TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 21, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Edward G. Robinson

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring the patron saint of the Classic Films Group - Robert Montgomery - so proclaimed by the founders of this Group, including the late, great Longhorn, Dem2theMax and others. Today is TCM's celebration of his birth, on May 21, 1904, in Fishkill Landing, New York. A picture and the write-up from TCM:

Dapper, talented MGM contract lead from 1929, primarily cast as amusing, boyish, upper-crust playboys opposite stars such as Greta Garbo ("Inspiration," 1931) and Joan Crawford ("The Last of Mrs. Cheyney", 1937). Besides Crawford, he was most often paired with glamorous Norma Shearer, opposite whom he co-starred in five films between 1929 and 1934; their best teamings were "The Divorcee" (1930) and the uproarious adaptation of Noel Coward's "Private Lives" (1931). As the decade wore on Montgomery fought for a wider range of roles, and achieved notable success as the deranged killer in Night Must Fall (1937). Another change-of-pace role came in an even more acclaimed and popular film, the comic fantasy, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), with Montgomery as a pug who is "removed" to heaven by an angel before his appointed time and is allowed to continue his life on earth in another body.

Montgomery's image toughened even more after WWII, during which he had distinguished himself in naval action in Europe. Montgomery made his directorial debut when an ailing John Ford was unable to complete "They Were Expendable" (1945), and he attracted considerable attention with his screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Lady in the Lake (1946). The film was related entirely from a "subjective" camera perspective, and is considered one of the more interesting failed experiments in cinematic narrative. Montgomery kept making films until the early 1950s, and while never entirely eschewing the light entertainments with which he was long associated (e.g., "June Bride," 1948, opposite Bette Davis), he did make the occasional worthy offbeat item (e.g., the noir "Ride the Pink Horse," 1947, which he also directed).

Montgomery subsequently trained his sights on TV, hosting the well-received "Robert Montgomery Presents" anthology series for eight years. He also ventured onto the stage, winning a Tony for directing "The Desperate Hours" in 1955. At times Montgomery also became active in politics: he was, unfortunately, a friendly witness at the infamous HUAC hearings which led to the Hollywood blacklist; later, Montgomery served as a communications consultant to President Eisenhower following the 1952 campaign.

Then in prime time, TCM continues their salute to Star of the Month, Edward G. Robinson. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- YELLOW JACK (1938)
A Marine in turn-of-the-century Cuba risks his life in the fight to cure yellow fever.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Virginia Bruce, Lewis Stone
BW-83 mins, CC,

In the actual event, the primary volunteers were Clara Maas, a nurse, and Dr Jesse William Lazear. It is unclear if any soldiers volunteered. Maas contracted the disease but recovered. Later, she allowed herself to be bitten a second time to determine if having the disease provided immunity. She again contracted the disease. She died from this infection. Lazear was the doctor who determined that the disease was mosquito-borne. Without telling others, he allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mosquito. He died from the illness.


8:00 AM -- FUGITIVE LOVERS (1934)
A cross-country bus trip brings together a chorus girl and an escaped convict.
Dir: Richard Boleslavsky
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Madge Evans, Ted Healy
BW-82 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Ferdinand Reyher and Frank Wead.


9:30 AM -- HIDE-OUT (1934)
Farmers take in an injured racketeer and try to reform him.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold
BW-81 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Mauri Grashin

Based on a story by Mauri Grashin.


11:00 AM -- PICCADILLY JIM (1936)
A cartoonist pokes fun at his widowed father's future in-laws.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Madge Evans
BW-95 mins, CC,

Madge Evans's name appears on a theater marquee in a montage sequence within the movie. She was starring with Cyril Ritchard in a West End play whose name was partially obscured in the film.


12:45 PM -- EVER SINCE EVE (1937)
A plain-jane secretary masquerades as a beauty to win her boss's heart.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Frank McHugh
BW-80 mins, CC,

Marion Davies's last movie.


2:15 PM -- MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941)
A quarrelsome couple discovers their marriage isn't legal.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond
BW-95 mins, CC,

Carole Lombard was a devoted Democrat, while Robert Montgomery was a Republican. During breaks in filming, Lombard made a point of running into the studio parking lot and putting election bumper stickers advocating the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Montgomery's car.


4:00 PM -- NIGHT MUST FALL (1937)
A charming young man worms his way into a wealthy woman's household, then reveals a deadly secret.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Merle Tottenham, Kathleen Harrison, Dame May Whitty
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robert Montgomery, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- May Whitty

MGM didn't want Montgomery to do the film, and at its premiere at Grauman's Chinese screened a trailer disclaiming the film and warning the audience about the film's "spurious content." Despite this, the film was well-received by audiences and critics.


6:00 PM -- LADY IN THE LAKE (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective's viewpoint.
Dir: Robert Montgomery
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan
BW-103 mins, CC,

The entire movie plot unfolds from lead Robert Montgomery's point of view, thus creating a rarity in film: the principal character is only seen on-screen as a reflection in mirrors and windows, and as the narrator speaking directly to the audience.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: EDWARD G. ROBINSON



8:00 PM -- KID GALAHAD (1937)
A mob-connected trainer grooms a bellhop for the boxing ring.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart
BW-102 mins, CC,

While Bette Davis praised Edward G. Robinson as a performer and as a person, she was repulsed by having to kiss him.


10:00 PM -- SMART MONEY (1931)
A barber's good luck turns him into a big-time gambling boss.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Evalyn Knapp
BW-81 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson

Despite both Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney having spent most of their acting careers with Warner Bros., this was the only film the two acting legends appeared in together.


11:30 PM -- DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client's death.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
BW-108 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbara Stanwyck, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

Edward G. Robinson's initial reluctance to sign on largely stemmed from the fact he wasn't keen on being demoted to third lead. Eventually, he realized that he was at a transitional phase of his career, plus the fact that he was getting paid the same as Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray for doing less work.


1:30 AM -- THE STRANGER (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles
BW-95 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Victor Trivas

A "Carthaginian peace", as mentioned by the characters, is used to refer to any peace treaty demanding total subjugation of the defeated side. It is based on the defeat of Carthage by Rome and the total destruction of Carthage thereafter. In modern times, it is often used to describe a peace settlement in which the terms imposed by the victor are overly harsh and designed to keep the loser subjugated for a long time, if not forever.


3:15 AM -- CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY (1939)
An FBI agent risks his life to infiltrate Nazi sympathizers in the U.S.
Dir: Anatole Litvak
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders
BW-104 mins, CC,

According to the article "Hollywood Goes to War" by Colin Shindler in the film history tome "The Movie", "Warner Brothers, who had made the one explicitly anti-Nazi film of the [US] pre-war period (1939, "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" ) were unofficially told by the [US] government not to make any more such pictures. In April 1940 the news filtered back to Hollywood that several Polish exhibitors who had shown "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" had been hanged in the foyers of their own cinemas."


5:15 AM -- ILLEGAL (1955)
A DA falls apart when his machinations send an innocent man to the chair.
Dir: Lewis Allen
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe
BW-88 mins, CC,

Frank Garland's impressive collection of Impressionist art actually was loaned to the film by collector Edward G. Robinson. Included are works by Gaugin, Degas, Duran, and Robinson's wife, Gladys Lloyd.