TCM Schedule for Friday, April 24, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Stanwyck / McMurray

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films directed by Gregory La Cava. He started as an animator for Walter Lantz, working on The Katzenjammer Kids. He became a director in silent film days, and eventually got two Oscar nominations for Best Director, for My Man Godfrey (1936) and Stage Door (1937). Then in prime time, we got a treat - a trio of films starring the powerhouse duo of Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray, starting with the classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- LAUGH AND GET RICH (1931)
A man drives his family wild with get-rich-quick schemes.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Edna May Oliver, Hugh Herbert, Dorothy Lee
BW-72 mins,

La Cava also created the screenplay for this film.


7:30 AM -- SMART WOMAN (1931)
A woman plots to make her cheating husband jealous.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Mary Astor, Robert Ames, John Halliday
BW-68 mins,CC,

This was the first film played at the famous Roxy Theater in New York City.


8:45 AM -- THE AGE OF CONSENT (1932)
College co-eds learns to handle the responsibilities of romance.
Dir: Gregory LaCava
Cast: Dorothy Wilson, Arline Judge, Richard Cromwell
BW-63 mins,CC,

The play, by Martin Flavin, opened in New York City, New York, USA, on 11 November 1929 and had 28 performances. In the cast were Sylvia Sidney, Franchot Tone and Dennie Moore.


10:00 AM -- SYMPHONY OF SIX MILLION (1932)
A doctor fights his way from the slums to Park Avenue.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Irene Dunne, Anna Appel
BW-95 mins,

Based on a story by Fannie Hurst.


11:30 AM -- BED OF ROSES (1933)
A girl from the wrong side of the tracks is torn between true love and a life of sin.
Dir: Gregory LaCava
Cast: Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, John Halliday
BW-67 mins,CC,

Same theme music is used in The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949).


12:45 PM -- THE HALF NAKED TRUTH (1933)
A carnival pitch man turns a sideshow dancer into an overnight sensation.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Lupe Velez, Lee Tracy, Eugene Pallette
BW-77 mins,CC,

In the original script, Achilles (Eugene Pallette) was more specifically referred to as a eunuch, but the MPAA, in a letter to producer David O. Selznick suggested that word, as well as a few more sexually-suggestive lines, be removed. Thus, there are two attempts at getting that point across - during registration at the hotel and when Achilles speaks to the maid and she asks if he's a "different" kind of Turk.


2:00 PM -- MY MAN GODFREY (1936)
A zany heiress tries to help a tramp by making him the family butler.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady
BW-94 mins,CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- William Powell, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Carole Lombard, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Mischa Auer, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Alice Brady, Best Director -- Gregory La Cava, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Eric Hatch and Morrie Ryskind

In production during the most volatile period in Universal's long history. The studio was reeling from the recent costly flop, Sutter's Gold (1936) and was banking heavily on the success of Show Boat (1936), which would experience production delays and cost Carl Laemmle his studio. Despite the relatively economical cost of Godfrey (under $700,000) it was released too late to benefit Laemmle and the new owners were able to capitalize on both it and Show Boat's revenues to finance a much cheaper and scaled back 1937 production roster. The "new" Universal wouldn't produce another true A-list film until 1939 (with Son of Frankenstein (1939) and Destry Rides Again (1939)) and would only survive by the singular popularity of its one major star, Deanna Durbin until the arrival of Abbott and Costello in 1941.


3:45 PM -- FIFTH AVENUE GIRL (1939)
To annoy his family, a millionaire hires an out-of-work girl to pose as a gold digger.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale
BW-83 mins,CC,

The original ending of the movie just had Mary Grey leaving the Borden House, walking down Fifth Avenue, but the sneak preview audience complained at what it considered an unhappy ending. So the ending was changed to its current form, which essentially made it more palatable.


5:15 PM -- PRIMROSE PATH (1940)
The youngest child in a family of prostitutes tries to go straight with a working man.
Dir: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea, Marjorie Rambeau
BW-93 mins,CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Marjorie Rambeau

The movie missed out on well-deserved Oscar nominations because of its risqué material, such as the clear themes of alcoholism and prostitution. It ran into trouble with the Hollywood censor boards in many scenes, which is why Ginger Rogers did not receive an Oscar nomination (which she should have done in many people's opinion). Nonetheless, Rogers did win the Oscar that year for a different film, Kitty Foyle (1940).


7:00 PM -- HOLLYWOOD WITHOUT MAKE-UP (1966)
In this special, Ken Murray hosts his own behind-the-scenes home movies of some of Hollywood's greatest stars.
Dir: Rudy Behlmer, Loring d'Usseau
Cast: Ken Murray, Eddie Albert, June Allyson
BW-50 mins,CC,

San Simeon's architect, the noted Julia Morgan is mis-identified as Hearst's secretary. This makes architects the world over cringe.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STANWYCK / MACMURRAY



8:00 PM -- DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client's death.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
BW-108 mins,CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Barbara Stanwyck, Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- John F. Seitz, Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Picture

Author James M. Cain later admitted that if he had come up with some of the solutions to the plot that screenwriters Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler did, he would have employed them in his original novel.


10:00 PM -- THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956)
When a toy manufacturer feels ignored and unappreciated by his wife and children, he begins to fall in love with a former employee.
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett
BW-84 mins,CC,Letterbox Format

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris named it as one of his 10 favorite films in the 2002 BFI Sight & Sound Poll.


11:45 PM -- THE MOONLIGHTER (1953)
A former jailbird makes good after the wrong man is accused for his crime.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Ward Bond
BW-78 mins,CC,

According to Ben Mankiewicz on TCM, Barbara Stanwyck did her own stunts during the waterfall scene, and despite becoming black and blue, never held up the production.


1:15 AM -- SCREEN DIRECTORS PLAYHOUSE: IT'S A MOST UNUSUAL DAY (1956)
A nightclub act prompts a married couple to review their past.
Dir: Claude Binyon
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Marilyn Erskine, Jimmy McHugh
BW-26 mins,

Singing the "Sunnyside of the Street" is Darla Hood, best known as for her roles in the Our Gang comedies of the 1930s.


2:00 AM -- SMITHEREENS (1982)
A talent-challenged girl tries to promote herself to stardom in New York's waning punk music world.
Dir: Susan Seidelman
Cast: Susan Berman, Brad Rijn, Richard Hell
C-93 mins,CC,

Production on this independent film got shut down for six months after actress Susan Berman had an accident on a fire escape whilst improvising a scene. Berman was doing an improvisation with one of her fellow actors in the film which involved her character being tossed and trapped on a fire escape, and responding quite frantically to the situation. In the midst of acting and struggling with the other actor in the scene to let her back inside, Berman fell off the fire escape and broke her leg. Production shut down for six months and the crew picked up shooting again in early 1981.


3:45 AM -- COOKIE (1989)
A paroled mobster hires his illegitimate daughter to work as his chauffeur.
Dir: Susan Seidelman
Cast: Peter Falk, Dianne Wiest, Emily Lloyd
C-93 mins,CC,

Lenore's apartment scenes were filmed in Sunnyside,NY. The apartment was converted from a existing dental office. The Dentist was paid a hefty price for the use of his office for a one month period. When the filming was over the distraught dentist claimed damages and said it wasn't worth the price to close his practice for the filming.


5:30 AM -- THE GOLDEN YEARS (1960)
In this instructional short film,bowling is made respectable and appealing to middle-class Americans through modernization and design.
BW-15 mins,


5:30 AM -- THE RELAXED WIFE (1957)
A short industrial film that seeks to help working men and their wives deal with life's little problems.
C-13 mins,

At the beginning and end of the film, it is mentioned that it is "presented by" the Roerig division of Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company. Later in the film, the definition of the Greek word "ataraxia" is given. It is no coincidence that Pfizer sold a prescription drug with the brand name Atarax (hydroxyzine). So, this "public service" film is actually a long commercial for their sedative (among other uses) Atarax.