TCM Schedule for Friday, October 21, 2016 -- Terror Classic Movies - Evil Scientists and Doctors

[Staph]

In the morning, TCM is featuring films starring Gilbert Roland (yum!) and in the afternoon, Glenda Farrell. And in prime time, TCM is celebrating the month of October with classic terror. Tonight's films are all about evil scientists and criminal doctors. Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- THE PASSIONATE PLUMBER (1932)
A woman hires a plumber to make her lover jealous.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick
Cast: Buster Keaton, Jimmy Durante, Polly Moran
BW-74 mins,

The play, called "Her Cardboard Lover," opened in New York at the Empire Theater on 21 March 1927 and closed in August 1927 after 152 performances. It's stars were Leslie Howard and Jeanne Eagels. That play was based on a French version, "Dans sa candeur naive" by Jacques Deval, which opened in Paris on 13 January 1926.


8:00 AM -- ISLE OF MISSING MEN (1942)
Convicts on a prison island plot their escape.
Dir: Richard Oswald
Cast: John Howard, Helen Gilbert, Gilbert Roland
BW-66 mins,

Based on the play White Lady by Gina Kauss and Ladislas Fodor.


9:15 AM -- WE WERE STRANGERS (1949)
A Cuban American returns to his homeland during the Revolution and becomes involved in an assassination attempt.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Jennifer Jones, John Garfield, Pedro Armendariz
BW-106 mins, CC,

John Huston wanted a then almost-unknown Marilyn Monroe for a part in this movie. He made it about Cuban rebels at the time Monroe had a contract with Columbia. But producer Sam Spiegel didn't want to spend money for a screen test of Monroe.


11:15 AM -- APACHE WAR SMOKE (1952)
A killer joins stagecoach passengers under attack by Indians.
Dir: Harold Kress
Cast: Gilbert Roland, Glenda Farrell, Robert Horton
BW-67 mins,

Based on the story Stage Station by Ernest Haycox, and previously filmed as Apache Trail in 1942.


12:30 PM -- TORCHY RUNS FOR MAYOR (1939)
After digging up the dirt on local politicians, a newswoman decides to run for office.
Dir: Ray McCarey
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-60 mins, CC,

Eighth of the nine Torchy Blane films, and the last one to star Glenda Farrell.


1:31 PM -- HOW TO VOTE (1936)
In this short film, an assistant is called upon to give a speech on his candidate's behalf... much to the chagrin of the audience.
Dir: Felix E. Feist
Cast: Robert Benchley, Billy Bletcher, George Guhl
BW-10 mins,


1:45 PM -- BLONDES AT WORK (1938)
Even a jail term for contempt can't keep reporter Torchy Blane from investigating the case of a murdered department store owner.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-64 mins,

Goofs -- A triumphant Torchy looks at the wax impression of a key, she smiles and closes her hand into a fist in the master shot. If she actually had the wax impression in her hand, she would have ruined it.


3:00 PM -- TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN (1938)
A daring lady reporter sets out to catch a blackmailer.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-58 mins, CC,

Although the onscreen credits state this is an original story, it is actually a remake of Murder Will Out (1930), which has a virtually identical plot and uses many of the same character names.


4:00 PM -- TORCHY GETS HER MAN (1938)
Female reporter Torchy Blane tries to crack a counterfeiting case.
Dir: William Beaudine
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy
BW-63 mins,

Sixth of the nine Torchy Blane films. Farrell played the lead in films two through four, and films six through eight.


5:15 PM -- FLY AWAY BABY (1937)
Reporter Torchy Blane takes to the skies to track down a band of killers.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Gordon Oliver
BW-60 mins,

The famous Broadway columnist, What's My Line? (1950) star and possible murder victim Dorothy Kilgallen contributed to the script of this film. It is (very) loosely based on her participation in an around the world air race, as chronicled in Lee Israel's excellent book, "Kilgallen."


6:30 PM -- DANCE, CHARLIE, DANCE (1937)
A gullible "angel" sinks money into a doomed play.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Stuart Erwin, Jean Muir, Glenda Farrell
BW-64 mins, CC,

A version of The Butter and Egg Man (1928), The Tenderfoot (1932), Hello, Sweetheart (1935), An Angel from Texas (1940), and Three Sailors and a Girl (1953).


7:47 PM -- THE GREAT LIBRARY MISERY (1938)
In this comedic short, a man desiring to join the Grouch Club describes the terrible experience of trying to check out a book from a public library. Vitaphone Release B168.
Dir: Lloyd French
Cast: Arthur Q. Bryan, Nancy Evans, Detmar Poppen
BW-12 mins,

The Grouch Club started out as a popular program on Warner's KFWB radio station.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TERROR CLASSIC MOVIES: EVIL SCIENTISTS AND DOCTORS



8:00 PM -- DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1941)
A scientist's investigations into the nature of good and evil turn him into a murderous monster.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
BW-113 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph Ruttenberg, Best Film Editing -- Harold F. Kress, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Franz Waxman

Due to the Hay's Code much of the film had to be watered down from the 1931 version. The character of Ivy Peterson had to be changed from a prostitute to a barmaid.


10:00 PM -- EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960)
A surgeon steals young women's faces hoping to heal his daughter's scars.
Dir: Georges Franju
Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob
BW-90 mins,

Director John Carpenter once suggested that selecting the mask that Michael Myers wore in Halloween (1978) was influenced by Edith Scob's mask in this film.


11:45 PM -- THE BODY SNATCHER (1945)
To continue his medical experiments, a doctor must buy corpses from a grave robber.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell
BW-78 mins, CC,

This film featured the 8th and last on-screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Filming took place October 25-November 17 1944, delaying the completion of Karloff's Isle of the Dead (1945).


1:15 AM -- PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)
A mad scientist uses an ape to murder his enemies.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina
C-84 mins, CC,

The famous "gorilla performer" Charles Gemora, who plays the gorilla, also played the gorilla in the original Universal version Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).


2:45 AM -- MACABRE (1958)
A doctor's daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and he is given just five hours to find and rescue her.
Dir: William Castle
Cast: William Prince, Philip Tonge, Jonathan Kidd
BW-71 mins, CC,

The first of William Castle's "gimmick" films. In this one, admission included a $1000 insurance policy against "death by fright" issued by Lloyds of London.


4:00 AM -- THE CORPSE VANISHES (1942)
A mad scientist kills brides and uses their glands to keep his wife alive.
Dir: Wallace Fox
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters, Tris Coffin
BW-63 mins,

Filmed 13 March - 1 April, 1942, the fourth of Bela Lugosi's nine Monogram features.


5:15 AM -- THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1962)
A scientist keeps his wife's severed head alive until he can find a new body for her.
Dir: Joseph Green
Cast: Virginia Leith, Herb Evers, Adele Lamont
BW-82 mins, Letterbox Format

Original plans were for the last reel to be in color, with the doctor's head being cut off. Scenes were filmed with rats menacing the head.