TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 19, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month Anna May Wong

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating Southern Celluloid, movies made about the South. Then in prime time, it's the third week of Star of the Month Anna May Wong. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
1h 45m | Romance | TV-PG
A farmer's daughter falls in love with a man who fought against her family in the Civil War.
Director: Roy Rowland
Cast: Van Johnson, Thomas Mitchell, Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison) said on TCM that Van Johnson was responsible for her stage name. He suggested she shorten her first name to Janet; and he thought that, since the film they were doing was a civil war drama, Lee would go well. But then he suggested she spell it Leigh. She was concerned there might a problem with confusion with Vivian Leigh, but then Van Johnson reminded her of Van Heflin. He said "there's two Van's and it hasn't hurt either of us."


7:45 AM -- She Couldn't Say No (1954)
1h 29m | Drama | TV-G
An heiress decides to pass out anonymous gifts in a small town.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Arthur Hunnicutt

Arthur Hunnicutt, who plays Odie, really was a native of Arkansas.


9:15 AM -- Good-Bye, My Lady (1956)
1h 35m | Drama | TV-G
A stray dog brings together a young boy and an old man in the Georgia swamps.
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, Brandon De Wilde

When not filming with the thirteen-year-old Brandon De Wilde, My Lady (the dog's full registered name: My Lady of the Congo) spent all her time with him. My Lady was six months old when she was brought over from England, along with other Basenjis to act as stand-ins. In the agreement to supply the dog, it was written into the contract that My Lady would belong to De Wilde after filming was completed.


11:00 AM -- Cry of the Hunted (1953)
1h 20m | Drama | TV-PG
A prison convict escapes through the Louisiana swamps.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, Polly Bergen

Although alligators are potential menaces to the human characters in the Louisiana swamp segments, the alligators and human actors never appear in the same shot.


12:30 PM -- Highway 301 (1950)
1h 23m | Crime | TV-14
A brutal bank robber fights internal divisions within his gang.
Director: Andrew Stone
Cast: Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby Andre

The film's title, "Highway 301" refers to a U.S. highway that connects Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina - where the Tri-State gang committed their crimes. The route itself was never mentioned in the film.


2:00 PM -- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
2h 2m | Drama | TV-PG
A fading southern belle tries to build a new life with her sister in New Orleans.
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Karl Malden, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Kim Hunter, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Richard Day and George James Hopkins

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Marlon Brando, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Tennessee Williams, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Harry Stradling Sr., Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Lucinda Ballard, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros.), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Alex North, and Best Picture

As the film progresses, the set of the Kowalski apartment actually gets smaller to heighten the suggestion of Blanche's increasing claustrophobia.


4:15 PM -- Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
1h 49m | Drama | TV-14
A military officer becomes obsessed with an enlisted man.
Director: John Huston
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Brian Keith

Originally released in a version in which all scenes were suffused with the color gold and one object in each scene (such as a rose) appeared normally colored. This was done in reference to the houseboy's statement regarding the golden peacock in a drawing that he shows to Alison: he states that the world is just a reflection in the eye of the golden peacock. However, that version puzzled audiences so it was withdrawn and a normal color version released. The DVD issued in 2020 by Warner Archive includes both versions.


6:15 PM -- The Traveling Executioner (1970)
1h 35m | Comedy | TV-14
An executioner is seduced by a woman marked for his portable electric chair in the 1918 Deep South.
Director: Jack Smight
Cast: Stacy Keach, Marianna Hill, Bud Cort

This was filmed at Alabama's then recently closed Kilby Prison off of Coliseum Blvd. in Montgomery. As part of an agreement with the state for filming rights, filmmakers were supposed to have demolished the prison's massive walls with pyrotechnics during/after the film. However, the walls were so thick, three charges failed to do the job, and their remnants stayed around for years afterwards.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- STAR OF THE MONTH: ANNA MAY WONG



8:00 PM -- Daughter of Shanghai (1938)
1h 3m | Crime | TV-G
A young woman tracks down the smugglers who killed her father.
Director: Robert Florey
Cast: Anna May Wong, Charles Bickford, Larry Crabbe

Written and produced as a star vehicle for Anna May Wong. Earlier the same year she had been rejected for the lead in The Good Earth (1937), a role she strove to land. Losing the part to a white actress was a bitter pill for her to swallow.


9:15 PM -- A Study in Scarlet (1933)
1h 10m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Sherlock Holmes is called in to solve the case when secret society members start dropping like flies.
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Reginald Owen, Anna May Wong, June Clyde

Bears no relation in plot to Arthur Conan Doyle's original novel of the same name, as the producers purchased rights only to the title, not the storyline of Doyle's book.


10:45 PM -- When Were You Born (1938)
1h 5m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
An astrologer tries to help the police catch a killer.
Director: William McGann
Cast: Margaret Lindsay, Anna May Wong, Lola Lane

The film was meant to be the first in a low-budget franchise starring Anna May Wong as a amateur detective who uses astrology to solve crimes.


12:00 AM -- Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019)
54m
A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
Director: Clara Kuperberg, Julia Kuperberg
Cast: Dan Akira, Joseph McBride, Tamlyn Tomita

Features
The Cheat (1915), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932), The Good Earth (1937), Everybody Sing (1938), Charlie Chan in Panama (1940), Tokio Jokio (1943) (Short), The Purple Heart (1944), Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944) (Short), Dragon Seed (1944), Know Your Enemy - Japan (1945), Japanese Bride in America (1952) (Short), House of Bamboo (1955), The Conqueror (1956), Sayonara (1957), The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958), The Crimson Kimono (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Teahouse of the August Moon (1962) (TV Movie), The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), Come See the Paradise (1990), Doctor Strange (2016), and Ghost in the Shell (2017).


1:15 AM -- How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
1h 35m | Comedy | TV-G
Three models pool their resources to rent a posh penthouse in hopes of snaring rich husbands.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color -- Charles Le Maire and Travilla

According to Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe was a challenge to work with. It wasn't because she was unpleasant, but rather her insecurity and total dependence on her personal acting coach Natasha Lytess for approval: "Betty Grable was a funny, outgoing woman, totally professional and easy. Marilyn was frightened, insecure--trusted only her coach and was always late. During our scenes she'd look at my forehead instead of my eyes; at the end of a take, look to her coach, standing behind Jean Negulesco, for approval. If the head shake was no, she'd insist on another take. A scene often went to 15 or more takes, which meant I'd have to be good in all of them as no one knew which one would be used. Not easy--often irritating. And yet I couldn't dislike Marilyn. She had no meanness in her--no bitchery. She just had to concentrate on herself and the people who were there only for her."


3:00 AM -- The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)
1h 25m | Comedy | TV-G
In the 1870s, Miss Pilgrim becomes the first female employee at a Boston shipping office.
Director: George Seaton
Cast: Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Anne Revere

This was the first Betty Grable vehicle not to achieve major-hit status following her assent to stardom in Down Argentine Way (1940). Twentieth Century-Fox executives blamed the mild box office on the rather genteel appearance of Miss Grable, sporting darker-blonde hair and failing to display her renowned legs.


4:30 AM -- The Day the Bookies Wept (1939)
1h 4m | Comedy | TV-G
A taxi driver buys a beer-drinking race horse.
Director: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Joe Penner, Betty Grable, Richard Lane

Joe Penner is primarily remembered for the catchphrase "Wanna buy a duck?" and for the vocal imitation that Looney Tunes' Egghead did of him -- the character later evolved into Elmer Fudd.