TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 13, 2017 -- Star of the Month - Character Actors

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating Howard Keel, born on April 13, 1919, in Gillespie, Illinois. As IMDB says, "He was the Errol Flynn and Clark Gable of "golden age" movie musicals back in the 1950s. With a barrel-chested swagger and cocky, confident air, not to mention his lusty handsomeness and obvious athleticism, 6'4" brawny baritone Howard Keel had MGM's loveliest songbirds swooning helplessly for over a decade in what were some of the finest musical films ever produced." Then in prime time, TCM continues this month's theme of Character Actors. Tonight's actors include Margaret Hamilton in Babes in Arms (1939), Billie Burke in Topper Takes a Trip (1937), Fay Bainter in Journey for Margaret (1942), and Beulah Bondi in Sister Kenny (1946). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950)
Fanciful musical biography of wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern
C-107 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, and Best Film Editing -- James E. Newcom

Ginger Rogers wrote in her 1991 autobiography that she told her agent Leland Hayward to aggressively go after this film for her, and that money was no object. She wrote that she would have worked for one dollar, to make it legal. Hayward spoke with Louis B. Mayer, who said: "Tell Ginger to stay in her high-heel shoes and her silk stockings, she could never be as rambunctious as Annie Oakley has to be".


8:00 AM -- SHOW BOAT (1951)
Riverboat entertainers find love, laughs and hardships as they sail along "Old Man River."
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel
C-108 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- dolph Deutsch and Conrad Salinger

The Breen Censorship Office tried to raise an objection against the use of the "miscegenation sequence" in this film version of the show, but they were unable to do so because the 1936 film version had already used it and thus set a precedent.


10:00 AM -- THREE GUYS NAMED MIKE (1951)
A stewardess can't choose among three suitors.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel
BW-116 mins, CC,

This movie was written in mind for June Allyson to star in. Allyson was even going to star in it but became unavailable once filming started. So Jane Wyman was given the role.


12:00 PM -- KISS ME KATE (1953)
Feuding co-stars reunite for a musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew."
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller
C-110 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn and Saul Chaplin

The pictures on the piano in the opening scene in Fred Graham's apartment feature photos from Howard Keel's prior films roles, including "Showboat" (also starring Kathryn Grayson) and "Annie Get Your Gun."


2:00 PM -- ROSE MARIE (1954)
A trapper's daughter is torn between the Mountie who wants to civilize her and a dashing prospector.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas
C-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Originally, Thurl Ravenscroft was to be only the single voice double for the Medicine Man. However, the actor could not synchronize his lip movements to Thurl's recording, so the studio called in Thurl at the last minute to actually play the role on-screen. You will remember Ravenscroft as the voice of Tony the Tiger in the Frosted Flakes commercials -- he's Greeeaaattt!


4:00 PM -- SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954)
When their older brother marries, six lumberjacks decide it's time to go courting for themselves.
Dir: Stanley Donen
Cast: Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Film Editing -- Ralph E. Winters, and Best Picture

Howard Keel called the film, "one of my happiest filmmaking experiences at Metro Goldwyn Mayer...The cast was magnificent, and the chemistry irresistible. Jack Cummings had his stamp on the whole picture. Jane Powell, as Milly, was perfect, and I loved working with her. She was cute and persnickety and a multi-talented pro...It truly was one big happy family."


6:00 PM -- KISMET (1955)
In this Arabian Nights musical, the "king of the beggars" infiltrates high society when his daughter is wooed by a handsome prince.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Dolores Gray
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

MGM's 1955 "Kismet" was Howard Keel's last film musical role. Howard Keel performed in stage musicals after 1955, but never was featured in another musical film.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: CHARACTER ACTORS



8:00 PM -- BABES IN ARMS (1939)
A group of second-generation entertainers puts on a show to launch their careers.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger
BW-96 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Mickey Rooney, and Best Music, Scoring -- Roger Edens and George Stoll

MGM Studio's biggest money grosser of 1939, surpassing The Wizard of Oz (1939) for that production year (which also featured Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton).


10:00 PM -- TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939)
A glamorous ghost helps a henpecked husband save his wife from gold-digging friends.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke
BW-80 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Roy Seawright (photographic)

This is the second of three films that Hal Roach adapted from a Thorne Smith novel. The others are Topper (1937) and Topper Returns (1941).


11:45 PM -- JOURNEY FOR MARGARET (1942)
An American correspondent tries to adopt two children orphaned during the London blitz.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Robert Young, Laraine Day, Fay Bainter
BW-81 mins, CC,

This is the film from which Margaret O'Brien took her name. She was born Angela O'Brien, but she so identified with the character she played in this film that she decided to change her name to Margaret.


1:30 AM -- SISTER KENNY (1946)
True story of the Australian nurse who fought to gain acceptance for her polio-treatment methods.
Dir: Dudley Nichols
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, Dean Jagger
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Rosalind Russell

The Wikipedia article on Elizabeth Kenny lists notable individuals who had been polio patients of Sister Kenny. Among those listed are Alan Alda, Dinah Shore and "Rosalind Russell's nephew." It is known that Rosalind Russell had campaigned long to portray Sister Kenny in film. Her nephew's treatment may have been a factor in that interest.


3:45 AM -- THE FEMININE TOUCH (1941)
An author writing a book on jealousy discovers his wife is an expert on the subject.
Dir: Major W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Don Ameche, Kay Francis
BW-97 mins, CC,

Original screenplay by George Oppenheimer, Edmund L. Hartmann, and poet Ogden Nash. My favorite Ogden Nash poem:

The Lama
by Ogden Nash
The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*

*The author's attention has been called to a type of conflagration known as a three-alarmer. Pooh.


5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #28 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon introduces Part Two of "Captains Courageous" and interviews Robby the Robot from "Forbidden Planet."
BW-29 mins, CC,