TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 15 -- What's On Tonight -- John Ford in the 1930s

[Staph]

Beware the Ides of March! In the morning, TCM is featuring a trio of westerns starring Randolph Scott. In the afternoon they are celebrating the birthday of one of Bette Davis' favorite leading men, George Brent, born George Brendan Nolan on March 15, 1899, in Shannonbridge, Offaly, Ireland. And in primetime, there is a quintet of the 1930s films of John Martin Feeney, aka John Ford. I have seen Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Mary of Scotland (1936), and, of course, Stagecoach (1939), but have never seen The Whole Town's Talking (1935) or Flesh (1932). Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- Come Fly With Me (1963)
Three stewardesses try to find husbands while flying over the Atlantic.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Karl Boehm
C- 109 min, TV-G, CC

Dolores Hart's last movie before becoming a nun.


8:15 AM -- Virginia City (1940)
A rebel spy poses as a wild West dance hall girl.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott
121 min, TV-G, CC

First film written by Howard Koch, although he didn't get screen credit. Other Koch screenplays include Casablanca (1942 -- for which he won an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay), Sergeant York (1941), and
The Sea Hawk (1940).


10:15 AM -- Fighting Man of the Plains (1949)
A former bandit enlists Jesse James to help him clean up a Kansas town.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Randolph Scott, Bill Williams, Victor Jory
C- 90 min, TV-G

Film debut of Dale Robertson.


12:00 PM -- Ride The High Country (1962)
Two aging gunslingers sign on to transport gold from a remote mining town.
Dir: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley
C- 94 min, TV-PG, CC

Final film of Randolph Scott. He retired from acting once he saw the finished film, saying he wanted to quit while he was ahead and that he would never be able to better his work here.

Contains the quintessential scene of a cowboy riding hell-bent-for-leather toward the camera, firing his Colt revolver as he comes. Each shot he fires creates a large cloud of gunsmoke because of the historically correct black powder in the cartridges, and one such cloud completely obscures him until, a second later, he rides right through it and into view again.


1:45 PM -- The Golden Arrow (1936)
A flighty heiress and a down-to-earth reporter get stuck in a marriage of convenience.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Eugene Pallette
69 min, TV-G, CC

Based on a story by screenwriter and novelist Michael Arlen, who invented the slick super sleuth The Falcon.


3:00 PM -- Racket Busters (1938)
A mobster tries to take over the trucking business.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, George Brent, Gloria Dickson
71 min, TV-G, CC

According to the opening credits: "Based upon official court records of the special rackets prosecution of the trucking racket in New York City."


4:15 PM -- Secrets Of An Actress (1938)
A leading lady falls for a married architect who's invested in her play.
Dir: William Keighley
Cast: Kay Francis, George Brent, Ian Hunter
70 min, TV-G, CC

Revealing mistakes: At the opening night of Kay Francis' character Fay's play "Springboard", pages from the program are shown to indicate the play's progress. The one for the second act reads: "Springboard, Act II, Interior Fay Carter's living room, next day." Fay Carter is the *actress*. Unless the character has the same name as the star, this was an error.


5:30 PM -- The Great Lie (1941)
Believing her husband to be dead, a flyer's wife bargains with his former love to adopt the woman's baby.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor
108 min, TV-PG, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mary Astor

George Brent was a licensed pilot and did his own landings in the movie.


7:30 PM -- MGM Parade Show #2 (1955)
Judy Garland and Bert Lahr perform in a clip from "The Wizard of Oz"; Gene Kelly introduces a clip from "It's Always Fair Weather." Hosted by George Murphy.
25 min, TV-G



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: JOHN FORD IN THE '30S



8:00 PM -- Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
A young couple fights off Indian attacks to start a farm in the Mohawk Valley.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver
C- 104 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Edna May Oliver, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Ray Rennahan and Bert Glennon

John Ford's first film in color.


10:00 PM -- The Whole Town's Talking (1935)
A gangster hides from the law by trading places with a mild-mannered double.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jean Arthur, Arthur Hohl
92 min, TV-G, CC

This movie is the inspiration for 1998 Bollywood movie 'Duplicate' starring Shahrukh Khan in the double role.


11:45 PM -- Mary of Scotland (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge
124 min, TV-G, CC

According to A. Scott Berg's memoir "Kate Remembered", Katharine Hepburn was already chosen for Mary but they had trouble casting Elizabeth. At one point Hepburn, who had by then been nicknamed "Katharine of Arrogance", suggested that she play both roles. Supporting player John Carradine asked, "But if you played both queens, how would you know which one to upstage?" She was not amused at the time but roared with laughter when retelling the story years later.


2:00 AM -- Stagecoach (1939)
A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Andy Devine
96 min, TV-G, CC

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Thomas Mitchell, and Best Music, Scoring -- Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Alexander Toluboff, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Bert Glennon, Best Director -- John Ford, Best Film Editing -- Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer, and Best Picture

In 1939 there was no paved road through Monument Valley, hence the reason why it hadn't been used as a movie location before (it wasn't paved until the 1950s). Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, had heard that John Ford was planning a big-budget Western so he traveled to Hollywood, armed with over 100 photographs, and threatened to camp out on Ford's doorstep until the director saw him. Ford saw him almost immediately and was instantly sold on the location, particularly when he realized that its remoteness would free him from studio interference.


4:00 AM -- Flesh (1932)
A simple-minded wrestler falls for a woman with a dark secret.
Dir: John Ford (uncredited)
Cast: Wallace Beery, Karen Morley, Ricardo Cortez
96 min, TV-G

Based on a story by director, songwriter ("Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere", "Mam'selle&quot , composer, producer and author Edmund Goulding.