TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 30, 2015 -- What's On Tonight - Steve Martin

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring the films of Billie Burke, born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1884. This evening's theme is the films of 2015 AFI honoree Steve Martin. If I were programming TCM, I would not show Father of the Bride (1991), though Pennies from Heaven (1994) is a great choice. I would show Roxanne (1987). What are your favorite Steve Martin films? Enjoy!

And let me apologize for missing Friday and Saturday's schedules for last week. I was at a family wedding, with limited internet access, and . . . well, I forgot! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!


6:00 AM -- Dinner At Eight (1933)
A high-society dinner party masks a hotbed of scandal and intrigue.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery
BW-111 mins, CC,

The dowager character played by Marie Dressler is reportedly based on actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell, for whom George Bernard Shaw wrote the role of Eliza Doolittle in the play "Pygmalion", the basis for the musical My Fair Lady (1964). Mrs. Campbell was legendary for her inappropriate remarks, and she failed dismally in an attempt at a Hollywood film career.


8:00 AM -- Finishing School (1934)
A boarding-school girl has to cope with family problems and puppy love.
Dir: Wanda Tuchock
Cast: Frances Dee, Billie Burke, Ginger Rogers
BW-73 mins, CC,

This movie was placed on the Catholic Church's "condemned" film list in 1934.


9:20 AM -- Hollywood Newsreel (1934)
A variety of stories from "behind the scenes" in Hollywood are the focus in this short film that may have been a publicity vehicle for "Harold Teen" (1934). Vitaphone Release 6170.
Dir: George R. Bilson
BW-9 mins,


9:30 AM -- Forsaking All Others (1934)
A woman pursues the wrong man for almost twenty years.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable
BW-83 mins, CC,

The screenplay was written for Loretta Young, George Brent and Joel McCrea, but later was given to Gable, Crawford, and Montgomery.


11:00 AM -- Where Sinners Meet (1934)
An eccentric millionaire kidnaps eloping couples to make sure they're meant for each other.
Dir: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Billie Burke
BW-72 mins,

Based on the play, The Dover Road, by A. A. Milne -- yep -- Winnie the Pooh's dad!


12:15 PM -- After Office Hours (1935)
A society newspaperwoman tries to prove to her editor that she can crack a murder case.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Constance Bennett, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin
BW-72 mins, CC,

The picture has no original score but Edward Ward composed music for the trailer.


1:30 PM -- Society Doctor (1935)
When his pioneering ideas cause problems, a hospital doctor goes into private practice.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Chester Morris, Robert Taylor, Virginia Bruce
BW-67 mins,

Based on the play, The Harbor, by Theodore Reeves.


2:45 PM -- Bridal Suite (1939)
A playboy's fiancee sets out to reform her future husband and his flighty mother.
Dir: William Thiele
Cast: Annabella, Robert Young, Walter Connolly
BW-70 mins,

Billie Burke broke her ankle during filming, causing the film to be 9 days behind schedule. She finished her subsequent scenes from a wheelchair.


4:00 PM -- The Wild Man Of Borneo (1941)
A braggart masquerades as a primitive throwback.
Dir: Robert B. Sinclair
Cast: Frank Morgan, Mary Howard, Billie Burke
BW-79 mins,

This film was announced in 1928 by Paramount Pictures as a vehicle for W.C. Fields, but was never made.


5:30 PM -- Small Town Girl (1953)
A sheriff's daughter falls for a playboy arrested for speeding.
Dir: Leslie Kardos
Cast: Jane Powell, Farley Granger, Ann Miller
C-94 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics) for the song "My Flaming Heart"

Bobby Van performs a long dance sequence in which he jumps continuously. At first glance it seems that he does it all in one take. However, the dance was so tiring that it was cut into four segments so that he could rest. The cuts are covered by changes in camera angle and placement.


7:05 PM -- Wedding In Monaco (1956)
Exclusive footage captures the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier in this short film.
Dir: Jean Masson
Cast: Grace Kelly,
C-32 mins, Letterbox Format

Tagline: By arrangement with Prince Rainier III. The only complete, official film coverage of this historic event. In CinemaScope and Color.


7:45 PM -- Carson on TCM: Steve Martin (6/15/79) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Steve Martin from 6/15/79.
C-10 mins, CC,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STEVE MARTIN



8:00 PM -- AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Steve Martin (2015)
Dir: Louis J. Horvitz
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Jack Black, Mel Brooks
BW-67 mins, CC,

Martin is an accomplished banjo player and appears playing the instrument in Earl Scruggs and Friends video for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," for which he won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. This makes him rare in that he has won Grammies for both comedy and music.


9:18 PM -- 100 Years At The Movies (1994)
This short documentary celebrates the centennial of American filmmaking through a montage of clips of influential motion pictures.
Dir: Chuck Workman
C-9 mins,


9:30 PM -- Father of the Bride (1991)
A proud father faces wedding planners, florists and caterers as he prepares for his daughter's wedding.
Dir: Charles Shyer
Cast: Steve Martin, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Diane Keaton
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Among the wedding gifts Annie receives is a Venus de Milo statue with a clock in the stomach. In the original Father of the Bride (1950), Kay also receives this as one of her wedding gifts. Both look at it with disdain.


11:30 PM -- AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Steve Martin (2015)
Dir: Louis J. Horvitz
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Jack Black, Mel Brooks
BW-67 mins, CC,

Martin studied philosophy at California State University at Long Beach, and for a while, considered becoming a philosophy professor instead of an actor-comedian. He periodically spoofed his philosophy studies in his 1970s stand-up act, such as comparing Philosophy with studying Geology: "If you're studying Geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but Philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life."


12:41 AM -- The Making Of Cannery Row (1982)
This promotional short offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of "Cannery Row" (1982).
Dir: Robert Ward
C-9 mins,


1:00 AM -- Pennies From Heaven (1981)
A traveling salesman's music-inspired dreams lead to tragedy.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Walken
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Dennis Potter, Best Costume Design -- Bob Mackie, and Best Sound -- Michael J. Kohut, Jay M. Harding, Richard Tyler and Al Overton Jr.

Producer Nora Kaye once said of Steve Martin's casting: "If you just had a terrific actor, the musical numbers wouldn't come off. Steve knows how to put across the number. He's right for the part in another sense, too. In the '30s all the leading men were classic American types. But today, there are very few stars who are not ethnic - either Italian or Jewish. You kind of feel Steve is a Baptist, and that's what this story needs. He's so guileless, like a Capra hero."


3:00 AM -- Carson on TCM: Steve Martin (6/15/79) (2013)
TCM presents an interview from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, with Steve Martin from 6/15/79.
C-10 mins, CC,


3:15 AM -- Protocol (1984)
A naïve waitress bumbles into a job with the diplomatic corps in the Middle East.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, Richard Romanus
C-95 mins, CC,

The picture is considered a "politics" version of Goldie Hawn's earlier Private Benjamin (1980). The story writers on Protocol (1984) actually wrote Private Benjamin.


4:52 AM -- 2010 The Odyssey Continues (1984)
This promotional short for "2010" (1984) shows moviegoers how some of the film's visual effects were created.
Dir: Les Mayfield
C-20 mins,


5:15 AM -- TCM Presents Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence: Joan Allen (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-27 mins, CC, Letterbox Format


5:49 AM -- Animals In Action (1955)
This short film takes a look at the profession of capturing animals in action on celluloid.
BW-9 mins,

[rdmtimp]

1. "Roxanne" is a great choice...

also "Bowfinger", "Shopgirl", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid".

TCM has shown "All of Me" before; kind of surprised that wasn't scheduled.