TCM Schedule for Friday, March 26, 2021 -- What's On Tonight: Starring Danny Glover

In the daylight hours, TCM is just Monkeying Around. Then in prime time, TCM is showing films starring Danny Glover. It's not his birthday, but he's one of those great, understated actors who never gets enough recognition. Aside from his four Emmy nominations, of course.... Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932)
1h 39m | Adventure | TV-G
A British lord raised by apes kidnaps a beautiful noblewoman exploring Africa with her father.
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith

In a television interview, Johnny Weissmuller said that he initially tested for the Tarzan role as a way of seeing friend Clark Gable. After running, jumping, and swinging on a vine, he was offered the part, but he refused to change his name when a studio exec suggested it. He had never heard of Weissmuller. A second exec told him Johnny was an Olympic swimming champion, so he suggested they could "put some swimming in it". Thus, one of Tarzan's primary traits was added as an afterthought by a studio head who didn't know he had the world's greatest swimmer as his star.


8:00 AM -- Gildersleeve's Ghost (1944)
1h 3m | Comedy | TV-G
Two ghosts help a small-town eccentric run for mayor.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Harold Peary, Marion Martin, Richard Legrand

The epitaph for each ghost reads: Jonathan Q. Gildersleeve 1851-1892 "Here was a man with a sense of humor, We're glad to have him as a roomer." Randolph Q. Gildersleeve 1790-1857 "This man has crossed to the other shore, He thought he could laugh at his mother-in-law."


9:15 AM -- The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)
1h 6m | Comedy | TV-G
The Bowery Boys battle a family of mad scientists.
Director: Edward Bernds
Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey

In most scenes, gorilla veteran Steve Calvert played both the ape and the robot, but for scenes in which both appear, Norman Bishop donned the robot costume.


10:30 AM -- Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)
1h 24m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-14
A mad scientist uses an ape to murder his enemies.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina

The famous "gorilla performer" Charles Gemora, who plays the gorilla, also played the gorilla in the original Universal version Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).


12:00 PM -- The Gorilla (1939)
59m | Comedy | TV-G
Three screwball detectives try to protect a lawyer from a murderous gorilla.
Director: Allan Dwan
Cast: Jimmy Ritz, Harry Ritz, Al Ritz

Filming was scheduled to start on January 30, 1939, but the death of the Ritz Brothers' father caused a delay of nearly a month. 20th Century-Fox brought a $150,000 breach-of-contract lawsuit against the brothers when they didn't show. This ended their relationship with the studio.


1:15 PM -- The Gorilla Man (1942)
1h 4m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A wounded soldier discovers his hospital is secretly run by the Nazis.
Director: D. Ross Lederman
Cast: John Loder, Ruth Ford, Marian Hall

This breezy, hour-long 1942 movie sports a wildly misleading title. It's not a thriller or horror movie at all, but rather a spy film.


2:30 PM -- At the Circus (1939)
1h 27m | Comedy | TV-G
The Marx Bros. team up to keep a circus from going bankrupt.
Director: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx

Groucho Marx was fond of recounting how the original owner of the "gorilla skin" used in the film was so incensed when the stunt man wearing it poked ventilation holes in it with an ice pick that he took his suit and walked off the picture, forcing the producers to hastily rent an orangutan skin as a replacement. For this reason, Groucho claimed, the gorilla gets bigger and smaller from shot to shot. The man in the gorilla suit is in fact Charles Gemora, well-known movie sculptor and gorilla artist, wearing his own custom-made suit.


4:30 PM -- Mighty Joe Young (1949)
1h 34m | Drama | TV-G
Showmen try to exploit a giant ape raised by an orphan.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong

Winner of an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects

One of the few films to ever feature a real gorilla. An infant gorilla was filmed in Africa to be used as Joe when he was a baby in the beginning of the film.


6:15 PM -- King Kong (1933)
1h 40m | Adventure | TV-PG
A film crew discovers a giant prehistoric ape, and brings him back to New York, where he wreaks havoc.
Director: Merian C. Cooper
Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

The protagonist is referred to as "Kong" throughout the movie. Denham even says it will be up in lights on Broadway as "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World". The next scene is dominated by a marquee that says "King Kong"; in one of his final acts as RKO's production chief, David Sleznick changed the title of film after the dialog had been recorded. This is the only reference to "King" Kong in the entire movie.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- STARRING DANNY GLOVER



8:00 PM -- Places In The Heart (1984)
1h 51m | Drama
A farmer's widow fights to keep her land during the Depression.
Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Sally Field, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Sally Field, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Robert Benton

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Malkovich, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lindsay Crouse, Best Director -- Robert Benton, Best Costume Design -- Ann Roth, and Best Picture

Danny Glover's first film lead role.


10:00 PM -- To Sleep with Anger (1990)
1h 41m | Drama | TV-PG
A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.
Director: Charles Burnett
Cast: Paul Butler, Devaughn Nixon, Mary Alice

Won four Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay for Charles Burnett, Best Male Lead for Danny Glover, and Best Supporting Female for Sheryl Lee Ralph. Burnett also won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay and the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.


12:00 AM -- Angels in the Outfield (1994)
1h 45m | Comedy, Family, Fantasy | TV-PG
A foster child believes that his luck will change if his beloved California Angels can win the pennant.
Director: William Dear
Cast: Danny Glover, Tony Danza, Brenda Fricker

Two of the actors who played Angels players, Adrien Brody and Matthew McConaughey, would go on to win Academy Awards for Best Actor.


2:00 AM -- Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
1h 24m | Horror
Someone with a power drill shows up uninvited to Trish's high-school pajama party.
Director: Amy Holden Jones
Cast: Michelle Michaels, Robin Stille, Michael Villela

Rita Mae Brown wrote a screenplay for a parody of teen/slasher flicks, and titled it "Sleepless Nights". However, when she submitted it to the producers, they filmed it as if it weren't a parody, and retitled it "Slumber Party Massacre". As a result, the movie displays a lot more humor, both intended and unintended, than others of this genre.


3:30 AM -- Near Dark (1987)
1h 35m | Horror/Science-Fiction
A young man reluctantly joins a travelling "family" of evil vampires because the girl he had seduced is a part of the group.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen

Future husband James Cameron suggested to Bigelow that she use the ready-made ensemble cast from his recent hit Aliens (1986), and thus Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein all appear in Bigelow's film. Michael Biehn had also appeared in Aliens and was considered, but declined to participate.


5:15 AM -- Living Stereo (1958)
7m | Short, Documentary | TV-G
The RCA Victor company explains one of their innovations, the stereophonic phonograph record.
Cast: Bob Banks


5:30 AM -- Summer of '63 (1963)
20m | TV-PG
Teens on the make spread syphilis among their friends.
Cast: Michael Bell, Mory Schoolhouse, Dolores Faith

The original movie V.D. from 1961 was incorporated into this film as a flashback from the original character Monk, who is now a doctor.