TCM Schedule for Friday, April 8, 2016 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Judy Garland

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is showing films starring Ella Raines. She was Gore Vidal's cousin, and a lifelong Republican - some folks are walking contradictions! In prime time, April's Star of the Month is Judy Garland. Tonight's films are from 1939 through 1941, including her most famous role as Dorothy Gale. Enjoy!



7:00 AM -- The Second Face (1950)
A homely woman injured in a car crash awakes to find the plastic surgery has transformed her into a first class beauty.
Dir: Jack Bernhard
Cast: Ella Raines, Bruce Bennett, Rita Johnson
BW-77 mins, CC,

The first screenwriting credit for Eugene Vale, who wrote the 1944 textbook, The Technique of Screen Play Writing.


8:30 AM -- A Dangerous Profession (1950)
A bail bondsman is asked to raise money to free his girlfriend's husband.
Dir: Ted Tetzlaff
Cast: George Raft, Ella Raines, Pat O'Brien
BW-79 mins, CC,

Actor Fred MacMurray bought Martin Rackin's screen story and hoped to be cast in this film, but was replaced by George Raft. At that time, the Los Angeles papers announced that the local bail bond racket was about to be exposed.


10:00 AM -- The Man in the Road (1957)
A scientist fights to evade Communist agents out to get his new formula.
Dir: Lance Comfort
Cast: Derek Farr, Ella Raines, Olive Sloane
BW-84 mins,

The final film of Ella Raines.


11:30 AM -- Brute Force (1947)
Tough, disgruntled prisoners plan a daring, possibly bloody escape while on a drain pipe detail.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford
BW-98 mins, CC,

Inspired by the 1946 Battle of Alcatraz in which a riot ran out of control in the prison for two days.


1:15 PM -- Cry 'Havoc' (1944)
A group of war nurses fights to survive the siege of Bataan.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell
BW-97 mins, CC,

Joan Crawford was offered the lead role but turned it down, saying "It should have been called The Women Go to War". Her part was played by Joan Blondell. The title is from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- in Marc Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech. "Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war."


3:00 PM -- Impact (1949)
After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn
BW-111 mins, CC,

The car driven by Walter Williams is a yellow 1948 Packard Victoria 8, the most luxurious and expensive convertible of its day, and America's leading luxury make for several decades. The Inspector played by Charles Coburn calls it a Packard roadster.


5:00 PM -- Tall In The Saddle (1944)
A woman-hating cowboy signs on with a lady rancher.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond
BW-87 mins, CC,

This film was the final pairing of John Wayne and George 'Gabby' Hayes on screen. The two long time screen friends had first worked together on "Riders of Destiny" (1933), Hayes was billed as just George Hayes played Charlie Denton and Wayne played the role of singing cowboy and gunslinger Singin' Sandy Saunders. The two actors were very close in real life. Wayne's children thought of Hayes as an uncle and Hayes often described Wayne as the son he always wanted.


6:30 PM -- Phantom Lady (1944)
A mystery woman is a murder suspect's only alibi for the night of his wife's death.
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Cast: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis
BW-87 mins,

In the courtroom scene we see the pen of a court reporter transcribing the trial in shorthand. The date under the criminal court letterhead is August 6, 1943. This may be coincidental or an inside reference to the birthday of Ella Raines: August 6, 1920.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: JUDY GARLAND



8:00 PM -- The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
C-102 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Over the Rainbow", and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Harold Rosson, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound), and Best Picture

When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel / The Wizard), they decided they wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed." They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department, and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility." One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum.


9:45 PM -- Electrical Power (1939)
This short film looks at how electricity generated at Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) is sent to Hollywood movies studios to make films.
BW-10 mins,


10:00 PM -- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic (1990)
The story of how MGM created one of the most beloved family films of all time.
Dir: Jack Haley Jr.
Cast: Angela Lansbury, John Lahr, Liza Minnelli
C-51 mins, CC,

When filming first started, Judy Garland wore a blonde wig and heavy, "baby-doll" makeup. When George Cukor assumed the role of intermediate director (after MGM fired the original director and before they found a replacement), he got rid of the wig and most of the makeup and told her to just be herself.


11:00 PM -- Strike Up the Band (1940)
A high-school band sets out to win a national radio contest.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra
BW-120 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Roger Edens and George Stoll for the song "Our Love Affair", and Best Music, Score -- George Stoll and Roger Edens

The puppet orchestra made of fruit that comes to life playing instruments for Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland on a kitchen table, was the work of animator George Pal. He had just arrived in Hollywood from Europe via New York and this was among his first projects. Pal's work was relatively unknown by American audiences, thus he was uncredited. The idea for the sequence was that of another New York-to-Hollywood transfer: Vincente Minnelli.


1:15 AM -- Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
The daughter of Irish immigrants patches up differences between her father and grandfather and rises to the top on Broadway.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger
BW-99 mins, CC,

Adapted from a musical play by George M. Cohan. The original stage production opened at the Liberty Theatre in New York on November 13, 1922 and ran for 248 performances. Most of the story was rewritten for the film, and only two of the songs from the play were used, "Nellie is a Darling" and "Nellie Kelly I Love You".


3:00 AM -- Babes on Broadway (1941)
Show-biz hopefuls stage a benefit for an orphanage.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Fay Bainter
BW-118 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Burton Lane (music) and Ralph Freed (lyrics) for the song "How About You?"

The role of Barbara Jo was intended for Shirley Temple but after the failure of Kathleen (1941), MGM canceled the rest of her three-picture deal.


5:00 AM -- Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
A teenage boy goes into debt to court a Manhattan socialite.
Dir: George B. Seitz
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker
BW-88 mins, CC,

The ninth of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney, the second pairing of Mickey with Judy Garland.