TCM Schedule for Friday, April 3, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Unexpectant Parents

In the daylight hours, servants take the lead. Then in prime time, TCM shows us parents who become parents unexpectedly. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Emma (1932)
A housekeeper faces unexpected snobbery when she marries her boss.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Marie Dressler, Richard Cromwell, Jean Hersholt
BW-71 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Marie Dressler

Myrna Loy's first film for MGM.


7:30 AM -- It All Came True (1940)
A gangster hides out in a boardinghouse full of eccentrics.
Dir: Lewis Seiler
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, Humphrey Bogart
BW-97 mins, CC,

The soundtrack opening tune, "Angel in Disguise," was often used in Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons, since Warners owned the copyright. This was typical Warners policy, lowering production costs by using music the studio owned, instead of paying for newly composed music.


9:15 AM -- Captain Hurricane (1935)
Three buddies come to blows when they hire a beautiful housekeeper.
Dir: John Robertson
Cast: James Barton, Helen Westley, Helen Mack
BW-72 mins,

This was the film where Creighton Chaney bowed to pressure from RKO and finally changed his name to Lon Chaney, Jr., after which the studio deleted his scenes.


10:30 AM -- Panama Flo (1932)
An engineer makes a thieving entertainer work off her debts as a housekeeper at his jungle mining camp.
Dir: Ralph Murray
Cast: Helen Twelvetrees, Robert Armstrong, Charles Bickford
BW-73 mins,

A print of this film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.


12:00 PM -- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
A young boy plays matchmaker for his widowed father.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens
C-119 mins, Letterbox Format, ins, CC,

Appearing in "Courtship of Eddie's Father" in his film debut in the uncredited role of Child at Party in Indian headdress is Ron Howard's (Eddie) younger brother, Clint Howard. This marks the beginning of a career for Clint punctuated by appearing in film and television work that also involves his brother Ron.


2:15 PM -- Make Your Own Bed (1944)
Detectives masquerade as butler and maid to get the goods on a crook.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Jack Carson, Jane Wyman, Irene Manning
BW-82 mins,

At the beginning of the film, Walter Whirtle's car has a "C" gas rationing sticker on the windshield. It was red in color and was the largest such gas rationing sticker as underneath the letter is a check-box list of 17 different professions entitled to use it - such as physicians, ministers, construction workers, and even embalmers.


3:45 PM -- The Girl Downstairs (1938)
A European playboy falls for his maid.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Franciska Gaal, Franchot Tone, Walter Connolly
BW-77 mins, CC,

One of only three American films by Franciska Gaal and the only one she made at MGM. Here she reprises her role from the original Catherine the Last (1936) made by Universal in Austria.


5:15 PM -- Personal Maid's Secret (1935)
A maid's ability to pick stock market winners keeps her employer in the money.
Dir: Arthur Greville Collins
Cast: Margaret Lindsay, Warren Hull, Anita Louise
BW-58 mins, CC,

The ship depicted as returning Diana home from Europe is the RMS Aquatania (1914-1950), owned by the Cunard Line. She served as a troop transport in both World Wars, and was the last surviving four-funnel passenger steamship when she was scrapped in 1950.


6:30 PM -- The Man with a Cloak (1951)
A mystery man tries to help a young innocent escape a murderous housekeeper.
Dir: Fletcher Markle
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern
BW-81 mins, CC,

According to a contemporary article in The Hollywood Reporter, Lionel Barrymore was originally cast as Thevenet, but was too ill. Director Fletcher Markle wanted Marlene Dietrich for the role of Lorna, but she turned it down. Those roles were played by Louis Calhern and Barbara Stanwyck, respectively.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: UNEXPECTANT PARENTS



8:00 PM -- Baby Boom (1987)
A super-yuppie businesswoman has to adjust to motherhood when she inherits a baby.
Dir: Charles Shyer
Cast: Diane Keaton, Harold Ramis, Sam Shepard
C-110 mins, Letterbox Format, CC,

Writer-producer Nancy Meyers once said of this film: "Our movie is about someone who never planned on motherhood. The comedy comes from J.C.'s ineptness to deal with this surprise. Ten years ago [c. 1977], Baby Boom (1987) would have probably starred a man, because not until recently, with the great female drive toward careerism and success, would it be believable that a woman could be so ill-prepared for motherhood."


10:00 PM -- 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,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Felix Jackson

After making this movie, David Niven returned to England to serve in the British Army during World War II. At the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, German infiltrators into American lines caused roadblocks to be established and military police asked all suspicious persons questions about things no German was likely to know. Lt. Col. David Niven was stopped at a roadblock and was asked who won the baseball World Series in 1940. He replied, "I haven't the faintest idea. But I do know that I made a picture with Ginger Rogers in 1938." The MP replied, "OK, beat it Dave. But watch your step, for Chrissake."


11:45 PM -- Father Is a Bachelor (1950)
Five orphans 'adopt' a loner and set out to find him a wife.
Dir: Norman Foster
Cast: William Holden, Coleen Gray, Mary Jane Saunders
BW-84 mins, CC,

Usually regarded as William Holden's worst film. He was totally miscast.


1:30 AM -- So You're Going to Be a Father (1947)
In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes faces numerous anxieties in becoming a new father. Vitaphone Release 1552A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Oliver Blake, Fred Kelsey
BW-11 mins,

The seventh of 62 Joe McDoakes short films.


1:45 AM -- Calling All Pa's (1942)
In this short film, an eager new father learns how difficult raising a baby can be, from changing diapers to getting her to bed.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Dorothy Morris, Dave O'Brien, Fern Emmett
BW-9 mins,

A Pete Smith Speciality.


2:00 AM -- Cover Me Babe (1970)
Student filmmaker lets nothing stand in the way of his getting a studio contract.
Dir: Noel Black
Cast: Robert Forster, Sondra Locke, Susanne Benton
BW-85 mins, CC,

Director Noel Black described making this film as a series of compromises made in order to please 20th Century Fox. Black originally planned to cast a young, unknown Al Pacino as Tony Hall, but this was just one of the things he had to forsake. Black also disagreed with the ethical issues about filmmaking brought up in the script, wanted to change them but couldn't.


3:45 AM -- Jennifer on My Mind (1971)
Marcus, a nice, rich Jewish boy from New York City, meets and falls in love with Jennifer, a girl from Oyster Bay, while they are both in Venice.
Dir: Noel Black
Cast: Michael Brandon, Tippy Walker, Steve Vinovich
BW-90 mins, Letterbox Format, CC,

Film debut of Barry Bostwick.


5:30 AM -- The Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness (1972)
Filmmakers trace the history of opium and its role in today's drug trade in this short film.
Dir: William Templeton
C-22 mins,