TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 20 -- What's on Tonight: Christmas in New York

In the daylight hours there is a continuation of films with TCM's Star of the Month, Barbara Stanwyck. In prime time, TCM is celebrating Christmas in New York. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- Crime Of Passion (1957)
An executive's wife barters sex for her husband's business success.
Dir: Gerd Oswald
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Based on an original story by Jo Eisinger.


8:00 AM -- Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991)
Barbara Stanwyck's multi-faceted career reveals uncanny reflections of her off-screen life.
Dir: Richard Schnickel
Cast: Sally Field,
C-46 mins, TV-G,

Features clips from The Miracle Woman (1931), Shopworn (1932), The Purchase Price (1932), Ladies They Talk About (1933), Baby Face (1933), His Brother's Wife (1936), Banjo on My Knee (1936), Stella Dallas (1937), Golden Boy (1939), The Lady Eve (1941), Meet John Doe (1941), Ball of Fire (1941), Lady of Burlesque (1943), Double Indemnity (1944), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), The Furies (1950), Quo Vadis (1951), Clash by Night (1952), Blowing Wild (1953), Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), The Violent Men (1955), Forty Guns (1957), The Big Valley (1965) (TV Series), and The Thorn Birds (1983) (TV Mini-Series)


9:00 AM -- The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
A woman slowly discovers that her artist husband is a deranged killer.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
BW-99 mins, TV-G, CC,

Although the movie was completed om 6/21/45, it was not released until 3/4/47, when Bogart's box-office appeal was at a high. Unfortunately for him, most critics thought he was miscast.


10:45 AM -- Cry Wolf (1947)
A woman uncovers deadly secrets when she visits her late husband's family.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, Geraldine Brooks
BW-84 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Dennis Morgan was considered before Errol Flynn was ultimately cast.


12:15 PM -- The Gay Sisters (1942)
A New York aristocrat marries for the money to save the family mansion.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Byron Barr took his character's name, Gig Young, as his screen name.


2:15 PM -- Ladies They Talk About (1933)
A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she's sent to prison.
Dir: Howard Bretherton
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston S. Foster, Lyle Talbot
BW-69 mins, TV-G,

Film has some rather blatant and oddball plugs for Warner Brothers stars. In several scenes photos of Joe E. Brown (whom Lillian Roth sings to) and Dick Powell are seen in the women's cells.


3:30 PM -- The Purchase Price (1932)
A night-club singer on the lam becomes a farmer's mail-order bride.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lyle Talbot
BW-68 mins, TV-PG,

During the wheat-burning scene a stand-in was used instead of Barbara Stanwyck, but she didn't think the stand-in acted as the character so Stanwyck decided to play it herself. This resulted in her getting some burns on her legs, but she never complained.


4:45 PM -- Forbidden (1932)
On an ocean voyage, a librarian falls for a married man.
Dir: Frank R. Capra
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Bellamy
BW-85 mins, TV-G,

While filming the horse-riding scene on the beach, Barbara Stanwyck's horse was frightened by the movie lights, reared, threw the star off, and then kicked her on the way down. Stanwyck suffered a dislodged tail-bone, an injury which, though it didn't hold up production, did cause the actress discomfort for the rest of her life.


6:15 PM -- Ten Cents A Dance (1931)
A taxi dancer with a jealous husband finds herself falling for a wealthy client.
Dir: Lionel Barrymore
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ricardo Cortez, Monroe Owsley
BW-77 mins, TV-G, CC,

Alternate-language version of Carne de cabaret (1931)


7:33 PM -- Watch The Birdie (1935)
A practical joker takes a cruise with his fiancée and her family.
Dir: Lloyd French
Cast: Bob Hope, Nell O'Day, Arline Dinitz
BW-18 mins,

This film short is included as an extra in the Warner DVD of Top Hat (1935).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK



8:00 PM -- Holiday Affair (1950)
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey
BW-87 mins, TV-G, CC,

Although this modest film was not a success at the time, annual showings on Turner Classic Movies in recent years has made this film something of a minor Holiday classic.


9:30 PM -- The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
A bookie has the Christmas holidays to raise the money he owes a gangster.
Dir: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan
BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Introduced the hit Christmas song "Silver Bells". The movie was filmed in 1950, but not released in theaters until March, 1951. When a recording of "Silver Bells" by Bing Crosby became a hit in December, 1950, the studio called Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell back to re-shoot a more elaborate musical version of the song for the film's release. In later years, Bob Hope made "Silver Bells" his own Christmas theme. He performed the song every year on his annual Christmas TV special, usually singing it as a duet with the lead female guest (such as Olivia Newton-John, Shirley Jones, Barbara Mandrell, or his own wife, Dolores Hope).


11:15 PM -- Bachelor Mother (1939)
A fun-loving shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling.
Dir: Garson Kanin
Cast: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn
BW-82 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Felix Jackson

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 22, 1940 with Ginger Rogers reprising her film role.


12:45 AM -- Never Say Goodbye (1946)
A husband tries to win back his wife before she can divorce him.
Dir: James V. Kern
Cast: Errol Flynn, Eleanor Parker, Lucile Watson
BW-94 mins, TV-PG, CC,

When Errol Flynn dons a disguise as Humphrey Bogart, it's Bogart himself who's doing the voice-over.


2:33 AM -- Treasures From Trash (1946)
Documentary about an unusual Beverly Hills shop called the Patio Shop, run by former film director Harry Lachman.
Dir: Dave O'Brien
Cast: Pete Smith, Dave O'Brien, Harry Lachman
BW-10 mins,

Filmed on site in Beverly Hills, California.


2:45 AM -- Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)
A child of the tenements helps an ex-con find a new life.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Margaret O'Brien, Angela Lansbury, George Murphy
BW-75 mins, TV-G, CC,

Filmed between March 11 and May 15, 1946, with retakes shot in April 1947, the movie was held back until its nationwide release on February 20, 1948. Moreover, the picture was not given a contemporary New York Times review.


4:15 AM -- Diner (1982)
A group of friends who hang out in a Baltimore diner face the problems of growing up.
Dir: Barry Levinson
Cast: Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke
C-110 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Barry Levinson

All of the scenes in the diner were filmed last after the cast got to know each other. The dialog in those scenes is a combination of scripted and improvisational.