TCM Schedule for Friday, September 11, 2015 -- What's On Tonight: Robert Osborne's Picks

This evening is more of Robert Osborne's favorites. Did you know that he got his start working for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez? Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Central Park (1932)
Small-town kids out to make it in the big city inadvertently get mixed up with gangsters.
Dir: John G. Adolfi
Cast: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee
BW-58 mins, CC,

The film takes place within a single day and night, mostly in Central Park. Of course, as was typical of the time, all of the filming was done at the Warner Brothers studios in Burbank, California.


7:00 AM -- The Man Who Played God (1932)
After losing his hearing, a musician uses lip-reading to help others.
Dir: John G. Adolfi
Cast: George Arliss, Violet Heming, Bette Davis
BW-80 mins, CC,

This was the first movie Bette Davis made under her contract to Warner Bros., the studio under which she did most of her best known work of the 1930s and '40s. Her earlier six films were made for Universal, who let her go after one year of lackluster performances.


8:30 AM -- Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933)
A tramp rescues the mayor's girlfriend from a suicide attempt.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Al Jolson, Madge Evans, Frank Morgan
BW-83 mins,

Because "bum" in British slang is a vulgar term for the human rear end, the British Board of Film Censors refused to pass the film unless the title was changed. So the British release was called "Hallelujah, I'm a Tramp," a change which required re-recording and reshooting the opening number.


10:00 AM -- Murder on a Bridle Path (1936)
Schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers matches wits with the police to solve the murder of a society bride in Central Park.
Dir: Edward Killy
Cast: James Gleason, Helen Broderick, Louise Latimer
BW-66 mins, CC,

Although this is the first and only time Helen Broderick played Hildegarde Withers in the six picture series, James Gleason did play Inspector Oscar Piper in all of them. The first Hildegarde Withers was Edna May Oliver in three films, then this one, then Zasu Pitts in two more. There was another Hildegarde Withers movie made for television in 1972, starring Eve Arden.


11:15 AM -- Cat People (1942)
A newlywed fears that an ancient curse will turn her into a bloodthirsty beast.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
BW-73 mins, CC,

The horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless and benign became known as a "Lewton bus" after a famous scene in this movie created by producer Val Lewton.


12:30 PM -- Born To Dance (1936)
A sailor on leave helps a young dancer make it to the top on Broadway.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce
BW-106 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Dance Direction -- Dave Gould for "Swingin' the Jinx", and Best Music, Original Song -- Cole Porter for the song "I've Got You Under My Skin"

Cole Porter picked James Stewart for the male lead and later said he sang "Easy to Love" as well as any professional singer. A dubbing track was prepared with baritone Jack Owens, but it was decided that Stewart's tenor voice was perfect for the song. In That's Entertainment! (1974), Stewart said, "The song had become a huge hit, even my singing wouldn't hurt it."


2:22 PM -- A Vitaphone Pictorial Revue No. 2-6 (1937)
This short film contains three segments, showcasing Arabian trick and race horses, hockey, and footwear. Vitaphone Release B56.
Dir: Clem McCarthy
BW-7 mins,


2:30 PM -- Shall We Dance (1937)
A ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- George Gershwin (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) for the song "They Can't Take That Away from Me"

At the end of the roller skate dance number in the park the stars flop onto the "lawn". In the film both Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear uncomfortable as they get up. This is because both were bruised from more than fifteen earlier takes and were actually in pain.


4:30 PM -- It Should Happen To You (1954)
A dizzy model in love with fame rents a billboard and puts her name on it.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford, Jack Lemmon
BW-87 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis

A perfect example of George Cukor's approach to acting was demonstrated to Jack Lemmon during a restaurant scene where Pete and Gladys argue. Cukor recalled, "They rehearsed it and did it very well, but I said, "I don't believe it, I don't believe one damn thing. Jack, what do you do when you get angry?" He said, "I get chills and cramps, I get sick to my stomach, but can't use that." "Oh," I said, "do that!" So in the height of fury he suddenly clutches his stomach, and it makes all the difference."


6:00 PM -- Miracle In The Rain (1956)
When a lonely woman's wartime lover dies, her loneliness threatens her life.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Peggie Castle
BW-107 mins, CC,

When Jane Wyman, as Ruth, and Eileen Heckart, as Grace, pause to talk on a bridge in Central Park, the building on the edge of the park filling half the screen is the Dakota, perhaps New York's most famous apartment building.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ROBERT OSBORNE'S PICKS



8:00 PM -- Evergreen (1934)
A publicity man passes off an aspiring musical star as her famous, long-retired mother.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale, Betty Balfour
BW-94 mins,

The main character is based upon the music hall star Lottie Collins, who popularized the song "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-de-Ray" and who also had an illegitimate daughter who grew up to be a famous actress, Jose Collins.


9:48 PM -- You, John Jones! (1943)
An air raid warden realizes how fortunate he is to live safely with his family while others around the world suffer from the war in this short film aimed at boosting U.S morale.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Beal Wong, James Cagney, Margaret O'Brien
BW-10 mins,


10:00 PM -- The Macomber Affair (1947)
A wealthy playboy and his wife hire a great white hunter to guide them to the African hunting grounds.
Dir: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Gregory Peck, Joan Bennett, Robert Preston
BW-89 mins, CC,

For the African scenes, Reginald Denny invented the first radio-controlled model airplane and, with Osmond Borradaile, put a camera on board in 1946.


11:45 PM -- The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (1952)
As he fights a deadly jungle fever, a hunter remembers his lost loves..
Dir: Henry King
Cast: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner
C-114 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox

In the scene where Gregory Peck lifts up Ava Gardner, he threw out his knee and production had to close down while he recovered. Unfortunately, all the scenes of his lying down in his sickbed had been shot already.


1:50 AM -- Water Wisdom (1943)
This short film examines modern lifesaving techniques used by the Red Cross and other expert swimmers.
BW-9 mins,


2:00 AM -- Went the Day Well? (1942)
An English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti
BW-93 mins,

The movie is based on the short story "The Lieutenant Died Last" by Graham Greene. It can be found in his anthology titled "The Last Word, and Other Stories". Ironically, in the Preface to this collection, Greene writes, in part, that he missed seeing the movie because he was out of England on war assignment.


3:49 AM -- Headline Bands (1945)
This musical short film showcases a series of bands through a compilation of older Vitaphone shorts, including "Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra" (1939) and "Rubinoff and His Violin" (1939). Vitaphone Release 1419A.
Dir: Jack Scholl
BW-9 mins,


4:00 AM -- They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Griffith Jones
BW-101 mins, CC,

Trevor Howard was cast at very short notice after the actor first cast dropped out.


5:50 AM -- Flicker Memories (1941)
In this short film, clips from several unidentified silent movies are woven together into a story.
Dir: George Sidney
BW-8 mins,