TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 4 -- Star of the Month: Kay Francis

[Staph]

Wonderful, wonderful films today! A classic Frank Capra tale of the little guy, Cary Grant in jeans with a three-day's growth of beard, Robert Morse in his signature role as the window washer turned executive, the original 1960s beach movie with Frankie and Annette, Jimmy Stewart and his friend the pooka, and Walter Matthau in three roles in the same hotel room. And this month's star is the lovely Kay Francis. Enjoy!


4:45am -- The Dark Horse (1932)
A political machine backs a dimwitted candidate for governor.
Cast: Guy Kibbee, Bette Davis, Warren William.
Dir: Alfred E. Green.
BW-75 mins, TV-G

Quote from the campaign manager about his candidate: "He's the dumbest human being I ever saw. Every time he opens his mouth he subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge." Must be a Republican candidate!


6:00am -- Huckleberry Finn (1974)
Mark Twain's famed tale of a Missouri bad boy who helps a runaway slave escape to the North.
Cast: Jeff East, Paul Winfield, David Wayne.
Dir: J. Lee-Thompson.
C-114 mins, TV-G

One of ten film versions of the Mark Twain novel, and, to date, the only musical version on film. I wish that they would film the Broadway musical Big River.


8:00am -- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
When he inherits a fortune, a small-town poet has to deal with the corruption of city life.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, Lionel Stander.
Dir: Frank Capra.
BW-116 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Director -- Frank Capra

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gary Cooper, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), Best Writing, Screenplay -- Robert Riskin, and Best Picture

Columbia and Capra intended to make a sequel to this movie, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, entitled "Mr. Deeds Goes to Washington" , based on the story "The Gentleman from Wyoming" (alternately called "The Gentleman from Montana" by both contemporary and modern sources) by Lewis Foster. This story was instead turned into the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), directed by Frank Capra and starring Arthur and James Stewart.


10:00am -- Father Goose (1964)
A WWII drifter finds himself protecting schoolgirls and their beautiful teacher.
Cast: Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard.
Dir: Ralph Nelson.
C-116 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- S.H. Barnett (story), Peter Stone (screenplay) and Frank Tarloff (screenplay)

Nominated for Oscars for Best Film Editing -- Ted J. Kent, and Best Sound -- Waldon O. Watson (Universal City SSD)

In later years, Cary Grant always claimed his role in this film was most like his real personality. He claimed he kept in touch with most of the girls as they grew up and had families of their own. And it's been one of my favorite movies for years! ("That's not a snake! But it looks like a snake!")


12:00pm -- How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1967)
With the help of his handy guidebook, a window washer talks his way into the executive suite.
Cast: Robert Morse, Michele Lee, Rudy Vallee.
Dir: David Swift.
C-121 mins, TV-PG

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1962. Only six musicals have won the Pulitzer Prize in drama--one per decade from the 1930s to the 1990s. They are as follows: Of Thee I Sing from the 1930s, South Pacific from the 1940s, Fiorello from the 1950s, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying from the 1960s, A Chorus Line from the 1970s, Sunday in the Park with George from the 1980s, and Rent from the 1990s.


2:07pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Island Windjammers (1956)
This Sportscope features the annual Out Island Regatta held annually in the Bahamas.
Narrator: André Baruch.
Dir: Howard Winner.
BW-8 mins

Featured in this sports short are Spence Burton, Lord Bishop of the Bahamas, and Thomas Daniel Knox, Earl of Ranfurly.


2:15pm -- Beach Party (1963)
An anthropologist studies the dating habits of the teens hanging out on a nearby beach.
Cast: Robert Cummings, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello.
Dir: William Asher.
C-98 mins, TV-PG

This first of the beach-based surf movies was intended as a low-budget imitation of Elvis Presley's musical movies, with added teen appeal, but the series took on a life of its own.


4:00pm -- Harvey (1950)
A wealthy eccentric prefers the company of an invisible six-foot rabbit to his family.
Cast: James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Cecil Kellaway.
Dir: Henry Koster.
BW-104 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Josephine Hull

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Stewart

Although James Stewart is 6'4", he refers to Harvey as being 6'3 1/2" tall in the film and looks up at him during the entire film. That's because this is Harvey's height in the original play by Mary Chase. In a 1990 interview, Stewart said that he had decided that for the film, Harvey was going to be 6'8", so that he could indeed look up at him.


5:45pm -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Important News (1936)
A small town newspaper editor struggles with what to publish on his front page: the death of a cold-blooded gangster, or the more mundane but moral news about his home town.
Cast: Charles "Chic" Sale, Granville Bates, James Stewart.
Dir: Edwin Lawrence.
BW-10 mins

Nothing special but interesting for its very early appearance of Jimmy Stewart.


6:00pm -- Plaza Suite (1971)
A New York hotel room is the setting for three stories of romantic squabbles.
Cast: Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Lee Grant.
Dir: Arthur Hiller.
C-114 mins, TV-14

Neil Simon's Plaza Suite opened at the Plymouth Theater on February 14, 1968 and ran for 1097 performances. Maureen Stapleton and Jose Ocasio reprise their roles in the movie.


What's On Tonight: STAR OF THE MONTH: KAY FRANCIS


8:00pm -- Raffles (1930)
A distinguished British gentleman hides his true identity as a notorious jewel thief.
Cast: Ronald Colman, Kay Francis, Bramwell Fletcher.
Dir: George Fitzmaurice.
BW-71 mins

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Oscar Lagerstrom (sound director)

One of the seven versions of E. W. Hornung's novel Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman. The various actors
protraying Raffles include Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, John Barrymore, House Peters, David Niven, Pepe Alameda, and Anthony Valentine.


9:15pm -- Jewel Robbery (1932)
A jewel thief falls for a tycoon's wife in Vienna.
Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Hardie Albright.
Dir: William Dieterle.
BW-68 mins, TV-G

Based on the following Broadway production: Jewel Robbery (1932). Comedy. Written by Bertram Bloch, from the Hungarian of Ladislas Fodor.


10:30pm -- One Way Passage (1932)
An ocean voyage leads to romance for a dying heiress and a condemned criminal.
Cast: Kay Francis, William Powell, Aline MacMahon.
Dir: Tay Garnett.
BW-68 mins, TV-G

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Robert Lord

Also known as S. S. Atlantic.


11:45pm -- Divorce (1945)
A frequently divorced woman sets her sights on a happily married man.
Cast: Kay Francis, Bruce Cabot, Helen Mack.
Dir: William Nigh.
BW-70 mins, TV-G

Because of a speech impediment, Francis was known around the Paramount lot as "the wavishing Kay Fwancis."


1:00am -- Man Wanted (1932)
A female executive falls in love with her male secretary.
Cast: Kay Francis, David Manners, Una Merkel.
Dir: William Dieterle.
BW-62 mins, TV-G

Francis' birth year has been in speculation for some time, with sources stating the year as anywhere between 1899-1908. Studio records (which occasionally were used to her detriment when the studio got mad at her) reflect the year of birth as 1899. However, her listing in the U.S. Census taken in April 1910, when she was living at a convent school, gives her age as five years.


2:15am -- Women Are Like That (1938)
Years after their break-up, a couple finds each other all over again.
Cast: Kay Francis, Pat O'Brien, Ralph Forbes.
Dir: Stanley Logan.
BW-79 mins, TV-G

William Hopper (son of Hedda Hopper and Paul Drake in the Perry Mason tv series) is on studio records in the role of Larraby, but he was not seen in the movie. Sam McDaniel (brother of Hattie McDaniel) is listed in some modern sources as a porter, but he also was not seen in the movie.


3:45am -- Comet Over Broadway (1938)
A stage star's rampant ambition leads to murder.
Cast: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Donald Crisp.
Dir: Busby Berkeley.
BW-70 mins, TV-G

Both William Keighley and Edmund Goulding turned down the job of directing this movie. John Farrow
eventually took over directing duties when Busby Berkeley was hospitalized. Bette Davis refused to play the lead. Miriam Hopkins was originally cast in the lead, but was replaced by Kay Francis when she became ill.

[Staph]

1. Raffles (1930)

In the witty 1930 film Raffles, Ronald Colman stars as A.J. Raffles, a charming British gentleman who leads a double life. By day Raffles hobnobs with Britain’s social elite, but by night he is the notorious jewel thief known as “The Amateur Cracksman.” When Raffles falls in love with beautiful socialite Gwen (Kay Francis), he vows to give up his life of crime. However, when his close friend finds himself in serious financial trouble, Raffles plans one last robbery in an effort to help him. With plans to steal a valuable necklace belonging to Lady Melrose (Alison Skipworth) during a posh weekend party in the country, Raffles must dodge Scotland Yard detectives in a daring game of cat and mouse.

The character of Raffles first appeared in a series of stories written by E.W. Hornung in Cassell’s magazine beginning in 1898. The stories proved so popular that Hornung eventually assembled them into three separate books: The Amateur Cracksman (1899), The Black Mask (1901), and A Thief in the Night (1905). In 1906 Hornung also co-authored a Broadway play based on the Raffles stories called Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman. Two silent film versions of the play were made in 1917 (starring John Barrymore as the title character) and in 1925.

The 1930 Ronald Colman film of Raffles was the first talking version of the story. Colman was fresh off the big success of his first talkie Bulldog Drummond (1929) when producer Sam Goldwyn snapped up the rights to Raffles as a vehicle for him. To help ensure the same success as Bulldog Drummond, Goldwyn even hired the same screenwriter, Sidney Howard, to pen the Raffles script.

Raffles was rushed into production in order to build on Colman’s quickly gaining career momentum with Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast in the director’s chair. However, halfway through filming, d’Arrast was fired from Raffles when Sam Goldwyn made it clear that he was not happy with the early rushes. According to Raffles Assistant Director Bruce Humberstone, the dispute came down to a matter of pacing. “I think it was all playing too fast for Goldwyn, and he had trouble making out some of the words,” Humberstone told Goldwyn biographer A. Scott Berg. “Harry d’Arrast said that comedy had to be played at a certain speed, but Goldwyn didn’t think it fit in with Colman’s style.” “You and I don’t speak the same language, Mr. Goldwyn,” d’Arrast reportedly said to him. “I’m sorry, Mr. d’Arrast,” replied Goldwyn, “but it’s my money that’s buying the language!” Another director, George Fitzmaurice, who had worked with Ronald Colman on five earlier films, was hired immediately to pick up where d’Arrast had left off. He was on the set the very next day and received the sole director’s credit on the finished film.

Raffles proved to be a solid hit, just as Goldwyn had predicted. “Ronald Colman is ideally cast as Raffles, and handles the serio-comic role with a deft touch that makes it one of his best roles todate,” said one reviewer. “He is given beautiful support by the alluring Kay Francis, whose sophistication and charm make her an ideal team-mate for the star.” Raffles raked in a nice profit of $1.2 million upon its initial release. “Considering the condition of the country,” wrote Sam Goldwyn in a memo to his General Manager Abe Lehr on October 2, 1930, “I think this is marvelous.”

Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Director: George Fitzmaurice; Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast (uncredited; fired, replaced by Fitzmaurice)
Screenplay: Sidney Howard; Eugene Wiley Presbrey (play “Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman”); E.W. Hornung (novel and play “Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman”)
Cinematography: George Barnes, Gregg Toland
Art Direction: Park French, William Cameron Menzies
Film Editing: Stuart Heisler
Cast: Ronald Colman (Raffles), Kay Francis (Gwen), Bramwell Fletcher (Bunny), Frances Dade (Ethel Crowley), David Torrence (Inspector McKenzie), Alison Skipworth (Lady Kitty Melrose), Frederick Kerr (Lord Harry Melrose), John Rogers (Crawshaw), Wilson Benge (Barraclough).
BW-72m.

by Andrea Passafiume