TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 11, 2014 -- What's On Tonight - Christmas Classics

In the daylight hours, we've got strong women struggling on perilous islands and ruling ancient kingdoms. In prime time, TCM is continuing a look at classic Christmas cinema. Enjoy!


7:45 AM -- Now Playing December (2014)
BW-18 mins, CC,


8:15 AM -- Miss Robin Crusoe (1953)
A shipwrecked woman fights to survive on a desert island.
Dir: Eugene Frenke
Cast: Amanda Blake, George Nader, Rosalind Hayes
C-74 mins,

Surprisingly, Miss Kitty is not the first woman to play a Crusoe character. That honor belongs to Florence La Badie, who played Miss Robinson Crusoe in 1912.


9:30 AM -- Island of Lost Women (1959)
Two downed fliers find themselves trapped in a reclusive scientist's island home.
Dir: Frank W. Tuttle
Cast: Jeff Richards, Venetia Stevenson, John Smith
BW-67 mins, CC,

This was the last film directed by veteran film-maker Frank Tuttle, who's perhaps best remembered for his two Alan Ladd films from 1942: "This Gun for Hire" and "Lucky Jordan."


10:40 AM -- On The Trail Of The Iguana (1964)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the on-location filming of "The Night of the Iguana" (1964).
Dir: Ross Lowell
C-14 mins,


11:00 AM -- Prehistoric Women (1967)
A jungle guide time travels to an era of evil brunettes with blonde slaves.
Dir: Michael Carreras
Cast: Martine Beswick, Edina Ronay, Michael Latimer
C-90 mins, CC,

Shot in only four weeks using sets and costumes left over from One Million Years B.C. (1966), in order to offset the earlier film's cost of 140,000 pounds.


12:45 PM -- The Viking Queen (1967)
A Roman captain tries to keep Druids and his own unit from destroying a Viking empire.
Dir: Don Chaffey
Cast: Don Murray, Carita (actress), Donald Houston
C-89 mins, CC,

The story is very loosely based on Boadicea's revolt against the Roman colonization of Britain in 60-61 AD. During production in Ireland, Patrick Troughton was offered the role of the Second Doctor in Doctor Who (1963).


2:30 PM -- She (1965)
Explorers uncover a lost kingdom ruled by an immortal queen.
Dir: Robert Day
Cast: Ursula Andress, John Richardson, Peter Cushing
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Peter Cushing and Bernard Cribbins spent a day at Chessington Zoo learning to ride camels. They bonded over this and a mutual love of birdwatching.


4:30 PM -- The Vengeance of She (1968)
The queen of a lost city possesses the body of a young innocent destined to take her place.
Dir: Cliff Owen
Cast: John Richardson, Olinka Berova, Edward Judd
C-101 mins,

Although planned as a sequel to Hammer's She (1965), a last-minute rewrite of the script removed all connections to the earlier movie. This now plays more as a remake of "She" with an immortal man in place of an immortal woman.


6:15 PM -- One Million Years B.C. (1966)
A rebellious caveman leaves his tribe in search of a better life.
Dir: Don Chaffey
Cast: Raquel Welch, John Richardson, Percy Herbert
C-100 mins, Letterbox Format

Raquel Welch's grunting was voice-dubbed by Nikki Van der Zyl, who also over-dubbed Ursula Andress in She (1965).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CHRISTMAS CLASSICS



8:00 PM -- The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Feuding co-workers don't realize they're secret romantic pen pals.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
BW-99 mins, CC,

To make sure his film was stripped of the glamor usually associated with him, Lubitsch went to such lengths as ordering that a dress Sullavan had purchased off the rack for $1.98 be left in the sun to bleach and altered to fit poorly.


9:45 PM -- Holiday Affair (1949)
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, 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.


11:30 PM -- It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
Two homeless men move into a mansion while its owners are wintering in the South.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charlie Ruggles
BW-115 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani

The men are getting paid $1.00 an hour for shoveling snow. One dollar in 1947 is worth $10.46 in 2013.


1:30 AM -- Fitzwilly (1967)
When an aging philanthropist goes broke, her butler robs from the rich so she can give to the poor.
Dir: Delbert Mann
Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Feldon, Edith Evans
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Fitzwilly's thrift store is named for St. Dismas, the "good thief," in Christian tradition.


3:30 AM -- 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, CC,

Nominated
Oscar Best Writing, Original Story
Felix Jackson

A remake of Little Mother (1935) starring Franziska Gaál, and remade as Bundle of Joy (1956) starring Debbie Reynolds.


5:00 AM -- Susan Slept Here (1954)
A Hollywood screenwriter takes in a runaway girl who's more woman than he can handle.
Dir: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Anne Francis
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio), and Best Music, Original Song -- Jack Lawrence and Richard Myers for the song "Hold My Hand"

Susan Slept Here (1954) was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency, primarily for its suggestive title. In a male-dominated society George Washington Slept Here (1942) sounded no similar moral alarms. The ban hurt the movie's receipts but did greater harm to the Legion who were taken less seriously after The Moon Is Blue (1953) ban a year earlier in shocked response to the word 'virgin' used outside the church.