TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 27, 2017 -- Star of the Month - Character Actors

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films starring Ricardo Cortez. From IMDB:

Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Krantz in New York City, New York, the son of Sarah (Lefkowitz) and Moses/Morris Krantz, Austrian Jewish immigrants who moved to NY just before he was born. His brother was cinematographer Stanley Cortez, who also changed his surname. Cortez worked a number of jobs while he trained as an actor. When Jacob arrived in Hollywood to work in movies in 1922, the Valentino mania was in full swing. Never shy about changing a name and a background, the studio transformed Jacob Krantz into Latin Lover Ricardo Cortez from Spain. Such was life in Hollywood.

Then in prime time, TCM is finishing this month's theme of Character Actors. Tonight's actors include Agnes Moorehead in The Opposite Sex (1956), Eve Arden in Our Miss Brooks (1956), Spring Byington in Please Don't Eat The Daisies (1960), and Jean Stapleton in Bells Are Ringing (1960). Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- TORRENT (1926)
A glamorous opera star returns home to resume her romance with the nobleman who once dumped her.
Dir: Monta Bell
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmsted
BW- 88 mins,

American film debut of Greta Garbo.


8:00 AM -- THE YOUNGER GENERATION (1929)
A rising businessman tries to make his immigrant parents assimilate.
Dir: Frank R. Capra
Cast: Jean Hersholt, Lina Basquette, Ricardo Cortez
BW- 84 mins,

This movie is based on a Fannie Hurst play, "It Is to Laugh," which opened at the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre in New York City on 26 December 1926 and closed after 32 performances in January 1927.


9:30 AM -- THE MALTESE FALCON (1931)
In the first screen version of The Maltese Falcon, detective Sam Spade investigates the theft of a priceless statue.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, Dudley Digges
BW- 78 mins, CC,

When originally sold to television in the 1950s, the title was changed to "Dangerous Female" in order to avoid confusion with its illustrious remake, The Maltese Falcon (1941). Fifty years later, Turner Classic Movies restored its original title card.


11:00 AM -- TRANSGRESSION (1931)
When her lover is killed, a straying wife tries to intercept the confession she mailed her husband.
Dir: Herbert Brenon
Cast: Kay Francis, Paul Cavanagh, Ricardo Cortez
BW- 70 mins,

Based on the play The Next Corner by Kate Jordan.


12:15 PM -- FLESH (1932)
A simple-minded wrestler falls for a woman with a dark secret.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Wallace Beery, Karen Morley, Ricardo Cortez
BW- 96 mins,

"Flesh" is the movie the title character of "Barton Fink" (1991) is trying to write.


2:00 PM -- THE HOUSE ON 56TH STREET (1933)
A woman loses her family after being falsely convicted of a crime.
Dir: Robert Florey
Cast: Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond
BW- 68 mins, CC,

Remade in 1938 as The Return of Carol Deane, starring Bebe Daniels.


3:15 PM -- MIDNIGHT MARY (1933)
An abused orphan sinks into a life of crime.
Dir: William Wellman
Cast: Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, Franchot Tone
BW- 74 mins, CC,

Jean Harlow and Clark Gable were originally set to star in this film but rejected the project. After rewrites, the project was remounted with Loretta Young and Ricardo Cortez.


4:45 PM -- THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD (1933)
Five men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Anita Louise
BW- 76 mins, CC,

The film was originally presented as a radio serial with the final episode left out! If the listener wanted to know the ending, they had to watch the film.


6:15 PM -- HAT, COAT AND GLOVE (1934)
A lawyer gets mixed up in a net of intrigue when he witnesses a suicide.
Dir: Worthington Miner
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Barbara Robbins, John Beal
BW- 65 mins, CC,

This was originally intended to be a John Barrymore vehicle. However Barrymore's alcoholism was catching up with him and his memory repeatedly failed. After three days of production with virtually nothing shot, the producers were forced to replace him with Ricardo Cortez.


7:30 PM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #28 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon introduces Part Two of "Captains Courageous" and interviews Robby the Robot from "Forbidden Planet."
BW- 29 mins, CC,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: CHARACTER ACTORS



8:00 PM -- THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956)
In this musical remake of The Women, a happily married singer lets her catty friends convince her to file for divorce.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray
C- 116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Although the second Mrs. Dick Powell (Joan Blondell) was no fan of the third Mrs. Powell (June Allyson), she asked her daughter (and Allyson's stepdaughter) Ellen Powell to speak to Allyson about a role in the film. It was Blondell's return to movies after a five-year absence, and despite the rather difficult history involving the two Mrs. Powells, all went reasonably smoothly.


10:15 PM -- OUR MISS BROOKS (1956)
A high school teacher has to rescue the professor she loves from his grasping mother.
Dir: Al Lewis
Cast: Eve Arden, Gale Gorden, Don Porter
BW- 85 mins, CC,

This movie was released about two weeks before the final episode of the TV series on which it was based aired. In the final (4th) season, the show was overhauled and many of the regular characters were dropped (although some came back during the season). Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin moved to a private elementary school in the San Fernando Valley. The movie ignored all this and all the original regular characters were back at Madison High School for the conclusion of the Brooks-Boynton courtship. Perhaps 30 years later, the final season of the TV show would have been dismissed as a "dream."


12:00 AM -- PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES (1960)
A drama critic and his family try to adjust to life in the country.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Doris Day, David Niven, Janis Paige
C- 111 mins, CC,

Beginning her feature-film career portraying Katharine Hepburn's mother in Little Women (1933), Spring Byington closed her movie years playing Doris Day's mother in this film.


2:15 AM -- BELLS ARE RINGING (1960)
An answering service operator gets mixed up in her clients' lives.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Fred Clark
C- 126 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn

Judy Holliday's last film.


4:30 AM -- THAT MAN'S HERE AGAIN (1937)
An eccentric plays cupid for an elevator operator and a girl from Australia.
Dir: Louis King
Cast: Hugh Herbert, Mary Maguire, Tom Brown
BW- 59 mins,

The catering bill of $104.66 presented to Mr. Murdoch would be the equivalent of nearly $1,725 in 2016.