TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 23, 2021 -- What's On Tonight: The Greatest Stories Ever Rolled

In the daylight hours, TCM is jumping the gun on October and giving us '40s Horror. Then in prime time, it's the last night of The Greatest Stories Ever Rolled. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- The Hidden Hand (1942)
1h 6m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
The body count rises during the competition for a family inheritance.
Director: Ben Stoloff
Cast: Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, Julie Bishop

As John Channing, the escapee from the insane asylum, this gave prolific character actor Milton Parsons a more substantial role than the usual bit parts he was usually limited to.


7:30 AM -- The Ghost Ship (1943)
1h 9m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A young innocent signs on with a ship whose captain is going mad.
Director: Mark Robson
Cast: Richard Dix, Russell Wade, Edith Barrett

Very shortly after its theatrical release in December of 1943, producer Val Lewton was sued for plagiarism by Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner, who claimed that Lewton based his script on a play which they had written and submitted to Lewton's office at the time "The Ghost Ship" was being developed. Although Lewton had the opportunity to settle out of court, he chose to have the case tried. Despite Lewton's claims that their manuscript was returned unread, the court ruled against Lewton and RKO (a decision upheld at appeal), and The Ghost Ship (1943) was withdrawn from circulation. It remained unavailable for viewing for the next 50 years until the copyright was not renewed and it fell into the public domain. RKO paid the authors $25,000 in damages and $5,000 for attorney fees and lost all rights to future income and the right to sell the film to television.


8:45 AM -- Isle of the Dead (1945)
1h 12m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
The inhabitants of a Balkans island under quarantine fear that one of their number is a vampire.
Director: Mark Robson
Cast: Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer

A vorvolakas (also vrykolakas) occurs in Greek folklore as an undead creature capable of causing harm to the living. Its characteristics are similar to many other characters of legend, but it is most closely associated with vampires. In Hollywood movies such as Dracula (1931), the word vampire is often translated to Greek as vrykolakas. However, traditional vorvolakas are not noted for blood-drinking.


10:00 AM -- The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
1h 50m | Drama | TV-G
A man remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin.
Director: Albert Lewin
Cast: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Harry Stradling Sr.

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Angela Lansbury, and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar and Hugh Hunt

Ivan Le Lorraine Albright's famous painting of the decayed Dorian Gray, which took approximately one year to complete, is now owned by the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has been on display for many years. Albright's twin brother Malvin, better known as a sculptor, was also commissioned to create a painting of the young Dorian for this movie, although his work went unused. The March 27, 1944, issue of Life Magazine included a story and photos of the brothers working on their paintings for this movie. Henrique Medina created the initial portrait of young Dorian that sets the story in motion.


12:00 PM -- Dead Men Walk (1943)
1h 3m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A small-town doctor's twin returns from the grave seeking vengeance.
Director: Sam Newfield
Cast: George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young

Dwight Frye, who plays Zolarr in this film, has the distinction of being one of 2 actors to appear in the original Frankenstein and the original Dracula, both released in 1931. Edward Van Sloan was the other. He later played roles in several of Universal's horror sequels, including The Bride of Frankenstein and The Ghost of Frankenstein.


1:15 PM -- Scared to Death (1947)
1h 4m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
A beautiful murder victim recalls how she met her untimely end.
Director: Christy Cabanne
Cast: Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton

The only color film to star Bela Lugosi (he appeared in a 1930 Technicolor film, Viennese Nights (1930), but did not star in it). The only other color footage of the actor is in a wartime short in which he can be seen giving blood for the war effort.


2:30 PM -- Bedlam (1946)
1h 19m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
When an actress tries to reform an asylum, its corrupt keeper has her committed.
Director: Mark Robson
Cast: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House

The dress Anna Lee is wearing as she mounts her horse is the one Vivien Leigh made from the curtains in Gone with the Wind (1939).


4:00 PM -- The Mysterious Doctor (1943)
57m | War | TV-PG
Nazi agents use a headless ghost as a front.
Director: Ben Stoloff
Cast: John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester


5:00 PM -- Cat People (1942)
1h 11m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
A newlywed fears that an ancient curse will turn her into a bloodthirsty beast.
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph

The horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless and benign became known as a "Lewton bus" after a famous scene in this movie created by producer Val Lewton. The technique is also referred to as a "cat scare," as off-screen noises are often revealed to be a startled harmless cat.


6:30 PM -- The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
1h 10m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
A child explores her late mother's life and discovers her maternal bloodline is cursed.
Director: Gunther V. Fritsch
Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph

Although this sequel to Cat People (1942) is said to have nothing to do with the original film, in reality it is a continuation in the sense that the same actors (Kent Smith & Jane Randolph) play the same characters (Oliver Reed & Alice Moore) who fell in love at the end of the previous film. They are here married and have a daughter. Also, Irina (Simone Simon), who was the first Mrs. Reed, plays a prominent part in this story. However, this film has nothing whatsoever to do with the "cat people" of the original movie, nor with any curse.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- THE GREATEST STORY EVER ROLLED



8:00 PM -- Rollerball (1975)
2h 9m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-14
The star of a bloodthirsty future sport tries to clean up the game before it kills him.
Director: Norman Jewison
Cast: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams

The game sequences were filmed in the Olympic Basketball Arena in Munich, West Germany. Munich citizens were invited to the filming to serve as spectators to the games. Director Norman Jewison intended this movie to be anti-violence, but audiences so loved the action of the game that there was actually talk about forming rollerball leagues in the wake of this movie, which horrified him.


10:15 PM -- Kansas City Bomber (1972)
1h 39m | Action | TV-14
A roller-derby queen fights off jealous rivals and amorous men.
Director: Jerrold Freedman
Cast: Raquel Welch, Kevin McCarthy, Helena Kallianiotes

Judy Arnold, women's Captain of the Philadelphia Warriors Roller Games team, doubled for Raquel Welch in the skating sequences. She also has a small speaking role in a dressing room scene. She had to wear a long wig for the skating scenes, covering her short blonde hair.


12:15 AM -- Roller Boogie (1979)
1h 43m | Musical | TV-PG
When her favorite roller disco is threatened with closing, a girl organizes the skaters to save it.
Director: Mark L. Lester
Cast: Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland

This movie is listed among the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie® Movie Guide.


2:15 AM -- Solarbabies (1986)
1h 34m | Sci-Fi | TV-14
A group of incarcerated young athletes find their dismal lives changed when a benevolent force from another planet encourages them to escape.
Director: Alan Johnson
Cast: Richard Jordan, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas

The later film Tank Girl (1995) has an almost similar plot to this film. In that film, Rebecca "Tank Girl" Buck sets out to fight back against the evil corporation that has taken over the world and is controlling the planet's water supply.


4:00 AM -- No Blade of Grass (1970)
1h 37m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-MA
A family tries to escape an environmental holocaust.
Director: Cornel Wilde
Cast: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill

According to Cornel Wilde , the childbirth scene was real. It was done through the arrangements of a pregnant mother and her husband. Filming the moment took place in a nearby hospital and the props and wardrobe were properly sterilized. All expenses for the production of the scene went to the mother and Cornel Wilde delighted the couple by giving them a 16mm copy of the sequence.