TCM Schedule for Friday, June 17, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Judy Garland

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, we get a morning of films directed by Lewis Milestone and an afternoon of films starring Judy Garland, with her best buddy Mickey Rooney. Then in prime time, TCM continues the celebration of Star of the Month, Judy Garland, in the month of her hundredth birthday. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
3h 5m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Lavish remake of the classic tale of the villainous Captain Bligh who drives his crew to revolt during a South Seas expedition.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert Surtees, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, J. McMillan Johnson, Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt, Best Film Editing -- John McSweeney Jr., Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (visual) and Milo B. Lory (audible), Best Music, Original Song -- Bronislau Kaper (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Love Song from Mutiny on the Bounty (Follow Me)", and Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Bronislau Kaper, and Best Picture

According to Bob Thomas's 1973 biography "Marlon: Portait of the Artist as a Rebel", after the firing of Carol Reed, Marlon Brando began to usurp the power of replacement director Lewis Milestone - a well-respected veteran with two directing Oscars to his credit. Milestone noticed that the cameramen would continue rolling in scenes featuring Brando after he had said cut, and would only desist after being signaled by Brando. Milestone considered quitting, but was dissuaded from doing so as it would generate more bad publicity for the film and M.G.M. He stayed on, but loafed around the set, leaving Brando to his own devices. One afternoon, a legendary occurrence transpired: The operating cameraman himself called cut, explaining that the sleeping director's feet were in the frame. When asked about the incident in 1979, Brando dismissed any criticism, saying that actors essentially directed themselves anyways. Hollywood insiders were outraged by Brando's treatment of Milestone, and the backlash from his behavior on this picture (he was blamed fairly or unfairly for the massive cost-overruns that doomed the picture financially) began the steady waning that led to the eclipse of Brando's star by the end of the 1960s.


9:15 AM -- Ocean's Eleven (1960)
2h 7m | Comedy | TV-14
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra

According to Frank Sinatra Jr. in the DVD commentary, Danny Ocean and his men made it out of Las Vegas with the money by getting away on a chartered plane (flown by one of the Eleven). But then the entire gang is killed in a plane crash. No one liked that ending as they felt it was too much of a downer so it was rewritten to the ending shown in the movie with the money being burned up along with Tony Bergdoff's body in cremation. The idea for the cremation ending came from director Lewis Milestone, who had recently attended the cremation funeral of a friend.


11:30 AM -- My Life with Caroline (1941)
1h 21m | Comedy | TV-PG
A man thinks his high-spirited wife is cheating on him.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Ronald Colman, Anna Lee, Charles Winninger

The production company, United Producers Corp., was founded by executive producer William B. Hawks and actor Ronald Colman.


1:00 PM -- Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)
1h 20m | Drama | TV-G
A young jockey goes crooked to land a valuable riding job.
Director: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Sinclair

This film, the first of 10 to feature both Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, is also the only one in which she is billed ahead of him. It was also the first film in which she received top billing.


2:30 PM -- Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
1h 30m | Comedy | TV-G
A small-town boy tries to juggle two girlfriends at once.
Director: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker

The fourth of sixteen Hardy family films starring Mickey Rooney. Due to Rooney's rising star status and the increasing focus on his character in the films, this is the first one with "Andy Hardy" in the title. The first of three Hardy films featuring Judy Garland as Betsy Booth. Just the second film pairing Mickey and Judy, they would eventually appear in ten films together.


4:15 PM -- Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
1h 28m | Comedy | TV-G
A teenage boy goes into debt to court a Manhattan socialite.
Director: George B. Seitz
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker

Judy filmed her scenes between February and April, 1940, while also filming Strike Up the Band.


6:00 PM -- Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
1h 40m | Comedy | TV-G
A small-town boy tries life in the big city before going to college.
Director: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland

The tag line for the film 'Mickey Woos! Judy Sings!' was featured on a number of ads for the release. Although she pre-recorded four songs for the film, these were all dropped before release. Except a brief rendition of 'Happy Birthday', Judy Garland does not sing in the film.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- STAR OF THE MONTH JUDY GARLAND



8:00 PM -- The Harvey Girls (1946)
1h 41m | Musical | TV-G
Straitlaced waitresses battle saloon girls to win the West for domesticity.
Director: George Sidney
Cast: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe"

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

In the big production number "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", from Judy Garland's entrance until the tempo change is one take. Rumor has it they only shot it twice and she was dead-on both times.


10:00 PM -- Easter Parade (1948)
1h 43m | Musical | TV-G
When his partner leaves him, a vaudeville star trains an untried performer to take her place, finding love in the process.
Director: Charles Walters
Cast: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green and Roger Edens

Sidney Sheldon revealed this in an interview decades after the film came out: On the first day of filming, before the first scene, Sheldon was telling Judy Garland a story. Though it was time to shoot, Garland pressed him to continue, ignoring the calls. When Sheldon jokingly asked if she wanted to do the scene, Garland admitted that she didn't, because the first scene was a kissing scene with Fred Astaire. She was nervous because she had never met him before. This had never occurred to anyone on the film - since Astaire and Garland were both already big stars at the time, it was assumed that they knew each other. Sidney brought Judy over and introduced her to Fred, and they proceeded to film the movie.


12:00 AM -- Summer Stock (1950)
1h 49m | Musical | TV-G
A farmer gets sucked into show business when a theatrical troupe invades her farm.
Director: Charles Walters
Cast: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken

On one particular day of filming, when it became apparent that Judy Garland was not fit to work, Gene Kelly reputedly feigned an injury of his own so that she would be able to take the day off. Kelly had remained devoted to Garland since she guided him through his paces in the making of his very first film, For Me and My Gal (1942).


2:00 AM -- Puppet Master (1989)
1h 30m | Adventure
Five dolls, designed to instill terror, are discovered in a small California town.
Director: David Schmoeller
Cast: Paul Le Mat, Irene Miracle, Matt Roe

Pinhead's fists during the punching scenes are actually the fists of dwarf stunt woman Cindy Sorensen, who had to wear the same fingerless gloves and sweater sleeve to make it appear that it's the fist of Pinhead. Cindy cited the most difficult part of those scenes was to keep her head ducked the whole time while holding the Pinhead puppet on her shoulders and give off false punches at the same time.


3:45 AM -- Magic (1978)
1h 47m | Drama | TV-MA
After magician Corky Withers flops in his first solo appearance, he tries adding a ventriloquist's dummy.
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith, Ann Margaret

The original trailer for this movie, featuring the dummy Fats, was removed from broadcasting stations after parents complained on how scary it was. In the trailer, Fats talks, closes his eyes after he says the last line, which is "we're dead". The voice-over mentions the actors and the R-rating, at which point, Fats opens his eyes, and they roll to the left.


5:45 AM -- When You Grow Up (1973)
11m | Short | TV-G
In this short film, children learn about the world of fun that awaits them when they grow up.
Director: Jerry Kurtz
Cast: Noah Keen, Les Shaw

[CBHagman]

1. I remember those ads for "Magic."

And they were seriously creepy.

Around the same time as the movie came out, I went to see The Dead of Night, an anthology that includes a story with a similar theme to that in Magic.

All in all, this is a night of movies guaranteed to trigger bad dreams.