TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 3, 2015 -- TCM Spotlight: Condemned

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birthday of Jean Harlow, born Harlean Harlow Carpenter, in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911. The theme for this evening is condemned -- films that were in some way condemned for their content. Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #19 (1955)
Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly perform in a clip from "Ziegfeld Follies"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Ransom." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-25 mins,


7:00 AM -- Platinum Blonde (1931)
A heartless heiress seduces a hard-working reporter into a disastrous marriage.
Dir: Frank R. Capra
Cast: Loretta Young, Robert Williams, Jean Harlow
BW-89 mins, CC,

Robert Williams, who played Stew Smith in this film, died of appendicitis just three days after the film's release.


8:30 AM -- The Public Enemy (1931)
An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
BW-84 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- John Bright and Kubec Glasmon

Several versions exist of the origin of the notorious grapefruit scene, but the most plausible is the one on which both James Cagney and Mae Clarke agree: The scene, they explained, was actually staged as a practical joke at the expense of the film crew, just to see their stunned reactions. There was never any intention of ever using the shot in the completed film. Director William A. Wellman, however, eventually decided to keep the shot, and use it in the film's final release print.


10:00 AM -- The Secret Six (1931)
A secret society funds the investigation of a bootlegging gang.
Dir: George Hill
Cast: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown
BW-84 mins, CC,

'The Secret Six' was a name coined by Chicago Tribune reporter James Doherty to six influential Chicago businessmen (including the president of Sears-Roebuck) who organized the business community against Al Capone and were instrumental in obtaining his conviction on tax evasion.


11:30 AM -- The Beast Of The City (1932)
A police captain leads the fight against a vicious gangland chief.
Dir: Charles Brabin
Cast: Walter Huston, Jean Harlow, Wallace Ford
BW-86 mins, CC,

Fifty-two minutes into the film Daisy (Jean Harlow) has a party at her place. On a small table against the back wall is a photo of Clark Gable, her co-star in Red Dust (1932) the same year.


1:00 PM -- Red-Headed Woman (1932)
An ambitious secretary tries to sleep her way into high society.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone
BW-80 mins, CC,

The screenplay submitted by F. Scott Fitzgerald was rejected by producer Irving Thalberg, who thought it took the story too seriously, so he brought in Anita Loos to do a complete rewrite with a lighter, more comical tone.


2:30 PM -- Three Wise Girls (1932)
Three models try to snag husbands, but the ones they find are already married.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, Walter Byron
BW-69 mins, CC,

Based on a story by Wilson Collison, who wrote the play Red Dust, later made into a film starring Jean Harlow.


3:45 PM -- Hold Your Man (1933)
A hard-boiled babe and a con man wear down each other's rough edges.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin
BW-87 mins, CC,

Third of five movie pairings of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.


5:15 PM -- The Girl From Missouri (1934)
A gold-digging chorus girl tries to keep her virtue while searching for a rich husband.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone
BW-72 mins, CC,

Director Sam Wood shot additional scenes, uncredited.


6:30 PM -- Personal Property (1937)
The bailiff charged with disposing of a financially strapped widow's estate pretends to be her butler.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Jean Harlow, Robert Taylor, Reginald Owen
BW-84 mins, CC,

Throughout the film, Jean wears a star sapphire ring, a sort of engagement ring from her boyfriend William Powell.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: CONDEMNED



8:00 PM -- The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
A society girl gets mixed up with blackmail and murder after a vicious sexual assault.
Dir: Stephen Roberts
Cast: Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue
BW-71 mins, CC,

Was extremely controversial because of its content matter. It was banned in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and Production Code Administration head Joseph Breen ordered that the film never be re-released once the Production Code came into effect in mid-1934. The film did not resurface until the mid-1950s.


9:18 PM -- Claude Hopkins And Band In "Barber Shop Blues" (1933)
In this short film, a barber shop owner wins a sweepstake and hires an orchestra to play for his customers. Vitaphone Release 1551.
Dir: Joseph Henabery
Cast: Four Step Brothers, Claude Hopkins & Orchestra, Orlando Roberson
BW-10 mins,


9:30 PM -- Black Narcissus (1947)
Nuns founding a convent in the Himalayas are tormented by the area's exotic beauty.
Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar
C-101 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Jack Cardiff, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Alfred Junge

Through Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's deal with Rank, the film was assured solid distribution in the United States, because Rank had entered into an agreement with Universal Studios in 1946 which resulted in the distribution arm Universal-International. As it turned out, the film only had spotty distribution in America, due to censorship problems. Powell later observed, "...they couldn't leave a picture with nuns in it alone." Powell and Pressburger were actually aware of the potential for censorship trouble in America before the film was shot. In April of 1945, a rough draft of the script was submitted to Joseph Breen at the Production Code Administration. Breen outlined his initial concerns to Rank: "While the story is not quite clear and concise, to us it has about it a flavour of sex sin in connection with certain of the nuns, which, in our judgement, is not good." The Breen office, however, passed the finished film in June 1947, but on the condition that a foreword was added making it clear that the nuns were Anglo, rather than Roman Catholic. Indeed, it was with the Catholic Legion of Decency that Rank encountered the most problems. The Legion of Decency launched a campaign against the film's release as early as April 1946, when the Archbishop of Calcutta began writing about the production. Predictably, when the film was reviewed by the Catholic weekly The Tidings, published in Los Angeles, the judgement was harsh: "It is a long time since the American public has been handed such a perverted specimen of bad taste, vicious inaccuracies and ludicrous improbabilities." When the Legion of Decency screened the film, it was given a "C" classification, or "Condemned." Street reported that "out of thirteen Fathers, eight gave it a 'C' rating, the rest recommending A2, unobjectionable for adults."


11:17 PM -- The Birds And The Beasts Were There (1944)
This short film focuses on three animal parks in Miami, Florida. Vitaphone Release 1288A.
Dir: André De La Varre Jr.
Cast: Knox Manning,
C-10 mins,


11:30 PM -- Design For Living (1933)
An independent woman can't chose between the two men she loves.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins
BW-91 mins, CC,

Considerable censorship difficulties arose because of sexual discussions and innuendos, although the Hays Office eventually approved the film for release. However, it was banned by the Legion of Decency and was refused a certificate by the PCA for re-release in 1934, when the production code was more rigorously enforced.


1:15 AM -- The Outlaw (1943)
Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday fight over possession of a stallion and a sultry Mexican girl.
Dir: Howard Hughes
Cast: Jack Beutel, Thomas Mitchell, Jane Russell
BW-116 mins, CC,

Although the film was finished and copyrighted in February 1941, it was not shown theatrically for another 2 years, mostly because of censorship problems which required cuts and revisions. By May 1941, the PCA agreed to approve the film, but Howard Hughes found that many state censor boards wanted a lot more cuts that he was not willing to make, so he shelved the film until 5 February 1943, when it was finally shown theatrically in San Francisco in the 115-minute version that we essentially see today. It caused quite a sensation, especially since Jane Russell and Jack Buetel performed a 20-minute scene that was cut from the film after each showing. More hassles about its possible release in New York caused Hughes to shelve the picture once again.


3:19 AM -- Handlebars (1933)
This short film provides a humorous history of the bicycle since 1819.
Dir: Jules White
Cast: Bill Elliott, Bess Flowers,
BW-10 mins,


3:30 AM -- Baby Face (1933)
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook
BW-76 mins, CC,

In spring of 1933 this film was submitted to the New York State Board of Censors, who rejected it, demanding a number of cuts and changes. Warner Brothers made these changes prior to the film's release in July 1933. In 2004, a "dupe negative" copy of the film as it existed prior to being censored was located at the Library of Congress. This uncensored version received its public premiere at the London Film Festival in November 2004, more than 70 years after it was made.


5:00 AM -- Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
An impoverished girl masquerades as a boy to run with a gang of young hobos.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, Rochelle Hudson
BW-68 mins, CC,

About 15 minutes into the movie, the main character Eddie says to his father "I guess I'm just like my cousin Hoogo." This is a reference to a character from the 1920s and 1930s created by actor Jack Pearl. The character he created was Baron Munchausen. Munchausen told fanciful stories about his life, and they often involved his fictional cousin Hugo (pronounced Hoogo). Pearl played the character in musical reviews in the 1920s, and then in radio shows in the early 1930s.