TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 18 -- Star of the Month: Kay Francis

[Staph]

It's still more than six weeks until Halloween, but TCM is giving us a day devoted to ghosts and ghouls. And this evening we have more of this month's star, Kay Francis. Enjoy!


5:36am -- Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Servant Of Mankind - Thomas Edison (1940)
This short dramatizes how profoundly the inventions of Thomas A. Edison have affected the world in which we live.
Narrator: Frank Whitbeck.
Dir: Herman Hoffman.
BW-9 mins

MGM, never a company to miss an opportunity, produced this short as a disguised trailer/advertisement for its feature Edison, the Man (1940), starring Spencer Tracy.


5:45am -- The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
President Andrew Jackson's friendship with an innkeeper's daughter spells trouble for them both.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore.
Dir: Clarence Brown.
BW-103 mins, TV-PG

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Beulah Bondi, and Best Cinematography -- George J. Folsey

This was the first film Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone made together after their marriage in 1935.


7:30am -- George Washington Slept Here (1942)
A pair of New Yorkers face culture shock when they buy a dilapidated country house.
Cast: Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Percy Kilbride.
Dir: William Keighley.
BW-91 mins, TV-G

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Max Parker, Mark-Lee Kirk, and Casey Roberts

The dog in the movie, played by "Terry", was famous for playing Toto in The Wizard of Oz (1939).


9:15am -- The Ghoul (1933)
An ancient Egyptian returns to punish those who violated his tomb.
Cast: Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger.
Dir: T. Hayes Hunter.
BW-81 mins, TV-G

For years this was regarded as a "lost film" with no prints or elements known to exist. A nitrate release print was discovered in the Czech National Archives in Prague. This print was a subtitled edited version that was in poor condition and contained numerous splices. Years later, a print of the uncut British version was finally discovered.


10:45am -- The Ghost Train (1941)
Railroad passengers find themselves stranded at a haunted station.
Cast: Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Kathleen Harrison.
Dir: Walter Forde.
BW-85 mins, TV-G

When Teddy shoots at the 'ghost' on the platform, he uses what appears to be a 1910 Model Browning
automatic, a popular police and civilian pistol of the time; but when he re-enters the waiting room he is holding a 1901 Model Browning, quite different in appearance. Later when the villain Price threatens the passengers on the bus, he now has the M1910.


12:15pm -- The Living Ghost (1942)
A former detective investigates a wealthy kidnap victim who returns with brain damage.
Cast: James Dunn, Joan Woodbury, Paul McVey.
Dir: William Beaudine.
BW-61 mins, TV-PG

James Dunn is familiar to me from his starring turn in Shirley Temple's first three features, Baby Take a Bow (1934), Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934). He later won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).


1:30pm -- Ghost Town (1956)
Stagecoach passengers fall under attack by Indians and begin to reveal their true selves under the stress.
Cast: Kent Taylor, John Smith, Marian Carr.
Dir: Allen Miner.
BW-77 mins, TV-G

Kent Taylor was Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's inspiration for half of the name of Superman's alter ego Clark Kent ("Clark" came from Clark Gable, Siegel's idol, and Kent Taylor was Siegel's wife's brother-in-law).


3:00pm -- Rebel in Town (1956)
A man hunts down the bank robber who accidentally killed his son.
Cast: John Payne, John Smith, Ruth Roman.
Dir: Alfred Werker.
BW-79 mins, TV-G

Ruth Roman and her son Richard "Dickie" Hall, were first-class passengers aboard the Andrea Doria when she collided with the Stockholm and sank in 1956. They were among almost 1,700 saved in the sinking. Roman and her son were separated in the rescue. She arrived in New York first and waited for him, surrounded by news photographers and reporters. She was on the pier to greet him when he arrived the next day when the rescue ship arrived in New York.


4:30pm -- Terror In A Texas Town (1958)
A whaler inherits his father's farm but has to fight off a corrupt town boss.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Sebastian Cabot, Carol Kelly.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis.
BW-81 mins, TV-PG

This was the final feature film for director Joseph H. Lewis. He would spend much of the next decade
directing television episodes before retiring from the industry. And contrary to the expected reaction of those on this board, it's not the true story of Crawford, Texas!


6:00pm -- A Town Like Alice (1958)
Set in 1941, a Brisith woman captured by the Japanese army meets an Australian soldier and settles in his town after the war.
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch, Kenji Takaki.
Dir: Jack Lee.
C-116 mins

Won BAFTA Film Awards for Best British Actor -- Peter Finch, and Best British Actress -- Virginia McKenna

Nominated for BAFTA Film Awards for Best British Film, Best British Screenplay -- W.P. Lipscomb and Richard Mason, and Best Film from any Source


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


8:00pm -- Transgression (1931)
When her lover is killed, a straying wife tries to intercept the confession she mailed her husband.
Cast: Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Paul Cavanagh.
Dir: Herbert Brenon.
BW-70 mins, TV-PG

Born in Austria, Jacob Krantz emigrated with his family to New York. There he worked a number of jobs while he trained as an actor. When Jacob arrived in Hollywood to work in movies in 1922, the Valentino mania was in full swing. Never shy about changing a name and a background, the studio transformed Jacob Krantz from Austria into Latin Lover Ricardo Cortez from Spain. Such was life in Hollywood.


9:15pm -- Secrets Of An Actress (1938)
A leading lady falls for a married architect who's invested in her play.
Cast: Kay Francis, George Brent, Ian Hunter.
Dir: William Keighley.
BW-70 mins, TV-G

Penny Singleton plays George Brent's secretary -- she's best remembered today for her portrayal of comic strip character Blondie Bumstead in 28 Blondie films, and as the voice of Jane Jetson in the Jetsons television cartoon series.


10:30pm -- Women In The Wind (1939)
Personal conflicts flare between competitors in a women's air race.
Cast: Kay Francis, William Gargan, Victor Jory.
Dir: John Farrow.
BW-63 mins, TV-G

Director John Farrow was married to Maureen "Me Tarzen, You Jane" O'Sullivan and father of seven children, including Mia Farrow.


11:45pm -- King Of The Underworld (1939)
A lady doctor gets mixed up with a criminal gang.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis, James Stephenson.
Dir: Lewis Seiler.
BW-67 mins, TV-PG

Similar to Dr. Socrates (1935) and Bullet Scars (1942).


1:00am -- It's A Date (1940)
Mother-and-daughter singers vie for the same man and the same stage part.
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Walter Pidgeon, Kay Francis.
Dir: William A. Seiter.
BW-104 mins, TV-G

In MGM's Technicolor remake, Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), Jane Powell's repertoire included her rendition of a fabled aria sung by Deanna Durbin in Universal's black-and-write original: "Musetta's Waltz Song" from the opera "La Boheme" (music by Giacomo Puccini, lyrics by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa). Worth noting is that Joe Pasternak, who departed Universal for the MGM's bigger budgets in late 1941, produced both musicals.


2:45am -- Play Girl (1940)
An aging gold digger takes a young woman under her wing.
Cast: Kay Francis, Nigel Bruce, James Ellison.
Dir: Frank Woodruff.
BW-77 mins, TV-PG

Costarring the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton.


4:15am -- Little Men (1940)
A con artist tries to save the boarding school where his son has found a home.
Cast: Kay Francis, Jack Oakie, George Bancroft.
Dir: Norman Z. McLeod.
BW-83 mins, TV-G

Based on the Louisa May Alcott sequel to Little Women.

Although Elsie the Cow is billed 8th playing Buttercup as "Elsie - The Moo Girl of the New York World's Fair" in the opening credits, she is billed last (26th) in the end credits, simply as Elsie playing Buttercup. In 1939, she was quite famous, appearing in ads for the Borden Milk Co.

[Staph]

1. George Washington Slept Here (1942)

Jack Benny launched a starring contract at Warner Bros. with George Washington Slept Here, the 1942 comic hit about a New York businessman stuck remodeling a dilapidated country estate that seems to have been built under the principles of Murphy's Law. The adaptation of the Broadway (and community theater) smash by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart seemed a perfect match for Benny's talents, particularly after a sex-change at the script level.

When producer Jerry Wald suggested the screen adaptation to Benny, the star went to see the Broadway production before making up his mind. Two things about the production struck him. First, he was bowled over by Percy Kilbride's deadpan comic performance as the handyman who keeps turning up with expensive problems to be fixed. But he was also dismayed to realize that the husband was essentially the show's straight man. As written, he was a gentle soul so in love with antiques that he moves his family into the broken-down mansion, triggering a series of comic one-liners and tantrums from his wife. When he explained his problems with the show to Wald, the producer suggested the simplest of solutions -- he simply had the writers reverse the husband and wife roles so that the wife buys the house and the husband reacts comically to it. All it really required was changing a few pronouns in the dialogue.

Benny was happy to accept and welcomed the chance to co-star with "Oomph Girl" Ann Sheridan, who was cast after Olivia de Havilland was originally announced for the role. But he had his heart set on working with Kilbride. On this matter, studio head Jack L. Warner disagreed. For one thing, he had plenty of character actors under contract to play roles just like that. For another, he thought Kilbride was too funny and would steal the film from the stars. Benny had no problem with that and even pointed out that his radio series was filled with scene-stealing performers -- including Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Mel Blanc, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone (Mrs. Benny) and Phil Harris -- who often upstaged him. When Warner still wasn't interested, Benny offered to pay for Kilbride's screen test. Warner finally agreed to the test, and all Benny had to do was appear with him.

That's when the trouble started. Kilbride was as funny on film as he had been in the theatre, so funny that Benny couldn't get through a scene with him without cracking up. Finally, the studio pulled Benny from the tests and had Kilbride test with Sheridan, who had the same problem. Even bringing in the picture's director, William Keighley, didn't solve the problem, but at least it convinced Keighley that Kilbride was the best choice for the role.

Once shooting started, Benny still had trouble keeping a straight face whenever Kilbride and he shared the screen. Finally, he had to stay up all night before shooting those scenes so that he would be too tired to laugh.

Something else that may have been keeping Benny up was his off-screen relationship with Sheridan. Accounts differ, but all agree that he was clearly interested in the "Oomph Girl." Some biographers insist the relationship was one-sided, and that she resisted all his advances. Benny's wife, however, was convinced that Sheridan was going after the comic, looking for comfort from her failing marriage to actor George Brent. Knowing of her own husband's wandering eye, Livingstone invited Sheridan to a party, then found a private moment to tell her "Miss Sheridan, I don't know whether you like Jack, or he likes you... But I wanted to remind you of something. Jack wouldn't give my little finger for your whole body! Now, have a good time." (from the biography Jack Benny).

Warner's pulled out all the stops on George Washington Slept Here. To create the perfect broken-down mansion, the art direction team took the set from Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and broke out walls, banisters and pieces of plaster, winning an Oscar® nomination for their creative demolition. The film itself won strong fan support, paving the way for further comic triumphs for Benny as a Warner Bros. star. It also gave Kilbride a new career. Although he had made two minor films in the '30s, it wasn't until he made George Washington Slept Here that he found his niche on-screen. He stayed in Hollywood to play minor roles until he found the next great role of his lifetime, Pa Kettle in The Egg and I (1947), and seven low-budget but very popular Ma & Pa Kettle comedies that followed and made him a household name.

Producer: Jerry Wald
Director: William Keighley
Screenplay: Everett Freeman, based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
Cinematography: Ernest Haller
Art Direction: Max Parker
Music: Adolph Deutsch
Cast: Jack Benny (Bill Fuller), Ann Sheridan (Connie Fuller), Charles Coburn (Uncle Stanley), Percy Kilbride (Mr. Kinsher), Hattie McDaniel (Hester), Joyce Reynolds (Madge), Lee Patrick (Rena Leslie), Charles Dingle (Mr. Prescott), John Emery (Clayton Evans), Franklin Pangborn (Mr. Gibney).
BW-92m. Closed captioning.

by Frank Miller