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TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 12, 2020 -- TCM Spotlight: Leonard Maltin's Neglected Classics
In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring Susan Hayward - not her birthday but just a nice selection of her films, including two of her five Oscar-nominated roles. Hayward died of brain cancer in 1975, allegedly the result of being exposed to dangerous radioactive toxins on location in Utah while making The Conqueror (1956). All the leads John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, John Hoyt, Pedro Armendáriz, Hayward and director Dick Powell died of cancer. The case is still a scandal.Then in prime time, TCM lets Leonard Maltin tell us more about his favorite films. Tell us more, Roger!
Leonard Maltin's Neglected Classics - 11/12
By Roger Fristoe
Leonard Maltin, one of the nation’s most respected film critic/historians and a valued associate and guest host at TCM, offers a look at five films that have been unfairly neglected or forgotten. Justly celebrated for the frequently updated Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and many other film books, our friend also authored a 2010 tome called Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. The neglected classics part of Maltin’s night includes:
Blind Adventure (1933), an obscure RKO pre-Code mystery-comedy from Ernest B. Schoedsack, the co-director and co-producer of King Kong (also 1933). Robert Armstrong (Carl Denham in King Kong) plays an American in London who becomes lost in a fog and wanders into a house where he finds a dead body. This leads to the discovery of a spy ring that he attempts to crack with the aid of a cockney burglar (Roland Young) and a fetching young woman (Helen Mack). Also in the cast are Ralph Bellamy and Laura Hope Crews. Later in 1933 Armstrong and Mack would reteam for Schoedsack’s Son of Kong.
Penthouse (1933) is another neglected pre-Code gem, this one from MGM and starring Warner Baxter as a high-powered lawyer investigating a murder case, with Myrna Loy as a call girl named Gertie who helps him with the case and gets under his skin. W.S. Van Dyke (soon to begin helming the Thin Man films) directs a cast that also includes Charles Butterworth and Mae Clarke. The New York Times wrote that the film “is by no means lacking in a certain brand of excitement. It is a picture which tells a somewhat incredible yarn but, at the same time, which does not pretend to be concerned about teaching any moral.”
The Gilded Lily (1935) is a romantic comedy from Paramount starring Claudette Colbert and released one year after her Oscar-winning triumph in It Happened One Night (1934). In this one, Colbert plays a stenographer who parlays a scandal involving a British Earl (Ray Milland) into fame as a cafe entertainer. Fred MacMurray, in the first of seven screen teamings with Colbert, plays the reporter she truly loves. Wesley Ruggles directed the film, described by The New York Times as “a fresh and engaging screen comedy” that succeeds “in recapturing the warmth and humor of average Americans without becoming average itself.”
The Mob (1951) is a film noir crime drama starring Broderick Crawford, who was also fresh from Oscar glory (Best Actor in 1949’s All the King’s Men). In a story that seems to foreshadow 1954’s On the Waterfront, Crawford plays a tough police detective who goes undercover as a longshoreman to break up a mob. Robert Parrish directs a cast that also includes Richard Kiley, Ernest Borgnine and Neville Brand. A reviewer for TimeOut.com praises “the fast, flexible direction, excellent camerawork (Joseph Walker) and a full house of vivid performances” that create “an unusually tense and enjoyable genre piece.”
Come Next Spring (1956), a heartwarming romantic drama from Republic Pictures, offers Ann Sheridan in one of the best (although most neglected) performances of her later career. She plays a housewife in 1920s Arkansas who has raised a young son and a mute daughter by herself after being abandoned by an alcoholic husband (Steve Cochran). When he returns, she faces a decision about allowing him back into her life. Cochran produced the film through his own company, and Robert G. Springsteen directs a cast that also includes Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan and Sonny Tufts. A review in The Hollywood Reporter called the low-budget Come Next Spring “a rural Marty” and described it as “the only film concerning Arkansas in the history of the movies that has preserved the native humor of the state” without resorting to “extravagant hillbilly caricatures.”
By Roger Fristoe
Leonard Maltin, one of the nation’s most respected film critic/historians and a valued associate and guest host at TCM, offers a look at five films that have been unfairly neglected or forgotten. Justly celebrated for the frequently updated Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and many other film books, our friend also authored a 2010 tome called Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. The neglected classics part of Maltin’s night includes:
Blind Adventure (1933), an obscure RKO pre-Code mystery-comedy from Ernest B. Schoedsack, the co-director and co-producer of King Kong (also 1933). Robert Armstrong (Carl Denham in King Kong) plays an American in London who becomes lost in a fog and wanders into a house where he finds a dead body. This leads to the discovery of a spy ring that he attempts to crack with the aid of a cockney burglar (Roland Young) and a fetching young woman (Helen Mack). Also in the cast are Ralph Bellamy and Laura Hope Crews. Later in 1933 Armstrong and Mack would reteam for Schoedsack’s Son of Kong.
Penthouse (1933) is another neglected pre-Code gem, this one from MGM and starring Warner Baxter as a high-powered lawyer investigating a murder case, with Myrna Loy as a call girl named Gertie who helps him with the case and gets under his skin. W.S. Van Dyke (soon to begin helming the Thin Man films) directs a cast that also includes Charles Butterworth and Mae Clarke. The New York Times wrote that the film “is by no means lacking in a certain brand of excitement. It is a picture which tells a somewhat incredible yarn but, at the same time, which does not pretend to be concerned about teaching any moral.”
The Gilded Lily (1935) is a romantic comedy from Paramount starring Claudette Colbert and released one year after her Oscar-winning triumph in It Happened One Night (1934). In this one, Colbert plays a stenographer who parlays a scandal involving a British Earl (Ray Milland) into fame as a cafe entertainer. Fred MacMurray, in the first of seven screen teamings with Colbert, plays the reporter she truly loves. Wesley Ruggles directed the film, described by The New York Times as “a fresh and engaging screen comedy” that succeeds “in recapturing the warmth and humor of average Americans without becoming average itself.”
The Mob (1951) is a film noir crime drama starring Broderick Crawford, who was also fresh from Oscar glory (Best Actor in 1949’s All the King’s Men). In a story that seems to foreshadow 1954’s On the Waterfront, Crawford plays a tough police detective who goes undercover as a longshoreman to break up a mob. Robert Parrish directs a cast that also includes Richard Kiley, Ernest Borgnine and Neville Brand. A reviewer for TimeOut.com praises “the fast, flexible direction, excellent camerawork (Joseph Walker) and a full house of vivid performances” that create “an unusually tense and enjoyable genre piece.”
Come Next Spring (1956), a heartwarming romantic drama from Republic Pictures, offers Ann Sheridan in one of the best (although most neglected) performances of her later career. She plays a housewife in 1920s Arkansas who has raised a young son and a mute daughter by herself after being abandoned by an alcoholic husband (Steve Cochran). When he returns, she faces a decision about allowing him back into her life. Cochran produced the film through his own company, and Robert G. Springsteen directs a cast that also includes Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan and Sonny Tufts. A review in The Hollywood Reporter called the low-budget Come Next Spring “a rural Marty” and described it as “the only film concerning Arkansas in the history of the movies that has preserved the native humor of the state” without resorting to “extravagant hillbilly caricatures.”
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- Ada (1961)
1h 49m | Drama | TV-G
A call girl weds an easygoing politician and helps him against corrupt state officials.
Director: Daniel Mann
Cast: Susan Hayward, Dean Martin, Wilfrid Hyde-white
Like many of her contemporaries, such as Claudette Colbert and Jean Arthur, Susan Hayward was photographed almost exclusively from the left side, usually the preferred left three-quarters angle.
8:00 AM -- They Won't Believe Me (1947)
1h 35m | Drama | TV-PG
A faithless husband is charged with a murder he didn't commit.
Director: Irving Pichel
Cast: Susan Hayward, Robert Young, Jane Greer
RKO borrowed Susan Hayward from Walter Wanger's company for this film.
9:45 AM -- Top Secret Affair (1957)
1h 40m | Comedy | TV-PG
A female publishing magnate tries to keep a general she hates from securing a prestigious appointment.
Director: H. C. Potter
Cast: Susan Hayward, Kirk Douglas, Paul Stewart
Under the title "Melville Goodwin, USA", the film was to star Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall - both of whom had already filmed costume and makeup tests - but Bogart's terminal illness forced his withdrawal from the project. He was replaced by Kirk Douglas. Bacall withdrew shortly afterward, opting instead to remain at home with her dying husband, and was replaced by Susan Hayward.
11:45 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
The world's first rodeo was held July 4, 1869 in Deer Trail, Colorado. Cities such as Pecos, TX, Prescott, AZ, and Payson, AZ have also laid claim to the title, but Deer Trail has been officially recognized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) as the first.
1:45 PM -- The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)
1h 54m | Drama | TV-PG
As he fights a deadly jungle fever, a hunter remembers his lost loves.
Director: Henry King
Cast: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner
Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Color -- Leon Shamroy, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir, Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox
Ernest Hemingway disliked the film because he thought it cannibalized material from his other work to pad the story. He told friend Ava Gardner that the only things he liked about it were her and the hyena. It has been reported, but not confirmed, that director Henry King mimicked the hyena on the soundtrack.
3:45 PM -- Smash Up--The Story of a Woman (1947)
1h 43m | Drama | TV-PG
A singer's wife turns to the bottle when she fears she's lost her husband to success.
Director: Stuart Heisler
Cast: Susan Hayward, Lee Bowman, Marsha Hunt
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Susan Hayward, and Best Writing, Original Story -- Dorothy Parker and Frank Cavett
Reportedly suggested by the life and career of Bing Crosby and songstress wife Dixie Lee; when his popularity as an entertainer eclipsed that of Lee, she drifted into extreme alcoholism, just as Susan Hayward's character does in film.
5:45 PM -- I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
1h 57m | Drama | TV-PG
True story of singer Lillian Roth's battle against alcoholism.
Director: Daniel Mann
Cast: Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert
Winner of an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Susan Hayward, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Arthur E. Arling, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt
MGM had hired vocalist Sandy Ellis to sing for Susan Hayward, but after listening to Miss Hayward's rehearsal tracks, the movie's creative team chose instead to use her own singing voice, which had been dubbed earlier by Peg La Centra in "Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)," then by Jane Froman in "With a Song in My Heart (1952)," and later would be dubbed by Margaret Whiting in "Valley of the Dolls (1967)." Initially, Miss Ellis had prerecorded two standards: "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along" (music and lyrics by Harry M. Woods) and "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe" (music by Harold Arlen, music by E.Y. Harburg). Both Ellis tracks plus all the Hayward vocals are featured on the complete soundtrack CD issued by Film Score Monthly in 2004.
8:00 PM -- The Gilded Lily (1935)
1h 20m | Comedy
A news reporter turns the woman he loves into a media star after she rejects an aristocrat's marriage proposal.
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Fred Macmurray, Raymond Milland
First of seven movies that paired Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.
9:30 PM -- Come Next Spring (1956)
1h 32m | Drama | TV-PG
In 1927, in Arkansas, recovered alcoholic Matt Ballot is curious to see his wife Bess and children.
Director: R G Springsteen
Cast: Roscoe Ates, Tony Bennett, Walter Brennan
Sherry Jackson, who plays the Ballot's daughter Annie, in real life was the step-daughter of Montgomery Pittman, who wrote the screenplay for this film.
11:15 PM -- Blind Adventure (1933)
1h 5m | Crime | TV-G
An American in London stumbles on a criminal ring.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Roland Young
Upon finding out that the burglar's name is Holmes, Richard jokes that he and Rose are a "couple of Dr. Watsons." Roland Young, who plays the burglar, had previously played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes (1922).
12:30 AM -- The Mob (1951)
1h 27m | Crime | TV-14
A police detective fakes a suspension so he can go undercover.
Director: Robert Parrish
Cast: Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley
Very early "walk-on" by Charles Bronson, who has a few lines as an angry dock worker when "Tim Flynn" shows up at the docks looking for work.
2:15 AM -- Penthouse (1933)
1h 28m | Mystery | TV-G
The mob frames a lawyer for murder, so he enlists a call girl's help in finding the real killer.
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Cast: Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, Charles Butterworth
The film opens with the actual May, 1933 cover of Cosmopolitan magazine - the issue in which Arthur Somers Roche's story appeared. The film went into production in August and was released in September that same year. This film is a tremendous example of how quickly a Hollywood studio could work back then. At the time, Cosmopolitan was a literary periodical, first published in 1886, and didn't become a "womans" magazine until the mid-1960's.
4:00 AM -- Third Finger, Left Hand (1940)
1h 36m | Comedy | TV-G
A man-shy fashion editor pretends to be married until a suitor claims to be her husband.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas, Raymond Walburn
The Ohio Song sung several times in the film by Melvyn Douglas - and Myrna Loy toward the end, is "Round on the End, High in the Middle." Its roots go back to 1922 Broadway. Frances White introduced it in a show called, "The Hotel Mouse," which ran for just 11 weeks at the Schubert Theater. Canadian composer Alfred Bryan wrote the score. He is noted for hit songs such as "Peg O' My Heart" (1913), "Brown Eyes" and "Why Are You Blue" of 1924, and "Japansy" of 1928. A vaudeville performer, Ned Halon, wrote the lyrics.
The Ohio State University Marching Band performed a vocal rendition of "Round on the End, High in the Middle" as early as 1940. The most familiar arrangement of the song was by Dr. Richard Heine in 1947. The first recording of that arrangement was on Buckeye Ballad in 1950. The marching band used a field formation with the song in the 1950s. Band members formed two small Os on either side of a larger HI. This song is no longer played by the Ohio State University Marching Band.
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