TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 25 -- Star of the Month -- Ava Gardner

[Staph]

Tonight's theme is easy -- it's the last night for star of the month Ava Gardner. Enjoy, and have a happy, high calorie Thanksgiving!


5:45am -- Of Human Bondage (1934)
A medical student falls prey to a sluttish waitress.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee, Kay Johnson
Dir: John Cromwell
BW-83 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (This was a write-in nomination.)

Bette Davis wanted the role of Mildred Rodgers because she thought it would be her breakout role after years of starring in films that were getting her nowhere. She begged Warner Brothers studio chief Jack L. Warner to let her out of her contract so she could make the film. He relented because he was sure she would fail, but when her performance sparked talk of an Oscar, Warner began a spite campaign by encouraging academy members not to vote for her. At the time, the voting campaigns and the tabulation of the results were handled by the heads of the academy (of which Warner had a membership) and it worked in his favor when Davis was left out of the Best Actress competition. Supporters of Davis, shocked by her omission, petitioned the academy for a write-in vote. She was added to the nominees as a write-in but she lost to Claudette Colbert for her performance in It Happened One Night (1934). As a result of this incident, write-in votes were henceforth disallowed. Also, as a result of Warner's coup, the academy decided to change it's voting practices and hand over the counting of the results to the independent accounting firm of PriceWaterhouse who still does the official counting to this day.


7:15am -- Bette Davis: A Basically Benevolent Volcano (1984)
A documentary depicting the life and career of one of America's premiere actresses.
Cast: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Joseph Mankiewicz
Dir: George Marshall.
C-60 mins, TV-G

An episode of the British arts program Arena.


8:15am -- A Man to Remember (1938)
A small-town doctor fights crooked politicians during a polio epidemic.
Cast: Anne Shirley, Edward Ellis, Lee Bowman, William Henry
Dir: Garson Kanin
BW-78 mins, TV-G

The only surviving copy of "A Man To Remember" is a 35mm, original nitrate print in the English spoken language, but with Dutch subtitles and Dutch credits. In addition, written English notes and letters in the film was replaced with the Dutch equivalents. It was preserved by the Netherlands Filmmuseum in 2000 and shown on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Channel in April 2007.


9:45am -- Pygmalion (1938)
A linguistics professor bets he can turn a flower girl into a lady by teaching her to speak properly.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson, Marie Lohr
Dir: Leslie Howard
BW-96 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay -- George Bernard Shaw, Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Lewis and W.P. Lipscomb (George Bernard Shaw was not present at the ceremony. When presenter Lloyd C. Douglas announced that Pygmalion has won the Oscar he joked "Mr. Shaw's story now is as original as it was three thousand years ago". Shaw's reaction to the award was not enthusiastic as he is quoted as saying "It's an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before - and it's very likely they never have. They might as well send some honour to George for being King of England". Although popular legend says Shaw never received the Oscar, when Mary Pickford visited him she reported that he was on his mantle. When Shaw died in 1950 his home at Ayot St Lawrence became a museum. By this time his Oscar statuette was so tarnished, the curator believed it had no value and used it as a door stop. It has since been repaired and is now on displayed at the museum.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Leslie Howard, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Wendy Hiller, and Best Picture


11:30am -- You Can't Take It With You (1938)
A girl from a family of freethinkers falls for the son of a conservative banker.
Cast: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arnold
Dir: Frank Capra
BW-126 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Director -- Frank Capra, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Spring Byington, Best Cinematography -- Joseph Walker, Best Film Editing -- Gene Havlick, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert Riskin

Shortly before filming began, Lionel Barrymore lost the use of his legs to crippling arthritis and a hip injury. To accommodate him, the script was altered so that his character had a sprained ankle, and Barrymore did the film on crutches.


1:45pm -- Beyond Tomorrow (1940)
A ghost tries to smooth the way for two young lovers he knew during his lifetime.
Cast: Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Winninger, Alex Melesh
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
BW-84 mins, TV-G

Based on a story by Mildred Cram and Adele Comandini. Cram also wrote the story that was the basis for Love Affair (1939, with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne), An Affair To Remember (1957, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr), and the execrable Love Affair (1994, with Warren Beatty and Annette Benning).


3:15pm -- It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
A newspaper editor writes headlines that predict the future.
Cast: Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy
Dir: René Clair
BW-85 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Robert Stolz, and Best Sound, Recording -- Jack Whitney (Sound Services Inc.)

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 25, 1944 with Dick Powell and Linda Darnell reprising their film roles.


4:45pm -- The Strange Woman (1946)
An unscrupulous 19th-century woman will stop at nothing to control the men in her life.
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Gene Lockhart
Dir: Edgar Ulmer
BW-99 mins, TV-PG

Douglas Sirk directed, uncredited, the opening sequence with Jerry Hager as a child.


6:30pm -- My Favorite Brunette (1947)
A baby photographer mistaken for a private eye ends up framed for murder.
Cast: Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney
Dir: Elliott Nugent
BW-86 mins, TV-G

The film contains a number of in-jokes. Bob Hope's character is just saying that he wants to be a private detective like Alan Ladd - when Ladd appears, playing a private detective. Dorothy Lamour's character looks longingly after Bing Crosby for a moment (in their "Road" movies with Bob Hope, Crosby nearly always got the girl) before Hope wins back her attention.


What's On Tonight: STAR OF THE MONTH: AVA GARDNER


8:00pm -- The Night Of The Iguana (1964)
A defrocked priest surrenders to the sins of the flesh in a Mexican hotel.
Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Sue Lyon
Dir: John Huston
BW-118 mins, TV-14

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Dorothy Jeakins

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Grayson Hall, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen B. Grimes, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gabriel Figueroa

In order to diffuse the tension prior to shooting (due mainly to the isolated location the stars would be working in together), John Huston made each lead actor a gold encrusted pistol with bullets- one with each actor's name on it. This way, when the actors wanted to kill one another, they would use the designated bullet. This proved to be successful. No problems between the cast arose.


10:00pm -- Seven Days In May (1964)
An American military officer discovers his superiors are planning a military coup.
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, Ava Gardner
Dir: John Frankenheimer
BW-118 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Edmond O'Brien, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cary Odell and Edward G. Boyle

For security reasons, the Pentagon forbids camera crews near the entrances to the complex. John Frankenheimer wanted a shot of Kirk Douglas entering the building. So they rigged up a station wagon with a camera to film Douglas, in a full Marine colonel's uniform, walking up the steps of the Pentagon. The salutes Douglas received in that scene were real, as the guards had no reason to believe it was for a movie!


12:00am -- Mayerling (1968)
True story of Austria's Crown Prince Rudolph and his tragic love for a commoner.
Cast: Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason, Ava Gardner
Dir: Terence Young
C-127 mins, TV-14

Originally planned as a starring vehicle for the husband-and-wife team of Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn, who had performed Mayerling for TV in 1957.


2:15am -- The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
A self-appointed judge cleans up a corrupt western town twice.
Cast: Paul Newman, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs, Fred Brookfield
Dir: John Huston
C-123 mins, TV-14

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Maurice Jarre (music), Alan Bergman (lyrics) and Marilyn Bergman (lyrics) for the song "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey".

Steve Kanaly and Victoria Principal who both debuted in this film also starred together in the "Dallas" (1978) television series.