TCM Schedule for Friday, June 23, 2017 -- What's on Tonight: TCM Special Theme - European Vacation

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM finishes a couple of the Gay Hollywood themed films, and then spends the rest of the day celebrating Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It isn't a birthday for either one, but it's always a good day to show the films of Astaire and Rogers. Then in prime time, TCM continues their month-long European Vacation. Tonight, we're still in Italy, so enjoy!


7:45 AM -- I COULD GO ON SINGING (1963)
An American singing star in London tries to reclaim the son she gave up for adoption.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Judy Garland, Dirk Bogarde, Jack Klugman
C- 99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Judy Garland's final film.


9:30 AM -- RIDE THE WILD SURF (1964)
Three young surfers travel to Hawaii in search of love and the perfect wave.
Dir: Don Taylor
Cast: Fabian, Shelley Fabares, Tab Hunter
C- 102 mins, CC,

Those shots of Fabian, Peter Brown and Tab Hunter--photographed from mid-chest up--riding their surfboards were actually shot on a sound stage at Columbia Studios. The actors balanced on Radio Flyer wagons in front of a rear-projection screen showing ocean waves. Assistants then sprayed them with water while maneuvering the wagons to give the desired effect.


11:20 AM -- RIO DE JANEIRO "CITY OF SPLENDOUR" (1936)
Rio De Janeiro's history, customs, and culture are at the forefront of this short film.
C- 8 mins,


11:30 AM -- FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933)
A dance-band leader finds love and success in Brazil.
Dir: Thornton Freeland
Cast: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Raul Roulien
BW- 89 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Vincent Youmans (music), Edward Eliscu (lyrics) and Gus Kahn (lyrics) for the song "Carioca"

Originally conceived by RKO as a vehicle for Dolores del Rio, this film is most notable for its star-making pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The two relative unknowns smoked up the screen in a dance number called "The Carioca" that generated such a positive response form critics and fans that they were eventually reunited in nine subsequent films.


1:00 PM -- TOP HAT (1935)
A woman thinks the man who loves her is her best friend's husband.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton
BW- 100 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Carroll Clark and Van Nest Polglase, Best Dance Direction -- Hermes Pan for "Piccolino" and "Top Hat", Best Music, Original Song -- Irving Berlin for the song "Cheek to Cheek", and Best Picture

When the Hays Office learned that several actors, who were known within the industry to be gay, had been cast in this film, they sent a terse warning to RKO Studios. Particularly in regards to Erik Rhodes and Edward Everett Horton they warned that they should "avoid any idea of actors being pansy in character."


2:45 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.


4:39 PM -- FRED ASTAIRE (1962)
This short film, part of the Hollywood Hist-o-Rama series, offers a brief biography of Fred Astaire.
Dir: Joseph R Juliano
BW- 4 mins,


4:45 PM -- CAREFREE (1938)
A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy
BW- 83 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Van Nest Polglase, Best Music, Original Song -- Irving Berlin for the song "Change Partners and Dance with Me", and Best Music, Scoring -- Victor Baravalle

Fred Astaire refused to sing the Irving Berlin song "The Yam" because he thought it was silly, so Ginger Rogers got a rare chance to sing it alone. Later, Astaire joined in the dance after Rogers was finished singing.


6:15 PM -- THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE (1939)
True story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step.
Dir: H. C. Potter
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver
BW- 93 mins, CC,

The real Irene Castle was on the production team for this movie. She was considered to be very difficult to work with and was extremely hard to please. According to Ginger Rogers, who plays Irene in the film, she hated every costume that she wore. And when Rogers refused to cut her own hair to create the bob hairstyle that Irene had created, she became even more difficult.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPECIAL THEME: EUROPEAN VACATION



8:00 PM -- ROME ADVENTURE (1962)
A rebellious teacher moves to Rome and finds love.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson, Rossano Brazzi
C- 119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Natalie Wood was the first choice to play the female lead of Prudence Bell. She had a writer friend of hers read the script and once he confirmed her fear that it wasn't up to snuff she decided it was a good time to go ahead with a tonsillectomy that she'd been putting off; the part was then given to Suzanne Pleshette.


10:15 PM -- COME SEPTEMBER (1961)
A womanizing tycoon ends up chaperoning a group of American girls who have rented his Italian villa.
Dir: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee
C- 113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee met and fell in love whilst filming this movie and shortly afterward got married.


12:15 AM -- VISITING ITALY (1951)
This short film takes the viewer on a tour of Italy, showcasing Rome, Assisi, Pisa and Florence.
C- 7 mins,


12:30 AM -- BUONA SERA, MRS. CAMPBELL (1968)
During a military reunion, three veterans discover they've been sending support payments for the same child.
Dir: Melvin Frank
Cast: Gina Lollobrigida, Shelley Winters, Phil Silvers
C- 113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The plot of three potential fathers vying to prove they fathered a child was used many years later in Mamma Mia! (2008).


2:33 AM -- CAPRICCIO ITALIEN (1953)
In this short film, The MGM Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien."
BW- 10 mins,


2:45 AM -- ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)
A runaway princess in Rome finds love with a reporter who knows her true identity.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert
BW- 118 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Audrey Hepburn, Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Dalton Trumbo (The screen credit and award were originally credited to Ian McLellan Hunter who fronted for Dalton Trumbo. In December 1992 the Academy decided to change the records and to credit Mr. Trumbo with the achievement. Ian McLellan Hunter was removed from the Motion Picture Story category and the Oscar was posthumously presented to Trumbo's widow on May 10th, 1993.), and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Edith Head

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Eddie Albert, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Franz Planer and Henri Alekan, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler, Best Film Editing -- Robert Swink, and Best Picture

After filming, Gregory Peck informed the producers that, as Audrey Hepburn was certainly going to win an Oscar (for this, her first major role), they had better put her name above the title. They did and she did.


4:50 AM -- THE RELEASE OF PSYCHO (1960)
BW- 8 mins,


5:00 AM -- GIDGET GOES TO ROME (1963)
A surfer girl leaves the California beaches behind for a romantic vacation in Rome.
Dir: Paul Wendkos
Cast: Cindy Carol, James Darren, Jessie Royce Landis
C- 104 mins, CC,

Don Porter reprised his role as Russell Lawrence in the Gidget television series (1965-1966).