TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 4, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Jazz in Film

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birth of Rosalind Russell, born on June 4, 1907, in Waterbury, Connecticut. One of my favorite Roz Russell quotes - "Taking joy in life is a woman's best cosmetic." Then in prime time, it's the Thursday night beginning of the spotlight of Jazz in Film. Take it away, Roger!

Both jazz and the movies emerged as American art forms at the end of the 19th Century and flowered in the 1920s. Not for nothing was that era called The Jazz Age! Once sound appeared in movies, the two forms melded; noted by the first major "talkie," The Jazz Singer. Since then, jazz artists - many of them African American - have performed regularly in films. Beginning in the 1950s, complete jazz scores were created for film noir and other genres with urban settings.

TCM revisits the legacy of jazz music and its perfect marriage to film over the decades. First appearing as a special theme in 1999, our programming is expanded in this month's Spotlight to two nights a week to encompass the eclectic sounds, artists and films associated with jazz.

The movies in this Spotlight are arranged by categories. Classic Jazz Scores includes two controversial films of the 1950s, in which director Otto Preminger used contemporary jazz scores to juice up the drama in addressing subject matter that had been previously considered forbidden.

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) stars Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker in a story about drug addiction - a taboo topic at the time. Elmer Bernstein was Oscar-nominated for his score, considered to be one of the best jazz soundtracks of the 1950s. Anatomy of a Murder (1959) stars James Stewart and Lee Remick in a courtroom drama that includes dicey details about an alleged rape. Jazz greats Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed the evocative score, played by Ellington's orchestra. This was considered the first major Hollywood movie to be given over to a jazz musician for its score, and the first to use an African American composer for that purpose. Ellington's soundtrack album won a Grammy award.

Other films in this category are A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), scored by Alex North; and Bullitt (1968), scored by Lalo Schifrin.

. . . .

By Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



7:15 AM -- SISTER KENNY (1946)
True story of the Australian nurse who fought to gain acceptance for her polio-treatment methods.
Dir: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, Dean Jagger
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Rosalind Russell

The Wikipedia article on Elizabeth Kenny lists notable individuals who had been polio patients of Sister Kenny. Among those listed are Alan Alda, Dinah Shore and "Rosalind Russell's nephew." It is known that Rosalind Russell had campaigned long to portray Sister Kenny in film. Her nephew's treatment may have been a factor in that interest.


9:30 AM -- DESIGN FOR SCANDAL (1941)
A reporter is assigned to dig up dirt on a lady judge.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold
BW-85 mins, CC,

Is a remake of the 1936 film, Libeled Lady, starring Jean Harlow and William Powell.


11:00 AM -- THE CITADEL (1938)
A struggling doctor is tempted to give up his ideals for a posh high-society practice.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson
BW-113 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robert Donat, Best Director -- King Vidor, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ian Dalrymple, Elizabeth Hill and Frank Wead, and Best Picture

Elizabeth Allan was announced as leading lady, and sued M.G.M. when she was replaced by Rosalind Russell.


1:00 PM -- MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA (1947)
Repressed passions and shameful secrets destroy a New England family.
Dir: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Michael Redgrave, Raymond Massey
BW-159 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Michael Redgrave, and Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Rosalind Russell

Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis were considered for the role of Lavinia before Rosalind Russell was ultimately cast.


3:45 PM -- THE WOMEN (1939)
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
BW-133 mins, CC,

At the wrap party, Rosalind Russell was dancing with George Cukor, when Ernst Lubitsch passed her and said, "If you want more close-ups in the picture, never mind dancing with your director, you'd better dance with Norma Shearer!" Without missing a beat, Russell took Shearer's hand with a wink and danced her across the floor.


6:15 PM -- HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
An unscrupulous editor plots to keep his star reporter-and ex-wife-from re-marrying.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
BW-92 mins, CC,

Rosalind Russell was insecure during the first days of filming, knowing that she had been far down on the list of choices for the female lead. Making matters worse was the fact that Howard Hawks just watched her initial scenes with Cary Grant without making any comment. Finally, she expressed her frustration to Grant, who counselled, "If he didn't like it, he'd tell you." When she asked Hawks how he felt about her work, he said, "You just keep pushin' him around the way you're doing." That was enough to put her at ease.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: JAZZ IN FILM



8:00 PM -- CABIN IN THE SKY (1943)
God and Satan battle for the soul of a wounded gambler.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne
BW-99 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe"

During filming, the movie's black stars were told by the studio manager that they were not allowed to eat at the MGM commissary. When studio head Louis B. Mayer heard about this, he invited the black performers to join him instead in his private dining room. All the performers were allowed to eat in the commissary the following day.


10:00 PM -- STORMY WEATHER (1943)
A relationship blossoms between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress.
Dir: Andrew Stone
Cast: Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway
BW-78 mins, CC,

Final film of Bill Robinson, who died of heart failure at age 71 on November 25, 1949 in New York City.


11:30 PM -- ALL NIGHT LONG (1963)
A jazz band's leader thinks his wife is unfaithful.
Dir: Basil Dearden
Cast: Patrick McGoohan, Marti Stevens, Betsy Blair
BW-92 mins, CC,

Unusual for a movie of its time, this features two highly contentious subjects. One is that characters are clearly seen smoking marijuana. The other is that there are two mixed-race relationships featured, and neither of them warrants a mention.


1:15 AM -- A SONG IS BORN (1948)
A group of music professors takes in a singer on the run from her gangster boyfriend.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman
C-113 mins, CC,

It is commonly assumed that Danny Kaye had left his wife Sylvia Fine during the filming of this movie in order to take up an affair with Eve Arden. This is incorrect however as Kaye and Arden had already been having an affair since 1941 (one year after Danny and Sylvia were married). Arden had divorced her husband earlier that year assuming that Kaye was going to divorce his wife in order to marry her; however, when he left Sylvia in 1947, he also left Arden and never resumed their affair. Arden later remarried. Kaye was going through a sort of a nervous breakdown during this period after the separation and was seeing a psychiatrist while shooting 'A Song is Born' (literally stopping work almost every day in order to see the psychiatrist) which seemed to have stemmed from a feeling of inadequacy due to the knowledge that his wife's talents were a large part of his success. Kaye needed to learn for himself once and for all whether or not he was talented enough to be a hit on his own, and shortly left for England to begin a long tour which eventually lead him to the London Palladium where he was an absolute smash. He singlehandedly took Britain by storm, and his success made history. Historians have found that Beatle-mania was infantile in its scale when compared to the frenzy Kaye caused in Britain at the Palladium. After realizing what a smash he had become, Kaye finally felt secure in the knowledge that he could indeed be a success on his own; He and Sylvia reconciled and he returned home to his family. In 1948, King George ordered Danny return to the Palladium for a Royal Command Performance and Danny accepted. Since Sylvia had never been to England and Danny wished to make up for all that had happened between them, Kaye asked his wife to return with him. She did.


3:15 AM -- HIGH SOCIETY (1956)
In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Cole Porter for the song "True Love", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin

The song "Well, Did You Evah?" (from a previous Cole Porter musical) was added at the last minute when it was realized that there wasn't a song for Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra to sing together.


5:15 AM -- WEDDING IN MONACO (1956)
Exclusive footage captures the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier in this short film.
Dir: Jean Masson
Cast: Grace Kelly,
C-31 mins, Letterbox Format