TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 1, 2015 -- What's On Tonight - Marx Brothers Marathon

[Staph]

Last edited Wed Dec 31, 2014, 08:37 PM - Edit history (2)

During the day, TCM has a selection of films about "dames", hard-boiled women played by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. In prime time, it's the Marx Brothers, featuring six of their thirteen films. Laugh and enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Torch Song (1953)
A tempestuous musical theatre star falls for a blind pianist.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Marjorie Rambeau

This film marked Joan Crawford's return to MGM after a ten year absence. She was previously under contract to MGM from 1925-1943.


7:30 AM -- Storm Center (1956)
A librarian fights to keep a controversial book on the shelves.
Dir: Daniel Taradash
Cast: Bette Davis, Brian Keith, Kim Hunter
86 mins, Letterbox Format

The Legion of Decency did not like the movie because of what it considered the film's "pro-Communist" leanings. Instead of condemning the picture, though, it used a "separate classification" for it. That had previously been used on Blockade (1938) (a Spanish Civil War film that the League also thought was anti-Catholic and pro-Communist) and Martin Luther (1953) (because the film portrayed the life of the man who split Christianity, and also because the League thought it was full of inaccurate presentations of Church teachings). Storm Center was the first film to criticize the McCarthy era directly.


9:00 AM -- The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
A bitter divorcee works to educate a deaf and blind girl.
Dir: David Miller
Cast: Joan Crawford, Rossano Brazzi, Heather Sears
102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Joan Crawford, then on the Pesi-Cola board of directors, demanded that product placement shots be included in all her films of this era. Look for it here prominently displayed in signs in an airport lobby.


10:45 AM -- Where Love Has Gone (1964)
Family secrets come to light when a teen-ager murders her mother's lover.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Susan Hayward, Bette Davis, Michael Connors
C-114 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Where Love Has Gone"

Although repeatedly denied at the time, this film (and the novel on which it was based) were widely believed to be about the infamous Lana Turner / Johnny Stompanato case of 1958. Stompanato, a violent gangster, was Turner's boyfriend and her daughter Cheryl Crane stabbed Stompanato to death as he was beating Turner. Her defense at her murder trial was that she was afraid that Stompanato, who had beaten Turner many times before, was going to kill her this time. She was acquitted.


12:45 PM -- Strait-Jacket (1964)
Murder follows an axe murderer home when she's released from a mental hospital.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson
93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Mitchell Cox (Dr. Anderson) was not an actor but was actually the vice-president of the Pepsi-Cola Company. Joan Crawford had made this arrangement without consulting with producer William Castle.


2:30 PM -- Dead Ringer (1964)
A woman murders her rich twin and tries to take her place.
Dir: Paul Henreid
Cast: Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford
116 mins, CC

Jean Hagen's last movie.


4:30 PM -- Berserk (1967)
A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.
Dir: Jim O'Connolly
Cast: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors
C-96 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Joan Crawford supplied her own wardrobe for the film, with the exception of the leotard which was designed by Edith Head.


6:15 PM -- The Nanny (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt
Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett
93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The role of the Nanny was originally intended for Greer Garson who first accepted then declined, saying the script would not be good for her career.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: MARX BROTHERS MARATHON



8:00 PM -- Horse Feathers (1932)
In an effort to beef up his school's football team, a college president mistakenly recruits two loonies.
Dir: Norman McLeod
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx
67 mins, CC

Professor Wagstaff's exclamation, "Jumpin' anaconda!" is actually a reference to a company, Anaconda Copper, whom Groucho Marx had invested in heavily. When the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, Marx lost several hundred thousand dollars, hence the curse word in the movie.


9:15 PM -- A Night at the Opera (1935)
Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protege's romance with the leading lady.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
91 mins, CC

Producer Irving Thalberg would often call people in for meetings, and then keep them waiting in his office for hours while he attended other meetings on the MGM lot. One day, during pre-production for this picture, Thalberg kept The Marx Brothers waiting for several hours in his secretary's office while he was in his own office making phone calls. When Thalberg's secretary went home for the day, the brothers decided they'd had enough. They pushed the office file cabinets against Thalberg's door, trapping the producer in his office. Afterwards, Thalberg kept his appointments with the Marx Brothers, but would often interrupt his meetings with them and step out to attend other meetings--again keeping the brothers waiting for hours. One day Thalberg came back from another meeting to find Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx sitting in his office completely naked, and roasting potatoes on sticks in his office fireplace. Thalberg sat down with them, had a potato and never missed or interrupted another meeting with the Marx Brothers.


11:00 PM -- A Day At The Races (1937)
A group of zanies tries to save a pretty girl's sanitarium.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Groucho (Marx), Chico (Marx), Harpo (Marx)
109 mins, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Dave Gould for "All God's Children Got Rhythm".

MGM executive Irving Thalberg died within two weeks of the start of filming. He was instrumental in bringing The Marx Brothers back to greatness with A Night at the Opera (1935) and was the brothers' main supporter at MGM. Groucho Marx claimed that he lost interest in films after Thalberg's death. (BTW, this is the other film that ends with the line "Tomorrow is another day.&quot


1:00 AM -- Room Service (1938)
Three zany producers try to extend their hotel credit until they can get a play mounted.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
79 mins, CC

The only film The Marx Brothers made at RKO. During salary negotiations with the studio, erstwhile member (and youngest of the five brothers) Zeppo Marx represented The Marx Brothers, threatening to rejoin the group if their demands weren't met.


2:30 AM -- At The Circus (1939)
The Marx Bros. team up to keep a circus from going bankrupt.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
87 mins, CC

For Groucho Marx's performance of "'Lydia, the Tattooed Lady", additional lyrics were written by lyricist E.Y. Harburg exclusively for screenings of the film for Allied servicemen in European war zones. The special lyrics included the line "When she stands the world grows littler; When she sits, she sits on Hitler.' The version of the song featuring the special lyrics was filmed, and included in prints of the film distributed in Great Britain and France. The version of the song containing the special lyrics was greeted with marked enthusiasm during screenings in those countries.


4:00 AM -- Go West (1940)
Three zanies tackle outlaws and Indians when they head westward.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
80 mins, CC

Winston Churchill was informed of Rudolf Hess's capture in Scotland just before he was about to see a private screening of Go West. Spurning a more detailed briefing, Churchill famously commented "Well, Hess or no Hess, I'm off to see the Marx Brothers".


5:30 AM -- TCM Presents Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence: Bill Murray (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-29 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

[LiberalEsto]

1. Why do we need the schedule for Dec. 18 on Dec. 31??? nt

[Staph]

2. Oops!

It's actually the schedule for December 31, created by a poster who just got rid of the last of the Christmas company and therefore is seriously sleep-deprived and overloaded with sugar and turkey. I'll fix it!

[bvf]

3. This is the schedule for January 1. n/t.

[CBHagman]

4. "The Nanny" scared the crap out of us when we were kids.

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Nanny were the sorts of things that frightened me when I was a kid. I'm so glad no one in our household ever watched The Night of the Hunter.