TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 23 -- Funny Ladies

[Staph]

Today we're sharing adventures with Robin Hood and Huckleberry Finn and Don Juan. Tonight's featured funny ladies include Judy Holliday, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol Burnett, and Lucille Ball. Enjoy!


4:45am -- Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Documentary that takes a comprehensive look at the life and career of the greatest comic icon the world has ever known.
Narrator: Sydney Pollack
Dir: Richard Schickel
BW-132 mins, TV-PG

Chaplin's first movie was Making a Living (1914); however, his next film, Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), was destined to change his entire career. This picture saw him wearing baggy pants borrowed from Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, size 14 shoes belonging to Ford Sterling (and worn upside down to keep them from falling off), a tiny jacket from Keystone Kop Charles Avery, a bowler hat belonging to Arbuckle's father-in-law and Mack Swain's mustache trimmed down to toothbrush size.


7:00am -- Adventures of Kitty O'Day (1944)
A perky switchboard operator investigates murders that baffle the police.
Cast: Jean Parker, Peter Cookson, Tim Ryan, Lorna Gray
Dir: William Beaudine
BW-63 mins, TV-G

As the winner of an art poster competition celebrating the 1932 Olympic Games (to be held in Los Angeles), Jean Parker was invited to be one of the models decorating the float in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade.


8:15am -- Adventures of Rusty (1945)
A lonely boy tries to rehabilitate a police dog trained by the Nazis.
Cast: Ted Donaldson, Margaret Lindsay, Conrad Nagel, Gloria Holden
Dir: Paul Burnford
BW-67 mins, TV-G

Followed by seven more films about Rusty the wonder dog and his boy Danny Mitchell.


9:30am -- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains
Dir: Michael Curtiz
C-102 mins, TV-G

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Carl Jules Weyl, Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson, and Best Music, Original Score -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture

Howard Hill, who is listed in the credits as "Captain of Archers", also played "Owen the Welshman" in the archery contest. Hill actually made the shot where we see one arrow split another and he did all the shots which required hitting human targets. He also worked closely with the sound department to produce the distinctive arrow sounds by using specially made arrows. The sound of Robin's arrow is the favorite sound of Skywalker Sound's Ben Burtt. He has used that sound in almost all the Star Wars films.


11:15am -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
Mark Twain's classic troublemaker helps a runaway slave escape to the North.
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, William Frawley, Rex Ingram
Dir: Richard Thorpe
BW-91 mins, TV-G

When the con-men Walter Connolly and William Frawley advertise "Romeo & Juliet" as the play they were to present, they say it stars "David Garrick" and "Mrs. Sarah Kemble Siddons", two of the most famous British actors of the 18th century. David Garrick and Sarah Kemble Siddons were both long dead by the year in which "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is supposed to take place.


1:00pm -- Private Screenings: Mickey Rooney (1997)
Mickey Rooney discusses his life and career with TCM host Robert Osborne.
Cast: Robert Osborne, Mickey Rooney
C-41 mins, TV-G

With movie appearances stretching from 1926 to 2009, totaling 83 years, his is the longest career in cinema history, surpassing that of Lillian Gish.


1:45pm -- The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
Twain moves from Mississippi riverboats to the Gold Rush to literary immortality.
Cast: Fredric March, Alexis Smith, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale
Dir: Irving Rapper
BW-130 mins, TV-G

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Hughes and Fred M. MacLean, Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Detlefsen (photographic), John Crouse (photographic) and Nathan Levinson (sound), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

The scene where Clemens receives an honorary degree from Oxford University in 1907 was the recreation of an event that C. Aubrey Smith, who plays the Oxford Chancellor, actually witnessed.


4:00pm -- Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
The legendary lover saves his queen from treason.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Viveca Lindfors, Robert Douglas, Alan Hale
Dir: Vincent Sherman
C-111 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color -- Leah Rhodes, Travilla and Marjorie Best

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Edward Carrere and Lyle B. Reifsnider

The scene when Don Juan (Errol Flynn) is seen escaping on horseback over the castle drawbridge and into the forest through a triangular beam of light shining through the trees is footage taken from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).


6:00pm -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
Classic Mark Twain story of a young troublemaker who tries to help a runaway slave.
Cast: Tony Randall, Patty McCormack, Neville Brand, Mickey Shaughnessy
Dir: Michael Curtiz
BW-107 mins, TV-G

The four songs included in the film were originally intended for an M-G-M Technicolor musical version of "Huckleberry Finn" which was supposed to have been filmed in 1952, but was never made. It was supposed to have starred Dean Stockwell as Huck, William Warfield (fresh from his triumph as Joe in Show Boat (1951)) as Jim, and Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye as the two con men.


What's On Tonight: STAR OF THE MONTH: FUNNY LADIES


8:00pm -- Born Yesterday (1950)
A newspaper reporter takes on the task of educating a crooked businessman's girlfriend.
Cast: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, William Holden, Howard St. John
Dir: George Cukor
BW-102 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar as Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Judy Holliday (Judy Holliday was not present at the awards ceremony. Ethel Barrymore accepted on her behalf.)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis, Best Director -- George Cukor, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Albert Mannheimer, and Best Picture

To help facilitate shooting, George Cukor decided to rehearse Born Yesterday (1950) as if it were still a stage play. For two weeks, the cast worked on their lines while a construction crew built a 300-seat mini-theater within one of the studio's sound-stages. It was there that Judy Holliday, William Holden and Broderick Crawford gave six performances in front of a live audience so that Cukor could precision-time the pacing of the film's jokes.


9:46pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: The Capital City Washington D.C. (1940)
An installment of James A. Fitzpatrick's Travel Talks honoring Washington D.C.
Cast: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins

Filmed in color, fortunately, during the blooming of the cherry blossoms in the spring.


10:00pm -- Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963)
A shy actor is tormented by fans who think he's as charismatic as his television character.
Cast: Dean Martin, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol Burnett, Martin Balsam
Dir: Daniel Mann
C-103 mins, TV-PG

Carol Burnett's film debut.


12:00am -- The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Life on the road isn't what it's cracked up to be when a honeymooning couple invests in an oversized motor home.
Cast: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
C-96 mins, TV-G

The New Moon trailers, produced by The Redman Trailer Co. (as per original sales brochures & in viewing the actual 1953 models), didn't come with a "sunken living room" as was highlighted in the film. This was done to add a reason for Desi Arnaz's character to take his pratfall when first entering the trailer. You can see that the floor of the kitchen is flat with the living room floor if you look closely when he opens the door for the first time at the trailer show, as this was simply a regular production coach in the shot. The interior shots had a "dropped" section in the living room area and you can see that the vent windows are much further from the ceiling than they would be as seen from the exterior. New Moon trailers also had a furnace in the corner between the front door and the kitchen cabinet. It is assumed this was removed from the interior mock up for aesthetic reasons.


1:40am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: One Live Ghost (1936)
Leon Errol is an under-appreciated husband who tries to teach his family a lesson, but the joke is on him.
Cast: Lucille Ball, Leon Errol, Robert Graves, Watson children
Dir: Leslie Goodwins
BW-21 mins

The Morton car is a 1936 Cord.


2:00am -- Dangerous When Wet (1953)
A family of fitness freaks sets out to swim the English Channel.
Cast: Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, Jack Carson, Charlotte Greenwood
Dir: Charles Walters
C-96 mins, TV-PG

Esther Williams was married and Fernando Lamas was between wives when this film was made. He went on to marry (and divorce) Arlene Dahl, and Williams divorced second husband Ben Gage, before the two of them married in 1969. Their marriage lasted until Lamas' death in 1982.


3:45am -- On the Town (1949)
Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.
Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller
Dir: Gene Kelly
C-98 mins, TV-G

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

Jules Munshin was terrified of heights. While performing on the tiny rooftop during the song "New York, New York" the only way he could perform the number was while one end of a rope was secured around his waist under his sailor suit. The other end of the rope was secured, off camera, to Stanley Donen. And even so, alert viewers of the scene will notice that during the scene Munshin is almost always touching a wall or a prop or another actor.


5:30am -- TCM Presents Elvis Mitchell Under the Influence: Sydney Pollack (2008)
Celebrities reveal the classic movies that influenced their lives in interviews with acclaimed film
critic/interviewer Elvis Mitchell.
C-28 mins, TV-PG

This interview was first broadcast six weeks after Pollack's death.

[Staph]

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is one of the best-loved swashbucklers, a film that hasn't aged a bit since its premiere. Nominated for four Academy Awards, the film made a lasting star of Errol Flynn and has been so popular over the years that clips even made their way into a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Flynn's charm and knack for action were perfectly matched by a wonderful cast, brilliant Technicolor photography and an inventive story. It's the rare masterpiece that captivates everybody from tykes to scholars.

When King Richard is captured and held for ransom, scheming nobles led by the vicious Sir Guy (Basil Rathbone) try to seize control of the English crown. One knight named Robin of Locksley (Flynn) refuses to play along and retreats to Sherwood Forest where he and his men rob the nobles to help both the poor and to pay the King's ransom. Hunted by Sir Guy and the forest's sheriff, Robin eludes them and accidentally ends up the captor of the lovely Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland), who just happens to have also caught Sir Guy's eye. Naturally everybody won't be a happy winner.

Today, The Adventures of Robin Hood seems so perfect that it's hard to imagine that it could have ended up differently. But that's what almost happened since James Cagney was intended by Warner Brothers to play Robin. A contract dispute between Cagney and the studio left the film in the lurch until Captain Blood (1935) became a big hit, prompting cool minds to ponder that this new star Errol Flynn might be a decent Robin Hood. (Flynn had also replaced another actor in Captain Blood; Robert Donat that time.)

The film was budgeted at Warner Brother's highest to that date ($1.6 million which eventually went up to $2 million). Filming started near Chico, California (standing in for Sherwood Forest) under the direction of veteran William Keighley. The studio decided his approach was a bit too light-hearted and replaced him with Michael Curtiz so that the completed film actually has significant contributions from both directors. Curtiz would become Flynn's most productive director in their twelve films together despite constant friction between the two. Oddly enough he had directed Flynn in Flynn's second Hollywood film appearance (playing a murder victim in The Case of the Curious Bride, 1935). The studio might have wondered whether Flynn was worth it when he began showing his soon-to-be-notorious wild side, coming to the set late and kissing De Havilland so intensely that the scenes needed to be re-shot. But one look at the finished scenes removed all doubt and when the film was released audiences and critics agreed.

By the way, De Havilland's horse would shortly afterwards become Trigger of Roy Rogers fame; Quentin Tarantino has called him "the greatest animal actor who ever was."

Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
Producer: Henry Blanke, Hal B. Willis
Screenplay: Norman Reilly Raine, Seton I. Miller
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio, Sol Polito
Editor: Ralph Dawson
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Music: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Cast: Errol Flynn (Robin Hood), Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian), Basil Rathbone (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), Claude Rains (Prince John), Patric Knowles (Will Scarlett), Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck).
C-102m. Close captioning. Descriptive video.

By Lang Thompson