TCM Schedule for Friday, October 23, 2015 -- What's On Tonight: Literary Horror

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring the films of supporting actress Genevieve Tobin. In prime time, in recognition of the month of October, we get an evening horror films based on famous novels and stories. Enjoy!


8:00 AM -- Little Dorrit: Part Two Little Dorrit's Story (1988)
An impoverished seamstress tries to help a once wealthy benefactor.
Dir: Christine Edzard
Cast: Derek Jacobi, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood
C-184 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Alec Guinness, and Best Writing, Screenplay

Based on Material from Another Medium -- Christine Edzard

Feature film debut of Richard Clifford.


11:15 AM -- The Gay Diplomat (1931)
A Russian diplomat takes on a notorious female spy in Bucharest.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Genevieve Tobin, Betty Compson, Ivan Lebedeff
BW-67 mins, CC,

According to producer Pandro S. Berman, the filmmakers were aware that the picture was a "disaster" from the start, and were therefore stunned when audience preview cards came back raving about the talents of leading man Ivan Lebedeff, comparing him to Rudolph Valentino. Later he discovered that Lebedeff had in fact stolen the cards and written all the comments himself.


12:30 PM -- Dark Hazard (1934)
A compulsive gambler loses everything.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Genevieve Tobin, Glenda Farrell
BW-73 mins, CC,

Based on a novel by W. R. Burnett.


1:45 PM -- Easy to Love (1934)
When she thinks her husband has been unfaithful woman claims to be having an affair of her own.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Genevieve Tobin, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Astor
BW-61 mins, CC,

The play, "As Good as New," by Thompson Buchanan, opened on Broadway on 3 November 1930 and closed in December 1930 after 56 performances. The opening night cast included Marjorie Gateson, Otto Kruger and Vivienne Osborne.


3:00 PM -- Broadway Hostess (1935)
A small-town girl rises to night-club stardom.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Wini Shaw, Genevieve Tobin, Lyle Talbot
BW-68 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Bobby Connolly for "Playboy of Paree"

Genevieve Tobin got her start in the theatre, and her first film role, at age ten, was as Little Eva in the short film Uncle Tom's Cabin (1910).


4:15 PM -- The Goose and the Gander (1935)
A divorcee can't stop meddling in her ex-husband's affairs.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Kay Francis, George Brent, Genevieve Tobin
BW-66 mins,

Based on a story by Charles Kenyon.


5:30 PM -- The Woman in Red (1935)
A professional horsewoman fights prejudice when she marries into society.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond, Genevieve Tobin
BW-68 mins,

Based on the novel North Shore by Wallace Irwin.


6:45 PM -- Snowed Under (1936)
A playwright in search of solitude is besieged by three women.
Dir: Raymond Enright
Cast: George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, Glenda Farrell
BW-64 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Lawrence Saunders.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: LITERARY HORROR



8:00 PM -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
A scientist's investigations into the nature of good and evil turn him into a murderous monster.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
BW-113 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Franz Waxman

The studio had originally cast Ingrid Bergman in the Beatrix Emery role and Lana Turner in the Ivy Peterson role. Bergman felt the role of Ivy was more challenging and persuaded the producers to switch roles with Turner.


10:07 PM -- Buyer Beware (1940)
This short film deals with shady companies selling fake merchandise.
Dir: Joseph Newman
Cast: Egon Brecher, Guy Kingsford, Hugh Beaumont
BW-21 mins,


10:30 PM -- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder.
Dir: Will Price
Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, Cedric Hardwicke
BW-117 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD), and Best Music, Scoring -- Alfred Newman

The scene in which Quasimodo rings the cathedral bells for Esmeralda was shot the day World War II began in Europe. The director and star were so overwhelmed, the scene took on a new meaning, with Charles Laughton ringing the bells frantically and William Dieterle forgetting to yell "cut." Finally, the actor just stopped ringing when he became too tired to continue. Later, Laughton said, "I couldn't think of Esmeralda in that scene at all. I could only think of the poor people out there, going in to fight that bloody, bloody war! To arouse the world, to stop that terrible butchery! Awake! Awake! That's what I felt when I was ringing the bells!"


12:37 AM -- Third Dimensional Murder (1941)
This short film, made in 3-D, features a character facing various monsters in a creepy old house.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Ed Payson,
C-7 mins,


12:45 AM -- The Fall of the House of Usher (1949)
An old friend tries to keep Roderick Usher from succumbing to the family curse.
Dir: Ivan Barnett
Cast: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey
BW-70 mins,

The scene in which Quasimodo rings the cathedral bells for Esmeralda was shot the day World War II began in Europe. The director and star were so overwhelmed, the scene took on a new meaning, with Charles Laughton ringing the bells frantically and William Dieterle forgetting to yell "cut." Finally, the actor just stopped ringing when he became too tired to continue. Later, Laughton said, "I couldn't think of Esmeralda in that scene at all. I could only think of the poor people out there, going in to fight that bloody, bloody war! To arouse the world, to stop that terrible butchery! Awake! Awake! That's what I felt when I was ringing the bells!"


2:00 AM -- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
A man remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin.
Dir: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed
BW-110 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Angela Lansbury, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar and Hugh Hunt

Years later, a friend of Hurd Hatfield's bought the Henrique Medina painting of young Dorian Gray that was used in the movie at the MGM auction, and gave it to Hatfield. On March 21, 2015 the portrait was put up for auction at Christie's in New York (from the Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth) with a pre-auction estimate of between $5,000 to $8.000. It sold for $149,000.


4:00 AM -- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
A scientist's attempts to create life unleash a bloodthirsty monster.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart
C-83 mins, CC,

Although they had both previously appeared in Hamlet (1948) and Moulin Rouge (1952), Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing met on the set of this film for the first time. They would pass the time between shots by exchanging Looney Tunes phrases, and quickly developed a fast friendship, which lasted until Cushing's death in 1994.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #16 (1955)
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald perform in a clip from "Maytime"; George Murphy introduces a clip from

"I'll Cry Tomorrow." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,