TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 12, 2017 -- Star of the Month - Jane Wyman

[Staph]

Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Real life got in my way. I'm sorry I'm late.

In prime time, TCM continues with the films of Star of the Month Jane Wyman, tonight and through most of the day tomorrow. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- I LOVE YOU AGAIN (1940)
A solid married man discovers he's forgotten a past existence as a con artist.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh
BW-99 mins, CC,

The ninth of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy.


7:45 AM -- MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)
A shipwrecked woman is rescued just in time for her husband's re-marriage.
Dir: Garson Kanin
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott
BW-88 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Original Story -- Leo McCarey, Bella Spewack and Sam Spewack, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk, and Best Music, Original Score -- Roy Webb

Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "Enoch Arden," about a fisherman presumed lost at sea who returns to find his wife remarried, was the basis of five prior films: Enoch Arden (1914), Die Toten kehren wieder - Enoch Arden (1919), and D.W. Griffith's Enoch Arden: Part I (1911), Enoch Arden: Part II (1911), and Enoch Arden (1915). Those films adhered to Tennyson's poem. But in My Favorite Wife, Something's Got to Give (1962), and Move Over, Darling (1963), only the basic idea of a spouse who returns is kept, with the spouse presumed lost now being the wife. However, in all of these films, the surname of the couple in question remains "Arden."


9:30 AM -- LET US BE GAY (1930)
A visit to Paris brings divorced spouses back together.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Norma Shearer, Rod La Rocque, Marie Dressler
BW-79 mins, CC,

Shortly before production of this film began, lead actress Norma Shearer found out she was pregnant and would soon be showing. So, filming quickly began and was completed in 26 days. Towards the end of the shoot, she had to keep stomach hidden behind carefully placed furniture and extra fabric in her designer gowns.


11:00 AM -- PRIVATE LIVES (1931)
A divorced couple rekindles the spark after landing in adjoining honeymoon suites with new mates.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Reginald Denny
BW-84 mins, CC,

According to TCM, MGM was given permission to film a performance of the original Noel Coward play for this movie. The cast of the film studied the performances given by the actors in the play and tried to emulate them as much as possible. It is rumored however, that the film was destroyed immediately after its viewing by the cast of the movie and it has not been heard of or found since.


12:30 PM -- THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD (1936)
A detective teams with his ex-wife to solve a murder.
Dir: Stephen Roberts
Cast: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason
BW-81 mins, CC,

The last movie directed by Stephen Roberts. He died shortly after the release of this film.


2:00 PM -- DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS (1939)
A father returns to the family he left years earlier and tries to solve their problems.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn
BW-107 mins, CC,

Sometimes considered a sequel to "Four Daughters" (made in 1938) since it had the same cast (Claude Rains, the Lane sisters, Gale Page, John Garfield, etc.), but technically was not - the actors played different characters in "Daughters Courageous" than in the earlier film. "Four Wives" (1940) and "Four Mothers" (1941) were true sequels to "Four Daughters."


4:00 PM -- THE V.I.P.S (1963)
Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials.
Dir: Anthony Asquith
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan
C-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Margaret Rutherford (Margaret Rutherford was not present at the awards ceremony.Peter Ustinov accepted the award on her behalf.)

Based on a true story, the movie was a thinly disguised account of screenwriter Terence Rattigan's real-life friend Vivien Leigh and her attempt to leave her husband Laurence Olivier for Australian actor Peter Finch . Leigh and Finch made it to the London airport, but their plane was delayed by incoming fog giving Olivier time to confront the two and bring Leigh home. Leigh abandoned the plan after hours of fog delay.


6:00 PM -- 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.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: JANE WYMAN



8:00 PM -- JOHNNY BELINDA (1948)
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford
BW-102 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Lew Ayres, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Charles Bickford, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Agnes Moorehead, Best Director -- Jean Negulesco, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ted D. McCord, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Robert M. Haas and William Wallace, Best Sound, Recording -- Best Film Editing -- David Weisbart, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Jane Wyman's Oscar acceptance speech is reportedly the shortest on record for Best Actress: "I won this award by keeping my mouth shut and I think I'll do it again."


10:00 PM -- THE YEARLING (1946)
A Florida boy's pet deer threatens the family farm.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman Jr.
C-128 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur E. Arlingm abd Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse and Edwin B. Willis

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman, Best Director -- Clarence Brown, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Picture

Jane Wyman's daughter refused to speak to her for two weeks after she saw the film.


12:15 AM -- THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)
A writer fights to overcome his addiction to liquor.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry
BW-101 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ray Milland, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Film Editing -- Doane Harrison, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa

Billy Wilder first read the book when he was traveling to New York by train. Upon arrival, the first thing he did was ring his writing partner Charles Brackett in Los Angeles to get him to see if the film rights could be obtained. Brackett rang him back later that day with the news that they were available. He also asked Wilder what did he see in the book that made him think it would make a good film, having just read it himself. Wilder replied that it would be a hugely important movie - the first to depict a real alcoholic as opposed to a comic interpretation of the condition.


2:02 AM -- FLYING THRU EUROPE WITH WILL ROGERS (1934)
In this short film, Will Rogers visits people and places in Ireland.
Dir: Carl Stearns Clancy
BW-10 mins,


2:15 AM -- THE STORY OF WILL ROGERS (1952)
Oklahoma lad grows up to become America's favorite humorist.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Will Rogers Jr., Jane Wyman, Carl Benton Reid
C-109 mins, CC,

At the 1932 Democratic Convention, Rogers is given a favorite son nomination for President, and his father is represented as being in the Oklahoma delegation. His father Clem Rogers died in 1911.


4:15 AM -- STAGE FRIGHT (1950)
An acting student goes undercover to prove a singing star killed her husband.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding
BW-110 mins, CC,

According to Alfred Hitchcock, he ran into great difficulties with leading actress Jane Wyman. Wyman was required to appear frumpy and inelegant when she goes incognito as a maid, but the actress was reluctant to appear so plain when Marlene Dietrich appeared so glamorous. The director recounted that Wyman would cry when she would see Dietrich looking glamorous on set when she herself was in her maid disguise. Hitchcock said that she could not accept the idea of her character being frumpy or dowdy. Much to the director's chagrin, Wyman would secretly put on makeup or otherwise try to improve her appearance, thus failing to maintain her character.