TCM Schedule for Thursday, August 12, 2021 -- Summer Under the Stars: Ramon Novarro

Today's Star is another one of those lesser known names (well, outside the DU Classic Films group anyway), Ramon Novarro. From his IMDB mini-bio:

Ramon Novarro was born José Ramón Gil Samaniego on February 6, 1899 in Durango, Mexico, to Leonor (Gavilan) and Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego Siqueiros, a prosperous dentist. Ramon and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1913, as refugees from the Mexican Revolution. After stints as a ballet dancer, piano teacher and singing waiter, he became a film extra in 1917.

For five years he remained an extra until director Rex Ingram cast him as Rupert in The Prisoner of Zenda (1922). He was cast with Lewis Stone and Ingram's wife, Alice Terry (Ingram was also the person who suggested that he change his name to Novarro). He worked with Ingram in his next four films and was again teamed with Terry in the successful Scaramouche (1923). Novarro's rising popularity among female moviegoers resulted in his being billed as the "New Valentino". In 1925 he appeared in his most famous role, as the title character in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), and later co-starred with Norma Shearer in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927).

His first talking picture was Call of the Flesh (1930), where he sang and danced the tango. He continued to appear in musicals, but his popularity was slipping. He starred with Greta Garbo in the successful Mata Hari (1931), but his career began to fade fast. In 1935 he left MGM and appeared on Broadway in a show that quickly flopped. His later career, when he was able to find work in films, consisted mostly of cameos. On October 30th, 1968, Ramon Novarro was savagely beaten in his North Hollywood home by two young hustlers. They had heard - in error - that he had thousands of dollars locked away somewhere in his home. They never found any money, and Ramon was discovered dead the next day by his servant.

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Devil-May-Care (1929)
1h 37m | Romance | TV-G
A fugitive falls for the woman who turned him in.
Director: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, Marion Harris

The two-color Technicolor finale was shot on August 7, 1929, with 187 background actors employed.


8:00 AM -- The Pagan (1929)
1h 38m | Romance | TV-PG
A South Seas native falls for a white woman.
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Renée Adorée, Donald Crisp

"Produced and photographed in the Paumotu Islands of the South Seas." The name Paumotu islands is likely taken from the Tuamotus, which are part of French Polynesia.


9:30 AM -- Call of the Flesh (1930)
1h 40m | Musical | TV-G
A Latin lover fights for the heart of a beautiful convent girl.
Director: Charles Brabin
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, Ernest Torrence

Renée Adorée was ill with tuberculosis during filming, and the strenuous nature of filming aggravated her condition so much that she suffered hemorrhaging twice on set, almost shutting down production. This would be her last film before she passed in 1933.


11:30 AM -- Daybreak (1931)
1h 25m | Romance | TV-G
An Austrian nobleman falls in love with a commoner.
Director: Jacques Feyder
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Helen Chandler, Jean Hersholt

The role of Willi Kasda (eventually played by Novarro) in this film was originally meant for John Gilbert.


1:00 PM -- Mata Hari (1931)
1h 30m | Romance | TV-PG
Romantic biography of World War I's notorious lady spy.
Director: George Fitzmaurice
Cast: Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore

Ramon Novarro wears internal lifts in his boots so that the difference in height between himself and Greta Garbo was increased on screen.


2:45 PM -- The Barbarian (1933)
1h 7m | Romance | TV-PG
An Arab prince masquerades as a tour guide to court a beautiful American.
Director: Sam Wood
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Myrna Loy, Reginald Denny

The production was interrupted by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that hit the Los Angeles area on the afternoon of March 10, 1933. My dad told me stories of that earthquake, of standing in a doorway talking to his mother and bouncing back and forth between the two rooms.


4:15 PM -- The Cat and the Fiddle (1934)
1h 28m | Musical | TV-G
A struggling composer courts a singing star.
Director: William K. Howard
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Jeanette MacDonald, Frank Morgan

This movie was rejected for re-release certification because the leading characters were in an illicit sexual relationship without any compensating moral values.


6:00 PM -- The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
1h 46m | Silent | TV-G
In this silent film, a young prince attending college falls for a barmaid below his station.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer, Jean Hersholt

Director Ernst Lubitsch, who was a stickler for accuracy, had 32 trunks of costumes shipped from Europe, and then he went to Germany with a second unit crew to film establishing shots. None of that footage made it into the final film. This inflated the film's budget greatly and infuriated MGM production chief Irving Thalberg.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS -- RAMON NOVARRO



8:00 PM -- Ben-Hur (1925)
2h 13m | Silent | TV-G
A rebellious Israelite prince out for vengeance crosses paths with the Messiah.
Director: Fred Niblo
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy

When actor George Walsh was cast to play the title role in the Goldwyn production of Ben-Hur, Ramon Novarro was devastated. He wanted to play the part so much he could taste it. But when the studios of Metro, Goldwyn, and Mayer merged and Ben-Hur's director, screenwriter, and Walsh himself were sent packing, Ramon didn't allow himself the luxury of thinking he had a second chance. That all changed one Sunday afternoon in June when MGM production chief Irving Thalberg called Novarro at his home. He told the actor he had something important to discuss with him and asked that he report to the studio immediately. There, asked the 25-year-old actor if he would like to play Ben-Hur. But Thalberg had one request, that Novarro make a screen test. Putting his entire future on the line, Ramon refused. When the shocked Thalberg demanded to know why, Ramon said he assumed Thalberg was concerned about his physique and explained that his body was in good shape. If he had any doubts, all he had to do was screen his recent film, Where the Pavement Ends (1933), because Ramon is half-naked through most of it. Thalberg smiled and agreed, respecting Ramon's bluntness and honesty. Novarro was on top of the world. His dream was at last coming true; the role of a lifetime belong to him.


10:45 PM -- Scaramouche (1923)
2h 11m | Silent | TV-G
A French rebel masquerades as a clown so that he can avenge his friend's murder.
Director: Rex Ingram
Cast: Lloyd Ingraham, Alice Terry, Ramon Novarro

An army of workmen built a whole French village that covered 60 acres and was faithfully reproduced down to cobblestone streets and shop windows filled with actual wares. Hundreds of thousands of yards of muslin, satin, brocade and velvet were required in the making of the gorgeous costumes worn by the cast.


1:00 AM -- The Red Lily (1924)
1h 21m | Silent | TV-G
In this silent film, a chance separation throws young lovers into the dregs of society.
Director: Fred Niblo
Cast: Enid Bennett, Ramon Novarro, Wallace Beery

Alternate versions: In 2005, Turner Entertainment Company copyrighted an 81-minute version with a musical score by H. Scott Salinas. It was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies in 2006.


2:30 AM -- The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
1h 53m | Silent | TV-G
In this silent film, a vacationing Englishman steps in for the kidnapped king of a small European kingdom.
Director: Rex Ingram
Cast: Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson

The TCM print is principally derived from the UK re-release, in which Ramon Novarro, who had by that time become a major player as a result of his work in this film, in the supporting role of Rupert of Hentzau, was now given first billing above that of the originally top billed Lewis Stone, who plays the title role.


4:30 AM -- Across to Singapore (1928)
1h 26m | Silent | TV-PG
In this silent film, sailor brothers become romantic rivals.
Director: William Nigh
Cast: Ramon Novarro, Joan Crawford, Ernest Torrence

Based on the novel All The Brothers Were Valiant by Ben Ames Williams, this was also filmed in 1923 and 1953, using the name of the novel as the name of the film.