational film, a group of young children understand why rules are important.
BW-11 mins, TV-G