TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 6 -- What's On Tonight: Bob's Picks

[Staph]

Happy birthday to Carole Lombard, born Jane Alice Peters, on October 6, 1908, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and happy birthday to Janet Gaynor, born Laura Augusta Gaynor, on October 6, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We celebrate their films during the day, and Bob picks the movies for primetime. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- Now Playing October (2011)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
C-15 min, TV-PG , CC


7:21 AM -- One Reel Wonder: Swing Cat's Jamboree (1933)
"Swing cat" Louis Prima and his jazz quartette play songs and accompany featured singers and dancers.
Dir: Roy Mack
Cast: Louis Prima, Shirley Lloyd, Ted Gary
C-9 min,

The soundtrack includes "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", "You're an Education", "Loch Lomond", and "Please Be Kind".


7:30 AM -- Swing High, Swing Low (1937)
When success goes to his head, a bandleader could lose everything.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Charles Butterworth.
C-83 min, TV-PG

The lead was originally offered to Gary Cooper, who turned it down, then to Bing Crosby, who also turned it down, then to Fred MacMurray, who took it.


9:00 AM -- In Name Only (1939)
A wealthy man falls for a widow but can't get his wife to divorce him.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Kay Francis.
95 min, TV-G , CC

This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby at the box office from the previous year, Hepburn left RKO being after deemed "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was subsequently brought in as her replacement.


10:43 AM -- One Reel Wonder: I Am An American (1944)
A hypothetical married Polish couple arrives in New York in the early 1840's and walks to Ohio where they settle and prosper and raise children.
Dir: Crane Wilbur
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gary Gray, Gordon Hart
16 min,

Cameos by Dick Haymes, Danny Kaye, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Jay Silverheels, and Arturo Toscaninin.


11:00 AM -- Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
A quarrelsome couple discovers their marriage isn't legal.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond.
95 min, TV-G , CC

Carole Lombard was a devoted Democrat, while Robert Montgomery was a Republican. During breaks in filming, Lombard made a point of running into the studio parking lot and putting FDR re-election bumper stickers on Montgomery's car.


12:50 PM -- One Reel Wonder: A Wife's Life (1950)
As she starts dinner after a trying day, Mrs. George T. Hardnose calls her husband to say she wants to go to a movie that night.
Dir: Dave O'Brien
Narrator: Pete Smith
8 min,

Dorothy Short, who plays Mrs. George T. Hardnose, was married to Dave O'Brien (AKA David Barclay) from 1936 - 1954 and appeared with him in the notorious Tell Your Children (aka "Reefer Madness") as well as other Pete Smith shorts.


1:00 PM -- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A troupe of squabbling actors joins the Polish underground to dupe the Nazis.
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack.
99 min, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner R. Heymann

According to the book 'The United Artists Story' by Ronald Bergan, " Unfortunately, at its release, Pearl Harbor had been attacked, Germany was sweeping across Europe, and the film's star, Carole Lombard, was killed in a plane crash while on a war-bond selling tour. Therefore, neither critics nor public were in the mood to laugh, finding the picture tasteless and callous. Over the years, however, it recovered its production costs and became a classic."


2:45 PM -- Three Loves Has Nancy (1938)
A country girl follows the man who jilted her to the big city, where she finds two new suitors.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Robert Montgomery, Franchot Tone.
70 min, TV-G , CC

Margaret Sullavan and Melvyn Douglas were initially announced for the roles ultimately played by Janet Gaynor and Franchot Tone.


4:00 PM -- A Star Is Born (1937)
A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he's shepherded to stardom.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou.
C-111 min, TV-G , CC

Won an Honorary Oscar Award for W. Howard Greene for the color photography of A Star Is Born. (This award was recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year.)

Also won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- William A. Wellman and Robert Carson

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Janet Gaynor, Best Assistant Director -- Eric Stacey, Best Director -- William A. Wellman, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Alan Campbell, Robert Carson and Dorothy Parker, and Best Picture

When the drunken Norman Maine character raucously interrupts the Oscar presentation, it was déja vu for Janet Gaynor. She had brought her sister to the Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, when she won the first Best Actress Oscar ever awarded, for 7th Heaven. Her sister became very drunk and completely out of control, thoroughly embarrassing Gaynor.


6:00 PM -- Small Town Girl (1936)
After marrying a drunken playboy, a young girl tries to capture his heart while he's sober.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Binnie Barnes.
106 min, TV-G , CC

Was originally set to star Jean Harlow as Kay and Robert Montgomery as Bob, in place of Janet Gaynor and Robert Taylor.


7:51 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Reducing (1952)
Shows the difficulties an overweight woman goes through trying to lose weight.
Dir: Dave O'Brien
Narrator: Pete Smith
8 min,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BOB'S PICKS



8:00 PM -- The Gay Sisters (1942)
A New York aristocrat marries for the money to save the family mansion.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald.
110 min, TV-PG , CC

Byron Barr took his character's name, Gig Young, as his screen name.


10:00 PM -- The Band Wagon (1953)
A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant.
C-112 min, TV-G , CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Costume Design, Color -- Mary Ann Nyberg, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Betty Comden and Adolph Green

The movie reflects two real-life situations. In the movie Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) is washed up. In real life Astaire's career was at a standstill. In the movie much is made of whether Cyd Charisse's character is too tall for Fred's character. This was also true in real life. Whenever Cyd and Fred are together she is in shoes with low heels.


12:00 AM -- The Big Clock (1948)
A corrupt publisher tries to frame a career-driven editor for murder.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan.
95 min, TV-PG

When producer Richard Maibaum first came on the set, director John Farrow who liked to intimidate people who worked with him, kept him at a distance by using a walking stick. Maibaum turned around, went to the props department and returned with a baseball bat. As if a spell were broken, the situation immediately improved and Maibaum and Farrow would go on to have an excellent working relationship.


2:00 AM -- Payment Deferred (1932)
A milquetoast kills for money and finds it a hard habit to break.
Dir: Lothar Mendes
Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Dorothy Peterson.
81 min, TV-G

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York on 30 September 1931 and ran for 70 performances. Charles Laughton originated the role of William Marble. Also in the cast were Elsa Lanchester and Lionel Pape. 5 dialogue cuts to remove suggestive remarks were made for the 1939 re-release. Some censors eliminated references to cyanide before allowing the showing of the movie.


3:30 AM -- Castle On The Hudson (1940)
A hardened crook behind bars comes up against a reform-minded warden.
Dir: Anatole Litvak
Cast: John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien.
77 min, TV-PG , CC

A partially obscured theater marquee in an opening scene of MGM's Tenth Avenue Angel is for this film. "Castle" was originally released in 1940 by Warner Bros. but re-released in 1949, so it kind of receives an advance re-release plug, albeit a quick one, in a rival studio's film.


5:00 AM -- The John Garfield Story (2003)
A TCM original documentary that traces John Garfield's life and career from his humble childhood.
Dir: David Heeley
Cast: Julie Garfield, Hume Cronyn, Richard Dreyfuss.
C-58 min, TV-PG , CC

John Garfield succumbed at age 39 to long-term heart problems, dying suddenly in the home of a woman friend. His funeral was mobbed by thousands of fans, in the largest funeral attendance for an actor since Rudolph Valentino.