TCM Schedule for Friday, October 23 -- TCM Primetime Feature -- Gothic Thrillers

[Staph]

Today's theme seems to be "law". We've got a day full of movies with law in the title. And tonight, we continue the October theme of thrillers with Gothic Thrillers, including one of my all time favorites, Rebecca (1940) with Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and the chilling Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers. Brrr! Enjoy!


6:00am -- Hold That Kiss (1938)
Romance blossoms when a man and woman each think the other is rich.
Cast: Maureen O'Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, Mickey Rooney, George Barbier
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
BW-79 mins, TV-G

Maureen O'Sullivan, the definitive Jane from the definitive Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller, despised working with the chimpanzee Cheetah during the filming of the Tarzan movies at MGM and, according to daughter Mia Farrow, privately referred to the primate as "that ape son of a bitch".


7:30am -- Within the Law (1939)
A wrongly convicted woman studies law and seeks her revenge.
Cast: Ruth Hussey, Tom Neal, Paul Kelly, William Gargan
Dir: Gustav Machaty
BW-65 mins, TV-G

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 11 September 1912 and had 541 performances. The opening night cast included Jane Cowl as Mary Turner and Brandon Hurst as Demarest. There was one Broadway revival in 1928 which included Claudette Colbert as Agnes. In this version, Ruth Hussey plays Mary Turner, Sidney Blackmer is Demerest, and Rita Johnson is Agnes Lynch.


8:45am -- Flying Tigers (1942)
American flyers help the Chinese fight off Japanese invaders.
Cast: John Wayne, John Carroll, Anna Lee, Paul Kelly
Dir: David Miller
BW-101 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Howard Lydecker (photographic) and Daniel J. Bloomberg (sound), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Victor Young, and Best Sound, Recording -- Daniel J. Bloomberg (Republic SSD)

The opening scene shows a Japanese air raid and in the aftermath a crying child is sitting alone amid debris. This scene virtually duplicates a famous photo taken in 1937 and published in Life magazine following a Japanese air raid on Shanghai. (Located in the National Archives, ARC Identifier: 535557)


10:30am -- Pierre Of The Plains (1942)
A French-Canadian trapper's adventures jeopardize his romance with an innkeeper.
Cast: John Carroll, Ruth Hussey, Bruce Cabot, Phil Brown
Dir: George B. Seitz
BW-66 mins, TV-G

Based on the novel Pierre and His People: Tales of the Far North, by Gilbert Parker.


11:45am -- The Law in Her Hands (1936)
A lady lawyer for the mob tries to break free of her criminal connections.
Cast: Margaret Lindsay, Glenda Farrell, Warren Hull, Lyle Talbot
Dir: William Clemens
BW-58 mins, TV-G

Margaret Lindsay was an open lesbian in the Hollywood community, in a time when that was simply not done. She dated "safe" co-workers and stars, including Cesar Romero, Richard Deacon, and even Liberace. In 1936 she was romantically linked to Janet Gaynor.


1:00pm -- Land Beyond The Law (1937)
An innocent rancher gets mixed up with rustlers.
Cast: Dick Foran, Linda Perry, Wayne Morris, Irene Franklin
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
BW-54 mins, TV-G

This film was a remake of 1927's Land Beyond the Law, starring Ken Maynard, and Warners's made it again in 1932 as The Big Stampede, starring John Wayne.


2:15pm -- Law of the Ranger (1937)
A Texan Ranger must stop a greedy land owner out to steal the town's water rights.
Cast: Bob Allen, Elaine Shepard, John Merton, Hal Taliaferro
Dir: Spencer Gordon Bennett
BW-56 mins, TV-G

Despite the fact that TCM states that this movie is about a Texas Ranger, the name of the state (and employer of said ranger) is never mentioned.


3:30pm -- Gun Law (1938)
A criminal poses as the lawman he's ambushed.
Cast: George O'Brien, Rita Oehmen, Ray Whitley, Paul Everton
Dir: David Howard
BW-60 mins, TV-G

Remake of The Reckless Rider (1932), starring Lane Chandler, Phyllis Barrington and J. Frank Glendon.


4:45pm -- The Law Rides Again (1943)
Western lawmen use an outlaw to bring down a crooked Indian agent.
Cast: Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Jack LaRue, Betty Miles
Dir: Alan James
BW-56 mins, TV-G

One of a series of Maynard/Gibson westerns, including Wild Horse Stampede (1943), Blazing Guns (1943), Death Valley Rangers (1943), Westward Bound (1944), Arizona Whirlwind (1944), Outlaw Trail (1944) and Sonora Stagecoach (1944).


6:00pm -- The Law And The Lady (1951)
A society jewel thief falls for one of her marks.
Cast: Greer Garson, Michael Wilding, Fernando Lamas, Marjorie Main
Dir: Edwin H. Knopf
BW-104 mins, TV-G

In supporting roles, you can spot Lovey Howell of Gilligan's Island (Natalie Schafer) and Dr. Bellows of I Dream Of Jeannie (Hayden Rorke).


What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: GOTHIC THRILLERS


8:00pm -- The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
A bogus preacher marries an outlaw's widow in search of the man's hidden loot.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason
Dir: Charles Laughton
BW-93 mins, TV-PG

Robert Mitchum was very eager for the part of the preacher. When he auditioned, a moment that particularly impressed Charles Laughton was when Laughton described the character as "a diabolical shit." Mitchum promptly answered, "Present!"


10:00pm -- Dragonwyck (1946)
A farm girl signs on as governess in a gloomy mansion.
Cast: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Vincent Price, Glenn Langan
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
BW-103 mins, TV-14

Gregory Peck was the first choice to play Nicholas Van Ryn, but he bowed out when he learned Ernst Lubitsch was dropping out as director. When second choice Laird Cregar died, Price was assigned.


12:00am -- Rebecca (1940)
A young bride is terrorized by the memories of her husband's glamorous first wife.
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
BW-130 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George Barnes, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Laurence Olivier, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Fontaine, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Judith Anderson, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Best Director -- Alfred Hitchcock, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Jack Cosgrove (photographic) and Arthur Johns (sound), Best Film Editing -- Hal C. Kern, Best Music, Original Score -- Franz Waxman, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison

The first film Alfred Hitchcock made in Hollywood and the only one that won a Best Picture Oscar.


2:15am -- Pretty Poison (1968)
A young man gets in over his head when he convinces a small-town girl he's a secret agent.
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld, Beverly Garland, John Randolph
Dir: Noel Black
C-89 mins, TV-PG

Anthony Perkins was so convincing in his role as the mentally disturbed Dennis Pitt as he had been in as Norman Bates in Psycho (1960) that it typecast him for the rest of his career.


3:45am -- Lord Love A Duck (1966)
A high-school misfit devotes his life to turning a bubbly blonde into a social success.
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Tuesday Weld, Lola Albright, Martin West
Dir: George Axelrod
BW-106 mins, TV-PG

Tuesday Weld told film critic Rex Reed that this was her favorite film and that she thought she gave her best performance in it.

[Staph]

1. REBECCA: The Essentials

SYNOPSIS

After the glamorous, universally-adored wife of Maxim de Winter dies at a tragically young age, her brooding husband meets a shy young woman in Monte Carlo. They have a whirlwind courtship and Maxim marries her and takes her to Manderley, his palatial estate in the English countryside. There, the second Mrs. de Winter must compete with the memory of the late Rebecca, and cope with the menacing housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: David O. Selznick
Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison
Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier
Cinematography: George Barnes
Editing: James E. Newcom, Hal C. Kern
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Music: Franz Waxman
Cast: Laurence Olivier (Maxim de Winter), Joan Fontaine (Mrs. de Winter), George Sanders (Jack Favell), Judith Anderson (Mrs. Danvers), Nigel Bruce (Maj. Giles Lacy), C. Aubrey Smith (Col. Julyan), Reginald Denny (Frank Crawley), Gladys Cooper (Beatrice Lacy), Florence Bates (Mrs. Van Hopper), Melville Cooper (Coroner), Leo G. Carroll (Dr. Baker), Lumsden Hare (Tabbs), Alfred Hitchcock (Man Outside Phone Booth).
BW-130m.

Why REBECCA is Essential

Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock's first American film. After winning a following here with such British thrillers as The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938), he established himself as a major Hollywood director with this picture.

Forced to bring Daphne Du Maurier's novel to the screen faithfully, Hitchcock for the first time in his career displayed his skill at using psychologically complex characters to generate suspense. Rebecca would pave the way for such later psychological thrillers of his as Suspicion (1941), Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960).

Maxim de Winter's relationship with his second wife represents the first portrait of a controlling male figure in Hitchcock's films, a theme that would prove central to such later works as Vertigo and Marnie (1964).

With Hitchcock's talent for subtlety, Rebecca was years ahead of its time in suggesting the sexual misbehavior of its unseen title character. In particular, the film leaves little doubt that the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), had a lesbian attraction to her mistress even though there was no clear indication in the script to upset the film industry's censorship board. The character has been referenced in several studies of homosexuality in Hollywood films.

The role of the second Mrs. de Winter made Joan Fontaine a star after years of thankless roles in Hollywood movies, where she had been fired by RKO just a few years earlier.

David O. Selznick reached the pinnacle of his success as an independent producer with Rebecca, his second in a row (after 1939's Gone with the Wind) to capture the Oscar® for Best Picture. It also marked the third picture in a row in which he had introduced a new star to U.S. audiences, with Joan Fontaine's success following that of Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939) and Vivien Leigh's in Gone with the Wind.

Rebecca was one of the first to use voice-over narration successfully, with Joan Fontaine delivering lines drawn largely from Daphne Du Maurier's novel, which had been written in the first person.

Rebecca was the first of six films to team Hitchcock with the actor he worked with more than any other, Leo G. Carroll. He would appear most notably in the Master of Suspense's Spellbound (1945) and North by Northwest (1959), and even played a character modeled on Hitchcock in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) for director Vincente Minnelli.

by Frank Miller

[rdmtimp]

2. I'm looking forward to "Pretty Poison"...

I've never seen it, and the combination of Perkins and Tuesday Weld at her come-hither best sounds quite enticing.