TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 21, 2017 -- What's On Tonight: The Great American Songbook

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating Jane Fonda, born on December 21, 1937, in New York City. (Jane Fonda is 80!?! No way!?!) Then in prime time, TCM continues their month of Thursday nights of great films that feature great songs. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- TALL STORY (1960)
Love puts a college basketball star into a tailspin.
Dir: Joshua Logan
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston
BW-89 mins, CC,

Film debuts of Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, and Van Williams.


7:45 AM -- STEELYARD BLUES (1973)
A group of dropouts race to raise money to escape society.
Dir: Alan Myerson
Cast: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Peter Boyle
C-93 mins, CC,

Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland previously appeared in Klute (1971) also playing a strange couple. Both films were produced by Warner Bros.


9:30 AM -- THE CHAPMAN REPORT (1962)
A research psychologist gets involved in the personal lives of four women.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda
C-125 mins, CC,

The poem that Glynis Johns is shown reciting is 'Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae' by Ernest Dowson. The poem is probably best known for the beginning of the third stanza, "I have forgot much, Cynara! Gone with the wind, . . ."


11:49 AM -- SEARCHERS FOR A SPECIAL CITY (1966)
This short film focuses on how the production team for the movie "Mister Buddwing" (1966) scouted for filming locations in New York City.
BW-9 mins,


12:00 PM -- ANY WEDNESDAY (1966)
A young businessman catches his boss keeping a mistress in the company apartment.
Dir: Robert Ellis Miller
Cast: Jane Fonda, Jason Robards Jr., Dean Jones
C-109 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The original Broadway production of "Any Wednesday" opened on Feb. 18, 1964 at the Music Box Theater and ran for 983 performances. Rosemary Murphy was nominated for the 1964 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and recreated her role in the movie version. Sandy Dennis won the 1964 Tony award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Ellen Gordon, Jane Fonda's role in the film.


2:00 PM -- SUNDAY IN NEW YORK (1963)
A philandering pilot gets real moral, real fast when his sister contemplates a premarital fling.
Dir: Peter Tewksbury
Cast: Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson
C-105 mins, CC,

Jane Fonda has been quoted as stating that this film was the first time she enjoyed making a movie or thought she was any good at acting.


4:01 PM -- A VISIT TO SANTA (1963)
Two children dreaming of Christmas visit Santa at the North Pole in this short film.
C-12 mins,


4:15 PM -- PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT (1962)
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is disrupted by their friends' marital problems.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Tony Franciosa, Jane Fonda, Jim Hutton
BW-111 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- George W. Davis, Edward C. Carfagno, Henry Grace and Richard Pefferle

The original Broadway production of "Period of Adjustment" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York on November 10, 1960 and ran for 132 performances. The Tennessee Williams play was adapted for this movie by Isobel Lennart.


6:15 PM -- IN THE COOL OF THE DAY (1963)
A man's efforts to save his friend's marriage lead to infidelity.
Dir: Robert Stevens
Cast: Jane Fonda, Peter Finch, Angela Lansbury
BW-88 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

On working with Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury says, "I went to her room while we were on-location and attempted a friendship, but Jane, at that time, was into the Method. She wasn't friendly with me on-camera so she wasn't going to be friendly with me off. There's a time for that, I think, and there's a time to just let acting be acting."


7:49 PM -- METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER'S WORLD FAMOUS MUSICAL HITS! (1962)
A short promotional reel showcasing six MGM musicals: "Three Little Words," "Because You're Mine," "Till The Clouds Roll By," "The Band Wagon," "Words and Music," and "Singing In The Rain."
C-9 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK



8:00 PM -- SWING TIME (1936)
To prove himself worthy of his fiancee, a dancer tries to make it big, only to fall for his dancing partner.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
BW-104 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jerome Kern (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics) for the song "The Way You Look Tonight"

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Hermes Pan for "Bojangles of Harlem"

Fred Astaire always insisted that his dance routines be filmed in one continuous camera shot, showing the dancer(s) from head to foot. However, in the "Never Gonna Dance" number, there is an obvious moment when Astaire and Rogers reach the tops of their respective winding staircases that the camera shot changes quickly to reflect the fact that the filming camera had to be brought upstairs to shoot the close-up finale of the dance number.


10:00 PM -- 42ND STREET (1933)
The definitive backstage musical, complete with the dazzling newcomer who goes on for the injured star.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent
BW-89 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), and Best Picture

This film, released on March 9, 1933, single-handedly rescued the movie musical, which had been considered a money-losing proposition since mid-1930. Early "all talking, all dancing" musicals typically suffered from severe camera restrictions coupled with poor musical staging, and soured the public on the genre in general (Universal's huge losses from the lively King of Jazz (1930) had put an unofficial moratorium on the musical) and no other studio wanted to risk producing one. Warners, at the time of the film's release, had Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) nearing completion and pre-production plans were well underway for Footlight Parade (1933), all utilizing the talents of Busby Berkeley. The success of this film would convince Radio Pictures to produce Flying Down to Rio (1933) (released that December). Other major studios would continue to shy away from musicals throughout 1933, although Paramount would proceed with plans to produce the lavish Murder at the Vanities (1934) toward the end of the year.


11:45 PM -- YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
Spirited musical biography of the song-and-dance man who kept America humming through two world wars.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston
BW-126 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Cagney, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Walter Huston, Best Director -- Michael Curtiz, Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Buckner, Best Film Editing -- George Amy, and Best Picture

Walking down the stairs at the White House, James Cagney goes into a tap dance. According to TCM, that was completely ad-libbed.


2:00 AM -- DEEP IN MY HEART (1954)
Musical biography of composer Sigmund Romberg, who fought to bring serious music to Broadway.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Helen Traubel
C-132 mins, CC,

During the Mr. and Mrs. number José Ferrer was actually singing and dancing with his then-wife Rosemary Clooney, who was pregnant at the time. If I've counted correctly, that's the late Miguel Ferrer.


4:30 AM -- MARTIN BLOCK'S MUSICAL MERRY-GO-ROUND #3 (1948)
In this short, radio personality Martin Block interviews Ray Noble and Buddy Clark.
Dir: Jack Scholl
C-11 mins,


4:45 AM -- THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE (1934)
A struggling composer courts a singing star.
Dir: William K. Howard
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan
BW-89 mins, CC,

This movie was rejected for re-release certification because the leading characters were in an illicit sexual relationship without any compensating moral values.

[longship]

1. Shufflin' off to 42nd Street!

Great flick!