TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 19, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight: Joan Blondell

[Staph]

To the best of my guessing ability, I think that today's daytime theme is method acting. At least, most of today's films feature actors renowned for their method acting. In prime time, we have more of Star of the Month Joan Blondell. Enjoy!

(And a personal point -- I'm scheduled to have surgery today, December 19. A few good thoughts would be highly appreciated!)



6:00 AM -- I CONFESS (1953)
A priest suspected of murder can only clear himself by violating the sanctity of the confessional.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden
BW-95 mins, CC,

Sir Alfred Hitchcock, as was his custom, created detailed storyboards for each scene. He could not understand Montgomery Clift's Method acting technique, and quickly became frustrated with Clift when he blew take after take for failing to follow Hitchcock's instructions.


7:47 AM -- THE GREAT HEART (1938)
This short film tells the story of Joseph Damien de Beuster, the Belgian priest who worked for many years among the lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Tom Neal,
BW-11 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel


8:00 AM -- VICTIM (1961)
A closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
Dir: Basil Dearden
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price
BW-100 mins, CC,

The famous scene where Melville Farr (Sir Dirk Bogarde) (having been confronted by his wife Laura (Sylvia Syms) about Barrett (Peter McEnery)) finally admits to her that he "wanted him", was added at Bogarde's request, and was partially written by him. Bogarde states in his autobiography that he felt the screenplay lacked credibility because it was too ambiguous and did not adequately explain Farr's involvement with Barrett, and skirted around the issue. It's worth noting that Bogarde was gay, and considered this movie an extremely personal project.


9:45 AM -- CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958)
A dying plantation owner tries to help his alcoholic son solve his problems.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives
C-108 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Elizabeth Taylor, Best Director -- Richard Brooks, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Richard Brooks and James Poe, Best Cinematography, Color -- William H. Daniels, and Best Picture

This film was originally to be filmed in black and white, as was the standard practice with "artistic" films in the 1950s. (Virtually all film adaptations of the plays of Tennessee Williams had been in B&W up to that time.) However, once Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor were cast in the leads, director Richard Brooks insisted on shooting in color, in deference to the public's well known enthusiasm for Taylor's violet and Newman's strikingly blue eyes.


11:45 AM -- REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
An alienated teenager tries to handle life's troubles and an apron-wearing dad.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
C-111 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sal Mineo, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Natalie Wood, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Nicholas Ray

All three lead actors--James Dean, Sal Mineo--and Natalie Wood, died prematurely under tragic circumstances; Dean died in an automobile accident in September 1955, Mineo was stabbed to death on February 12, 1976, and Wood drowned in the late autumn of 1981. In addition, Edward Platt died by suicide in 1974 and Dennis Hopper fell ill suddenly in the fall of 2009 and died five months later.


1:45 PM -- SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING (1960)
A factory worker lives for the chance to have fun on the weekends.
Dir: Karel Reisz
Cast: Albert Finney, Shirley Field, Rachel Roberts
BW-89 mins, CC,

The film had to go through some dialogue changes before release, mainly owing to the swear words in the original script. Although 'bastards', 'bloody', and 'bleedin' were allowed the censors refused to pass 'sod', 'christ' and 'bogger' (the latter being a script substitution for 'bugger').


3:30 PM -- ALL FALL DOWN (1962)
A young drifter's romance with an older woman is threatened by his possessive mother.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Eva Marie Saint, Warren Beatty, Karl Malden
BW-110 mins, CC,

With its impeccable pedigree, both before and behind the camera, this is generally regarded as one of the most underrated dramatic films of the 1960s. Much of its critical and commercial rejection was laid at the feet of the book's author, James Leo Herlihy, who, with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, named his toxic lead character 'Berry-Berry,' after the tropical disease known for causing "inflammation of the nerves and heart failure." To make matters worse, the origin of the highly improbable name is never explained -- even his mother addresses him by use of it. Whereas screenwriter William Inge could have either changed the moniker or, at the very least, minimized its use, his otherwise strong adaptation did just the opposite; indeed, the phrase 'Berry-Berry' is voiced relentlessly over the course of the story, a whopping 74 times in all, which averages out to 1.5 mentions per minute of the film's running time.


5:30 PM -- PARRISH (1961)
When his mother marries into the tobacco business, a young man struggles to find himself.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden
C-138 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In the scene in Raike's office where Raike talks to Parrish about irrigation, he mentions that "it just so happens that Sekulovich is irrigating" his fields. Sekulovich is Karl Malden's real name. He would often manage to work his name into dialogue, as most famously in Patton (1970) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) when he's naming the prisoners in solitary to the new warden.


7:54 PM -- JUDY GARLAND SINGS "SILENT NIGHT" (1937)
In this short film, Judy Garland sings "Silent Night, Holy Night", accompanied by the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers of Long Beach, California.
BW-2 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: JOAN BLONDELL



8:00 PM -- TOPPER RETURNS (1941)
A beautiful ghost enlists a henpecked husband to track down her killer.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Joan Blondell, Roland Young, Carole Landis
BW-88 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD), and Best Effects, Special Effects -- Roy Seawright (photographic) and Elmer Raguse (sound)

When Gail says, "Just like the Pot O' Gold program", she is referring to the popular radio show that was on NBC from September 1939 to December 1941. The premise was whoever answered the phone from a number chosen at random would win $1,000 ($17,000 in 2016). Of course calling random numbers out of the phone book would result in a lot of calls not being answered.


9:45 PM -- CRY 'HAVOC' (1944)
A group of war nurses fights to survive the siege of Bataan.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell
BW-97 mins, CC,

Joan Crawford was offered the lead role but turned it down, saying "It should have been called 'The Women Go to War'." Her part was played by Joan Blondell.


11:30 PM -- OFF THE RECORD (1939)
A lady reporter adopts the young delinquent her crime exposes helped send to jail.
Dir: James Flood
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Joan Blondell, Bobby Jordan
BW-71 mins, CC,

The setting is suggested as New York City in the very beginning by a few notes of the song "The Sidewalks of New York". In the double exposure of newspaper headlines/marble games (pinball) being destroyed by sledgehammers, the destruction depicts true events. Pinball machines were declared illegal and destroyed in New York City at that time. They remained illegal there until 1976.


12:45 AM -- BULLETS OR BALLOTS (1936)
A cop goes undercover to crack an influential crime ring.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane
BW-82 mins, CC,

In the film, it is suggested that Joan Blondell's character got the idea of the numbers racket from her assistant, "Nellie". In reality, the numbers racket was pioneered by black gambling racketeers in Harlem. The "Nellie" character was based on Stephanie "Madame Queen" St. Clair (Nellie scoffs at being called "Madam Nellie&quot . As in the film, the numbers racket was eventually taken over by Dutch Schultz and 'Lucky Luciano' (the Humphrey Bogart and Barton MacLane characters, respectively).


2:15 AM -- WE'RE IN THE MONEY (1935)
Gold-digging process servers set their sights on a breach of promise defendant.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Hugh Herbert
BW-66 mins, CC,

Fourth of five films pairing Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell released by Warner Brothers from 1933-35. The others being Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), Traveling Saleslady (1935), and Miss Pacific Fleet (1935).


3:30 AM -- THREE MEN ON A HORSE (1936)
Gangsters kidnap a timid poet with a knack for picking winning horses.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Frank McHugh, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee
BW-86 mins, CC,

The Milton Bradley Company released a board game in 1936 called "3 Men on a Horse". The graphics on the box declare it "a sparkling game of chance for everybody" and "from Warner Bros.' laff hit!"


5:00 AM -- TWO GIRLS ON BROADWAY (1940)
A sister act splits up over love.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Lana Turner, Joan Blondell, George Murphy
BW-73 mins, CC,

A contemporary reviewer for The Hollywood Reporter was so impressed by Lana Turner's dancing and opined that MGM should pair her with Fred Astaire "...to duplicate the old Astaire-Rogers sizzle".