TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 12, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Spotlight: Joan Blondell

[Staph]

My great thanks to CBHagman, for filling in for me over the last couple of months. I've been in and out of hospital, with complications from the second return of my cancer. But I'm better, and preparing for surgery next week to help those complications from returning. I've missed you all!

Daylight hours - a celebration of the 104th birthday of Francis Albert Sinatra. From the IMDB mini-bio:

Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants Natalina Della (Garaventa), from Northern Italy, and Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, a Sicilian boxer, fireman, and bar owner. Growing up on the gritty streets of Hoboken made Sinatra determined to work hard to get ahead. Starting out as a saloon singer in musty little dives (he carried his own P.A. system), he eventually got work as a band singer, first with The Hoboken Four, then with Harry James and then Tommy Dorsey. With the help of George Evans (Sinatra's genius press agent), his image was shaped into that of a street thug and punk who was saved by his first wife, Nancy Barbato Sinatra. In 1942 he started his solo career, instantly finding fame as the king of the bobbysoxers--the young women and girls who were his fans--and becoming the most popular singer of the era among teenage music fans. About that time his film career was also starting in earnest, and after appearances in a few small films, he struck box-office gold with a lead role in Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Gene Kelly, a Best Picture nominee at the 1946 Academy Awards. Sinatra was awarded a special Oscar for his part in a short film that spoke out against intolerance, The House I Live In (1945). His career on a high, Sinatra went from strength to strength on record, stage and screen, peaking in 1949, once again with Gene Kelly, in the MGM musical On the Town (1949) and Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949). A controversial public affair with screen siren Ava Gardner broke up his marriage to Nancy Barbato Sinatra and did his career little good, and his record sales dwindled. He continued to act, although in lesser films such as Meet Danny Wilson (1952), and a vocal cord hemorrhage all but ended his career. He fought back, though, finally securing a role he desperately wanted--Maggio in From Here to Eternity (1953). He won an Oscar for best supporting actor and followed this with a scintillating performance as a cold-blooded assassin hired to kill the US President in Suddenly (1954). Arguably a career-best performance--garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor--was his role as a pathetic heroin addict in the powerful drama The Man with the Golden Arm (1955).

Known as "One-Take Charlie" for his approach to acting that strove for spontaneity and energy, rather than perfection, Sinatra was an instinctive actor who was best at playing parts that mirrored his own personality. He continued to give strong and memorable performances in such films as Guys and Dolls (1955), The Joker Is Wild (1957) and Some Came Running (1958). In the late 1950s and 1960s Sinatra became somewhat prolific as a producer, turning out such films as A Hole in the Head (1959), Sergeants 3 (1962) and the very successful Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). Lighter roles alongside "Rat Pack" buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. were lucrative, especially the famed Ocean's 11 (1960). On the other hand, he alternated such projects with much more serious offerings, such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), regarded by many critics as Sinatra's finest picture. He made his directorial debut with the World War II picture None But the Brave (1965), which was the first Japanese/American co-production. That same year Von Ryan's Express (1965) was a box office sensation. In 1967 Sinatra returned to familiar territory in Sidney J. Furie's The Naked Runner (1967), once again playing as assassin in his only film to be shot in the U.K. and Germany. That same year he starred as a private investigator in Tony Rome (1967), a role he reprised in the sequel, Lady in Cement (1968). He also starred with Lee Remick in The Detective (1968), a film daring for its time with its theme of murders involving rich and powerful homosexual men, and it was a major box-office success.

After appearing in the poorly received comic western Dirty Dingus Magee (1970), Sinatra didn't act again for seven years, returning with a made-for-TV cops-and-mob-guys thriller Contract on Cherry Street (1977), which he also produced. Based on the novel by William Rosenberg, this fable of fed-up cops turning vigilante against the mob boasted a stellar cast and was a ratings success. Sinatra returned to the big screen in The First Deadly Sin (1980), once again playing a New York detective, in a moving and understated performance that was a fitting coda to his career as a leading man. He made one more appearance on the big screen with a cameo in Cannonball Run II (1984) and a final acting performance in Magnum, P.I. (1980), in 1987, as a retired police detective seeking vengeance on the killers of his granddaughter, in an episode entitled Magnum, P.I.: Laura (1987).

Prime time - TCM continues their month-long salute to Joan Blondell. Take it away, Roger.

Did anyone not love Joan Blondell? From her days as a wisecracking chorus cutie at Warner Bros. to her reign as one of Hollywood's most reliable and down-to-earth character actresses, TCM's Star of the Month for December was always a pleasure to watch and someone audiences felt they actually knew. Her movie career lasted nearly half a century, from 1930 to 1979 (with a final onscreen appearance in 1981).

Rose Joan Blondell (1906-1979) was born in Manhattan to a vaudeville family who called their troupe "The Bouncing Blondells." The story goes that she made her stage debut at four months old when her father, Ed Blondell, carried her on in a cradle. After competing in beauty contests as a teen, she began acting onstage in stock companies and by 1930 was starring on Broadway opposite James Cagney in Penny Arcade.

Warner Bros. brought both young stars to Hollywood, where they would perform together in six movies. The first, Blondell's film debut, was Sinners' Holiday (1930), the screen version of Penny Arcade. In those snappy pre-Code days, the uninhibited Blondell quickly became one of the studio's busiest young performers. She went on to start playing second leads, supporting Helen Twelvetrees in Millie (1931) and Cagney in his breakthrough film The Public Enemy (1931). Blondell's first lead role came opposite Cagney in Blonde Crazy (1931).

By 1932 (a year in which she appeared in a total of nine movies), Blondell had progressed to leads in such films as The Crowd Roars with Cagney; The Famous Ferguson Case with Leslie Fenton; Miss Pinkerton with George Brent; and, at Paramount, the well-titled Make Me a Star with Stuart Erwin.

In the mid-1930s, due in part to her constant activity, Blondell became one of the highest-paid performers in Hollywood. She gradually worked her way to stardom and was billed above Bette Davis and Ann Dvorak, the other two leading ladies in the crime drama Three on a Match (1932).

Blondell's 1933 films included Lawyer Man, with William Powell; Blondie Johnson, filmed for Fox, which cast her as a gun moll; Gold Diggers of 1933, a hit Busby Berkeley musical also starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Ginger Rogers; Footlight Parade, another big musical, this time with Cagney, Powell and Keeler; andHavana Widows, the first of several popular films teaming Blondell with Glenda Farrell as gold-digging partners.

In 1934, Blondell's films included Kansas City Princess with Farrell, the film that made Warner Bros. promote her to official stardom; Smarty, with Warren William; I've Got Your Number, with Farrell and Pat O'Brien; and He Was Her Man, with Cagney. By mid-1934, the Hays Production Code was being enforced and films in general became more subdued, although Blondell continued to be a lively presence.

We're in the Money (1935) is another Blondell/Farrell romp, and Bullets or Ballots (1936) is a hard-hitting crime film starring Edward G. Robinson and Blondell, with Humphrey Bogart and Louise Beavers in support. Three Men on a Horse (1936) is the very funny film version of the hit Broadway farce teaming Blondell with Sam Levene.

But as the 1930s came to a close, Blondell began to feel that Warner Bros. wasn't making full use of her talents. After Off the Record (1939), a newspaper drama with frequent costar Pat O'Brien, she decided to leave the studio in hopes of finding more rewarding material.

She later said of her years at Warner Bros., "I just sailed through things, took the scripts I was given, did what I was told. I couldn't afford to go on suspension." It was a survivalist attitude with which Depression-era moviegoers could identify.

Blondell went to MGM to team with Lana Turner for the musical Two Girls on Broadway (1940), then played a sexy ghost in United Artists' Topper Returns (1941). Her film activity slowed during World War II, when she devoted much time to entertaining the troops; but she did give a splendid performance alongside Ann Sothern and Margaret Sullavan in the wartime drama Cry 'Havoc' (1943).

Blondell entered character actress territory in such films as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) and The Blue Veil (1951), winning an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the latter film. Just as audiences had learned to love that down-to-earth gal with the big heart and saucer eyes, they now embraced a more cynical and weathered version of the same personality.

In MGM's The Opposite Sex (1956), a remake of 1939's The Women, she is the friend who is always pregnant (although she was around 50 at the time!). She plays a stage mother in This Could Be the Night (1957), starring Jean Simmons; and the supportive friend of a young evangelist (Salome Jens) in Allied Artists' Angel Baby (1961). Again at MGM, Blondell appeared in the Glenn Ford vehicle Advance to the Rear (1964), a Civil War comedy in which she plays a traveling madam called "Easy Jenny."

She earned some of the best notices of her later film career for The Cincinnati Kid (1965), a Depression-era drama set in New Orleans in which she is a poker champion turned dealer. Starring Steve McQueen and Ann-Margret, The Cincinnati Kid brought Blondell a National Board of Review award as Best Supporting Actress, as well as a Golden Globe nomination in that category. Howard Thompson wrote in The New York Times that she breezes into the film's climax "like a blowsy, good-natured gale."

Blondell's final feature film was The Woman Inside (1981), released two years after her death. In addition to appearing in close to 100 movies, she was active on television and the stage. In 1968-70, she appeared in the popular ABC-TV comedy-Western Here Come the Brides, winning two primetime Emmy nominations as Best Leading Actress in a drama series.

Another Golden Globe nod came for the John Cassavetes film Opening Night (1977). She also earned a Tony Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her performance on Broadway in 1958's The Rope Dancers.

Blondell was married and divorced three times: to cinematographer George Barnes, actor/singer/director Dick Powell and producer Mike Todd. She had two children, Norman Scott Powell and Ellen Powell. Her younger sister was actress Gloria Blondell.

Blondell died from leukemia in Santa Monica, CA, on Christmas Day 1979, with her children and sister at her side. She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

Noted for her full-blooded performances, this former vaudevillian was no fan of underacting. Blondell once noted that there was "a very fine line" between that and "not acting at all. And not acting is what a lot of actors are guilty of... I'd hate to see them onstage with a dog act!"

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- THE KISSING BANDIT (1949)
A timid young man is forced to follow in his father's footsteps as a notorious masked bandit.
Dir: Laslo Benedek
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, J. Carrol Naish
C-100 mins, CC,

Frank Sinatra did not want to make this movie, feeling that he was not right for the part. The studio, anxious to build him up as a leading man, forced him to be in it. He stated later that he never watched the film since he was embarrassed by the whole thing. Kathryn Grayson likewise disliked the film saying that it was her least favorite of all her films.


8:15 AM -- NEVER SO FEW (1959)
A U.S. military troop takes command of a band of Burmese guerillas during World War II.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford
C-124 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Steve McQueen's role was originally going to be played by Sammy Davis Jr.. A feud had broken out between Davis and Frank Sinatra after Davis had claimed in a radio interview that he was a greater singer than Sinatra. Sinatra demanded he be dropped from the cast, and McQueen got the part.


10:30 AM -- MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS (1965)
A couple divorces by mistake during a madcap Mexican vacation.
Dir: Jack Donohue
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Someone in Mexico took exception to the idea of their country being a place for quickie divorces or marriages, convinced the government to block Frank Sinatra (for a time) from entering Mexico, even though he owned property down there.


12:30 PM -- ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945)
A pair of sailors on leave try to help a movie extra become a singing star.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly
C-140 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- George Stoll (On 10 September 2001 Kevin Spacey purchased Stoll's Oscar statuette at a Butterfields auction in Los Angeles and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gene Kelly, Best Cinematography, Color -- Robert H. Planck and Charles P. Boyle, Best Music, Original Song -- Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "I Fall in Love Too Easily", and Best Picture

Legend has it that this film saw the birth of a longstanding resentment between Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as Sinatra took umbrage at the way Kelly dominated so many of their numbers together. (At this point, Sinatra had failed to make much of a mark as a film actor and saw this as his big break, something that was ultimately denied him by Kelly's dynamic performance.) Although the two would go on to make two more films together, Sinatra never forgot being upstaged on Anchors Aweigh (1945) and would get his revenge many years later when he denied Kelly a role in Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964).


3:00 PM -- OCEAN'S 11 (1960)
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra
C-127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

According to Frank Sinatra Jr. on the DVD Commentary, Sammy Davis Jr. was forced to stay at a "colored only" hotel during the filming because Las Vegas would not allow blacks to stay at the major hotels despite his appearing with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the others at the Sands Hotel. He was only allowed to stay at the major hotels after Frank Sinatra confronted the casino owners on his behalf, therefore breaking Vegas' unofficial color barrier.


5:15 PM -- SOME CAME RUNNING (1958)
A veteran returns home to deal with family secrets and small-town scandals.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine
C-136 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Arthur Kennedy, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Martha Hyer, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color -- Walter Plunkett, and Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "To Love and Be Loved"

Vincente Minnelli and Frank Sinatra clashed famously during the filming of the climactic carnival scene. Minnelli took too much time setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel and then decided to move the giant wheel, instead of moving the camera, to get the effect he wanted. Then, according to Shirley MacLaine, "Frank bolted toward his limo, dove into it headfirst, and ordered the driver to the airport. He went back to Los Angeles, and Dean went with him." Minnelli defended his actions in his autobiography: "Folklore suggests that the Ferris wheel had to be moved three inches to satisfy my esoteric tastes. The reason for the move was somewhat more practical. The camera wouldn't pick it up in the long shots unless it was moved six feet. It was important that the Ferris wheel be seen from all angles, since it was the focal point of the scene."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: JOAN BLONDELL



8:00 PM -- SMARTY (1934)
A squabbling couple can't seem to make it to the divorce court.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Joan Blondell, Warren William, Edward Everett Horton
BW-65 mins, CC,

The play opened first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on 1 October 1927. It was retitled "Funny Face" for its New York run off-Broadway beginning 22 November 1927.


9:15 PM -- GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933)
Three chorus girls fight to keep their show going and find rich husbands.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon
BW-98 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director)

At 5:55 PM PST on March 10, 1933, the Long Beach earthquake hit southern California, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. When the earthquake hit, Busby Berkeley was filming the "Shadow Waltz" dance sequence on a sound stage on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. The earthquake caused a blackout on the sound stage and short-circuited some of the neon-tubed violins. Berkeley was almost thrown from a camera boom, and dangled by one hand until he could pull himself back up. Since many of the chorus girls in the dance number were on a 30-foot-high scaffold, Berkeley yelled for them to sit down and wait until the stage hands and technicians could open the sound stage doors and let in some light. (My dad was a kid in California at the time. He had wonderful stories about the earthquake!)


11:00 PM -- HAVANA WIDOWS (1933)
Chorus girls travel to Cuba in search of rich husbands.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Guy Kibbee
BW-62 mins, CC,

When Sadie tells Mae that the surest place to find Duffy is at "Sloppy Moe's" - that is undoubtedly a reference to the original Sloppy Joe's Bar in Old Havana, Cuba. Financially devastated by the 1959 revolution and finally closed by a fire in the 1960's, it has been restored and reopened in 2013.


12:15 AM -- I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER (1934)
Two telephone engineers try to clear a woman of criminal charges.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joan Blondell, Pat O'Brien, Allen Jenkins
BW-69 mins,

The ending, with Joan Blondell in bed, was filmed in her home. She was recovering from an emergency appendectomy and her doctor would not let her travel to the studio.


1:30 AM -- LAWYER MAN (1933)
Success corrupts a smooth-talking lawyer.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: William Powell, Joan Blondell, David Landau
BW-68 mins, CC,

Early in the film, a young boy is crying and led out of the courtroom by his mother. The young, uncredited actor is Bobs Watson (PeeWee of Boys Town fame).


2:45 AM -- HE WAS HER MAN (1934)
A safecracker goes straight to get back at some fellow crooks.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Victor Jory
BW-70 mins, CC,

The seventh and final film of the James Cagney/Joan Blondell partnership. The other six being Sinner's Holiday (1930), Other Men's Women (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), Blonde Crazy (1931), The Crowd Roars (1932) and Footlight Parade (1933).


4:15 AM -- KANSAS CITY PRINCESS (1934)
A pair of con women masquerade as girl scouts to escape to New York.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Robert Armstrong
BW-64 mins,

The film was completed three months before its release, but Warner Bros. decided to delay the release of the film until after the birth of Joan Blondell's child. So that Blondell would not be off the screen for too long a period.


5:30 AM -- FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933)
A producer fights labor problems, financiers and his greedy ex-wife to put on a show.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler
BW-103 mins, CC,

First film where James Cagney dances - showing off his vaudeville and stage experience as a song-and-dance man. Cagney lobbied Warner Bros. to play this role. He would show off these talents to their fullest in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).