TCM Schedule for Monday, June 16 -- TCM GUEST PROGRAMMER: BILL MAHER

[Longhorn]

3:45am 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

7:00am File On Thelma Jordon, The (1950)
A woman seduces a District Attorney and pulls him into a web of theft and murder.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly. Dir: Robert Siodmak. BW-100 mins, TV-PG

8:45am Murder! (1930)
A juror who had voted to convict a murder suspect tries to prove someone else did it before the execution date.
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Miles Mander. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-100 mins, TV-PG

10:30am Number Seventeen (1932)
A detective sets out to recover a necklace lifted by jewel thieves.
Cast: Leon M. Lion, Anne Grey, John Stuart. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. BW-61 mins, TV-PG

11:45am Whistling In The Dark (1941)
A radio detective is kidnapped and forced to plan the perfect murder.
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, Conrad Veidt. Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. BW-78 mins, TV-G

1:15pm Whistling In Dixie (1942)
A radio detective's southern honeymoon is cut short by the discovery of a murder.
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Rutherford, George Bancroft. Dir: S. Sylvan Simon. BW-74 mins, TV-G

2:30pm Thin Man Goes Home, The (1945)
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson. Dir: Richard Thorpe. BW-101 mins, TV-G

4:15pm Libeled Lady (1936)
When an heiress sues a newspaper, the editor hires a reporter to compromise her.
Cast: Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-98 mins, TV-G

6:00pm Teacher's Pet (1958)
A tough city editor assumes a fake identity to study journalism with a lady professor who's criticized his work.
Cast: Clark Gable, Doris Day, Gig Young. Dir: George Seaton. BW-120 mins, TV-G

What's On Tonight: TCM GUEST PROGRAMMER: BILL MAHER

8:00pm 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

11:00pm Oscar, The (1966)
An unscrupulous actor fights his way to the top, destroying everyone in his path.
Cast: Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Tony Bennett. Dir: Russell Rouse. C-119 mins, TV-PG

1:15am Where The Boys Are (1960)
College coeds go looking for love during spring break in Fort Lauderdale.
Cast: George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Connie Francis. Dir: Henry Levin. C-99 mins, TV-PG

3:00am Tootsie (1982)
An unemployed actor masquerades as a woman to win a soap-opera role.
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr. Dir: Sydney Pollack. C-116 mins, TV-MA

5:00am All-American Co-Ed (1941)
A college boy dresses as a girl to infiltrate a women's college.
Cast: Frances Langford, Johnny Downs, Harry Langdon. Dir: LeRoy Prinz. BW-49 mins, TV-G

[Longhorn]

1. File On Thelma Jordon, The (1950)

The File on Thelma Jordon (1950) was the final film noir of German émigré director Robert Siodmak, who had made his first noir, the richly atmospheric Phantom Lady (1944), on a shoestring and gone on to make such notable noirs as The Killers (1946), The Dark Mirror (1946), and Criss Cross (1949). The File on Thelma Jordon marked the only time Siodmak worked with legendary femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck, in a role that has been described as a more complex version of her Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity (1944).

As Thelma, Stanwyck complicates the life of an Assistant District Attorney (Wendell Corey) when she comes to his office late one night to complain about attempted break-ins at the home of her rich aunt. He's in a troubled marriage, and soon the two are having an affair and he's helping her cover up a murder. But unlike the more straightforwardly evil Phyllis Dietrichson, Thelma's motivations and emotions are harder to read. Does she love the hapless D.A., is she using him, or a little of both? Stanwyck, as usual, delivers an intense performance as a woman with a past who is more conflicted than wicked, and for whom it may be too late to change.

Producer Hal Wallis, who had made The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) and Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) with Stanwyck at Paramount, wanted to make another thriller with Stanwyck, and commissioned an original story by Marty Holland, from which Ketti Frings wrote the screenplay for The File on Thelma Jordon. The film was intended for director Otto Preminger who had previously scored a huge hit with Laura (1944) in the same genre, and Stanwyck agreed to the project. It would have been her first film with Preminger. But he turned out to be unavailable, so Siodmak took over. Siodmak and Stanwyck apparently either didn't have much rapport, or she didn't need much help by this point. For whatever reason, they didn't really communicate. As Siodmak later recalled, "Barbara always had the character worked out. Before we started shooting she would be sitting in her chair, her eyes closed and her concentration on the scene she was to play," ignoring the hair and makeup people who fussed over her. "One day, before a very difficult scene, I tried to give her some last minute advice. That was the only time she showed any temper. She brushed me impatiently aside. I didn't mind, for I was sure she knew what she wanted to do," he added without rancor.

Strong performances by Stanwyck, Corey, and an excellent supporting cast, along with Siodmak's stylish staging, George Barnes' shadowy, low-key lighting, and Victor Young's dramatic score more than compensated for the film's uneven pace. Particularly effective is the staging of Stanwyck's long walk from the jail through the street to the courthouse. Little seen today, The File on Thelma Jordon is a worthy addition to the noir canon of Siodmak and Stanwyck. Within a few years, Siodmak returned to Europe, and ended his film career in Germany in 1969. He died in 1973. Stanwyck would go on to make several more noirs (Clash by Night <1952>, Jeopardy <1953>, Crime of Passion <1957>), and worked in films and television until the mid-1980s. She died in 1990.

Director: Robert Siodmak
Producer: Hal B. Wallis
Screenplay: Ketti Frings, based on a story by Marty Holland
Cinematography: George Barnes
Editor: Warren Low
Costume Design: Edith Head
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Earl Hedrick
Music: Victor Young
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck (Thelma Jordon), Wendell Corey (Cleve Marshall), Paul Kelly (Miles Scott), Joan Tetzel (Pamela Marshall), Stanley Ridges (Kingsley Willis), Richard Rober (Tony Laredo), Minor Watson (Judge Calvin Blackwell), Barry Kelley (District Attorney Pierce), Laura Elliot (Dolly), Gertrude Hoffman (Aunt Vera Edwards).
BW-100m.

by Margarita Landazuri

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. I haven't seen The Oscar in many years

I'm watching it right now. Harlan Ellison wrote the screen adaptation. I remember this as being a fairly entertaining film.