TCM Schedule for Thursday, March 12, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Reginald Denny

Last edited Mon Mar 23, 2020, 06:36 PM - Edit history (1)

In the daylight hours, TCM is honoring heartthrob Troy Donohue, born as Merle Johnson, Jr. It's not his birthday, but there's still an interesting selection of his films from his teen idol days. Then in prime time, TCM has seven films featuring actor Reginald Denny. An interesting fact about him, from IMDB:

Sometime in the early 1930s, Denny was between scenes on a movie set when he met a neighborhood boy who was trying to fly a bulky gas-powered model plane. When he tried to help by making an adjustment on the machine, Denny succeeded only in wrecking it. But this launched his infatuation with model aviation, and his new hobby grew into Reginald Denny Industries, maker of model plane kits.

When the U.S. Army began hunting for a better and safer way to train anti-aircraft gunners than using targets towed by piloted planes, Denny and his associates Walter Righter and Paul Whittier began work on a radio-controlled target drone, and their third prototype won them an Army contract. Radioplane was formed in 1940, and during WWII produced nearly 15,000 target drones (the RP-5A) for the Army. Radioplane was later purchased by Northrop in 1952.

Enjoy!



6:30 AM -- POLO JOE (1936)
A young man has to learn polo fast to impress his girlfriend.
Dir: William McGann
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Carol Hughes, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher
BW-64 mins, CC,

This film is referenced in Gold Diggrs of 1937 (1936), on a message board at the train station.


7:45 AM -- SIT TIGHT (1931)
A young man goes into the wrestling ring to win a pretty lady trainer.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Winnie Lightner, Joe E. Brown, Paul Gregory
BW-76 mins,

Sets and costumes left over from Kismet (1930) were used in the Arabian Nights style dream sequence of this film.


9:15 AM -- A SUMMER PLACE (1959)
An adulterous couple discovers that their children are sexually involved.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Richard Egan, Dorothy McGuire, Sandra Dee
C-130 mins, CC,

The movie is set on an island off Maine, but was actually filmed in California, near Carmel. Troy Donohue, at the height of his fame, was frequently mobbed, and the little town was overrun with young star-struck girls.


11:30 AM -- PARRISH (1961)
When his mother marries into the tobacco business, a young man struggles to find himself.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden
C-138 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The tobacco being grown in this film is called Connecticut Shade tobacco. First planted around 1900, at its height over 20,000 acres were planted. As of 2018, around 2,000 acres are being cultivated yearly. The leaf is highly prized by premium cigar makers for use as the outer layer, or wrapper, for their products.


2:00 PM -- SUSAN SLADE (1961)
A pregnant teen allows her mother to pass the baby off as her own.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Dorothy McGuire
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

In the scene where Susan rides her birthday horse, Chulo, for the first time, there was a cameo by champion stud Captain Topper, a Shetland pony born in 1956. He was adjudged the greatest model stallion at the National Congress Pony Show in 1958 and 1959, and won 17 championships and 40 blue ribbons. Captain Topper was purchased for $6000 by Miss Patricia Burton of Detroit, who operated a stud farm on the Monterey peninsula.


4:00 PM -- A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964)
A recent West Point graduate starts to fall for his commanding officer's wife.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette, Diane McBain
BW-117 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

This was the final film directed by Raoul Walsh before his death on December 31, 1980 at the age of 93.


6:00 PM -- MY BLOOD RUNS COLD (1965)
A headstrong heiress falls for a young man who claims they are reincarnations of past lovers.
Dir: William Conrad
Cast: Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton, Barry Sullivan
BW-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The movie's title is taken from the second line in the second verse of Lord Byron's "And Wilt Thou Weep When I am Low?" The verse is shown on-screen and voiced (by director William Conrad) in a prologue. Both incorrectly say "My blood runs cold...." instead of "coldly". The reason for this is to fit the title of the movie. "My Blood Runs Coldly" wouldn't sound as good for a movie title.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: REGINALD DENNY



8:00 PM -- PRIVATE LIVES (1931)
A divorced couple rekindles the spark after landing in adjoining honeymoon suites with new mates.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Reginald Denny
BW-84 mins, CC,

Irving Thalberg, the film's producer and husband of the film's female star, Norma Shearer, had a camera crew film the first act of the play in New York with Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence so the cast of the film could see the timing for laughs. This film is unfortunately not known to have survived.


9:45 PM -- MADAME SATAN (1930)
A socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband.
Dir: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny, Lillian Roth
BW-116 mins, CC,

As things begin to go awry on board, one of the crew comments " Remember the the Shenandoah". This refers to the tragic crash in a sudden thunderstorm of the USS Shenandoah airship on Sept 3rd, 1925 in southeastern Ohio, which would have been a widely known event.


11:48 PM -- SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A HOUSE (1948)
In this comedic short film, Joe McDoakes is evicted from his apartment and must find a new home. Vitaphone Release 1606A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Donald Kerr, Howard Mitchell
BW-11 mins,

Fourteenth of 62 So You Want To ... films, featuring George O'Hanlon. Today O'Hanlon is better remembered as the voice of George Jetson, from the cartoon series The Jetsons.


12:00 AM -- MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948)
A New York businessman's dream of a country home is shattered when he buys a tumbledown rural shack.
Dir: H. C. Potter
Cast: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas
BW-94 mins, CC,

Although this film was from the novel of the same name, much of the story is autobiographical. Eric Hodgins and his wife built the actual house in the rural Litchfield County, Connecticut town of New Milford. Located in the bucolic Merryall section of town, the house recently sold for $1.2 million.


2:00 AM -- THE BARBARIAN (1933)
An Arab prince masquerades as a tour guide to court a beautiful American.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Myrna Loy, Reginald Denny
BW-83 mins, CC,

Myrna Loy wrote in her autobiography that she was wearing a flesh-tinted body suit in the supposed nude scene.


3:30 AM -- THE LOST PATROL (1934)
A British army troop fights off Arab snipers while holed up in an oasis.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford
BW-72 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Max Steiner (head of department), score by Max Steiner

Victor McLaglen, who plays The Sergeant, is the brother of Cyril McLaglen, who played The Sergeant in the earlier (Lost Patrol (1929)) version of this film.


4:45 AM -- BULLDOG DRUMMOND COMES BACK (1937)
An old enemy kidnaps Bulldog Drummond¿s fiancée.
Dir: Louis King
Cast: John Barrymore, John Howard, Louise Campbell
BW-59 mins, CC,

John Barrymore was recruited for the role of Colonel Nielson after Sir Guy Standing, who played him in the first film in the series, died. Barrymore received top billing for this and two more films in Paramount's Drummond series. H.B. Warner succeeded Barrymore as Nielson in the final four films of the series.


5:45 AM -- STRANGE JUSTICE (1932)
A crooked banker and his assistant devise a scheme to frame an ex-con for their crime.
Dir: Victor Schertzinger
Cast: Marian Marsh, Reginald Denny, Richard Bennett
BW-64 mins, CC,

The handwriting machine in Judson's office at the bank is a telautograph machine. Later known as a telewriter, it was invented in 1888 by Elisha Gray, the man who lost the telephone patent to Alexander Graham Bell.