TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 25, 2021 -- What's On Tonight: Family Comedies

Throughout the day and evening, TCM is giving us family comedies, after a brief diversion with Errol Flynn as General Custer in They Died with Their Boots On (1941). At 10:00 PM, you'll have the chance to see the original Cheaper By the Dozen (1950). It's based on a real-life story of the Gilbreath family from the 1910s and 1920s, with twelve kids and a mom and dad who invented the science of motion study. Enjoy and have a Happy Turkey Day!


6:00 AM -- They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
2h 18m | Western | TV-PG
Romanticized biography of General George Armstrong Custer and his last stand.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Arthur Kennedy

To die with your boots in the 19th century meant to die a violent death. It referred to the deaths of cowboys and others in the American West who were killed in gun battles or hanged. It was a derogatory term. As Doc Holiday lay dying, he looked at his bootless feet. His last words were, "This is funny." He expected that he would die in a gunfight, or maybe he preferred to die in battle. Today the term is not so derogatory as in the past. The implication is to die while living life as usual, and not of old age and being bedridden with illness, infirmity, etc.


8:30 AM -- Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)
1h 41m | Comedy | TV-G
On the verge of graduation, a high-school boy decides he needs a social secretary.
Director: George B. Seitz
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Fay Holden

Film debut of Kathryn Grayson.


10:30 AM -- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
1h 20m | Comedy | TV-G
A frantic radio producer must find the perfect Little Miss America for an advertiser's national program.
Director: Allan Dwan
Cast: Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, Jack Haley

Bill Robinson visited Shirley Temple at an exclusive and restricted hotel to rehearse the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" number for this film. Temple later recalled, "I asked Bill what cottage he was staying in. He told me, 'I'm staying in the chauffeur quarters above the garage.' It wasn't until years later that I understood why."


12:00 PM -- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
1h 57m | Comedy | TV-G
A young boy plays matchmaker for his widowed father.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Ron Howard

Appearing in "Courtship of Eddie's Father" in his film debut in the uncredited role of Child at Party in Indian headdress is Ron Howard's (Eddie) younger brother, Clint Howard. This marks the beginning of a career for Clint punctuated by appearing in film and television work that also involves his brother Ron. Ron and Clint's father Rance Howard also appears in this film, in an uncredited role as a camp counselor.


2:15 PM -- Room for One More (1952)
1h 38m | Comedy | TV-G
New Jersey couple Anna and Poppy Rose adopt several kids born into less fortunate circumstances.
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Lurene Tuttle

The Pledge of Allegiance given in the movie is the official version approved on June 22, 1942. An attorney from Illinois by the name of Louis Albert Bowman later suggested adding "under god" to the pledge to allay fears of a certain segment of the American population who had difficulty understanding the meaning of separation of church and state.


4:00 PM -- Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
1h 34m | Comedy | TV-G
A New York businessman's dream of a country home is shattered when he buys a tumbledown ruin.
Director: H. C. Potter
Cast: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas

Although this film was from the novel of the same name, much of the story is autobiographical. Eric Hodgins and his wife built the actual house in the rural Litchfield County, Connecticut town of New Milford. Located in the bucolic Merryall section of town, in 2004 the house sold for $1.2 million.


6:00 PM -- Father of the Bride (1950)
1h 33m | Comedy | TV-G
Attorney Stanley T. Banks finds himself unprepared when his daughter, Kay, announces her engagement.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, and Best Picture

In this movie, one of the gifts Kay (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) gets as a present is a Venus de Milo statue with a clock in the stomach, which Stanley T. Banks (Spencer Tracy) refers to as a "stinker". This same gift makes its way into the re-make (Father of the Bride (1991)) amongst the presents, and is still not received well. No word as to whether this gift will appear in the latest remake, which wrapped up filming in August 2021.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DAYTIME & PRIMETIME THEME -- FAMILY COMEDIES



8:00 PM -- Houseboat (1958)
1h 50m | Comedy | TV-PG
An Italian socialite on the run signs on as housekeeper for a widower with three children.
Director: Melville Shavelson
Cast: Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose, and Best Music, Original Song -- Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the song "Almost in Your Arms (Love Song from Houseboat)"

Original screenplay was written by Betsy Drake, Cary Grant's wife. Grant originally wanted it to star her but his extra-marital affair with Sophia Loren complicated the project. The script was drastically re-written by two other writers to accommodate Loren and bears little resemblance to Drake's concept.


10:00 PM -- Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
1h 25m | Comedy | TV-G
A pioneering efficiency expert tests his theories on his large family.
Director: Walter Lang
Cast: Clifton Webb, Jeanne Crain, Myrna Loy

The big house the family moves to in Montclair is the same house set originally built for Judy Garland's family in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Fox didn't have an appropriate standing outdoor set so they rented time on the "St. Louis Street" on MGM lot #2.


11:45 PM -- Yours, Mine, and Ours (1968)
1h 51m | Comedy | TV-PG
A widow with eight children marries a widower with ten, then gets pregnant.
Director: Melville Shavelson
Cast: Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Van Johnson

Lucille Ball co-produced the film under her company, Desilu Productions. When the film became a surprise smash hit grossing over $17 million on a $2.5 million investment, she became furious about it. She hadn't anticipated the film's huge box-office success and failed to provide a tax shelter for her personal profits, resulting in most of her share going in taxes.


1:45 AM -- Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)
1h 56m | Comedy | TV-PG
A husband and wife spend a holiday at the beach with their extensive family.
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: James Stewart, Maureen O'hara, Fabian

Shortly after the family arrives at the beach house, James Stewart starts to climb the stairway and the newel post top comes off in his hand. This appears to be a tribute to the same thing happening to him in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).


4:00 AM -- Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960)
1h 51m | Comedy | TV-G
A drama critic and his family try to adjust to life in the country.
Director: Charles Walters
Cast: Doris Day, David Niven, Janis Paige

In an early example of product placement, Quaker Oats is featured prominently in the film due to a cross promotion with the producers. In a national ad campaign, Quaker offered children under 12 free admission to the movie if accompanied by an adult. Each "specially marked" box of Quaker Oats contained an "MGM ticket" good for one child's admission when accompanied by someone over the age of 12 paying adult admission prices. The April 18, 1960 issue of Life magazine features a full page ad (page 18) on the promotion, and can be found on Google Books.