TCM Schedule for Monday, October 15

[Longhorn]

4:15am Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey (1932)
Classic tale of a young traveler finding himself in a sinister castle.
Cast: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel.. Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer.. BW-72 mins, TV-PG

5:29am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Rough Seas (1931)
Dough boy Charley Chase attempts to return home from France on a troop transport ship with his girlfriend and pet monkey both of which he has been told he could not bring.
Cast: Charley Chase, Thelma Todd. Dir: James Parrott. BW-27 mins

6:00am Grand Prix (1966)
Auto racers find danger and romance at the legendary European road race.
Cast: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Yves Montand.. Dir: John Frankenheimer.. C-176 mins, TV-14

9:00am Boys' Night Out (1962)
A psychology student researches infidelity by becoming a platonic kept woman for four buddies.
Cast: James Garner, Kim Novak, Tony Randall.. Dir: Michael Gordon.. C-113 mins, TV-PG

11:00am Where The Boys Are (1960)
College coeds go looking for love during spring break in Fort Lauderdale.
Cast: George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Connie Francis.. Dir: Henry Levin.. C-99 mins, TV-PG

12:45pm Trouble With Girls, The (1969)
A traveling show's star gets involved in a small-town murder case.
Cast: Elvis Presley, Marilyn Mason, Sheree North.. Dir: Peter Tewksbury.. C-99 mins, TV-PG

2:30pm Lord Love A Duck (1966)
A high-school misfit devotes his life to turning a bubbly blonde into a social success.
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Tuesday Weld, Lola Albright.. Dir: George Axelrod.. BW-106 mins, TV-PG

4:30pm Doctor, You've Got To Be Kidding! (1967)
Four suitors pursue a pregnant singer to the maternity ward.
Cast: Sandra Dee, George Hamilton, Celeste Holm.. Dir: Peter Tewksbury.. C-95 mins, TV-PG

6:15pm How To Stuff A Wild Bikini (1965)
When he's stationed in Tahiti, a sailor hires a witch doctor to keep an eye on his girlfriend.
Cast: Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Brian Donlevy.. Dir: William Asher.. C-93 mins, TV-PG

What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: BIOPICS

8:00pm Mary of Scotland (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge.. Dir: John Ford.. BW-124 mins, TV-G

10:15pm Young Bess (1953)
The future Elizabeth I fights court intrigue in the turbulent years before her ascension to the throne.
Cast: Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton.. Dir: George Sidney.. C-112 mins, TV-G

12:15am Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Story of Russia's last czar, Nicolas II, and his ill-fated family.
Cast: Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Tom Baker.. Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner.. C-188 mins

3:30am Marie Antoinette (1938)
Lavish biography of the French queen who "let them eat cake."
Cast: Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, Robert Morley.. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II.. BW-149 mins, TV-G

[Longhorn]

1. Mary of Scotland (1936)

Maxwell Anderson's Mary of Scotland, starring Helen Hayes as Mary Stuart and Fredric March as the Earl of Bothwell, had been the most prestigious success of the 1933-34 Broadway season. From the moment Katharine Hepburn saw the play she was convinced that Mary would make a fine screen role for her, and so was born the film version of Mary of Scotland (1936). March repeats his role as the Earl of Bothwell opposite Hepburn. The dramatic story relates how Mary, by assuming her throne as Queen of Scotland, strikes terror into the heart of Queen Elizabeth I (played in the film by Florence Eldridge, March's wife). After languishing in jail for 18 years at Elizabeth's command, Mary is offered a pardon if she will sign away her throne. Refusing, she is executed.

Hepburn, then RKO's leading dramatic star, wanted her friend George Cukor to direct her in the film, but producer Pandro S. Berman, disillusioned by the star-director team after their box-office failure with Sylvia Scarlett (1935), assigned John Ford instead. According to Hepburn biographer Anne Edwards, Hepburn initially "fought, bickered and fussed" with Ford but soon warmed to his salty personality and eventually "fell hard" for him. Edwards writes that on weekends the two "met at Kate?s house and then stole away with elaborate precaution to spend time on Ford's yacht, the Araner." But Ford was already married and, with Hepburn's family voicing disapproval, the romance fizzled once the movie was finished.

Hepburn, who often insisted on doing her own stunts, refused a double for a demanding bit of action in Mary of Scotland that required her run down a flight of stone steps and leap onto the back of a spirited horse, then ride away at breakneck speed. The stunt was complicated by her costume, which included high heels and a voluminous gown weighing 15 pounds. Ford had objected, but Hepburn overrode him, insisting, "Mary of Scotland did it, and I'm a damned good horsewoman." Perhaps to teach his star a lesson, Ford insisted on 11 takes before he was satisfied with the shot. As the unfazed Hepburn strode back to her dressing room, the entire film crew stood and applauded.

Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Director: John Ford
Screenplay: Dudley Nichols, from play by Maxwell Anderson
Art Direction: Carroll Clark, Van Nest Polglase
Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Costume Design: Walter Plunkett
Editing: Jane Loring
Original Music: Nathaniel Shilkret, Max Steiner
Cast: Katharine Hepburn (Mary Stuart), Fredric March (Earl of Bothwell), Florence Eldridge (Elizabeth Tudor), Douglas Walton (Darnley), John Carradine (David Rizzio),
BW-124m. Closed captioning.

by Roger Fristoe

[Matilda]

2. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen "Marie Antoinette".

I never tire of it - Adrian's costumes for a start - breathtaking - but all-round good performances,
especially Joseph Shildkraut as the Duc D'Orleans, and of course, Norma Shearer as the Queen.
I particularly admired her courage in allowing herself to be shown lined and grey-haired at the
end of the film, something many Hollywood actresses would never do, then or now. I think it's one
of Shearer's finest performances ever.

[Longhorn]

3. Thanks for the recommendation!

I don't think I've seen it so I'll have to set it up to record when I get home from work. I really like Norma Shearer!