TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 17, 2016 -- What's On Tonight - Female Con Artists

Welcome back, everyone! I have missed DU more than I can say.

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birth of Roy Harold Scherer Jr., born November 17, 1925, in Winnetka, Illinois. Who is Roy Scherer, you ask? You may know him better as Rock Hudson. In prime time, TCM is showing films about the progenitors and inspirations for Sarah Palin. (Bitter? Of course not!) Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- SEA DEVILS (1953)
A fisherman-turned-smuggler agrees to transport a beautiful British agent to the French coast.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Yvonne de Carlo, Rock Hudson, Maxwell Reed
C-87 mins,

Based on a story by Borden Chase, who, before his writing career, was a chauffeur for notorious prohibition-era gangster Frankie Yale -- until Yale was 'rubbed out' by Al Capone's mob in July 1928.


8:00 AM -- A FINE PAIR (1969)
A detective gets involved with a beautiful jewel thief.
Dir: Francesco Maselli
Cast: Rock Hudson, Claudia Cardinale, Tomas Milian
C-90 mins, CC,

John Wayne liked casting himself against tall actors, so when the 6'7" James Arness became unavailable, he helped cast Rock Hudson, who was at least as tall as he. He also wanted someone to play bridge with, and knew that Hudson was a good bridge player.


9:45 AM -- ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968)
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan
C-152 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Daniel L. Fapp, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Hal Millar and J. McMillan Johnson

In the era before VCRs, Howard Hughes would call the Las Vegas TV station he owned and order them to run a particular movie. Hughes so loved this that it aired on his Las Vegas station over 100 times.


12:30 PM -- THE MAN WHO MAKES THE DIFFERENCE (1968)
A behind-the-scenes promotional short for the action film "Ice Station Zebra" (1968).
C-7 mins,


12:45 PM -- SOMETHING OF VALUE (1957)
Childhood friends end up on opposite sides of a bloody African uprising.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Rock Hudson, Dana Wynter, Wendy Hiller
BW-113 mins, CC,

Rock Hudson himself drove the film crew round the Nairobi National Park, with the stand-in for his co-star next to him. The crew and game warden were in the back of the semi-open Land Rover. Although all the animals in the park were wild they were used to vehicles. Many shots of various animals were taken, including baboons. For the latter Hudson threw peanuts onto the front of the vehicle. One half-grown male, seeing the actual source of this food, jumped through the half-door onto Hudson's lap, stole some extra peanuts and even snatched a lipstick from the hand of the stand-in. Hudson grabbed the baboon by the scruff of the neck, calmly took back the lipstick and threw the animal out.


2:45 PM -- GIANT (1956)
A Texas ranching family fights to survive changing times.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean
BW-201 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Director -- George Stevens

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was James Dean's second consecutive posthumous nomination.), Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Rock Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mercedes McCambridge, Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Adapted -- Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Ralph S. Hurst, Best Costume Design, Color -- Moss Mabry and Marjorie Best, Best Film Editing -- William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson and Fred Bohanan, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

When Rock Hudson was cast, director George Stevens asked him whom he preferred as his leading lady, Grace Kelly or Elizabeth Taylor. Hudson picked Taylor, who was cast and ended up becoming lifelong friends with Hudson.


6:15 PM -- SEND ME NO FLOWERS (1964)
When he mistakenly thinks he's dying, a hypochondriac tries to choose his wife's next husband.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall
C-100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Although many people think Doris Day and Rock Hudson co-starred as often as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, this was only their third - and final - appearance as a screen team. Tony Randall also appeared with them in all three films: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961) and this.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FEMALE CON ARTISTS



8:00 PM -- THE LADY EVE (1941)
A lady cardsharp tries to con an eccentric scientist only to fall for him.
Dir: Preston Sturges
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn
BW-94 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Monckton Hoffe

Edith Head's first in a long line of costume designing for Barbara Stanwyck. The wedding gown caused a fashion sensation. So much so that it was copied for brides and called, "the Lady Eve dress."


9:45 PM -- BLONDE CRAZY (1931)
A con-man bellhop and his chambermaid girlfriend set out to fleece hotel guests.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern
BW-79 mins, CC,

It appears a real bottle of Old Grand Dad bourbon whiskey - 100 proof "Bottled in Bond" - is found in the back seat of Johnson's ca when he's out "parking" with Anne. Unusual product placement during Prohibition. Other such bottles can be seen throughout the film. It was allowed to be distilled under strict government control during Prohibition for "medicinal purposes".


11:15 PM -- TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932)
A love triangle ignites trouble between two jewel thieves and their intended victim.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall
BW-82 mins, CC,

This movie was popular both with critics and with audiences, but was made before the enforcement of the production code. After 1935, it was withdrawn from circulation and was not seen again until 1968. The film was never available on videocassette and only became available on DVD in 2003.


12:45 AM -- THE YOUNG IN HEART (1938)
A family of con artists saves the life of a wealthy old woman and plots to fleece her.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: Minnie Dupree, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson
BW-91 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Leon Shamroy, Best Music, Scoring -- Franz Waxman, and Best Music, Original Score -- Franz Waxman

At the beginning of the film, a newspaper blurb describes Col. Carletonas a "Pukka Sahib". That is a British slang term - taken from the Hindi language - to refer mainly to British colonial administrators who were supposedly the ideal of the refined, aloof, and gentlemanly upper middle class types who populated such posts.


2:45 AM -- TARNISHED ANGEL (1938)
A phony evangelist finds religion herself when her powers actually heal someone.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Sally Eilers, Lee Bowman, Ann Miller
BW-67 mins,

The costumes resembled those worn by Aimee Semple McPherson, the well-known and controversial evangelist of the time.


4:00 AM -- BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (1937)
Con men on the Riviera live by their wits.
Dir: William Thiele
Cast: Frank Morgan, Florence Rice, John Beal
BW-72 mins, CC,

Based on a short story by William C. White.


5:30 AM -- CINDERELLA JONES (1946)
A woman can claim inheritance only if she marries a genius.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, Julie Bishop
BW-89 mins, CC,

Warner Bros. had considered Jane Wyman and then Faye Emerson to play Judy Jones. Originally, Dennis Morgan had been slated for the male lead, the Tommy Coles character. These roles were played by Joan Leslie and Robert Alda in this film.