TCM Schedule for Friday, September 18, 2015 -- What's On Tonight: Abbott and Costello

In the daylight hours, it's all about the crooks. This evening features films of the comedic duo of Lou Abbott and Bud Costello. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Crooks and Coronets (1969)
Two crooks are hired to rob an eccentric old lady's estate, but once they get to know her, they can't bring themselves to do it.
Dir: Jim O'Connelly
Cast: Telly Savalas, Edith Evans, Warren Oates
BW-105 mins,

Released in the USA as Sophie's Place.


8:15 AM -- The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen
BW-112 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sam Jaffe, Best Director -- John Huston, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ben Maddow and John Huston, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson

During the production, Walter Huston came to Hollywood for his son John Huston's 44th birthday party. Two days later, with John at his side, the legendary actor of stage and screen died of heart failure at age 66.


10:15 AM -- Larceny, Inc. (1942)
An ex-convict and his gang try to use a luggage store to front a bank robbery, but business keeps getting in the way.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford
BW-95 mins, CC,

Woody Allen loved this film so much he remade it in 2000, as Small Time Crooks.


12:00 PM -- The Bastard (1968)
A criminal seeks vengeance when his double-dealing brother steals his jewels and mutilates his shooting hand.
Dir: Duccio Tessari
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Giuliano Gemma, Klaus Kinski
C-93 mins,

Joan Crawford was originally going to play the lead role, but dropped out do to disagreements over the script.


1:49 PM -- San Sebastian 1746 In 1968 (1968)
This short film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of "Guns For San Sebastian&quot 1968) in northern Mexico.
Dir: Floyd L. Peterson
BW-10 mins,


2:00 PM -- They Came To Rob Las Vegas (1969)
A casino blackjack dealer plots to hijack and rob an armored car.
Dir: Antonio Isasi Isasmendi
Cast: Gary Lockwood, Elke Sommer, Lee J. Cobb
C-129 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The title of the film's French source novel 'Les Hommes De Las Vegas' by André Lay literally translates into English as 'The Men of Las Vegas'. This movie was made and released within a year of the novel being published.


4:15 PM -- Catlow (1971)
An outlaw tries to avoid interference as he journeys to pull off a $2,000,000 gold robbery.
Dir: Sam Wanamaker
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna, Leonard Nimoy
BW-101 mins, CC,

Leonard Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as Spock on Star Trek. He mentioned that the time he made the film was one of the happiest of his life, even though his part was rather brief.


6:00 PM -- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Michel Legrand (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "The Windmills of Your Mind"

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Michel Legrand

The one-minute kissing sequence between the two leads took eight hours to film over a number of days. Mmmm . . . eight hours kissing Steve McQueen!


7:48 PM -- Nostradamus And The Queen (1953)
In this short film, an elderly Catherine de Medici reflects back on how the prophecies of Nostradamus accurately predicted her fate.
Cast: Mitchell Lewis, Maria Palmer, Forrest Taylor
BW-11 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO



8:00 PM -- Hold That Ghost (1941)
Two bumbling service station attendants are left as the sole beneficiaries in a gangster's will.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Richard Carlson
BW-86 mins,

The Andrews Sisters were brought in after filming wrapped and the final nightclub footage was edited in after the film's completion.


9:35 PM -- America, Preferred (1941)
This promotional short asks citizens to purchase U.S. Defense Bonds and Stamps in order to build up the nation's military and infrastructure.
BW-8 mins,


9:45 PM -- Buck Privates (1941)
Two small-time con artists enlist in the Army to avoid the police.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis, Bud Abbott
BW-84 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Hugh Prince (music) and Don Raye (lyrics) for the song "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Charles Previn

To satisfy production code decency standards, the "more extreme moves" of the Jitterbug are avoided in dancing scenes, and the men are dressed in undershirts in the physical examination scenes. Also, instead of kissing Sgt. Collins on the cheek as per the script, Herbie blows him a kiss.


11:15 PM -- In the Navy (1941)
America's number one crooner, disappears and joins the Navy under a fake name.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Dick Powell
BW-85 mins, CC,

This movie was actually filmed after Hold That Ghost (1941), but they released it first because the public wanted to see some "service pictures." After this film was released, Universal revamped "Hold That Ghost" to add a romantic subplot and some musical numbers for The Andrews Sisters and Ted Lewis' band, which hadn't been in the original cut.


12:49 AM -- Rita Rio And Her Orchestra (1939)
In this short film, Rita Rio and her all-girl orchestra perform several musical numbers, such as "Look, Look" and "Jitterbug Jamboree." Vitaphone Release B229.
Dir: Roy Mack
BW-10 mins,


1:00 AM -- Rio Rita (1942)
A pair of nitwits try to stop Nazis from infiltrating a Western ranch.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Kathryn Grayson
BW-91 mins, CC,

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were under contract to Universal Pictures, and their films were so successful that MGM signed a three-film contract with them to take advantage of a clause in their Universal contract that allowed them to do one film a year for another company. This was the first one; Lost in a Harem (1944) and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945) were the others. However, each of the films was less successful than the previous one, and MGM canceled its agreement with Universal after the third film.


2:45 AM -- Lost In A Harem (1944)
Two entertainers touring the Middle East are kidnapped by an evil sultan.
Dir: Charles Riesner
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marilyn Maxwell
BW-89 mins, CC,

First Abbott & Costello production after Lou Costello recovered from rheumatic fever; he had been bedridden for many months.


4:30 AM -- Abbott And Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
Two waiters stumble on a treasure map and land in hot water with pirates.
Dir: Charles Lamont
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton
BW-71 mins, CC,

Charles Laughton had wanted to do a knockabout physical comedy for some time, but could never find anything appropriate. He had long been an admirer of Lou Costello's abilities as a slapstick comedian, and--as he remarked some time later--he decided "If you want to learn something, learn it from the best" so he let Costello and Bud Abbott know that he was interested in doing something with them. This picture is the result.


5:49 AM -- New Roadways (1939)
This short film focuses on various projects carried out by research laboratories in the United States.
Dir: Basil Wrangell
Cast: Richard Cramer, Phillip Terry, Tom Quinn
BW-10 mins,