TCM Schedule for Friday, April 9 -- Inger Stevens

During the day we have films starring Claudette Colbert and James Stewart, and in the evening we have a trio of movies starring Inger Stevens. Enjoy!


6:00am -- The Secret Fury (1950)
A mysterious figure tries to stop a woman's marriage by driving her mad.
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, Jane Cowl, Paul Kelly
Dir: Mel Ferrer
BW-86 mins, TV-PG

The film debut of Vivian Vance, aka Ethel Mertz.


7:30am -- Boom Town (1940)
Friends become rivals when they strike-it-rich in oil.
Cast: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Dir: Jack Conway
BW-119 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harold Rosson, and Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound)

Rita Hayworth did a screen test for the role of Karen Vanmeer, the role eventually played by Hedy Lamarr.


9:30am -- The Secret Heart (1946)
A recent widow tries to help her emotionally disturbed stepdaughter.
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson, Lionel Barrymore
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
BW-97 mins, TV-PG

After filming The Secret Heart (1946) together, Claudette Colbert and co-star June Allyson became such great friends in real life Colbert became godmother to Allyson's daughter Pamela.


11:15am -- Without Reservations (1946)
A woman writer falls for a war hero who's a perfect match for the hero of her latest novel.
Cast: Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Don DeFore, Anne Triola
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
BW-101 mins, TV-PG

The opening shot shows "Arrowhead" Pictures motion picture studio. This is the actual RKO Pictures Studio Building at 780 Gower Street in Hollywood, retouched with "Arrowhead" replacing the RKO signs on the building. It remains a historic structure on the corner to this day.


1:15pm -- It's A Wonderful World (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee, Nat Pendleton
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
BW-86 mins, TV-G

The vast majority of movie shots taken of Claudette Colbert were of her left profile. She considered her left side to be her best and only rarely allowed full face or right profile shots; an injury to her nose had created a bump on the right. Once an entire set had to be rebuilt so she wouldn't have to show her right side; thus dubbing her "the dark side of the moon".


2:45pm -- Come Live With Me (1941)
A Viennese refugee weds a struggling author platonically so she can stay in the U.S.
Cast: James Stewart, Hedy Lamarr, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale
Dir: Clarence Brown
BW-87 mins, TV-G

The title came from Christopher Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd". It begins, "Come Live With me, and be my love..."


4:15pm -- No Time For Comedy (1940)
A wealthy culture vulture tries to steal a playwright from his actress wife.
Cast: James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Charles Ruggles, Genevieve Tobin
Dir: William Keighley
BW-93 mins, TV-G

The original play by S.N. Behrman opened in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 31 March 1939. Behrman was a contributing writer for a long list of good films, including Queen Christina (1933), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Anna Karenina (1935), Love Affair (1939), Quo Vadis (1951), and Ben Hur (1959).


6:00pm -- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Tabloid reporters crash a society marriage.
Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Dir: George Cukor
BW-112 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Stewart, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Donald Ogden Stewart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ruth Hussey, Best Director -- George Cukor, and Best Picture

The film was shot in eight weeks, and required no retakes. During the scene where James Stewart hiccups when drunk, you can see Cary Grant looking down and grinning. Since the hiccup wasn't scripted, Grant was on the verge of breaking out laughing and had to compose himself quickly. James Stewart thought of hiccuping in the drunk scene himself, without telling Cary Grant. When he began hiccuping, Grant turned to Stewart saying, "Excuse me." The scene required only one take.


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: INGER STEVENS


8:00pm -- Hang 'Em High (1968)
A mysterious drifter survives a lynching then goes back for revenge.
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle
Dir: Ted Post
C-115 mins, TV-14

Sergio Leone was approached to direct this film, but he turned it down since he was working on C'era una volta il West (1968) at the time.


10:00pm -- Firecreek (1968)
A pacifist sheriff must use tougher means when his town is threatened by a band of outlaws.
Cast: James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Gary Lockwood
Dir: Vincent McEveety
C-104 mins, TV-PG

Other than separate appearances in How the West Was Won, the only other joint screen effort for Princeton graduates and lifetime best friends, James Stewart and Henry Fonda was in On Our Merry Way (1948).


12:00am -- A Time for Killing (1967)
Confederate soldiers keep the war's ending a secret so they can escape to Mexico.
Cast: Inger Stevens, Glenn Ford, Paul Petersen
Dir: Phil Karlson
C-89 mins, TV-PG

Based on the novel The Southern Blade, by Nelson and Shirley Wolford.


2:00am -- Five Minutes to Live (1961)
A deranged bandit holds a bank president's wife hostage.
Cast: Johnny Cash, Donald Woods, Cay Forester, Pamela Mason
Dir: Bill Karn
BW-74 mins, TV-PG

Also known as Door-to-door Maniac, and Last Blood. I think Door-to-door Maniac is an awesome name for a movie!


3:30am -- The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967)
When the Civil War ends, Confederate spies have to return the fortune they just stole.
Cast: Roy Orbison, Sammy Jackson, Maggie Pierce, Joan Freeman
Dir: Michael Moore
C-87 mins, TV-PG

Elvis Presley was the first choice for the role of Johnny Banner (Roy Orbison's role), but he turned down the offer.


5:00am -- The Short Film: Corvair In Action (1960)
Technicians herald the arrival of a new car that "delivers the goods as no other compact car can."
C-6 mins

According to Wikipedia, the Corvair has the distinction of having been the only American-made, mass-produced passenger car to feature a rear-mounted engine.


5:15am -- Short Film: Tear Gas In Law Enforcement (1962)
Vintage training film used by police to show tear gas techniques.
C-26 mins, TV-PG

A dimpled, clear-eyed beauty whose radiant onscreen persona belied a troubled personality, Inger Stevens was a leading light in many films and television productions of the 1950s and '60s. After establishing herself in numerous important TV drama series including Kraft Television Theater, Studio One and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, she made her film debut as Bing Crosby's love interest in Man on Fire (1957), the story of a child-custody battle.

As she continued to distinguish herself on television, Stevens also became an in-demand leading lady in films, working opposite James Mason in Cry Terror! (1958), Harry Belafonte in The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959), Glenn Ford in A Time for Killing (1967), Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High (1968) and James Stewart and Henry Fonda in Firecreek (1968). Stepping into the role that won Loretta Young an Oscar®, Stevens enjoyed success in the ABC-TV series The Farmer's Daughter (1963-66), winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for her performance.

Born Inger Stensland in 1934 in Stockholm, Sweden, Stevens came to the U.S. as a child and settled with her family in Manhattan, Kansas. After studying at the Actors Studio in New York, she broke into television through commercials.

Unhappy love affairs with several of her costars including Crosby, Mason, Belafonte and Burt Reynolds may have contributed to the despondency that led Stevens to make suicide attempts. She apparently succeeded on April 30, 1970, when she died from acute barbiturate poisoning. After her death it was discovered that she had been secretly married since 1961 to actor/producer Ike Jones.

by Roger Fristoe

Films in bold are playing on 4/9