TCM Schedule for Friday, December 2 -- What's On Tonight: Directed by Lloyd Bacon

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birthday of Warren William, born as Warren Wiliam Krech on December 2, 1894 in Aitkin, Minnesota. William was typecast as an amoral, aggressive rogue without a conscience, often playing unscrupulous lawyers, heartless businessmen, and just-plain cads. When a Warner's script called for a hard-hearted seducer with a calloused exterior masking an even-more-calloused soul, it was William who was cast in the part.

In primetime, TCM is featuring the films of director Lloyd Bacon. He never won an Oscar, but was a consistently successful director for more than 30 years. Bacon was the son of actor/writer Frank Bacon, brother of character actor Irving Bacon, and uncle of actress/singer Virginia O'Brien and actress Mary O'Brien. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- Star Of Midnight (1935)
A New York lawyer tries to track down a kidnapped actress.
Dir: Stephen Roberts
Cast: William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly.
90 min, TV-PG , CC

William Powell has framed 8x10 photos of RKO actresses Irene Dunne and Ann Harding prominently displayed in his bedroom suite.


8:30 AM -- Crossroads (1942)
A French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.
Dir: Jack Conway
Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor.
83 min, TV-G , CC

Since John H. Kafka was in Hollywood in the 1940s and even wrote some MGM films, it is not known if his onscreen credit for original story is based on his direct contribution to this film, or was due solely to his work on the original 1938 French version.


10:00 AM -- Sherlock Holmes (1922)
Sherlock Holmes faces off against Professor Moriarty.
Dir: Albert Parker
Cast: John Barrymore, Roland Young, Carol Dempster.
86 min, TV-G

Film debut of William Powell and Roland Young. This is one of a few silent Holmes films that have survived, including his first appearance on screen (an Edison short called Sherlock Holmes Baffled), the 1912 Danish short "The Copper Beeches" and a number of the series produced in Britain in the 1920s and starring Eille Norwood as Holmes.


11:30 AM -- Expensive Women (1931)
A bright young thing can't decide which of herflirtations should lead to marriage.
Dir: Hobart Henley
Cast: Dolores Costello, H. B. Warner, Warren William.
60 min, TV-PG

In a separately filmed trailer, Vitaphone production reel #4880, Dolores Costello talks about the picture.


12:45 PM -- Beauty And The Boss (1932)
After being distracted by a string of pretty secretaries, a banker hires a plain Jane, only to fall in love with her.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Marian Marsh, David Manners, Warren William.
65 min, TV-G

The original play opened in Budapest, Hungary, on 2 December 1927. An English-language adaptation of the play by Benn W. Levy, entitled "A Church Mouse", opened in London in early May, 1931. Another English-language adaptation by Frederic Hatton and Fanny Hatton, also called "A Church Mouse", opened in New York on 12 October 1931.


2:00 PM -- The Dark Horse (1932)
A political machine backs a dimwitted candidate for governor.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Warren William, Bette Davis, Guy Kibbee.
75 min, TV-G

Said about the gubenatorial candidate in this film: "He's the dumbest human being I ever saw. Every time he opens his mouth he subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge." Sounds like Rick Perry!


3:15 PM -- Under Eighteen (1932)
A girl from the slums falls for a lecherous Broadway producer.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: Marian Marsh, Anita Page, Regis Toomey.
79 min, TV-G

The short films Hotter Than Haiti and The Ugly Duckling played in front of this film in many theaters during its original theatrical run.


4:45 PM -- The Woman From Monte Carlo (1932)
A ship's captain loses course in perilous waters when he discovers his wife cheating on him.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Lil Dagover, Walter Huston, Warren William.
70 min, TV-PG

Remake of Night Watch (1928).


6:00 PM -- Skyscraper Souls (1932)
A ruthless financier will stop at nothing to control a 100-story office building.
Dir: Edgar Selwyn
Cast: Warren William, Maureen O'Sullivan, Gregory Ratoff.
99 min, TV-G

Based on the novel Skyscraper by Faith Baldwin.


7:50 PM -- One Reel Wonder: Pro Football (1934)
This MGM Oddity features the 1933 National Football League champion Chicago Bears.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Pete Smith, Bronko Nagurski, Harold 'Red' Grange
9 min,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DIRECTED BY LLOYD BACON



8:00 PM -- Knute Rockne All American (1940)
Biography of the famed Notre Dame coach and his fight to "win one for the Gipper."
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Pat O'Brien, Gale Page, Ronald Reagan.
C-98 min, TV-G , CC

James Cagney, eager to break out of gangster roles, lobbied hard for the part of Knute Rockne. But Cagney had signed a petition in support of the anti-Catholic Republican government in the Spanish Civil War. Notre Dame University had control over all aspects of the filming and would not okay Cagney for the role.


9:45 PM -- Boy Meets Girl (1938)
Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Marie Wilson.
86 min, TV-G , CC

Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson (the vaudeville team Olsen & Johnson) were the first choices to play the main roles.


11:15 PM -- Don't Trust Your Husband (1948)
Doing business with an ex-flame drives an ad man's wife mad with jealousy.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, Chas. "Buddy" Rogers.
87 min, TV-G , CC

Also known as An Innocent Affair.


1:00 AM -- The Good Humor Man (1950)
A good-hearted ice cream man's efforts to help a young woman turn him into a murder suspect.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Jack Carson, Lola Albright, Jean Wallace.
80 min, TV-G

Based on the "The Saturday Evening Post" story "Appointment With Fear" by Roy Huggins.


2:30 AM -- They Live (1988)
A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster.
C-94 min, TV-MA , CC

The line "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum" was ad-libbed by Roddy Piper. According to director John Carpenter, Piper had taken the line from a list of ideas he had for his pro wrestling interviews.


4:15 AM -- The Fog (1979)
Dead sailors use a deadly fog to haunt a coastal town.
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Adrienne Barbeau, Hal Holbrook, Janet Leigh.
C-90 min, TV-14 , CC

At one point during the movie, Tom Atkins' character mentions Bodega Bay. That is the scene of another horror movie, The Birds. When Tippi Hedren's character pulls into town, all hell starts to happen. In this movie, when Jamie Lee Curtis' character pulls into town, all hell starts to break loose.