TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 29 -- TCM Spotlight -- Teen Movies

Happy birthday to William Powell, born this day in 1892. We're celebrating with a day full of his films, including four with co-star Myrna Loy. This evening, we wrap up this month's salute to teen movies with early rock and roll movies, including one of my favorites, Bye Bye Birdie. Enjoy!


6:00am -- One Way Passage (1932)
An ocean voyage leads to romance for a dying heiress and a condemned criminal.
Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Aline MacMahon, Frank McHugh
Dir: Tay Garnett
BW-68 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Lord

Although the character's name would change, Frank McHugh plays the same part in the remake titled 'Til We Meet Again (1940), starring Merle Oberon and George Brent.


7:15am -- The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Cast: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan
Dir: Michael Curtiz
BW-73 mins, TV-G

William Powell's last appearance as Philo Vance.


8:30am -- Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Boyhood friends grow up on opposite sides of the law.
Cast: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Leo Carrillo
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
BW-90 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Arthur Caesar

This is the first of 14 pairings of Myrna Loy and William Powell and the first of three movies they would make together in 1934. This is also the movie that bank robber John Dillinger had just seen before he was gunned down in front of Chicago's Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. He had been set up by Anna Sage, the madam of a brothel, who knew Dillinger's girlfriend, Polly Hamilton. Sage was facing deportation and thought the tip might get her off. She told FBI agent Melvin Purvis that she would be wearing orange which appeared red, leading her to be dubbed "The Woman in Red". Dillinger was shot three times when he tried to escape, and Sage wound up being sent back to Romania.


10:11am -- One Reel Wonders: Jean Harlow (1962)
BW-4 mins

William Powell dated Jean Harlow for two years before her death. Her mother forced him to pay for her funeral, costing $30,000. He had initially refused but did so to avoid negative publicity. For many years Powell made sure fresh flowers were always present at her grave.


10:15am -- Reckless (1935)
A theatrical star gets in over her head when she marries a drunken millionaire.
Cast: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, May Robson
Dir: Victor Fleming
BW-97 mins, TV-PG

David O. Selznick based this on the Libby Holman murder scandal. Star Jean Harlow felt the story had disturbing similarities to suicide of her second husband, Paul Bern. Jean Harlow believed she was cast in the picture in a deliberate attempt to capitalize on that event, and she refused the role at first. In William Powell's autobiography, he says he convinced her to accept the role rather than be suspended.


12:00pm -- Love Crazy (1941)
A businessman concocts a series of harebrained schemes to keep his wife from divorcing him.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick, Jack Carson
Dir: Jack Conway
BW-99 mins, TV-PG

William Powell had a mustache for the entire length of his career, but shaved it off when dressed as a woman.


1:43pm -- One Reel Wonders: A Dream Of Love (1939)
A historical, musical short about a true incident in the life of composer Franz Liszt. On his birthday, the aging Liszt recieves an unmarked package with a single flower, sparking memories of the musical inspiration Liszt found in lost love.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
BW-17 mins

Cut to 17 minutes and released in USA as a 2-reel short in Sepiatone.


2:00pm -- I Love You Again (1940)
A solid married man discovers he's forgotten a past existence as a con artist.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
BW-99 mins, TV-G

The ninth of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy.


3:40pm -- One Reel Wonders: Love On Tap (1939)
Problems with their dance troup postpone a marriage.
Cast: Mary Howard, Truman Bradley
Dir: George Sidney
BW-11 mins

Featuring Merriel Abbott Dancers and Garwood Van and His Orchestra.


4:00pm -- After The Thin Man (1936)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora's cousin of a murder charge.
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
BW-112 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Though William Powell and Myrna Loy were very close friends off-screen, their only romantic moments together occurred on-screen. The public, however, was determined to have them married in private life as well. When the two stars showed up in San Francisco (where most of After the Thin Man (1936) was shot) at the St. Francis, the hotel management proudly showed "Mr. and Mrs. Powell" to their deluxe suite. This was an especially uncomfortable moment as Jean Harlow, who was engaged to Powell, was with them, and the couple had not made a public statement about their relationship. Harlow saved the day by insisting on sharing the suite with Loy: "That mix-up brought me one of my most cherished friendships," Loy said in her biography Being and Becoming. "You would have thought Jean and I were in boarding school we had so much fun. We'd stay up half the night talking and sipping gin, sometimes laughing, sometimes discussing more serious things." Meanwhile, Powell got the hotel's one remaining room - a far humbler accommodation downstairs.


6:00pm -- Life With Father (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
Cast: William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund Gwenn
Dir: Michael Curtiz
C-118 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- William Powell, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Robert M. Haas and George James Hopkins, Best Cinematography, Color -- J. Peverell Marley and William V. Skall, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Before filming began, the cast was taken to Perc Westmore's salon on a Sunday morning to have their hair dyed red. When it was time to rinse the dye, the beauticians discovered that the water had been turned off for the entire block because the street was being repaired. Because dyes were so strong then, leaving them on could have caused the cast to lose their hair. Luckily, someone suggested diluting the dye with cold cream.


What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: TEEN MOVIES


8:00pm -- Rock, Rock, Rock (1956)
A teenager will stop at nothing to get the perfect dress for her school's big dance.
Cast: Alan Freed and his Rock 'n Roll Band, Fran Manfred, Tuesday Weld, Connie Francis
Dir: Will Price
BW-86 mins, TV-G

Valerie Harper's film debut.


9:30pm -- Rock Around the Clock (1956)
A music promoter decides to get into the new world of rock music.
Cast: Bill Haley and His Comets, The Platters, Ernie Freeman Combo, Tony Martinez and His Band
Dir: Fred F. Sears
BW-77 mins, TV-G

This was the first full-length rock and roll movie. Queen Elizabeth II requested a print of this film be shown at Buckingham Palace - one of this first times this was done with a major motion picture. Who knew the Queen was a rock chick!


11:00pm -- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
A rock star's personal appearance turns a small town into a disaster area.
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret, Maureen Stapleton
Dir: George Sidney
C-112 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Johnny Green, and Best Sound -- Charles Rice (Columbia SSD)

Conrad Birdie was a parody of Elvis Presley and the play was based upon the furor that arose from Presley being drafted in 1958. The character's name, however, was the result of composers Strouse and Adams finding the name of real-life singer Conway Twitty far more humorous and safer to parody than Elvis. Interestingly, Conway Twitty was in the US Army first, before engaging in a singing career. Ironically, producers originally wanted Presley for the role of Conrad Birdie. Presley was interested, but his manager Col. Tom Parker refused to let Presley play a role spoofing himself.


1:00am -- Jailhouse Rock (1957)
After learning to play the guitar in prison, a young man becomes a rock 'n roll sensation.
Cast: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaugn Taylor
Dir: Richard Thorpe
BW-96 mins, TV-G

Originally the choreographer, Alex Romero, created a dance for the song "Jailhouse Rock" that was in a style that was apropos for a more classically trained dancer than Elvis. When Mr. Romero realized that his plans for the number were never going to work, he asked Elvis how would he normally move to the song; thus, this is how Elvis became the uncredited choreographer for what could be considered his most famous dance number in all of his movies.


2:45am -- Go, Johnny, Go! (1959)
Rock-n-roll promoter Alan Freed searches for a talent contest's mysterious winner.
Cast: Alan Freed, Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart, Chuck Berry
Dir: Paul Landres
BW-74 mins, TV-G

This was Ritchie Valens only screen appearance.


4:15am -- Don't Knock the Twist (1962)
A TV executive tries to create a musical special to save his network.
Cast: Chubby Checker, Gene Chandler, Vic Dana, Linda Scott
Dir: Oscar Rudolph
BW-86 mins, TV-G

The film version of the song "Slow Twistin'" has an extra verse that does not appear on the single or album.

1934 was a good year for Clark Gable. He won his only Academy Award® for Best Actor in It Happened One Night. And the film won an additional four awards before the night was over, including the award for Best Picture. But Gable also had a role in the memorable Manhattan Melodrama (1934) which won the Oscar® for Best Original Story that same year.

The winning storyline of Manhattan Melodrama, boyhood pals who remain friends despite being on opposite sides of the law, has since become a classic movie plot. In Manhattan Melodrama, Gable plays Blackie a gambler who resorts to murder to protect a friend. William Powell is his boyhood pal, now a DA, who must choose between friendship and his own conscience. This plot has often been recycled into new movies with the same basic premise. The story was remade as Northwest Rangers in 1942, and though not called a remake, the movie Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) shares a very similar plot.

Writer Arthur Caesar is credited with the story for Manhattan Melodrama and was the only one of the film's three screenwriters (the other two were Oliver H.P. Garrett and Joesph L. Mankiewicz) to receive the Oscar®. Caesar was something of a wild card, even by Hollywood standards. He had written a play called Napoleon's Brother that was made into director John Ford's first talkie in 1928. Caesar was put under contract by Fox, but apparently his biting sense of humor eventually cost him his job. Darryl F. Zanuck, then at Warner Bros., seemed more able to tolerate Caesar's outspokenness than others and put him to work. And Caesar had success at Warner Bros. turning out winners like The Heart of New York (1932), the Joe E. Brown vehicle, Fireman Save My Child, and his Oscar® winning Manhattan Melodrama.

One interesting side note, Manhattan Melodrama was the film John Dillinger saw before being gunned down outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.

Producer: David O. Selznick
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Screenplay: Arthur Caesar (story), Oliver H.P. Garrett, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Film Editing: Ben Lewis
Original Music: Richard Rodgers (song)
Cast: Clark Gable (Edward "Blacki" Gallagher), William Powell (Jim Wade), Myrna Loy (Eleanor Packer), Leo Carrillo (Father Joe), Nat Pendelton (Spud).
BW-91m. Closed captioning.

by Stephanie Thames