TCM Schedule for Friday, July 1 -- Star of the Month -- Singing Cowboys

[Staph]

TCM has a double birthday celebration today. In the morning, it's Charles Laughton, born on this day in 1899, in Scarborough, UK. In the afternoon, it's Farley Granger, born on this day in 1925, in San Jose, California. I suspect his movies are to be considered a memorial, as he passed away on March 27, 2011. I don't really remember it well, as Elizabeth Taylor died just a few days before. In primetime, TCM has an interesting new Star of the Month -- Singing Cowboys. Tonight, it's Roy Rogers in the saddle with a guitar. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Payment Deferred (1932)
A milquetoast kills for money and finds it a hard habit to break.
Dir: Lothar Mendes
Cast: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Dorothy Peterson.
81 min, TV-G

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York on 30 September 1931 and ran for 70 performances. Charles Laughton originated the role of William Marble. Also in the cast were Elsa Lanchester and Lionel Pape. Five dialogue cuts to remove suggestive remarks were made for the 1939 re-release. Some censors eliminated references to cyanide before allowing the showing of the movie.


7:30 AM -- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
An invalid poetess defies her father's wishes to marry a dashing young poet.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton.
109 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Norma Shearer, and Best Picture

Concerned about the public's reaction, the disturbing subplot about Father Barrett's incestuous designs on his daughter was toned down by the studio. However, Charles Laughton famously remarked that they couldn't censor the "gleam" in his eye.


9:30 AM -- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
A deformed bell ringer rescues a gypsy girl falsely accused of witchcraft and murder.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Charles Laughton, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell.
117 min, TV-PG, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring -- Alfred Newman, and Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD)

RKO specifically wanted to outdo the 1923 silent version of the story, so a vigorous campaign that spared no expense was undertaken. Much attention was given to advance publicity; no pictures of Charles Laughton in full Quasimodo makeup and costume were allowed to be seen so that a first-time viewing would be a guaranteed shock. Also, the studio hired (at Laughton's request) leading makeup artist Perc Westmore to supervise makeup. Unfortunately, Westmore and Laughton had heated quarrels before a final image for Quasimodo was agreed upon.


11:30 AM -- The Canterville Ghost (1944)
A ghost who died a coward tries to inspire U.S. GIs to become heroes.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Charles Laughton, Robert Young, Margaret O'Brien.
96 min, TV-G, CC

After 38 days of shooting, director Jules Dassin replaced Norman Z. McLeod. Although a news item stated it was due to a "difference of opinion," many believe it was done on the insistence of Charles Laughton. At the same time, William H. Daniels replaced Robert Planck as director of photography.


1:30 PM -- Behave Yourself! (1951)
A young couple's dog gets them mixed up in a string of murders.
Dir: George Beck
Cast: Farley Granger, Shelley Winters, William Demarest.
81 min, TV-PG, CC

Classic pin-up artist, Vargas, painted the film's original poster.


3:00 PM -- Strangers On A Train (1951)
A man's joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker.
101 min, TV-PG, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Burks

This is the movie that determined the location of Carol Burnett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1951, she was working as an usher when this film was playing at the Warner Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. A couple arrived late, and Burnett, having already seen the film, advised them that it was a wonderful film that should be seen from the very beginning. The manager of the theatre very rudely fired her for this. Years later, when Carol Burnett was asked where she would like to have her star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she requested that it be placed in front of that theatre.


4:45 PM -- Side Street (1950)
A New York City mailman is chased by both cops and crooks when he steals a shipment of dirty money.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig.
82 min, TV-PG , CC

The drugstore that Joe Norson calls from is the set of another MGM Film Noir, Tension (1950), which was shooting at approximately the same time.


6:15 PM -- They Live by Night (1949)
After an unjust prison sentence, a young innocent gets mixed-up with hardened criminals and a violent escape.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Cathy O'Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva.
96 min, TV-PG, CC

The opening sequence was filmed from a helicopter. Although helicopters had been used in filming by 1947, mainly for aerial views or landscapes, this is one of the first times an action scene was filmed from the sky. The most difficult thing about it was to keep the actors in focus. It took them four takes; they eventually chose the second one.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: SINGING COWBOYS



8:00 PM -- Cowboy and the Senorita (1944)
Outlaws conceal a gold mine's true worth from the man who inherited it.
Dir: Joseph Kane
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Mary Lee.
78 min, TV-G, CC

Approximately 25% of this film's original running time landed on the cutting room floor when it was mutilated (i.e. shortened) for television release fifty years ago. This shortened version is in wide circulation but the complete version does survive. TCM appears to be showing the full length version.


9:30 PM -- Don't Fence Me In (1945)
A lady reporter travels West to dig up the truth about a long dead bandit.
Dir: John English
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes.
71 min, TV-G, CC

The tombstone on Wildcat Kelly's fake grave reads "Wildcat Kelly: For Wildcat Kelly / Life Held No Terror / Forgetting To Duck / Was His Only Error".


10:45 PM -- My Pal Trigger (1946)
A cowboy fights to clear his name when he's accused of shooting a friend's horse.
Dir: Frank McDonald
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes.
79 min, TV-G

Trigger is the same horse that carried Olivia de Havilland as Lady Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).


12:15 AM -- The Golden Stallion (1949)
Bandits use a specially designed horseshoe to smuggle diamonds.
Dir: William Witney
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dale Evans.
C-67 min, TV-G, CC

Filmed on location at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, California.


1:30 AM -- Trigger, Jr. (1950)
A lawbreaker uses a killer horse to set up a protection racket preying on local ranchers.
Dir: William Witney
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Dale Evans.
C-67 min, TV-G, CC

Roy's musical group in this film is the Riders of the Purple Sage. Members have included Foy Willing, Scotty Harrel, Al Sloey, Johnny Paul, Lou Preston, Bud Severt, Darol Rice, George Bamby, Al Duncan, and Jimmie Dean (who is not the same person as singer/actor/sausage king Jimmy Dean).


2:45 AM -- Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
A descendent of Baron Frankenstein unleashes an undead murderer on the crew filming his forebear's story.
Dir: Howard W. Koch
Cast: Boris Karloff, Tom Duggin, Jana Lund.
83 min, TV-PG

This film was originally going to be entitled "Frankenstein 1960" but it didn't sound futuristic enough. It was also thought to be too far fetched that an independent researcher could obtain his own atomic reactor in 1960.


4:15 AM -- Frankenstein Created Woman (1966)
Baron Frankenstein puts a wrongly executed man's brain into a beautiful woman's body.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Susan Denberg, Thorley Walters.
C-92 min, TV-14

We are never told in which Country the film is set, however the Coat of Arms on the coach is that of the Canton of Berne in Switzerland.