TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 2, 2021 -- Met On Set: Classic Hollywood Sweethearts

Throughout the day, TCM is continuing last evening's salute to Star of the Month Ingrid Bergman, and you'll get a chance to see her in the original Swedish version of Intermezzo (1936), the film that brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Then in prime time, it's the first night of a four-part salute to Met on Set. Tonight features Classic Hollywood Sweethearts, including Gable & Lombard, Tracy & Hepburn, Bogart & Bacall, and Ball & Arnaz. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- Adam Had Four Sons (1941)
1h 21m | Drama | TV-G
A governess becomes the center of a wealthy family after her employer's wife dies.
Director: Gregory Ratoff
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Warner Baxter, Susan Hayward

Only credited title with both Ingrid Bergman and Susan Hayward.


8:00 AM -- The Count of The Old Town (1934)
1h 15m | Comedy | TV-PG
A police inspector tracks a jewel thief to a hotel filled with eccentrics.
Director: Sigurd Wallen
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Valdemar Dalquist, Julia Caesar

Bergman's first credited screen role.


9:30 AM -- Swedenhielms (1935)
1h 28m | Drama | TV-G
An aristocrat comes up with a cockeyed scheme to save his family from bankruptcy.
Director: Gustaf Molander
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Bjorn Berglund, Stina Bergman

Remade as Ein glücklicher Mensch (1943), Swedenhielm Family (1947), Der Nobelpreis (1959) (TV Movie), Swedenhielms (1961) (TV Movie), Swedenhielms (1980) (TV Movie), and Swedenhielms (2003) (TV Movie).


11:15 AM -- Walpurgis Night (1935)
1h 22m | Drama | TV-PG
A secretary's love for her married boss threatens her family.
Director: Gustaf Edgren
Cast: Lars Hanson, Karin Kavli, Ingrid Bergman

Walpurgis Night is the eve of the celebration of the feast day of Saint Walpurga, and is celebrated on the night of 30 April and the day of 1 May. Saint Walpurga was hailed by the Christians of Germany for battling "pest, rabies, and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft". Christians prayed to God through the intercession of Saint Walpurga in order to protect themselves from witchcraft, as Saint Walpurga was successful in converting the local populace to Christianity. In parts of Christendom, people continue to light bonfires on Saint Walpurga's Eve in order to ward off evil spirits and witches.


12:45 PM -- Intermezzo (1936)
1h 26m | Romance | TV-G
An innocent young pianist falls into an affair with a married violinist.
Director: Gustaf Molander
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gosta Ekman, Inga Tidblad

After a single viewing of the film, producer David O. Selznick brought Ingrid Bergman to Hollywood to sign a contract with Selznick International. Bergman and Selznick then remade the film as Intermezzo (1939), with Leslie Howard.


2:30 PM -- A Woman's Face (1938)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-PG
Plastic surgery gives a bitter, scarred woman a new chance at life.
Director: Gustaf Molander
Cast: Tore Svennberg, Anders Henrikson, Ingrid Bergman

According to Alan Burgess' Bergman biography, director Gustaf Molander had trouble with the ending. He stopped the filming for two days without getting any reasonable ideas. Finally, he asked Ingrid Bergman what she would think was the best. Bergman suggested that Anna Holm should face a murder charge but be acquitted by the court. This is far from the ending in the final film.


4:30 PM -- Dollar (1938)
1h 28m | Comedy | TV-G
A wife plots to uncover her husband's infidelities at a ski lodge.
Director: Gustaf Molander
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Tutta Rolf, Kotti Chave

The play, a comedy in three acts, was published in 1926.


6:00 PM -- June Night (1940)
1h 29m | Drama | TV-PG
A small-town girl tries to escape the scandal from her involvement with a murderous sailor.
Director: Per Lindberg
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Gunnar Sjöberg, Olaf Widgren

This was the final movie for Ingrid Bergman before she moved to the United States.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- MET ON SET: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD SWEETHEARTS



8:00 PM -- No Man of Her Own (1932)
1h 25m | Romance | TV-G
A card sharp on the run falls for a beautiful librarian.
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Dorothy MacKaill

Although Carole Lombard and Clark Gable later became one of Hollywood's most famous couples, they were completely indifferent to one another during the making of this film. It was not until several years later that they met again and fell in love and got married. This was Gable and Lombard's only film together.


9:30 PM -- Woman of the Year (1942)
1h 52m | Comedy | TV-PG
Opposites distract when a sophisticated political columnist falls for a sportswriter.
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Michael Kanin and Ring Lardner Jr.

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn

Before production finished, it was clear to all at the studio that Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were romantically involved. Although studio executives would normally have tried to curtail such a relationship for fear of negative public reaction, they kept a hands-off approach, partly because of the stars' discretion and partly because they realized that Hepburn was helping to keep Tracy's drinking under control. When he went on a bender, she often would sleep on the floor outside his hotel room door, waiting until things got quiet before she went in to help him sober up so he could report to the set.


11:45 PM -- To Have and Have Not (1944)
1h 40m | Romance | TV-G
A skipper-for-hire's romance with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance.
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall writes in her autobiography that it was in the third week of shooting that friendly banter between her and Humphrey Bogart turned to something more. At the end of shooting one day, "...he leaned over, put his hand under my chin, and kissed me. It was impulsive - he was a bit shy - no lunging wolf tactics. He took a worn package of matches out of his pocket and asked me to put my phone number on the back. I did." Bogart was 44 years old and in an unhappy third marriage. The relationship with Bacall was obvious on the set, and while it sparked the onscreen chemistry for his movie, Howard Hawks was furious. He warned Bacall away and threatened that the relationship could damage her career - that she could end up at Monogram Pictures. (By some accounts, Hawks was jealous and had designs on Bacall himself.) Hawks warned that Bogart would drop Betty after filming was completed, but nothing could be further from the truth. Bogart was divorced and married Bacall in 1945. They made three more films together and remained married until Bogart's death from cancer in January, 1957.


1:45 AM -- Too Many Girls (1940)
1h 25m | Musical | TV-G
Four college football stars are hired to chaperon a reckless heiress to a Wild West college.
Director: George Abbott
Cast: Lucille Ball, Richard Carlson, Ann Miller

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz first met on the set of this movie and married six months after filming on November 30, 1940.


3:30 AM -- The Silver Cord (1933)
1h 14m | Adaptation | TV-G
A clinging mother tries to divide one son from his wife and another son from his girlfriend.
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Irene Dunne, Joel McCrea, Laura Hope Crews

Frances Dee met Joel McCrea on the set of this film. Following a whirlwind courtship, the two were married later that year(1933) in Rye, New York. He died on their 57th wedding anniversary.


5:00 AM -- His Brother's Wife (1936)
1h 30m | Romance | TV-PG
A man helps his brother skip town, then steals his girlfriend.
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Jean Hersholt

The first of three films starring Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor; they would later marry in 1939.