TCM Schedule for Friday, April 11, 2014 -- What's On Tonight - Fan Programmers

Today's fan programmers and their chosen films are Sara Harmon - Summer Stock, Laura Ackerman Pauze - Sunday in New York, Alberto Ferreras - Nights of Cabiria, and Peter Tulba - The Adventures of Robin Hood. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Story Of Three Loves (1953)
Passengers on an ocean liner recall their greatest loves.
Dir: Gottfried Reinhardt
Cast: James Mason, Moira Shearer, Agnes Moorehead
C-122 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edward C. Carfagno, Gabriel Scognamillo, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason, Arthur Krams and Jack D. Moore

MGM gave composer Miklos Rozsa only a week's notice to come up with a ballet for Moira Shearer. The composer said the assignment was beyond his range under the circumstances and was asked to provide an alternate piece. He selected Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini."


8:15 AM -- Angel And The Badman (1947)
When a Quaker girl nurses a notorious gunman back to health, he tries to adopt her peaceful ways.
Dir: James Edward Grant
Cast: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey
BW-100 mins,

The first film produced by John Wayne.


10:00 AM -- The Blue Gardenia (1953)
A telephone operator kills in self-defense but can't remember the details of the encounter.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern
BW-88 mins, CC,

Sally enjoys reading bloody thrillers written by Mickey Mallet - a spoof on Mickey Spillane, whose novels featuring Mike Hammer are just as gruesome as those Sally describes.


11:30 AM -- Four Jacks and a Jill (1942)
A nightclub band's new singer becomes the center of a romantic mix-up.
Dir: Jack Hively
Cast: Ray Bolger, Anne Shirley, June Havoc
BW-67 mins, CC,

The first starring film role of June Havoc, sister of Gypsy Rose Lee.


12:45 PM -- Blondie Johnson (1933)
A female crook fights her way from poverty to the top of the underworld.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joan Blondell, Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins
BW-68 mins,

When the jewelry store calls the bank to inquire about the $4600 check that Blondie has presented them with, the bookkeeper at the bank gives her actual first name as "Grace". But on her arrest record and the door to her office later in the film her full name is given as "Virginia M. Johnson".


2:00 PM -- Lady Luck (1947)
A woman from a family of gamblers marries one and tries to reform him.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Robert Young, Barbara Hale, Frank Morgan
BW-98 mins,

"The Hedda Hopper Show - This Is Hollywood" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 8, 1947 with Robert Young and Barbara Hale reprising their film roles. Of course, we older television fans remember him as Dr. Marcus Welby and Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best, and her as Perry Mason's secretary Della Street.


3:39 PM -- Hollywood Wonderland (1947)
In this short film, tour guides take visitors on a promotional guide of Warner Brothers' studios.
Dir: Jack Scholl
Cast: Creighton Hale, Wanda Hendrix, Robert Arthur
C-16 mins,


4:00 PM -- None but the Brave (1965)
During World War II, American and Japanese soldiers stranded on a remote island call a truce in order to survive.
Dir: Frank Sinatra
Cast: Tatsuya Mihashi, Takeshi Kato, Homare Suguro
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The title is from John Dryden's poem, "Alexander's Feast", stanza 1: "None but the brave/ deserve the fair."


6:00 PM -- Onionhead (1958)
An irresponsible student enlists in the Navy expecting to sit out World War II.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Andy Griffith, Felicia Farr, Walter Matthau
BW-111 mins, CC,

In 2010, Andy Griffith appeared in a series of TV commercials advocating for the Health Care Reform bill proposed by President Barack Obama. The commercials were withdrawn after Griffith received hundreds of death threats from opponents of the bill.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: FAN PROGRAMMERS



8:00 PM -- Summer Stock (1950)
A farmer gets sucked into show business when a theatrical troupe invades her farm.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken
C-109 mins, CC,

Judy Garland is said to have been at the height of her drug addiction throughout filming, resulting in her weight changes, mood-swings, and unexplained illnesses. It was due to this behavior that MGM fired her after filming completed.


10:00 PM -- Sunday in New York (1963)
A philandering pilot gets real moral, real fast when his sister contemplates a premarital fling.
Dir: Peter Tewksbury
Cast: Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Despite signs that read Idlewild International Airport, the airport scenes were filmed at the clearly recognizable Los Angeles International Airport, including the long corridor of mosaic tile that Cliff Robertson runs down, and - reflected in a window of a door when Robertson leaves the terminal and walks downstairs to the tarmac - the famous Theme Building.


12:00 AM -- Nights of Cabiria (1957)
A streetwalker dreams of a better life.
BW-118 mins,

Won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film -- Italy

During the editing of this film, editor Leo Cattozzo developed the CIR self-perforating adhesive tape splicer (also known as "Costruzione Incollatrici Rapide", "the Cattozzo", Guillotine-, CIRO- or ARRI Splicer) which made him rich in the 1960s and for which he won an Academy Award in 1989.


2:15 AM -- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
C-102 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Carl Jules Weyl, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Howard Hill, who is listed in the credits as "Captain of Archers", also played "Elwyn the Welshman" in the archery contest. Hill actually made the shot where we see one arrow split another and he did all the shots which required hitting human targets. He also worked closely with the sound department to produce the distinctive arrow sounds by using specially made arrows. The sound of Robin's arrow is the favorite sound of Skywalker Sound's Ben Burtt. He has used that sound in almost all the Star Wars films.


4:15 AM -- A Challenge For Robin Hood (1968)
Robin Hood gathers a band of rebels to fight against his scheming cousin and the evil sheriff.
Dir: C. M. Pennington-Richards
Cast: Barrie Ingham, James Hayter, Leon Greene
C-96 mins, Letterbox Format

An adventure film produced by Britain's Hammer Studios, much better known for their horror films in the 1950s.