TCM Schedule for Thursday, August 13, 2015 -- Summer Under The Stars - Ann-Margret

[Staph]

Today's star is Ann-Margret, born Ann-Margret Olsson on April 28, 1941, at Valsjöbyn, Jämtlands län, Sweden, and came to the United States at the age of six. She's actually a strawberry blonde, not a redhead. That was Sydney Guilaroff's idea. The legendary hairdresser was also responsible for turning Lucille Ball into a redhead. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
A good-hearted gangster turns an old apple seller into a society matron so she can impress her daughter.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange
C-137 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Peter Falk, Best Costume Design, Color -- Edith Head and Walter Plunkett, and Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Pocketful of Miracles"

First film of Ann-Margret and the final film of both Frank Capra and Thomas Mitchell.


8:30 AM -- Viva Las Vegas (1964)
A race-car driver falls for a pretty swimming instructor who wants him to slow down his career.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret, Cesare Danova
C-85 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

When the wedding scene was filmed, many tabloid magazines at time published photos of the "wedding" and suggested that Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret really had gotten married.


10:00 AM -- Once A Thief (1965)
A young ex-con trying to go straight gets caught up in another criminal scheme.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Alain Delon, Ann-Margret, Van Heflin
BW-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Production was delayed several days while the crew waited for cloudy daytime weather to add atmosphere to the big finale. This was just fine with star Ann-Margret. She had been introduced for the second time to future-husband Roger Smith, who was performing in a Frisco nightclub, and she wasn't looking forward to leaving him.


12:00 PM -- Made In Paris (1966)
A young fashion designer is transformed by her first trip to Paris.
Dir: Boris Sagal
Cast: Ann-Margret, Louis Jourdan, Richard Crenna
BW-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ann-Margret got to keep whatever she wanted of the wardrobe created for her by Helen Rose as part of her contract to do the movie.


2:00 PM -- The Pleasure Seekers (1964)
Three young women share a room in Madrid between romantic escapades.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Ann-Margret, Tony Franciosa, Carol Lynley
C-107 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Lionel Newman and Alexander Courage

A disappointment at the box-office, summed up by Ann-Margret in her auto-biography: "Nobody wanted to see me as a woman of the world. They wanted Kim from "Bye Bye Birdie". Elvis had the same problem. Audiences didn't want us to grow up."


4:00 PM -- The Train Robbers (1973)
A bandit's widow enlists a famed gunman to return the gold her husband had stolen.
Dir: Burt Kennedy
Cast: John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Bobby Vinton
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

John Wayne's and Ann-Margret's character names, "Lane" and "Mrs. Lowe," are the same as Wayne's and Geraldine Page's characters' names in Hondo (1953).


6:00 PM -- The Cheap Detective (1978)
A private dick tackles two tough cases while trying to clear himself of a murder charge.
Dir: Robert Moore
Cast: Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan
C-92 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The movie was titled 'The Cheap Detective', according to writer 'Neil Simon', "Because the detective in those old films never got paid! Who paid Humphrey Bogart for finding all those crooks in The Maltese Falcon (1941)? He arrested Mary Astor and sent her and everyone else to gaol. Who paid him?... The character is always involved in danger not for the bucks but because it's his lifestyle".



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: ANN MARGRET



8:00 PM -- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
A rock star's personal appearance turns a small town into a disaster area.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Sound -- Charles Rice (Columbia SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Johnny Green

The throng of uncredited teenagers included future actresses and celebrities Melinda Marx (daughter of Groucho Marx), Kim Darby (co-star of True Grit (1969)), Linda Henning (Betty Jo Bradley in Petticoat Junction (1963)), Elaine Joyce (actress, game show guest star and wife to Bobby Van and Neil Simon) and Melody Patterson (Wrangler Jane on F Troop (1965)).


10:00 PM -- The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Card sharps try to deal with personal problems during a big game in New Orleans.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret
C-103 mins, CC,

Mitzi Gaynor campaigned for the role of "Lady Fingers", but it ended up going to Joan Blondell. Rumors are abound as to why Blondell got the role, with the most common being that Gaynor and Ann-Margret did not quite get along.


12:00 AM -- Tommy (1975)
A seemingly handicapped boy becomes a Pinball Wizard.
Dir: Ken Russell
Cast: Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed
C-112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ann-Margret, and Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation -- Pete Townshend

According to Pete Townshend in the his book "Who I Am", when Stevie Wonder found out they were making a movie of Tommy, he wanted to play the Pinball Wizard, but Pete Townshend didn't think it would make sense that he would have a blind guy playing a guy with sight, playing pinball against someone who's supposed to be blind, deaf, and dumb. Needless to say, Stevie Wonder was a little upset at Pete Townshend over it.


2:00 AM -- Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Onetime college friends cope with the sexual revolution of the '60s.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Arthur Garfunkel
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ann-Margret

The fight scene between Jack Nicholson and Ann-Margret took a week to shoot, and at the end of it both performers had lost their voices.


4:00 AM -- Murderers' Row (1966)
Secret Agent Matt Helm must recover a stolen 'helio-beam' with the power to destroy the earth.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Dean Martin, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden
C-105 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Columbia rushed the film out into release as its big Christmas prospect Casino Royale (1967) was undergoing all sorts of trouble and delays.

[longship]

1. "The Cincinnati Kid", a gem.

As always, Edward G.Robinson is wonderful, and Steve McQueen plays his rebel best. But the support actors bring this film home, particularly Joan Blondell, Karl Malden (always good value), and then there's the surprising Cab Calloway (who later showed his charisma = 18 attributes in Blues Brothers). Oh, and there's Tuesday Weld. Altogether, a good ensemble.

In the last deal (the pay off), Robinson's capabilities are incredible. He plays it straight. No better poker movie.

BTW, love Blondell!