TCM Schedule for Saturday, September 11, 2021 -- Let's Play Guess the Theme!

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in primetime, TCM has not listed the theme for the night, undoubtedly a typo in their Now Playing document. So let's play a game -- what theme would connect To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Hustler (1961), and Drive a Crooked Road (1954)? Inquiring minds want to know! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Twenty Plus Two (1961)
1h 42m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
When a Hollywood secretary is found murdered, a detective is hired to investigate the murder.
Director: Joseph M. Newman
Cast: David Janssen, Jeanne Crain, Dina Merrill

The late Turner Classic Movie host Robert Osborne has a bit as the drunken sailor with dance tickets.


8:00 AM -- Field and Scream (1955)
7m | Animation
A man tries to have a peaceful day of fishing, but when that does not go right he decides to give hunting a try.
Director: Tex Avery
Cast: Tex Avery, Gilman Rankin

The score for this cartoon was featured on the audio CD "Tom & Jerry & Tex Avery Too!".


8:08 AM -- The Grand Dame (1931)
8m | Comedy | TV-G
A gangster's moll attempts to break into high society in this comedic short.
Director: Arthur Hurley
Cast: Donald Kirke, Patsy Kelly, Matt Mchugh

The first confirmed and credited film role by actress Patsy Kelly.


8:17 AM -- Glimpses of Florida (1941)
9m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer to several cities in the state of Florida.
Director: James A. Fitzpatrick
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:27 AM -- Central Park (1932)
58m | Comedy | TV-G
Small-town kids out to make it in the big city inadvertently get mixed up with gangsters.
Director: John G. Adolfi
Cast: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee

The $2.00 that Rick makes for washing the police motorcycles would be worth nearly $35.00 in 2015.


9:30 AM -- Batman: Embers of Evil (1943)
14m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
The Caped Crusader battles a Japanese scientist turning people into zombies.
Director: Lambert Hillyer
Cast: Lewis Wilson, Douglas Croft, J. Carrol Naish

Charles Middleton, who played prospector Ken Colton, was best known for his role as Emperor Ming the Merciless in three movies about Flash Gordon, based on a comic strip.


10:00 AM -- Spinach vs. Hamburgers (1948)
6m | Animation | TV-PG
Popeye's kids decide they like hamburgers better than spinach and proceed to turn the tables on him and Olive Oyl.
Director: Seymour Keitel
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

First Popeye cartoon since 1943 to feature Popeye's nephews.


10:08 AM -- The Case of the Howling Dog (1934)
1h 14m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Perry Mason gets caught between feuding neighbors who claim to be married to the same woman.
Director: Alan Crosland
Cast: Warren William, Mary Astor, Allen Jenkins

First time the character Perry Mason ever appeared on film, and the first of four films starring Warren William as Mason.


11:30 AM -- Know Your Money (1940)
21m | Short | TV-PG
This short tells the story of a bill counterfeiting ring.
Director: Joe Newman
Cast: Noel Madison, Dennis Moore, Charles D. Brown

The short announces that this is the first time the Secret Service has permitted reproductions of paper currency onscreen. While this may be technically true, actual greenbacks were often used in silent films before such usage was forbidden.


12:00 PM -- The Naked City (1948)
1h 36m | Crime | TV-14
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Director: Jules Dassin
Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - William H. Daniels, and Best Film Editing -- Paul Weatherwax

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Malvin Wald

Most of the street scenes were shot on location in New York without the public's knowledge. Photographer William H. Daniels and his uncredited assistant Roy Tripp filmed people on the streets using a hidden camera from the back of an old moving van. Occasionally, a fake newsstand with a hidden camera inside was also set up on the sidewalk to secretly film the actors. Director Jules Dassin hired a juggler to distract the crowds and also hired a man to occasionally climb up on a light post and give a patriotic speech, while waving an American flag to get the crowd's attention.


1:45 PM -- Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
1h 36m | Drama | TV-PG
A crooked press agent stoops to new depths to help an egotistical columnist break up his sister's romance.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison

The character of J.J. Hunsecker is based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell.


3:30 PM -- West Side Story (1961)
2h 35m | Musical | TV-PG
A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love.
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Chakiris, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Rita Moreno, Best Director -- Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins (For the first time a directing award is being shared.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Boris Leven and Victor A. Gangelin, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, Best Sound -- Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD) and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Film Editing -- Thomas Stanford, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Lehman

Rita Moreno went on Jack Benny to promote West Side Story in 1961. Jack Benny said he liked the movie but one thing that really bugged him was at the ending, Tony is dying, he's just been shot, and instead of helping him or getting a doctor Maria just stands there singing to him. "Well we tried that scene with a doctor, but he couldn't sing, so we cut it out", Rita quipped.


6:15 PM -- The Producers (1967)
1h 28m | Comedy | TV-14
A Broadway producer decides to get rich by creating the biggest flop of his career.
Director: Mel Brooks
Cast: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Mel Brooks

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Gene Wilder

It was originally going to be called Springtime For Hitler, but Mel ran into all sorts of problems with the film studio so he opted for The Producers.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- LET'S PLAY GUESS THE THEME!



8:00 PM -- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-PG
A young girl grows up fast when her lawyer father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Horton Foote (Horton Foote was not present at the awards ceremony. Alan J. Pakula, the film's producer, accepted the award on his behalf.), and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead and Oliver Emert

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Mary Badham, Best Director -- Robert Mulligan, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Russell Harlan, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original -- Elmer Bernstein, and Best Picture

Gregory Peck stated in subsequent interviews that he believed what won him the Academy Award was the scene where he quietly walks out of the courthouse after losing the case, while the upper gallery stands in silent respect, and the reverend says, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."


10:30 PM -- The Hustler (1961)
2h 14m | Drama | TV-PG
A pool shark falls into the clutches of a crooked gambler.
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Eugen Schüfftan, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Harry Horner and Gene Callahan

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Piper Laurie, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jackie Gleason, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George C. Scott (Refused even to be nominated.), Best Director -- Robert Rossen, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen, and Best Picture

Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.


1:00 AM -- Drive a Crooked Road (1954)
1h 23m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
A mechanic gets caught up with the mob when he falls for a gangster's girlfriend.
Director: Richard Quine
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin Mccarthy

Same story line as the Ernest Hemingway 1946 Burt Lancaster/Ava Gardner movie, The Killers which was remade with John Cassavettes, Angie Dickinson, and Ronald Reagan in 1964.


2:45 AM -- The Last Picture Show (1971)
1h 58m | Drama | TV-MA
Changing times take their toll on high schoolers growing up in a small Western town.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Ben Johnson, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Cloris Leachman

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jeff Bridges, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Ellen Burstyn, Best Director -- Peter Bogdanovich, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, and Best Picture

The original novel by Larry McMurtry actually included a scene where the young men let one of them have sex with a heifer (a cow that hasn't yet borne calves). According to director/screenwriter Peter Bogdanovich, this scene made it into early drafts of the script, but after a discussion with his former mentor Orson Welles, he re-wrote it so that the boys consider a heifer, but then choose to go to a very obese prostitute instead.


5:00 AM -- Hollywood My Hometown (1965)
52m | Documentary | TV-G
In this special, Ken Murray hosts his own behind-the-scenes home movies of some of Hollywood stars.
Director: William Martin
Cast: Ken Murray

Footage of Jayne Mansfield shows her with her husband, Mickey Hargitay, and the youngest of their three children, Mariska Hargitay.