TCM Schedule for Friday, November 16, 2018 -- What's On Tonight -- George Formby

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring a day full of Marlene Dietrich, starting with her star-making role in Blue Angel (1930). Then in prime time, TCM is introducing us to George Formby. From Wikipedia:

George Formby, OBE (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comical songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer.

Born in Wigan, Lancashire, he was the son of George Formby Sr, from whom he later took his stage name. After an early career as a stable boy and jockey, Formby took to the music hall stage after the early death of his father in 1921. His early performances were taken exclusively from his father's act, including the same songs, jokes and characters. In 1923 he made two career-changing decisions – he purchased a ukulele, and married Beryl Ingham, a fellow performer who became his manager and transformed his act. She insisted that he appear on stage formally dressed, and introduced the ukulele to his performance. He started his recording career in 1926 and, from 1934, he increasingly worked in film to develop into a major star by the late 1930s and 1940s, and became the UK's most popular entertainer during those decades. The media historian Brian McFarlane writes that on film, Formby portrayed gormless Lancastrian innocents who would win through against some form of villainy, gaining the affection of an attractive middle-class girl in the process.

During the Second World War Formby worked extensively for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), and entertained civilians and troops, and by 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel. After the war his career declined, although he toured the Commonwealth, and continued to appear in variety and pantomime. His last television appearance was in December 1960, two weeks before the death of Beryl. He surprised people by announcing his engagement to a school teacher seven weeks after Beryl's funeral, but died in Preston three weeks later, at the age of 56; he was buried in Warrington, alongside his father.

Formby's biographer, Jeffrey Richards, considers that the actor "had been able to embody simultaneously Lancashire, the working classes, the people, and the nation". Formby was considered Britain's first properly home-grown screen comedian. He was an influence on future comedians—particularly Charlie Drake and Norman Wisdom—and, culturally, on entertainers such as the Beatles, who referred to him in their music. Since his death Formby has been the subject of five biographies, two television specials and two works of public sculpture.

Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,


6:30 AM -- THE BLUE ANGEL (1930)
A stodgy professor falls from grace when he's seduced by a nightclub singer.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron
BW-107 mins,

There are various accounts of why Marlene Dietrich was cast as Lola Lola, but the one given by director Josef von Sternberg in his autobiography is that Dietrich came to test for the film with a bored, world-weary attitude because she was convinced she wasn't going to get the role and was merely going through the motions - and Sternberg hired her because that world-weary attitude was precisely what he wanted for the character.


8:30 AM -- SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932)
A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
BW-82 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography -- Lee Garmes

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Director -- Josef von Sternberg, and Best Picture

It was Josef von Sternberg's intention to have the style of the film should reflect the rhythm of a train journey. This explains the film's tight pace and the rather staccato quality of the dialogue.


10:00 AM -- THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934)
A young innocent masters the decadent ways of Imperial Russia in order to reign as Catherine the Great.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe
BW-105 mins, CC,

Marlene Dietrich's and Josef von Sternberg's professional relationship briefly soured during the making of this film. Production delays and von Sternberg's controlling directorial style wore on Dietrich, who had worked almost exclusively with the director since her film debut. The film's poor box office showing exacerbated the discord between the two. When production wrapped, both believed this would be their last project together. However, von Sternberg convinced Dietrich to take the lead in The Devil Is a Woman (1935) the following year. Dietrich would go on to say that was her favorite of all of her films and her admiration for von Sternberg returned. They remained lifelong friends.


12:00 PM -- THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN (1935)
A member of the Spanish guard falls for a temptress who once ruined his commanding officer's life.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Atwill, Edward Everett Horton
BW-80 mins, CC,

The Spanish government threatened to bar all Paramount films from Spain and its territories unless the film was withdrawn from worldwide circulation. They protested the unfavorable portrayal of the Spanish police. Paramount destroyed the original print after its initial run, and it remained out of circulation until 1959. Marlene Dietrich herself kept a print of the film in a bank vault for safe keeping, as it was her favorite film. She feared the film would otherwise be lost. New prints were struck from her private copy in the 1980's for art house release. The superb quality of the prints in circulation now , and on DVD are because of this fact.


1:30 PM -- KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR (1937)
A British spy tries to get a countess out of the new Soviet Union.
Dir: Jacques Feyder
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Robert Donat, Irene Van Brugh
BW-108 mins, CC,

During the shooting, Robert Donat had a severe attack of asthma and the film was delayed for almost a month. The producers wanted to replace him, but Marlene Dietrich refused. According to Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, Marlene Dietrich waived her salary during Robert Donat's illness and nursed him until he was well enough to return to filming.


3:30 PM -- KISMET (1944)
In the classic Arabian Nights tale, the king of the beggars enters high society to help his daughter marry a handsome prince.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, James Craig
C-100 mins,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Charles Rosher, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle, Best Sound, Recording -- Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Herbert Stothart

It was during this film that Dietrich began wearing her now famous but then little known 'foundation', a flesh colored nylon body stocking from neck to crotch that, once poured and zipped into it, re-created the shape that she had become famous for in her youth, but which had now begun to sag as she faced her mid-40s, and which she continued to wear for all public and professional appearances the rest of her life. (Much like the Spanx foundation garments commonly worn in Hollywood and elsewhere today!)


5:30 PM -- RANCHO NOTORIOUS (1952)
A cowboy infiltrates a bandit hideout in search of his girlfriend's killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer
C-89 mins, CC,

Cinematographer Hal Mohr, who had previously photographed Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again (1939), attempted to resign from the film due to Dietrich's insistence that he use lighting to make her look much younger than she was, and Mohr didn't think it was possible to make her look as young as she wanted him to.


7:15 PM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: GEORGE FORMBY



8:00 PM -- TROUBLE BREWING (1939)
After a night of gambling, a newspaper employee goes undercover to search for the men who paid him with counterfeit money.
Dir: Anthony Kimmins
Cast: George Formby, Googie Withers, Gus McNaughton
BW-87 mins,

A song originally scheduled for the film, "I Wonder Who's Under Her Balcony Now?', was cut by director Anthony Kimmins', who was worried it might cause offense. One verse went, "Will he kiss her under the nose or underneath the archway where her sweet william grows? If he's fresh and gets too free I hope a bulldog bites him in the place it bit me . . . I hope he catches the lot when she empties out her old geranium pot".


9:45 PM -- LET GEORGE DO IT (1940)
A young woman is forced by her abusive father to marry a much older man, despite being in love with a doctor.
Dir: Marcel Varnel
Cast: George Formby, Phyllis Calvert, Coral Browne
BW-83 mins,

Released in the U.S. as To Hell With Hitler!


11:15 PM -- KEEP YOUR SEATS, PLEASE! (1936)
A man must find the gem fortune left by his aunt under one of six chairs.
Dir: Monty Banks
Cast: George Formby, Florence Desmond, Gus McNaughton
BW-86 mins,

Producer Basil Dean argued against Monty Banks using Binkie Stuart for Florrie's niece, thinking her too young and inexperienced (she had come to fame at age two by winning the "Daily Mail"'s "London's Most Beautiful Baby" competition) to be able to carry off the part believably. The director ignored him, setting the child off on a brief run as the UK's answer to Shirley Temple.


12:45 AM -- NO LIMIT (1935)
A chimney sweep from Wigan dreams of competing in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle races.
Dir: Monty Banks
Cast: George Formby, Florence Desmond, Howard Douglas
BW-81 mins,

In a scene used in the film, Formby is seen collapsing. This was real; after doing 15 takes in hot weather, he fell down and a doctor was requested.


2:15 AM -- SISTERS (1973)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
C-92 mins,

Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt were roommates in Southern California in the early 1970s while they were struggling performers. They held parties for their friends and neighbors who included Paul Schrader, Blythe Danner, Bruce Paltrow and Brian De Palma. One year at Christmas, Kidder and Salt opened separate boxes under their Christmas tree and each one contained the script to this film. This project was De Palma's gift to them.


4:00 AM -- EYES OF A STRANGER (1981)
A Miami newswoman must take care of her deaf, blind and mute sister while following the local crime spree of a raping serial killer.
Dir: Ken Wiederhorn
Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Disanti, Lauren Tewes
C-85 mins, CC,

Originally conceived and shot as a more straightforward thriller. Halfway through production, it was decided to embrace the then-current slasher genre and introduce more gore and violence.


5:30 AM -- MENTAL HOSPITAL (1953)
This short film focuses on a schizophrenic entering the Oklahoma State Hospital for treatment.
Dir: Layton Mabrey
BW-20 mins,