TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 23 -- Star of the Month -- Mickey Rooney

It's another day full of the movies of Mickey Rooney. Enjoy!


5:00am -- The Man From Monterey (1933)
A U.S. Cavalry officer tries to protect Spanish landowners in California.
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Ruth Hall, Luis Alberni
Dir: Mack V. Wright
BW-57 mins, TV-G

A remake of The Canyon of Adventure (1928), starring Ken Maynard.


6:00am -- A Slight Case Of Larceny (1953)
A garage owner taps into his rivals' gas lines.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Eddie Bracken, Elaine Stewart, Marilyn Erskine
Dir: Don Weis
BW-71 mins, TV-PG

Based on a story by James Poe, who later won an Oscar for the screenplay for Around The World In Eighty Days (1956).


7:30am -- All Ashore (1953)
Three sailors on shore leave sing and dance their way to love.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes, Peggy Ryan, Ray McDonald
Dir: Richard Quine
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Filmed in part on Santa Catalina Island, California.


9:00am -- The Extraordinary Seaman (1969)
Marooned sailors discover a World War II ship haunted by its late captain.
Cast: David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda, Mickey Rooney
Dir: John Frankenheimer
C-80 mins, TV-PG

Last film of Barry Kelley, who made a career of playing heavies and cops.


10:30am -- Sound Off (1952)
A brash nightclub entertainer has to straighten out when he's drafted and falls for a beautiful WAC.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Anne James, Sammy White, John Archer
Dir: Richard Quine.
C-83 mins

The soundtrack includes "Blow Your Own Horn", written by Mickey Rooney.


12:00pm -- Operation Mad Ball (1957)
A peacetime soldier plots to throw a party under his strict captain's nose.
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Kathryn Grant, Arthur O'Connell
Dir: Richard Quine
BW-104 mins, TV-G

Ernie Kovacs' first theatrical film role.


1:50pm -- One Reel Wonders: Servant Of Mankind - Thomas Edison (1940)
This short dramatizes how profoundly the inventions of Thomas A. Edison have affected the world in which we live.
Cast: Thomas Edison (in archival footage)
BW-9 mins

MGM, never a company to miss an opportunity, produced this short as a disguised trailer/advertisement for its feature Edison, the Man.


2:00pm -- Young Tom Edison (1940)
As a precocious child, Tom Edison defies authority to develop his first inventions.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, George Bancroft, Virginia Weidler
Dir: Norman Taurog
BW-86 mins, TV-G

After "The End" title page, a portrait of Tom Edison is displayed and, after some of the inventor's many accomplishments are noted, then the camera pans back to show Spencer Tracy admiring the painting while the narrator announces the forthcoming "Edison, The Man (1940)" biography (featuring Tracy in the title role).


3:30pm -- National Velvet (1944)
A British farm girl fights to train a difficult horse for the Grand National Steeplechase.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Revere
Dir: Clarence Brown
C-124 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Anne Revere, and Best Film Editing -- Robert Kern

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis and Mildred Griffiths, Best Cinematography, Color -- Leonard Smith, and Best Director -- Clarence Brown

The Pie was played by King Charles, a grandson of Man o' War and whose owner had trained him as a show jumper.


5:35pm -- One Reel Wonders: Hollywood Scout (1945)
One of Pete Smith's assistants auditions animal acts for his short subjects.
Cast: Pete Smith
BW-8 mins

Edited from Pete Smith's 1937 short Dexterity.


5:48pm -- One Reel Wonders: So You Want To Play The Horses (1946)
Joe McDoakes is addicted to betting on horse races.
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Art Gilmore
Dir: Richard L. Bare
BW-11 mins

The fourth of 60 Joe McDoakes short films.


6:00pm -- The Black Stallion (1979)
A boy and a horse forge a close friendship after being shipwrecked together in Africa.
Cast: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse
Dir: Carroll Ballard
C-117 mins, TV-PG

Won a Special Achievement Oscar Award for Alan Splet for sound editing.

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Mickey Rooney, and Best Film Editing -- Robert Dalva

There is a scene in which Alec opens the door of Henry Dailey's office and looks around at all the old memorabilia Henry acquired as a winning jockey. One of the photos is a shot of a younger Mickey Rooney atop the horse that looks to be the one featured in National Velvet (1944).


8:00pm -- The Human Comedy (1943)
A small-town telegraph boy deals with the strains of growing up during World War II.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt
Dir: Clarence Brown
BW-117 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- William Saroyan

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Mickey Rooney, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Director -- Clarence Brown, and Best Picture

Writer William Saroyan wanted desperately to direct the film despite having no experience in directing. Louis B. Mayer told Saroyan that he would consider the request and assigned the writer to direct a one reel short. The short film was a disappointment and studio stalwart Clarence Brown was promptly assigned. Saroyan was so bitter about the experience he wrote a play about Mayer soon after titled "Get Away Old Man". He also adapted the story he wrote for the film into a novel, which was published within weeks of the movie premiere and became a best seller.


10:11pm -- One Reel Wonders: Loews Christmas Greeting (Hardy Family) (1939)
BW-3 mins


10:15pm -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
Mark Twain's classic troublemaker helps a runaway slave escape to the North.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, Rex Ingram
Dir: Richard Thorpe
BW-91 mins, TV-G

Other Huck Finns -- Lewis Sargent (1920), Jackie Coogan (1931), Charles Taylor (1955-TV), Eddie Hodges (1960), Roman Madyanov (1972 - Soviet Union!), Jeff East (1974), Ron Howard (1975-TV), Kurt Ida (1981-TV), Patrick Day (1985-TV), and Elijah Wood (1993).


12:00am -- Boys' Town (1938)
True story of Father Flanagan's fight to build a home for orphaned boys.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Henry Hull, Leslie Fenton
Dir: Norman Taurog
BW-93 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy (Spencer Tracy was not present at the awards ceremony. His wife Louise Treadwell accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Writing, Original Story -- Eleanore Griffin and Dore Schary

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Norman Taurog, Best Writing, Screenplay -- John Meehan and Dore Schary, and Best Picture

The day after Spencer Tracy won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film, an MGM publicist released a statement - without consulting Tracy first - that the actor would donate his Oscar to the real Boys Town in Nebraska. Tracy agreed to make the donation if the Academy would send him a replacement Oscar. When the replacement arrived, the engraving on the award read: "Best Actor - Dick Tracy."


1:37am -- One Reel Wonders: The City Of Little Men (1938)
The story of Boys Town, a community founded by a Catholic Priest as a self-sufficient town for orphaned and delinquent boys.
Cast: Johnny Walsh, Father Flanagan
BW-11 mins

Father Edward Flanagan was pictured on a 4¢ US definitive postage stamp in the Great Americans series, issued 14 July 1986.


1:54am -- One Reel Wonders: Present With A Future: Bette Davis Christmas War Bonds Trailer (1943)
BW-2 mins


2:00am -- Men Of Boys Town (1941)
Father Flanagan continues to fight for his pioneering orphanage.
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Bobs Watson, Larry Nunn
Dir: Norman Taurog
BW-106 mins, TV-G

Filmed on site at the real Boys' Town, Nebraska.


4:00am -- Captains Courageous (1937)
A spoiled rich boy is lost at sea and rescued by a fishing boat, where hard work and responsibility help him become a man.
Cast: Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas
Dir: Victor Fleming
BW-117 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Elmo Veron, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Marc Connelly, John Lee Mahin and Dale Van Every, and Best Picture

Spencer Tracy was initially reluctant to take on the part of Manuel, mainly because he had to sing in several scenes and get his hair curled. His new curly locks provided a lot of amusement to his friends and fellow actors. Joan Crawford, for instance, referred to him as Harpo (after Harpo Marx, the curly-haired Marx Brother).