TCM Schedule for Saturday, July 9, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: The Essentials: Hedda Hopper

[Staph]

TCM is calling tonight The Essentials, but I still don't know if Robert Osborne will be back. The theme for tonight is Hedda Hopper, an actress turned gossip columnist. And the mother of William Hopper, who played Paul Drake on the original Perry Mason television series, with Raymond Burr as the world's most successful defense attorney. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937)
A squabbling stage couple gets mixed up with an amorous fan and her jealous suitor.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland
BW-90 mins, CC,

This film has an unusually high number of connections to "Gone with the Wind," the first time Howard and DeHavilland acted together before playing Ashley and Melanie; Davis, who at one time was considered for Scarlett, and the mention by DeHavilland of Clark Gable near the end.


8:00 AM -- THE GREAT GARRICK (1937)
French actors set out to deflate the ego of legendary stage star David Garrick.
Dir: James Whale
Cast: Brian Aherne, Olivia De Havilland, Edward Everett Horton
BW-89 mins, CC,

The play opened in London, England, UK on 18 May 1937.


9:45 AM -- CALL IT A DAY (1937)
An average day brings a variety of comic problems to members of a British family.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: Olivia De Havilland, Ian Hunter, Anita Louise
BW-90 mins, CC,

A poster for the Warner Bros. movie Sing Me a Love Song (1937) can be seen on a building.


11:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #23 (1955)
Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse perform in a clip from "Anchors Aweigh"; George Murphy, Dore Schary and Richard Brooks show a short film about the making of "The Last Hunt." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,


12:00 PM -- ONIONHEAD (1958)
An irresponsible student enlists in the Navy expecting to sit out World War II.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Andy Griffith, Felicia Farr, Walter Matthau
BW-110 mins, CC,

The boot camp scenes were filmed at the Coast Guard Training Center, Government Island (now Coast Guard Island), Alameda, California.


2:00 PM -- THE TRAIN ROBBERS (1973)
A bandit's widow enlists a famed gunman to return the gold her husband had stolen.
Dir: Burt Kennedy
Cast: John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Bobby Vinton
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Director Burt Kennedy wanted to cast Jack Elam as Grady. However John Wayne would not allow this, because he felt Elam had stolen too many scenes from him in Rio Lobo (1970). Rod Taylor ended up in the role.


3:45 PM -- THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958)
A drifter with a past brings a wealthy family's problems to a head.
Dir: Martin Ritt
Cast: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa
C-117 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Orson Welles had a rough time making the film and caused plenty of trouble. Used to being in control of his own projects, it was hard for him to do things someone else's way. According to Angela Lansbury, "He was always nudging and pushing for things and wanted to change lines, but had to be carefully handled so that he didn't always get his way because his way wasn't necessarily the best way for everybody else in the scene." Welles would irritate his co-stars by overlapping his own lines with their dialogue, ad-libbing, and mumbling to the point where his lines were barely comprehensible. "There was something you couldn't resist about Orson," said Lansbury, "even though he was a son-of-a-bitch at times. I mean, there's no question about it, he was very difficult." Joanne Woodward added in a 2001 interview, "Orson had a hard time. It must have been a terrible, terrible feeling for him to be confronted by all these young hot shots who thought they were so great because they came from New York and the Actors Studio. It was a problem."


6:00 PM -- BHOWANI JUNCTION (1956)
An Anglo-Indian beauty falls for a British officer as her country fights for independence.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

MGM originally planned to film Bhowani Junction, on location, in India. That is, until the Indian government started making demands seeking script approval and a big tax payment. MGM changed their plans and decided to film instead in Pakistan - whose government was more accommodating and less demanding of the studio.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: HEDDA HOPPER



8:00 PM -- ALICE ADAMS (1935)
A small-town girl with social ambitions falls in love with a local playboy.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone
BW-99 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn, and Best Picture

There was a disagreement among Katharine Hepburn and George Stevens about the post-party scene. The script called for Hepburn to fall onto the bed and break into sobs, but Stevens wanted her to walk to the window and cry, with the rain falling outside. Hepburn could not produce the tears required, so she asked Stevens if she could do the scene as scripted. Stevens yelled furiously at Hepburn, which did the trick and the scene was filmed Stevens' way, and Hepburn's tears are real.


10:00 PM -- DOWNSTAIRS (1932)
An evil chauffeur seduces and blackmails his way through high society.
Dir: Monta Bell
Cast: John Gilbert, Paul Lukas, Virginia Bruce
BW-78 mins, CC,

John Gilbert wanted to do this movie so badly he sold the story to MGM for $1.00. Ads for the movie proclaimed "starring Mr. and Mrs. John Gilbert" since Gilbert and Virginia Bruce were married shortly after the production completed filming.


11:30 PM -- MEN CALL IT LOVE (1931)
A man leaves his mistress to court a happily married woman.
Dir: Edgar Selwyn
Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Leila Hyams, Norman Foster
BW-72 mins, CC,

Adopted from Vincent Lawrence's play Among The Married.


1:00 AM -- CROSS COUNTRY ROMANCE (1940)
A runaway heiress hides in a doctor's trailer for a rollicking trip to San Francisco.
Dir: Frank Woodruff
Cast: Gene Raymond, Wendy Barrie, Hedda Hopper
BW-69 mins,

Lucille Ball and James Ellison were initially announced for the roles eventually played by Wendy Barrie and Gene Raymond.


2:15 AM -- STUNTS (1977)
A stuntman investigates his brother's death on a movie shoot.
Dir: Mark L. Lester
Cast: Robert Forster, Fiona Lewis, Joanna Cassidy
C-89 mins,

Part of a 1970s cycle of works which were about stunt-work and the stunt profession in movie-making. In his book "Cult Movies 3", Danny Peary says in his piece on The Stunt Man (1980) that "there had been a proliferation of theatrical and television films about stuntmen". The films include Hooper (1978), Animal (1977), Evel Knievel (1971) (1971), Stunt Rock (1980), Evel Knievel (1974) (1974), Dare Devils (1973), Death Cheaters (1976), Stunts (1977), Viva Knievel! (1977), Superstunt (1977), Death Riders (1976) and The Stunt Man (1980).


3:45 AM -- ROLLER BOOGIE (1979)
When her favorite roller disco is threatened with closing girl organizes the skaters to save it.
Dir: Mark L. Lester
Cast: Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland
C-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Jim Bray was originally hired as a stunt double for Linda Blair's then-uncast leading man. When the producers failed to find an actor they liked, they cast Bray. His stunt double, Jerry Bregman, skated in all of the skate park scenes and jumped over the limo with Blair's stunt double. This was Bray's only film. He was a roller skating champion in real life, and had amassed 275 trophies at the time he appeared in Roller Boogie.


5:30 AM -- DATING: DO'S AND DON'TS (1949)
A young man is given advice on what to do (and what not to do) on a date in this short film.
Dir: Ted Peshak
Cast: John Lindsay, Jackie Gleason ,
C-13 mins,


5:30 AM -- SUMMER OF '63 (1963)
In this social guidance short film, teens on the make spread syphilis among their friends.
Cast: Dolores Faith, Charlotte Stewart, Mory Schoolhouse
C-21 mins,