TCM Schedule for Saturday, November 20, 2021 -- What's On Tonight: Marilyn Monroe Double Feature

In the daylight hours, TCM has the usual Saturday matinee lineup of films and shorts. Then in prime time, we get a pair of films starring Marilyn Monroe, films that proved she was more than just a pretty face and curvy body. The films are Niagara (1953) and Bus Stop (1956). Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Lusty Men (1952)
1h 53m | Drama | TV-PG
A faded rodeo star mentors a younger rider but falls for his wife.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy

At the last rodeo, Jeff (Robert Mitchum) wears number 196 while Wes (Arthur Kennedy) has number 98, which is half of 196 - maybe a subtle way of saying that Jeff is twice the man Wes is.


8:00 AM -- Swing Shift Cinderella (1945)
7m | Animation
A crazed wolf abandons Little Red Riding Hood to go chase after Cinderella.
Director: Tex Avery (fred)
Cast: Frank Graham, Sara Berner, Billy Bletcher

The singing voice of Imogene Lynn is included with the reused section of Swing Shift Cinderella (1945) in Little Rural Riding Hood (1949).


8:09 AM -- It Looks Like Rain (1945)
9m | Short | TV-G
This takes a look at the tools and methods used to forecast the weather.
Director: Paul Burnford
Cast: John Nesbitt

Part of John Nesbitt's "Passing Parade" series of short films.


8:20 AM -- Shrines of Yucatan (1945)
9m | Documentary | TV-G
This short film takes the viewer to the Yucatán Peninsula on a visit to the structures built by the ancient Mayans at Chichén Itzá.
Cast: James A. Fitzpatrick


8:30 AM -- The Big Stampede (1932)
1h 3m | Western | TV-G
A new sheriff faces the rustlers who killed his predecessor.
Director: Tenny Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Noah Beery, Paul Hurst

The horse known as "Duke"--which was also John Wayne's nickname--appeared with him in six films: The Big Stampede (1932); Haunted Gold (1932); Ride Him, Cowboy (1932); The Telegraph Trail (1933); The Man from Monterey (1933); Somewhere in Sonora (1933).


9:30 AM -- Batman and Robin: Target - Robin! (1949)
16m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Batman and Robin fight to escape a criminal mastermind's deadly gas trap.
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.
Cast: Robert Lowery, Johnny Duncan, Jane Adams

An animated picture of Batman as played by Robert Lowery appears in the opening credits of The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976).


10:00 AM -- Hot Air Aces (1949)
6m | Animation | TV-PG
Popeye and Bluto compete in a big airplane race around the world with the fair Olive as the prize.
Director: Izzy Sparber
Cast: Jack Mercer, Jackson Beck, Mae Questel

Final Popeye cartoon produced in Polacolor.


10:08 AM -- Torchy Gets Her Man (1938)
1h 2m | Crime | TV-G
Female reporter Torchy Blane tries to crack a counterfeiting case.
Director: William Beaudine
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton Maclane, Tom Kennedy

The sixth of nine "Torchy Blane" films released by Warner Brothers from 1937 to 1939.


11:30 AM -- Seasoned Greetings (1933)
19m | Short | TV-PG
An innovative greeting card shop owner attempts to beat out neighboring competition by inventing talking greeting cards.
Director: Roy Mack
Cast: Sammy Davis Jr., George Haggerty, Lita Grey Chaplin

Film debut of Sammy Davis Jr. He's seven years old!


12:00 PM -- The Professionals (1966)
1h 57m | Western | TV-MA
A team of soldiers-for-hire is hired by an American businessman to rescue his kidnapped wife.
Director: Richard Brooks
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Richard Brooks, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Richard Brooks, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Conrad L. Hall

Despite the principal male actors being in their 50's (except for Lee Marvin, who was only 42), all of them insisted on performing their own stunts. However, only Woody Strode performed all of his stunts as there were no black stuntmen who came close to his height and stature. Burt Lancaster, who was 52 at the time, did most of his own stunts, including being hung upside down in Coyote Pass and running across the top of the moving train car. The studio balked, however, at Lancaster climbing the side of the cliff in the pass to plant the dynamite and a stuntman was substituted. Even though Palance was as tall as Strode, he had to use a stunt double for the scenes where he was wounded and fell off his horse, because falling the wrong way off a horse could lead to serious injuries.


2:15 PM -- Ride the High Country (1962)
1h 34m | Western | TV-PG
Two aging ex-lawmen, who've lived high and powerful, are reduced to guarding a gold shipment.
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Randolph Scott, Joel Mccrea, Mariette Hartley

Final film of Randolph Scott. He retired from acting once he saw the finished film, saying he wanted to quit while he was ahead and that he would never be able to better his work here.


4:00 PM -- Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
2h 6m | Comedy | TV-PG
A small-town songwriter tries to sell his work to a stranded singing star.
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston

Crooner Dino is played by Dean Martin, in a role where he essentially is playing himself. Dino is asked at one point in the film what he thinks of the new rock group The Beatles, and he replies in a derogatory manner, with the script imitating Martin's feelings about the band in real life. Dino is then told that they are the new sound and that Dino's sound is obsolete. Ironically, and in reality, soon after the filming of this movie began, Martin recorded his soon-to-be signature song, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime," which knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Days' Night" single from the Billboard #1 spot in August 1964, one month after filming wrapped on this movie. Martin therefore became the second easy-listening performer to achieve a #1 Billboard single after The Beatles arrived in America. The first was Louis Armstrong with "Hello, Dolly" in May 1964. Both did this by usurping the Beatles themselves from the top chart position.


6:15 PM -- King of Cool (2020)
The story of Dean Martin.
Director: Tom Donahue
Cast: Jerry Lewis, Bob Newhart, Angie Dickinson

His variety show contract was utterly remarkable in how little he was required to participate. He felt he performed better cold. He succeeded in reaching a new plateau on that one by only being contractually required to appear on the set during the taping. All guest stars, no matter how "big", were required to rehearse with stand-ins. As a result, Martin would often happily flub his lines, to the delight of his audience. More often than not, he'd leave the stage and be seen driving off the studio lot in his sports car before taping concluded.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- MARILYN MONROE DOUBLE FEATURE



8:00 PM -- Niagara (1953)
1h 32m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Honeymooners get mixed up with an obsessive husband and his cheating wife.
Director: Henry Hathaway
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters

First film for which Marilyn Monroe received top billing.


10:00 PM -- Bus Stop (1956)
1h 36m | Drama | TV-PG
An innocent cowboy kidnaps a small-time singer with whom he's infatuated.
Director: Joshua Logan
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray, Arthur O'connell

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Don Murray

Marilyn Monroe, who had seen and loved Kim Stanley's performance in the Broadway production of "Bus Stop", patterned her accent on Stanley's, as well as those accents she had heard during her own time in the South. Monroe worked diligently on the "hillbilly" twang, speaking quite differently than in her other movies, and subverted her natural singing talent to make it painfully clear that Chérie was not gifted in that department.


12:00 AM -- Johnny O'Clock (1947)
1h 35m | Crime | TV-PG
Gambling hall owners get mixed up with a cop on the take, leading to murder and mystery.
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb

The film's casino set was the most expensive set constructed in Hollywood since the end of the war. The set comprised 14 gaming rooms featuring $50,000 worth of Las Vegas gambling equipment that was shipped to Hollywood.


2:00 AM -- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)
3h | Western | TV-14
Three men seek hidden loot during the Civil War.
Director: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

Despite being frequently referred to as a sequel to For a Few Dollars More (1965), this movie was set during the American Civil War, whereas the former takes place afterwards, and while Lee Van Cleef played a villain here, who gets killed, he turns up in the other one as a very much alive good guy.


5:00 AM -- Randy Rides Alone (1934)
1h | Western | TV-G
An undercover agent searches for a murderous outlaw.
Director: Harry Fraser
Cast: John Wayne, Alberta Vaughn, George 'Gabby' Hayes

Though released in 1934 (at least 5-6 years after the first talkies), the film is shot very much like a silent movie. Some scenes are silent except for the random sound effect. Dialog seems kept to a minimum, and sound quality of dialog is generally very poor ( though this may be related to the quality of the specific print being shown by TCM). Camera moves are sometimes shaky and frame rate often makes movement jerky.