TCM Schedule for Friday, November 30 -- What's On Tonight: TCM Guest Programmer: Movie Morlocks Blo

[Staph]

Today we're celebrating the birth of Virginia Mayo, born Virginia Clara Jones on November 30, 1920, in St. Louis, Missouri. And in prime time, TCM is featuring films selected by their official bloggers, Movie Morlocks. Check out their website at http://moviemorlocks.com/ -- they have some interesting posts on some of the delightfully obscure trivia about classic films enjoyed by those of us here in the Classic Films group. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948)
A society woman gets involved with a gangster only to find he has hidden plans.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: Virginia Mayo, Bruce Bennett, Robert Hutton
BW-81 mins, TV-G,

Early on, using her real name of Virginia Jones, she played a straight woman in vaudeville for four years to a performing horse act. The "horse" was comprised of two men known as the Mayo Brothers; hence her stage name.


7:30 AM -- Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)
A vaudeville clown neglects his family while fighting for stardom.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Milton Berle, Virginia Mayo, Ruth Roman
BW-116 mins, TV-PG, CC,

In the audition scene with Virginia Mayo, Berle imitates an upper-crust type, wearing a monocle and a robe or smoking jacket with an Art Deco-esque print. This unusual-looking garment was used in a movie at least once previously. It was worn by Monty Woolley in The Man Who Came to Dinner.


9:30 AM -- Flaxy Martin (1949)
Messing with a mobster's girlfriend gets a lawyer framed for murder.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: Virginia Mayo, Zachary Scott, Dorothy Malone
BW-86 mins, TV-PG, CC,

When Dorothy Malone returns to her house with groceries, she turns the inside light on, then off. But when the room goes dark, the outside "moonlight" doesn't come back until a beat later. Then Malone crosses the room to turn on another light, but a beat before she hits the switch, the "moonlight" turns back off.


11:00 AM -- The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)
An artist discovers a real-life version of the perfect woman he's been drawing for years.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo, Eddie Bracken
BW-78 mins, TV-G, CC,

Lauren Bacall turned down the role as Ruth Wilson because it called for her to appear in a bathing suit. She said: "I'm not a bathing beauty... I'll be embarrassed."


12:30 PM -- White Heat (1949)
A government agent infiltrates a gang run by a mother-fixated psychotic.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
BW-113 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Virginia Kellogg

If the surprise expressed by James Cagney's fellow inmates during "the telephone game" scene in the prison dining room appears real, it's because it is. Director Raoul Walsh didn't tell the rest of the cast what was about to happen, so Cagney's outburst caught them by surprise. In fact, Walsh himself didn't know what Cagney had planned; the scene as written wasn't working, and Cagney had an idea. He told Walsh to put the two biggest extras playing cons in the mess-hall next to him on the bench (he used their shoulders to boost himself onto the table) and to keep the cameras rolling no matter what.


2:30 PM -- Red Light (1949)
An embezzler's revenge on the businessman who turned him in leads to a bloody vendetta.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Gene Lockhart
BW-83 mins, TV-PG,

United Artists 1949 publicity release for newspapers: "The sweaters and skirts Virginia Mayo wears in "Red Light" were all purchased in Paris, when Miss Mayo was there after attending a Command Performace in London. They were designed by the famous French dressmaker, Henri de la Penses."


4:00 PM -- The Iron Mistress (1952)
American adventurer Jim Bowie fights to make his way in the lumber business.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo, Joseph Calleia
C-109 mins, TV-PG, CC,

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 28, 1954 with Virginia Mayo reprising her film role.


6:00 PM -- The Story Of Mankind (1957)
Satan and the spirit of mankind contend for the future of humanity.
Dir: Irwin Allen
Cast: Ronald Colman, Hedy Lamarr, Groucho Marx
C-100 mins, TV-PG, CC,

When Ronald Colman was asked if The Story of Mankind (1957) was based on a book, he replied, "Yes. But they are using only the notes on the dust jacket."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM GUEST PROGRAMMER: MOVIE MORLOCKS BLOGGERS


8:00 PM -- The Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Dir: John Brahm
Cast: Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum
BW-85 mins, TV-PG, CC,

The set used in this film for the house of Mrs. Willis (Katherine Emery) is the same one used for the house of Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains) in Notorious.


9:45 PM -- Dracula's Daughter (1936)
A Hungarian countess seeks the aid of a noted psychiatrist, in hopes of freeing herself of a mysterious evil influence.
Dir: Lambert Hillyer
Cast: Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill
BW-71 mins, TV-14, CC,

Some elements of the plot are from Bram Stoker's story "Dracula's Guest" which was written as a chapter in his 1897 novel "Dracula," but excised due to the novel's length. It was first published in 1914, two years after Stoker's death. Other elements are loosely based on the 1872 short story "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu.


11:15 PM -- Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954)
An aging gangster comes out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped.
BW-96 mins, TV-MA,

According to actor Daniel Cauchy (Fifi), his character was originally supposed to remain in the car until the classic showdown between Lino Ventura and Jean Gabin. He was commuting by air between another film commitment being shot in Paris and this one, but director Becker thought it would be more expedient to have Gabin's character throw him out of the car before that.


1:00 AM -- Five Million Years To Earth (1968)
Subway excavations unearth a deadly force from beyond space and time.
Dir: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley
C-98 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

If you look closely at the London Underground station walls, you can see quite a few posters from other Hammer projects such as The Reptile, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and The Witches, as well as My Fair Lady and Hotel. An old, partially-ripped poster for Sex and the Single Girl can be seen on the wall opposite the entrance to Hobbs End station.


2:45 AM -- The Twonky (1953)
A college professor's television set tries to take over his life.
Dir: Arch Oboler
Cast: Hans Conried, Billy Lynn, Gloria Blondell
BW-73 mins, TV-PG,

The original story is credited to Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore (it was published under their joint pseudonym, "Lewis Padgett&quot , but, like many of the songs credited to "Lennon and McCartney", it may have been written in collaboration or by either of them alone. Often even they could not say later who had written how much of many of their stories.


4:45 AM -- Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness (1972)
Filmmakers trace the history of opium and its role in today's drug trade.
Dir: William Templeton
Narrator: Paul Newman
C-22 mins, TV-14,


4:45 AM -- Distant Drummer: A Movable Scene (1970)
An education film that exposes drug use and drug culture.
Dir: William Templeton
Narrator: Robert Mitchum,
BW-22 mins, TV-14,


4:45 AM -- Curious Alice (1968)
Educational short about drugs in the context of Alice in Wonderland.