TCM Schedule for Thursday, August 29, 2013 -- Summer Under The Stars -- Glenda Farrell

[Staph]

One of the wonderful aspects of Summer Under The Stars is the chance to become acquainted with performers that you don't recognize. Today is one of those days, with Star Glenda Farrell, born June 30, 1904 in Enid, Oklahoma. From IMDB: "After gaining acting experience on the stage, Glenda Farrell became a Warner contract actor in the early 1930s. In spite of her later casting as a hard-boiled reporter in Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) or successful gold digger Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), one of her first roles was the romantic interest of Edward G. Robinson's former partner in Little Caesar (1931). In most movies, she only had supporting roles, but she's best remembered as a hard-boiled, fast-talking (she was able to speak 390 words in a minute) reporter Torchy Blaine in the film series of the same name." FYI -- her second husband was Dr. Henry Ross, a West Point graduate and Army physician who served on General Eisenhower's staff. Farrell and Ross are both buried at West Point Cemetary, at the United States Military Academy. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Little Caesar (1930)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell
BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Francis Edward Faragoh and Robert N. Lee

Speculation has it that the federal anti-organized crime law - The Racketeering Influence Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO - got its acronym from Edward G. Robinson's character.


7:30 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, TV-G,

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.


9:00 AM -- The Personality Kid (1934)
Success corrupts a young prizefighter and leads him to neglect his wife.
Dir: Alan Crosland
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Glenda Farrell, Claire Dodd
BW-68 mins, TV-G,

Based on a story by Gene Towne and C. Graham Baker.


10:15 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, TV-G,

Based on a story by Sy Bartlett. An Air Force bombardier during World War II, Bartlett was in the lead plane of the first bombing mission over Berlin in March of 1942, and was the first American to drop bombs on Berlin during the war.


11:30 AM -- Snowed Under (1936)
A playwright in search of solitude is besieged by three women.
Dir: Raymond Enright
Cast: George Brent, Genevieve Tobin, Glenda Farrell
BW-64 mins, TV-G,

Based on a story by Lawrence Saunders.


12:45 PM -- Fly Away Baby (1937)
Reporter Torchy Blane takes to the skies to track down a band of killers.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Gordon Oliver
BW-60 mins, TV-G,

The famous Broadway columnist, What's My Line? star and possible murder victim Dorothy Kilgallen contributed to the script of this film. It is (very) loosely based on her participation in an around the world air race, as chronicled in Lee Israel's excellent book, "Kilgallen." Kilgallen's columns featured mostly show business news and gossip, but also ventured into other topics such as politics and organized crime. She wrote front-page articles on the Sam Sheppard trial and later the John F. Kennedy assassination and interviewed Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald's killer, out of earshot of sheriff's deputies. The circumstances of Kilgallen's death have been the subject of conspiracy theories. As the cause of her death was officially ruled "undetermined," [4] and because she openly criticized U.S. government agencies as early as 1959, some believe that Kilgallen was murdered in order to silence her.


2:00 PM -- The Adventurous Blonde (1937)
Reporter Torchy Blane walks out on her own wedding to solve the case of a murdered actor.
Dir: Frank MacDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Anne Nagel
BW-61 mins, TV-PG,

Third of the nine Torchy Blane films.


3:15 PM -- Blondes At Work (1938)
Even a jail term for contempt can't keep reporter Torchy Blane from investigating the case of a murdered department store owner.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-64 mins, TV-G,

Goofs -- A triumphant Torchy looks at the wax impression of a key, she smiles and closes her hand into a fist in the master shot. If she actually had the wax impression in her hand, she would have ruined it.


4:30 PM -- Torchy Gets Her Man (1938)
Female reporter Torchy Blane tries to crack a counterfeiting case.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-63 mins, TV-G,

The series was based on the McBride and Kennedy stories by Frederick Nebel. Kennedy, originally a drunken reporter, was rewritten for the brash but sober Blane.


5:45 PM -- Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1938)
A daring lady reporter sets out to catch a blackmailer.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-58 mins, TV-G, CC,

The print actually credits the "original story" to Murray Leinster and Will Jenkins. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't realize that "Will Jenkins" is a pseudonym for Leinster, but it was probably just an inside joke.


6:45 PM -- Torchy Runs For Mayor (1939)
After digging up the dirt on local politicians, a newswoman decides to run for office.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-60 mins, TV-G, CC,

Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel cited Glenda Farrell's portrayal of Torchy Blane as his inspiration for the personality of the character of Lois Lane, and the name of Lola Lane (who also played Torchy Blane) as his inspiration for Lois' name. Joanne Siegel, Jerry Siegel's wife and the original art model for Lois Lane, also cited Farrell's portrayal of Torchy Blane as Siegel's inspiration for Lois Lane.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: GLENDA FARRELL



8:00 PM -- Smart Blonde (1936)
An ambitious reporter forces her policeman boyfriend to let her help with a murder case.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Winifred Shaw
BW-59 mins, TV-G, CC,

Tom Kennedy, who plays the dumb cop Gahagan in this film, repeated the role in all the subsequent Torchy Blane series films. He was the only actor to appear in all nine Torchy Blane movies.


9:15 PM -- The Mystery Of The Wax Museum (1933)
A disfigured sculptor turns murder victims into wax statues.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell
C-77 mins, TV-PG, CC,

The wax figures look like real people because they ARE real people. The original plan was to use actual wax figures, but they melted under the heat of the lights used at the time to film two-strip Technicolor.


10:45 PM -- I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
A World War I veteran faces inhuman conditions when he's sentenced to hard labor.
Dir: Mervyn Le Roy
Cast: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson
BW-93 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Muni, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director - Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department), and Best Picture

The final fade came as an accident. Director Mervyn LeRoy had planned to go to a blackout after the final line. During rehearsals, a light blew, taking the fuse with it. The resultant slow fade, starting just before the final line, was so powerful that Leroy decided to shoot the film exactly that way.


12:30 AM -- Gold Diggers Of 1935 (1935)
A socialite is bamboozled into producing a stage show in her home.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart
BW-95 mins, TV-G, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) for the song "Lullaby of Broadway"

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Busby Berkeley for "Lullaby of Broadway" and "The Words Are in My Heart"

Wini Shaw's recording of "Lullaby Of Broadway" was an unlikely hit in Britain in 1976.


2:15 AM -- Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
A group of insurance salesmen try to get into show business.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell
BW-101 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Busby Berkeley for "Love and War"

The song "Hush Mah Mouth" by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg was written for the picture but not used in the final print.


4:00 AM -- The Talk Of The Town (1942)
An escaped political prisoner and a stuffy law professor vie for the hand of a spirited schoolteacher.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman
BW-117 mins, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Lionel Banks, Rudolph Sternad and Fay Babcock, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ted Tetzlaff, Best Film Editing -- Otto Meyer, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Friedrich Hollaender and Morris Stoloff, Best Writing, Original Story -- Sidney Harmon, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Buchman and Irwin Shaw, and Best Picture

This was the first time since the silent era that Ronald Colman was billed below another male lead.