TCM Schedule for Friday, September 8, 2017 -- What's On Tonight: Cab Drivers

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, there is a salute to comic actor Billy Gilbert. From IMDB: "The son of singers in the Metropolitan Opera, Billy Gilbert began performing in vaudeville at age 12. He developed a drawn-out, explosive sneezing routine that became his trademark (he was the model for, and voice of, Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)). Gilbert's exquisite comic timing made him the perfect foil for such comedians as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and he was especially memorable as the dim-witted process server Pettibone in His Girl Friday (1940)." And in prime time, we're in the world before Uber and Lyft! Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE (1980)
Beaten in a bet, German director Werner Herzog is forced to eat his own shoe.
Dir: Les Blank
Cast: Tom Luddy, Michael Goodwin,
C-20 mins, CC,

The woman who helps Werner Herzog cook his shoes is the famous chef Alice Waters. The shoes were cooked in the kitchen of her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. There are shots in the film of Herzog entering the restaurant wearing his shoes, and leaving it barefoot.


7:00 AM -- CHINA PASSAGE (1937)
Murder and jewel theft plague a China-bound steamer.
Dir: Edward Killy
Cast: Constance Worth, Vinton Haworth, Leslie Fenton
BW-64 mins, CC,

Revealing mistakes -- Upon docking in San Francisco, smoke can be seen entering the ship's smokestacks; obviously the shot was run backwards.


8:15 AM -- THE MAN WHO FOUND HIMSELF (1937)
A determined nurse puts a cocky surgeon back on track.
Dir: Lew Landers
Cast: John Beal, Joan Fontaine, Philip Huston
BW-67 mins,

Based on the story Wings Of Mercy by Alice F. Curtis.


9:30 AM -- MUSIC FOR MADAME (1937)
An opera star trying to make it big in Hollywood gets mixed up with jewel thieves.
Dir: John Blystone
Cast: Nino Martini, Joan Fontaine, Alan Mowbray
BW-81 mins,

Alan Mowbray's character and performance was a take-off on famed conductor Leopold Stokowski.


11:00 AM -- WE'RE ON THE JURY (1937)
A jury member sets out to prove a murder defendant innocent.
Dir: Ben Holmes
Cast: Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Philip Huston
BW-70 mins,

Robert McWade, who plays the judge, also played the same role in the original version of this film titled Ladies of the Jury (1932).


12:15 PM -- THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT (1937)
A former lowlife adopts a child to help him go straight.
Dir: Christy Cabanne
Cast: Preston Foster, Jean Muir, Van Heflin
BW-68 mins, CC,

Both of Bret Harte's stories, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "The Luck of Roaring Camp", were the basis for the screenplay.


1:30 PM -- THE GIRL DOWNSTAIRS (1938)
A European playboy falls for his maid.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Franciska Gaal, Franchot Tone, Walter Connolly
BW-77 mins, CC,

Luise Rainer turned down the female lead.


3:15 PM -- MR. DOODLE KICKS OFF (1938)
A millionaire will stop at nothing to turn his son into a star athlete.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
Cast: Joe Penner, June Travis, Richard Lane
BW-77 mins,

Joe Penner was a major comic star for a couple of years in the 1930s. I've seen him described as Jerry Lewis without the subtlety!


4:45 PM -- CROSS COUNTRY ROMANCE (1940)
A runaway heiress hides in a doctor's trailer for a rollicking trip to San Francisco.
Dir: Frank Woodruff
Cast: Gene Raymond, Wendy Barrie, Hedda Hopper
BW-68 mins, CC,

Lucille Ball and James Ellison were initially announced for the roles eventually played by Wendy Barrie and Gene Raymond.


6:15 PM -- VALLEY OF THE SUN (1942)
A government spy goes after a crooked Indian agent in Arizona.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Lucille Ball, James Craig, Sir Cedric Hardwicke
BW-78 mins, CC,

Listed also as cast members: "Indians from the pueblos of Taos, Santa Clara, Jemes, San Juan and Tesuque".



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CAB DRIVERS



8:00 PM -- TAXI! (1932)
A feisty independent cab driver fights off a crooked syndicate.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: James Cagney, Loretta Young, George E. Stone
BW-69 mins, CC,

This movie is the source of James Cagney's most famous misquoted line, "You dirty rat!" In the film, Cagney actually says, "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"


9:30 PM -- THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956)
A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
BW-94 mins, CC,

Craggy-faced Ernest Borgnine was 39 when this film came out, only 15 years older than his film daughter Debbie Reynolds, who was 24. His wife in the film, Bette Davis, was 48.


11:30 PM -- CARRY ON CABBY (1963)
A taxi driver fights to save his line from a fleet of beautiful female cabbies.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Cast: Sidney James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Connor
BW-92 mins, CC,

The first film in the series to feature "Carry On..." regular Jim Dale, and Dale's film debut.


1:30 AM -- TAXI DRIVER (1976)
A loner becomes fixated on a teen prostitute.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd
C-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Robert De Niro, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jodie Foster, Best Music, Original Score -- Bernard Herrmann (Posthumously.), and Best Picture

The story was partially autobiographical for Paul Schrader, who suffered a nervous breakdown while living in Los Angeles. He was fired from the AFI, basically friendless, in the midst of a divorce and was rejected by a girlfriend. Squatting in his ex-girlfriend's apartment while she was away for a couple of months, Schrader literally didn't talk to anyone for many weeks, went to porno theaters and developed an obsession with guns. Schrader was working at the time as delivery man for a chain of chicken restaurants. Spending long days alone in his car, he felt--I might as well be a taxi driver. He also shared with Bickle the sense of isolation from being a mid-Westerner in an urban center. Schrader decided to switch the action to New York City only because taxi drivers are far more common there. Schrader's script clicked with both Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro when they read it.

In the interests of full disclosure, this is the only film that I have ever walked out of. I found it vile. Your mileage may vary.


3:45 AM -- NIGHT ON EARTH (1991)
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
Dir: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Armin Mueller-Stahl
C-128 mins, CC,

The original title of the film was (all small characters) "lanewyorkparisromehelsinki".