TCM Schedule for Friday, July 10, 2015 -- TCM Spotlight - Summer of Darkness

[Staph]

TCM is continuing their new special program, Summer of Darkness, featuring 24 hours of film noir every Thursday in June and July. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Follow Me Quietly (1949)
Police track a mysterious killer nicknamed "The Judge."
Dir: Richard O. Fleischer
Cast: William Lundigan, Dorothy Patrick, Jeff Corey
BW-60 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Francis Rosenwald and Anthony Mann.


7:30 AM -- A Woman's Secret (1949)
A retired singer takes on a protegee only to be betrayed by her.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Maureen O'Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame
BW-85 mins, CC,

Nicholas Ray and Gloria Grahame met while shooting this film. They were married in Las Vegas shortly after completing the film. They chose Las Vegas because Ray loved to gamble and to allow Grahame to get a quickie divorce (after the required six weeks of residency in Nevada) from actor Stanley Clements. The day the divorce was granted, the two married.


9:00 AM -- Side Street (1950)
A New York City mailman is chased by both cops and crooks when he steals a shipment of dirty money.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig
BW-83 mins, CC,

The drugstore that Joe Norson calls from is the set of another MGM "film noir", Tension (1949), which was shooting at approximately the same time. Tension will be aired on TCM on Friday, July 17, at 7:45 am.


10:30 AM -- Black Hand (1950)
In turn-of-the-century New York, an Italian seeks vengeance on the mobsters who killed his father.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Gene Kelly, J. Carrol Naish, Teresa Celli
BW-92 mins, CC,

From a story by Leo Townsend.


12:15 PM -- Armored Car Robbery (1950)
A police officer tries to find half a million dollars stolen by gangsters.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Cast: Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman
BW-68 mins, CC,

Final film of Anne Nagel.


1:30 PM -- Caged (1950)
A young innocent fights to survive the harsh life in a women's prison.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby
BW-97 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Eleanor Parker, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Hope Emerson, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Virginia Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld

In order to do research for her book, former LA Times reporter and screenwriter (under contract at Warner's)Virginia Kellogg pulled some strings to incarcerate herself in a woman's prison. She then wrote a book about it "Women without Men," which was a kind of almanac of everything she witnessed while in prison. Warner Bros. then had her write the screenplay.


3:15 PM -- D.O.A. (1950)
The victim of a slow-acting poison tracks down his own killer.
Dir: Rudolph Maté
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler
BW-84 mins, CC,

The scene in which Bigelow runs in panic through the streets after learning he has been poisoned was a stolen shot. The pedestrians had no idea a movie was being made and no warning that Edmond O'Brien would be plowing through them.


4:45 PM -- Destination Murder (1950)
A woman infiltrates the mob to find her father's killer.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: Joyce MacKenzie, Stanley Clements, Hurd Hatfield
BW-73 mins, CC,

The movie theatre featured in the film is the Marcal Theatre at 6021 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California, which featured late runs, revivals and various odds and ends in keeping with its location on the "wrong" end of Hollywood Boulevard. The revival combination of Flight Lieutenant (1942) and Corregidor (1943) was somebody's idea of a "commemoration" of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the first week of December 1949, at which time "Destination: Murder" was filmed.


6:15 PM -- The Tattooed Stranger (1950)
Detectives investigate the Central Park murder of a young woman with a Marine Corps tattoo.
Dir: Edward J. Montagne
Cast: John Miles, Patricia White, Walter Kinsella
BW-64 mins, CC,

Jack Lord has an uncredited role as a forensic scientist.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: SUMMER OF DARKNESS



8:00 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, CC,

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."


9:45 PM -- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Detective Mike Hammer fights to solve the murder of a beautiful hitchhiker with a mysterious connection to the Mob.
Dir: Robert Aldrich
Cast: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart
BW-106 mins, CC,

The Kefauver Commission, a federal unit dedicated to investigating corrupting influences in the 1950s, singled this out as 1955's number one menace to American youth. Because of this, Robert Aldrich felt compelled to conduct a writing campaign for the free speech rights of independent film-makers.


11:45 PM -- On Dangerous Ground (1952)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond
BW-82 mins, CC,

Ida Lupino directed the film for several days when Nicholas Ray fell ill.


1:30 AM -- The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman
BW-71 mins, CC,

In an interview Talman recalled an incident that happened shortly after the release of The Hitch-Hiker (1953), in which he gave a chilling portrayal of escaped murderer and serial killer Emmett Meyers. He was driving his convertible in Los Angeles with the top down, and he stopped at a red light. Another driver in a convertible who was stopped next to him stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "You're the hitchhiker, right?" Talman nodded, indicating that he was. The other driver got out of his car, went over to Talman's car and slapped him across the face, then got back in his car and drove off. In recalling the story, Talman said, "You know, I never won an Academy Award but I guess that was about as close as I ever will come to one."


2:45 AM -- The Blue Dahlia (1946)
A veteran fights to prove he didn't kill his cheating wife.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix
BW-100 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Raymond Chandler

Just after the fight scene between Alan Ladd and the two thugs who kidnapped him, one of the thugs is seen soaking his broken leg in a round tub. That wasn't in the script; the actor had actually broken his leg filming the fight and, without consulting screenwriter Raymond Chandler, director George Marshall rewrote the script to have the character break his leg as well.


4:30 AM -- Raw Deal (1948)
When the gangster for whom he took the rap welches, a convict breaks out of prison to get revenge.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt
BW-79 mins, CC,

Jane Randolph was wanted for the role of Pat Cameron. However, she turned it down, as she was upset at being uncredited in Anthony Mann's previous picture, T-Men. Claire Trevor was eventually cast.

[longship]

1. Maybe people will remember Pamela Britton more from "My Favorite Martian"

She appears in DOA as Frank Bigelow's (Edmund O'Brien) love interest.

A fairly low budget, but one of the classics nonetheless.

[longship]

2. Watch for Cloris Leachman at the beginning of "Kiss Me Deadly".

Certainly one of her first roles.

And this is one of the more weird noir classics, maybe THE noir classic. It takes the concept of a MacGuffin to a rather high level which even Hitchcock did not achieve with a figurine with a belly full of microfilm. Aldrich's is a world ending MacGuffin.

Highly recommended.