TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 26 -- Star of the Month - Esther Williams

[Staph]

Happy birthday, John Wayne, born on this day in 1907, in Winterset, Iowa. I don't like his politics, but I've had a soft spot for his movies (especially the early ones in the 1930s and 1940s) for a long time. TCM finishes up the evening with the spotlight on Star of the Month Esther Williams. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Reunion in France (1942)
A Frenchwoman tries to help a downed U.S. flyer escape the Nazis.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Philip Dorn.
104 min, TV-PG, CC

Originally scheduled as a February 1943 release under the name "Reunion", the movie was moved up to a Christmas 1942 release with the final title because of the increased interest in the war in France. Most trade papers reviewed the film with the title "Reunion" due to early press previews, and the copyright registry bears that title also.


8:00 AM -- Without Reservations (1946)
A woman writer falls for a war hero who's a perfect match for the hero of her latest novel.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Don DeFore.
101 min, TV-PG, CC

The opening shot shows "Arrowhead" Pictures motion picture studio. This is the actual RKO Pictures Studio Building at 780 Gower Street in Hollywood, retouched with "Arrowhead" replacing the RKO signs on the building. It remains a historic structure on the corner to this day.


9:43 AM -- Nostradamus IV (1944)
The focus of this short is on the "Fossan" Quatrain, in which Nostradamus foresees the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler.
Narrator: Carey wilson
Dir: Paul Burnford, Cy Endfield
11 min


10:00 AM -- Trouble Along the Way (1953)
A famous football coach uses underhanded means to turn a bankrupt college's team into winners.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: John Wayne, Donna Reed, Charles Coburn.
110 min, TV-PG, CC

James Dean has an uncredited part as a Football Spectator in this film.


12:00 PM -- Allegheny Uprising (1939)
Colonial settlers fight the corrupt British in the days before the American Revolution.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, George Sanders.
81 min, TV-G, CC

Filmed in part at Lake Sherwood, California.


1:30 PM -- The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Biography of Frank "Spig" Wead, the pioneer aviator who turned to writing after being grounded by an accident.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara.
C-110 min, TV-PG, CC

There is a scene in the movie where we see the director, played by Ward Bond, looking at a clip of a film written by the main character. The clip is from the film Hell Divers (1931), which was actually written by Frank Wead. In the same scene, Bond asks one of the producers "How'd you like that kid with Beery" (Wallace Beery), the producer says "Great. Sign him up." The actor they are talking about is Clark Gable.


3:30 PM -- Big Jake (1971)
A rancher leads the posse out to recover his kidnapped grandson.
Dir: George Sherman
Cast: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Patrick Wayne.
C-110 min, TV-14, CC

This was to be the final film in which John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara would work together; they had previously collaborated in Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), The Wings of Eagles (1957), and McLintock! (1963).


5:30 PM -- McLintock! (1963)
A cattle baron fights to tame the West and his estranged wife.
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne.
C-127 min, TV-PG, CC

The "mudhole" in which the famous brawl took place wasn't actually made of mud. It was made of a material called bentonite, which is used in the drilling of oil wells and has the consistency of chocolate syrup. According to actor Leo Gordon (the first one to be knocked down it), that scene took a week to shoot.


7:38 PM -- The Movie Makers - Wild Rover's Featurette (1971)
C-12 min



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ESTHER WILLIAMS



8:00 PM -- The Unguarded Moment (1956)
When a high-school teacher is attacked, evidence implicates a troubled student.
Dir: Harry Keller
Cast: Esther Williams, George Nader, Edward Andrews.
C-95 min, TV-PG

Also known as The Gentle Web.


9:40 PM -- Andy Hardy's Dilemma (1938)
Judge Hardy teaches his son Andy a lesson about charity while used-car shopping.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone,
18 min, TV-G

Full name -- Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things


10:00 PM -- Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
A new college student lets romance get in the way of his studies.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker.
92 min, TV-G, CC

First full length movie of Esther Williams, and thirteenth of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.


11:45 PM -- A Guy Named Joe (1943)
A downed World War II pilot becomes the guardian angel for his successor in love and war.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson.
120 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- David Boehm and Chandler Sprague

There was no way to composite Spencer Tracy's image into the scenes where Van Johnson is flying, so he actually had to be standing behind Johnson and, later, Irene Dunne for the filming of these scenes. The same approach was used for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) (techniques for superimposing one image onto another were not invented until much later).


2:00 AM -- The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
After finding religion, a cynical newspaperman tries to help young hoods.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: William Powell, Esther Williams, Angela Lansbury.
92 min, TV-PG, CC

Angela Lansbury, who could sing, resented that in this and her other MGM films the studio insisted on giving her a voice double. Years later she had stage hits on Broadway in two singing roles, "Mame" and "Sweeney Todd."


3:36 AM -- Inflation (1943)
The Devil receives a telephone call from Adolf Hitler, who asks for the Devil's help in the war effort.
Dir: Cy Endfield
Cast: Edward Arnold, Esther Williams,
17 min

Debut of Esther Williams.


4:00 AM -- Callaway Went Thataway (1951)
A real cowboy signs on to impersonate a faded western star for public appearances.
Dir: Norman Panama
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel.
82 min, TV-G, CC

Filmed in part at the Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, California. Other films that used the same location -- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Shane (1953), and Stagecoach (1939).


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #33 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon introduces Part Two of "The Pirate" and a clip from "Gaby."
26 min, TV-G