TCM Schedule for Friday, April 5, 2013 -- What's On Tonight -- Friday Night Spotlight: A Woman's Wor

[Staph]

Today TCM is celebrating Melvyn Douglas, born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg on April 5, 1901, in Macon, Georgia. From IMDB -- "Two-time Oscar-winner Melvyn Douglas was one of America's finest actors. In addition to his two Oscars, he also won a Tony Award and an Emmy. Douglas would enjoy cinema immortality if for no other reason than his being the man who made Greta Garbo laugh in Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy Ninotchka (1939), but he was much, much more."

And in prime time, it's a woman's world. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- Prestige (1932)
A woman joins her fiance at a Malaysian prison camp only to discover he's become an alcoholic.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Ann Harding, Adolphe Menjou, Melvyn Douglas
BW-71 mins, TV-G,

Melvyn Douglas was borrowed from Samuel Goldwyn to replace the originally cast Robert Williams, who had died of a ruptured appendix.


7:45 AM -- The Vampire Bat (1933)
Villagers suspect the town simpleton of being a vampire.
Dir: Frank Strayer
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas
BW-61 mins, TV-PG,

Majestic Pictures cashed in on the success of Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, who had been a sensation in the Technicolor thriller Doctor X and had already completed Mystery of the Wax Museum, which was also being heavily promoted at the time. Majestic was able to get this film into theaters over a month before the release of the latter one.


9:30 AM -- Dangerous Corner (1935)
Friends uncover a dark secret when they compare notes about a theft and suicide.
Dir: Phil Rosen
Cast: Virginia Bruce, Conrad Nagel, Melvyn Douglas
BW-66 mins, TV-PG,

The original Broadway production of "Dangerous Corner" by J.B. Priestley opened at the Empire Theatre on October 27, 1932 and ran for 206 performances. The cast included Colin Keith-Johnston, Stanley Ridges (Charles Stanton), Jean Dixon (Freda Chatfield) and Barbara Robbins (Betty Whitehouse).


10:45 AM -- She Married Her Boss (1935)
A secretary who handles the boss' business perfectly marries him and tackles his home life.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Michael Bartlett
BW-88 mins, TV-G,

Prints now carry the modernized Columbia logo and 1938 re-release opening and closing credits.


12:15 PM -- I'll Take Romance (1937)
An opera manager tries to woo a soprano back to his company.
Dir: Edward H. Griffith
Cast: Miss Grace Moore, Melvyn Douglas, Helen Westley
BW-87 mins, TV-G,

Based on a story by Stephen Morehouse Avery.


1:45 PM -- Fast Company (1938)
Married book-dealers Joel and Gerda Sloane try to clear a friend in the murder of a rival book-seller
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Florence Rice, Claire Dodd
BW-75 mins, TV-PG,

Followed by Fast and Loose (1939) and Fast and Furious (1939) -- no, not that Fast & Furious (2009)!


3:00 PM -- The Shining Hour (1938)
A nightclub dancer marries into society and has to contend with her jealous sister-in-law.
Dir: Frank Borzage
Cast: Joan Crawford,
Margaret Sullavan, Melvyn Douglas
BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Joan Crawford specifically asked for Margaret Sullavan to play the role of Judy, despite Louis B. Mayer's warning that the accomplished stage actress could steal the picture from her. Joan replied "I'd rather be a supporting player in a good picture than the star of a bad one."


4:30 PM -- The Toy Wife (1938)
A Southern belle finds herself torn between two suitors.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Luise Rainer, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young
BW-96 mins, TV-G,

The play "Frou-frou" by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy opened in Paris, France on 30 October 1869. Its English adaptation, "Frou Frou," by Augustin Daly, opened in New York on 15 February 1870.


6:15 PM -- Our Wife (1941)
A musician's ex-wife wants him back after he finds love and success.
Dir: John M. Stahl
Cast: Melvyn Douglas, Ruth Hussey, Ellen Drew
BW-94 mins, TV-G,

Based on a play by Lillian Day and Lyon Mearson.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: A WOMAN'S WORLD



8:00 PM -- Mildred Pierce (1945)
A woman turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott
BW-111 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Joan Crawford (Joan Crawford was not present at the awards ceremony and feigned ill that night. Meanwhile she listened to the show on the radio. When she won, she ushered the press into her bedroom, where she finally accepted her Oscar.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Eve Arden, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ann Blyth, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Haller, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ranald MacDougall, and Best Picture

Producer Jerry Wald was keen to exploit the potential of James M. Cain's novel. He envisaged the idea of a climactic murder, then restructuring the story using flashbacks. He also infused the project with a higher moral tone that is in the original novel. With these changes, he was able to extract a cautious go-ahead from the Breen Office, which then prompted studio head Jack L. Warner to approve the purchase rights to the novel in early 1944.


10:00 PM -- Stella Dallas (1937)
After divorcing a society man, a small-town woman tries to build a better life for their daughter.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Anne Shirley
BW-106 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbara Stanwyck, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Anne Shirley

The movie was so popular it became a radio serial on 25 October 1937, dramatizing the later lives of characters in the movie. The serial lasted for eighteen years.


12:00 AM -- Penny Serenade (1941)
A woman on the verge of divorce recalls her heartbreaking attempts to adopt a child.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi
BW-119 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Cary Grant

Irene Dunne often said that this was her favorite film because it reminded her of her own adopted daughter.


2:15 AM -- Bachelor Mother (1939)
A fun-loving shop girl is mistaken for the mother of a foundling.
Dir: Garson Kanin
Cast: Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn
BW-82 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Felix Jackson

A remake of Little Mother (1935) with Franciska Gaal as the unwitting mother, and remade as Bundle of Joy (1956) with Debbie Reynolds in the lead role.


4:00 AM -- Made For Each Other (1939)
A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
Dir: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn
BW-93 mins, TV-G, CC,

The liner shown at the beginning of the film is the SS Normandie. There are more shots of her when John and Jane try to go on their honeymoon in Europe.