TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 31 -- Romance Films

[Staph]

On this last day of January, we have the last day of Star of the Month James Cagney, a trio of Mario Lanza films (happy birthday, Mario!), and more primetime romances -- Supernatural Romance (The Enchanted Cottage (1945) and Portrait of Jennie (1948)), Complicated Romance (Now, Voyager (1942) and Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)), Deceptive Romance (Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) and Invitation (1952)). Enjoy!


5:34am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Larry Clinton And Orchestra / The Dipsy Doodler (1938)
Cast: Larry Clinton and his orchestra, Carol Bruce.
Dir: Lloyd French.
BW-11 mins

Larry Clinton was responsible for some of the more enduring hits in the dance band repertoire. He had a great, though short-lived, band (1937-1941) that recorded 214 sides for RCA Victor and Bluebird. Clinton was a great composer and arranger whose songs include "The Dipsy-Doodle," "Satan Takes A Holiday," "Study In Brown" and "Midnight In a Madhouse". Among his greatest hits were "Heart and Soul" and "My Reverie", which he 'borrowed' from Claude Debussy's "Reverie".


5:45am -- The Strawberry Blonde (1941)
A man's infatuation with a gold-digging beauty continues after his marriage.
Cast: James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, Rita Hayworth.
Dir: Raoul Walsh.
BW-99 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Heinz Roemheld

Even though it is only a few seconds, we hear Rita Hayworth sing with her own voice. This is the only time she will use her own singing voice in all her movies.


7:30am -- Torrid Zone (1940)
A Central American plantation manager and his boss battle over a traveling showgirl.
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan.
Dir: William Keighley.
BW-88 mins, TV-PG

When Frank Puglia says, "I don't believe in a third term," he was referring to the then speculative run of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term as U. S. President in 1940.


9:00am -- Boy Meets Girl (1938)
Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress.
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Ralph Bellamy.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon.
BW-86 mins, TV-G

Based on a play by Bella and Sam Spewack, who also wrote Kiss Me Kate. Bella Spewack is also credited with the invention of the Girl Scout cookie. I am not making this up!


10:30am -- Hard To Handle (1933)
A hustling public relations man promotes a series of fads.
Cast: James Cagney, Mary Brian, Ruth Donnelly.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy.
BW-78 mins, TV-G

Mary Brian replaced Carole Lombard, who refused the role.


12:00pm -- The Millionaire (1931)
A bored millionaire retires from big business to open a garage.
Cast: George Arliss, Florence Arliss, James Cagney.
Dir: John G. Adolfi.
BW-80 mins, TV-G

Based on a story by Earl Den Biggers, creator of the character Charlie Chan.


1:30pm -- That Midnight Kiss (1949)
A singing truck driver battles snobbery to become a star.
Cast: Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, Ethel Barrymore.
Dir: Norman Taurog.
C-98 mins, TV-PG

As Enrico Caruso was a major influence on Mario Lanza, Lanza has been a major influence on the generation of tenors who came after him. Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Josep Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, and Jerry Hadley all credit Lanza as an inspiration to them in pursuing their chosen careers.


3:15pm -- The Toast Of New Orleans (1950)
A New Orleans fisherman fights snobbery to become an opera star.
Cast: Mario Lanza, Kathryn Grayson, David Niven.
Dir: Norman Taurog.
C-97 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Be My Love"


5:00pm -- Because You're Mine (1952)
After being drafted, an opera star falls for his sergeant's sister.
Cast: Mario Lanza, James Whitmore, Doretta Morrow.
Dir: Alexander Hall.
C-103 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "Because You're Mine"


6:45pm -- Sky Full of Moon (1952)
An innocent cowboy in Las Vegas stumbles into a fortune and a glamorous girlfriend.
Cast: Carleton Carpenter, Jan Sterling, Keenan Wynn.
Dir: Norman Foster.
BW-73 mins, TV-PG

Writer/director Norman Foster was twice married, to Claudette Colbert and to Sally Blane, sister of Loretta Young.


What's On Tonight: TCM SPOTLIGHT: ROMANCE FILMS


8:00pm -- The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
A scarred veteran and a homely woman are transformed by love.
Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Herbert Marshall.
Dir: John Cromwell.
BW-92 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Roy Webb

Based on a play by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, this was made as a silent film in 1924, starring Richard Barthelmess and May McAvoy.


9:36pm -- Short Film: From The Vaults: Behind The Movie Lens: On Location With The Bad Man (1937)
A promotional short for The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937), starring Wallace Beery and Virginia Bruce.
BW-4 mins

Shot in Zion National Park in Utah.


9:45pm -- Portrait of Jennie (1948)
An artist discovers his gift when he falls for a beautiful ghost.
Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore.
Dir: William Dieterle.
BW-86 mins, TV-PG

Won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Paul Eagler (visual), J. McMillan Johnson (visual), Russell Shearman (visual), Clarence Slifer (visual), Charles L. Freeman (audible) and James G. Stewart (audible)

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph H. August

Although almost the entire film is in black and white, the tidal wave sequence towards the end is shown in green tint, and the final shot of the completed portrait of Jennie is in full Technicolor. The original theatrical releases in Los Angeles and New York presented the tidal wave sequence in Magnascope.


11:15pm -- Now, Voyager (1942)
A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man.
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains.
Dir: Irving Rapper.
BW-118 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Gladys Cooper

The biggest box office hit of Bette Davis' career, and my absolute favorite of all of her roles.


1:15am -- Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)
A married violinist deserts his family when he falls for his accompanist.
Cast: Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff.
BW-70 mins, TV-14

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gregg Toland, and Best Music, Scoring -- Louis Forbes (lost to Wuthering Heights and Stagecoach respectively, in that most competitive year!)

When Selznick fired the cinematographer Harry Stradling Sr. and hired the great Gregg Toland to take over the photography of Selznick's remake of the 1936 Swedish version of "Intermezzo", he asked Toland how it was possible that Bergman looked so beautiful in the original European production and so ghastly in his Hollywood version. Toland replied, "In Sweden they don't make her wear all that makeup." Selznick immediately ordered retakes with the "natural look" which so dazzled the world a year later when he loaned her out to Warner Bros. for their production "Casablanca".


2:30am -- Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
A swordsman and poet helps another man woo the woman he loves.
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince.
Dir: Michael Gordon.
BW-113 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- José Ferrer

The false nose that José Ferrer wore as Cyrano was reported to have cost United Artists $1,500.


4:30am -- Invitation (1952)
A millionaire tries to buy his dying daughter a husband.
Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Van Johnson, Louis Calhern.
Dir: Gottfried Reinhardt.
BW-85 mins, TV-G

In April of 2002, Dorothy McGuire's family was hurt and disappointed after Dorothy's name was unwittingly omitted by the Motion Picture Academy from the "In Memoriam" tribute of the March 2002 telecast. The demure, classy Dorothy, who had died within the calendar year and was nominated once for an Oscar for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), was one of those talented stars who avoided the sensationalism of stardom. The Academy explained that it was NOT an oversight or a slight, but that they have room only for 15-20 names in a single tribute. However, left unexplained was why they managed to include lesser film personalities such as Aaliyah.

[Staph]

1. That Midnight Kiss

MGM brought culture to the masses with the 1949 musical, That Midnight Kiss, and created a new star in the process. In a burst of creative casting, young Mario Lanza, an Army veteran and former truck driver turned classical singer, made his film debut as an Army veteran and former truck driver who turns to classical singing.

Lanza had grown up listening to Enrico Caruso's operatic recordings. He was studying voice when World War II broke out, and he kept singing as a member of the all-military ensemble touring the nation in Winged Victory. When the show hit Los Angeles, actress Irene Manning spotted him and recommended him for a contract at Warner Bros., but studio head Jack Warner couldn't see past Lanza's 250 pound weight and passed on the tenor. Instead, he made his movie debut as an unbilled chorus member in the Winged Victory 1944 film adaptation. After the war, Lanza landed a recording contract and a wife, children and a new exercise/diet routine soon followed. The latter helped him catch MGM head Louis B. Mayer's eye at a Hollywood Bowl concert. Mayer signed him to a $750 a week contract and set out to find the right vehicle for his screen debut.

There was never any choice as to who would produce Lanza's films. Joseph Pasternak had come to MGM in 1942 after a string of hits with child soprano Deanna Durbin. Initially he was brought on to help develop MGM's own junior-league soprano, Kathryn Grayson. At her urging, he used their films together to popularize the classics. Although he never hit the artistic heights of MGM's top musical producer, Arthur Freed, Pasternak created a pastiche style that was immensely popular, mixing lighter and more recognizable classical numbers with popular music, including guest appearances by the era's top big bands, radio stars and recording artists.

For Lanza's screen debut, Pasternak created a romanticized version of the singer's own early career. Grayson plays an aspiring singer who discovers the musical truck driver, falls for him and gets him a job with the opera company funded by her grandmother (Ethel Barrymore). When the company's star tenor walks out in a huff, it's little surprise that Lanza is the only one who can take his place and scores a triumph singing opposite the woman he loves. The paper-thin plot provided an excuse for a collection of classical favorites, including arias from Rigoletto, Cavelleria Rusticana, Aida and L'Elisir D'Amore. For those who weren't interested in classical singing, the film also marked the last MGM outing for classical pianist Jose Iturbi, who plays himself as the opera company's conductor and takes time out to solo on Liszt's Piano Concerto and join his sister Amparo for Chopin's Revolutionary Etude.

Adding to the film's cultural appeal was Barrymore's presence as Grayson's grandmother. Mayer had signed the stage legend a year earlier, hoping that her presence would lend prestige to the studio's films. He even featured her prominently at the studio's many charity events. That Midnight Kiss was only her second film under contract. After playing a Russian countess in the period drama The Great Sinner (1949), she finally got the full MGM glamour treatment, complete with lacquered hair, a Helen Rose wardrobe and glorious Technicolor. The role even bore a passing resemblance to her own life. Just as her character had dreamed of being an opera singer in her youth, Barrymore had originally hoped to become a concert pianist before being drawn into the family business. Ironically, she had shot to stardom in the 1901 Broadway production of Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, playing an opera singer.

That Midnight Kiss and Lanza scored a huge hit with audiences. The studio rewarded him with a $10,000 bonus and more tailor-made vehicles, all of them produced by Pasternak. He rewarded them with temperamental outbursts, weight problems and continued box office success. Although his career was cut short by his early death, he did more than any other singer to popularize opera. His recordings continue to be in demand, with more than 50 million records sold to date.

Producer: Joe Pasternak
Director: Norman Taurog
Screenplay: Bruce Manning, Tamara Hovey.
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Preston Ames
Music: Charles Previn
Cast: Kathryn Grayson (Prudence Budell), Jose Iturbi (Himself), Ethel Barrymore (Abigail Budell), Mario Lanza (Johnny Donnetti), Keenan Wynn (Artie Glenson), J. Carrol Naish (Papa Donnetti), Jules Munshin (Michael Pemberton), Thomas Gomez (Guido Bertelli), Marjorie Reynolds (Mary), Arthur Treacher (Hutchins), Amparo Iturbi (Herself).
C-98m. Closed captioning.

by Frank Miller