TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 13 -- Star of the Month -- Peter Sellers

[Staph]

Happy birthday to Kay Francis, born on this day in 1899. We have a day of her films, followed by another evening with Star of the Month Peter Sellers. Enjoy!



4:30am -- Dramatic School (1938)
A young actress struggles to make a hit on stage and in married life.
Cast: Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard, Alan Marshall, Lana Turner
Dir: Robert B. Sinclair
BW-80 mins, TV-G

MGM had planned for Greer Garson to make her film debut in the film, but shortly before shooting began, Garson injured her back and the role was recast with Luise Rainer.


6:00am -- Guilty Hands (1931)
A district attorney tries to frame an innocent girl for the murder he committed.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans, William Bakewell
Dir: Lionel Barrymore
BW-69 mins, TV-PG

Lionel Barrymore's last work as a director. He started directing in 1913 with short silent films, and directed 15 films.


7:15am -- Jewel Robbery (1932)
A jewel thief falls for a tycoon's wife in Vienna.
Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson, Hardie Albright
Dir: William Dieterle
BW-68 mins, TV-G

Based on the Hungarian play Ekszerrablás a Váci-uccában by Ladislas Fodor.


8:30am -- One Way Passage (1932)
An ocean voyage leads to romance for a dying heiress and a condemned criminal.
Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Aline MacMahon, Frank McHugh
Dir: Tay Garnett
BW-68 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Lord

Although the character's name would change, Frank McHugh plays the same part in the remake titled 'Til We Meet Again (1940).


9:45am -- British Agent (1934)
An Englishman falls in love with a Russian spy.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, William Gargan, Phillip Reed
Dir: Michael Curtiz
BW-81 mins, TV-G

Producer Jack L. Warner wanted to send a film crew to Russia for location shots, but his request was denied.


11:15am -- The Goose And The Gander (1935)
A divorcee can't stop meddling in her ex-husband's affairs.
Cast: Kay Francis, George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, John Eldredge
Dir: Alfred E. Green
BW-66 mins, TV-G

Son of a British officer, George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan) was a minor IRA guerrilla during the Anglo-Irish War (1919-1922), and fled Ireland with a price on his head.


12:30pm -- First Lady (1937)
A U.S. president's granddaughter fights a femme fatale to groom her husband for the White House.
Cast: Kay Francis, Preston Foster, Anita Louise, Walter Connolly
Dir: Stanley Logan
BW-83 mins, TV-G

First Lady opened on Broadway on November 26, 1935, starring Jane Cowl in the role later played by Kay Francis.


2:00pm -- Stolen Holiday (1937)
A Paris fashion model marries a fortune hunter to protect him from the law.
Cast: Kay Francis, Claude Rains, Ian Hunter, Alison Skipworth
Dir: Michael Curtiz
BW-80 mins, TV-G

The movie is loosely based on the French bond scandal involving Serge Alexandre Stavisky. After the fraud was discovered he either committed suicide or was murdered by the French police.


3:30pm -- Women In The Wind (1939)
Personal conflicts flare between competitors in a women's air race.
Cast: Kay Francis, William Gargan, Victor Jory, Maxie Rosenbloom
Dir: John Farrow
BW-63 mins, TV-G

This film did well both critically and financially for Warner Brothers' B-Picture unit. In a review, "Film Daily" wrote "Mark Hellinger can take full credit for an excellently mounted, well cast and carried out production." Most of the other reviews marveled that so much had been done with so little.


4:45pm -- It's A Date (1940)
Mother-and-daughter singers vie for the same man and the same stage part.
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Kay Francis, Walter Pidgeon, Eugene Pallette
Dir: William A. Seiter
BW-104 mins, TV-G

S.Z."Cuddles" Sakall's American film debut.


6:30pm -- Play Girl (1940)
An aging gold digger takes a young woman under her wing.
Cast: Kay Francis, James Ellison, Mildred Coles, Nigel Bruce
Dir: Frank Woodruff
BW-77 mins, TV-PG

One of the feature roles is played by Nigel Bruce, who had started his run as one of the best known portrayers of Dr. John Watson. (I much prefer Martin Freeman in the BBC/Masterpiece Theatre television series Sherlock (2010), set in the 21st century. Bruce plays Watson as befuddled. Freeman plays him as intelligent and insightful -- just not as brilliant as Holmes.)


8:00pm -- Only Two Can Play (1962)
A Welsh librarian fed up with his meager, married existence meets a beautiful woman with whom he tries to consummate an affair.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Mai Zetterling, Virginia Maskell, Richard Attenborough
Dir: Sidney Gilliat
BW-106 mins, TV-PG

The South Wales town the film is set in - Aberdarcy - is a fictional one.


10:00pm -- The Millionairess (1961)
When the world's richest woman falls for an ascetic Indian doctor, they plan a test to decide whose dreams will come true.
Cast: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim, Vittorio De Sica
Dir: Anthony Asquith
C-86 mins, TV-PG

Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren recorded the novelty song "Goodness Gracious Me!" in order to promote the movie. The song became a big worldwide hit.


11:45pm -- I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968)
A henpecked L.A. lawyer escapes into the world of hippies and free love.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young, Joyce Van Patten
Dir: Hy Averback
C-94 mins, TV-14

The film's title is a tribute to Gertrude Stein's lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, who published a cookbook in 1954 that contained the first printed recipe for hash fudge. In one of the movie's most famous scene Harold Fine unknowingly serves some marijuana-laced brownies baked by Nancy to his parents and fiancée.


1:30am -- What's New, Pussycat? (1965)
A fashion editor seeks psychiatric help when he can't stop beautiful women from pursuing him.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine
Dir: Clive Donner
C-109 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (lyrics) for the song "What's New, Pussycat?"

Dr. Fassbender's line about Rita "knowing James Bond" was ad-libbed by Peter Sellers, which explains why Ursula Andress laughs out loud afterwards. Andress played Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962).


3:30am -- After The Fox (1966)
A notorious con man poses as a film director to front a major caper.
Cast: Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Britt Ekland, Martin Balsam
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
BW-103 mins, TV-PG

The man playing the great Italian director Vittorio De Sica is the real Vittorio De Sica who actually directed this movie.