TCM Schedule for Friday, February 19, 2021 -- What's On Tonight: Girls With Guns

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM's theme is Western Noir! Then in prime time, it's Girls With Guns, including the hell-for-leather Thelma & Louise (1991). Enjoy!


5:30 AM -- Primrose Path (1940)
1h 33m | Drama | TV-PG
The youngest child in a family of prostitutes tries to go straight with a working man.
Director: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Joel Mccrea, Marjorie Rambeau

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Marjorie Rambeau

The movie missed out on well-deserved Oscar nominations because of its risqué material, such as the clear themes of alcoholism and prostitution. It ran into trouble with the Hollywood censor boards in many scenes, which is why Ginger Rogers did not receive an Oscar nomination (which she should have done in many people's opinion). Nonetheless, Rogers did win the Oscar that year for a different film, Kitty Foyle (1940).

Ginger Rogers kisses Joel McCrea. We'll find out who Joel kisses next Thursday!


7:15 AM -- Station West (1948)
1h 32m | Western | TV-PG
A federal agent takes on a gang of gold thieves.
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Dick Powell, Jane Greer, Agnes Moorehead

Jane Greer got the role after Marlene Dietrich turned it down.


8:45 AM -- Blood on the Moon (1948)
1h 28m | Western | TV-G
A gunslinger hired to drive off a rancher falls in love with the man's daughter.
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston

Walter Brennan, an Old West aficionado and historian, saw Robert Mitchum walk onto the set in costume said, "that is the goddamnest realest cowboy I've ever seen!"


10:15 AM -- Roughshod (1949)
1h 28m | Western | TV-PG
A rancher tries to save his fellow stagecoach passengers from a murderous enemy.
Director: Mark Robson
Cast: Robert Sterling, Gloria Grahame, Claude Jarman Jr.

Filmed in 1947 but not released until two years later due to the chaos caused by RKO's takeover by Howard Hughes.


12:00 PM -- Colorado Territory (1949)
1h 34m | Western | TV-G
An outlaw just released from prison is sucked back into a life of crime in this remake of High Sierra.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Joel Mccrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone

Colorado Territory is a remake of the same director's 1941 film High Sierra.


1:45 PM -- Along the Great Divide (1951)
1h 28m | Western | TV-14
A U.S. Marshall tries to get a rustler to trial before a vengeful rancher can kill him.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar

Kirk Douglas' first western.


3:30 PM -- Riding Shotgun (1954)
1h 14m | Western | TV-PG
A stagecoach guard is mistaken for a member of a gang of outlaws.
Director: Andre Detoth
Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris, Joan Weldon

This was Charles Bronson's fifth credited film role (as Charles Buchinsky).


5:00 PM -- Black Patch (1957)
1h 22m | Western | TV-G
In a New Mexico town, two former pals from the Civil War meet again but one is the town marshal and the other is a wanted bank robber.
Director: Allen H. Miner
Cast: George Montgomery, Diane Brewster, Tom Pittman

The first film scored by Jerry Goldsmith.


6:30 PM -- The Badlanders (1958)
1h 25m | Western | TV-PG
Western outlaws join forces for a daring gold robbery in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
Director: Delmer Daves
Cast: Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado

This was produced during the famed musician's strike of 1958, forcing MGM to score it with stock cues from earlier films, many of them sub-standard and/or inappropriate to the scene in question. It remains the film's chief sore spot.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- GIRLS WITH GUNS



8:00 PM -- Gun Crazy (1950)
1h 27m | Crime | TV-PG
Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger

The bank heist sequence was done entirely in one take, with no one outside the principal actors and people inside the bank aware that a movie was being filmed. When John Dall as Bart Tare says, "I hope we find a parking space," he really meant it, as there was no guarantee that there would be one. In addition, at the end of the sequence someone in the background screams that there's been a bank robbery - this was actually a bystander who saw the filming and assumed the worst.


9:45 PM -- Thelma & Louise (1991)
2h 8m | Crime | TV-14
Fighting back against a rapist turns two women on vacation into desperate fugitives.
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Brad Pitt

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Callie Khouri

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Geena Davis, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Susan Sarandon, Best Director -- Ridley Scott, Best Cinematography -- Adrian Biddle, and Best Film Editing -- Thom Noble

The film was originally supposed to star Meryl Streep and Cher. Streep turned the offer down in favor of taking lighter, more comedic roles, while Cher turned it down in order to focus more on her music career.


12:15 AM -- Coffy (1973)
1h 31m | Crime
A nurse sets out for vengeance when her younger sister becomes an addict.
Director: Jack Hill
Cast: Gail Davis, Morris Buchanan, Ron Gans

In his review of Coffy, critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable female lead. He noted that Pam Grier was an actress of "beautiful face and astonishing form" and that she possessed a kind of "physical life" missing from many other attractive actresses.


2:00 AM -- Piranha (1978)
1h 32m | Horror | TV-14
When flesh-eating piranhas are accidently released into a summer resort's rivers, the guests become their next meal.
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin Mccarthy

Universal Studios attempted to sue New World for spoofing Jaws (1975). However, Steven Spielberg saw the movie in advance and loved it. After that, Universal dropped the lawsuit.


3:45 AM -- Tintorera (1977)
1h 31m | Adventure, Horror
Two shark hunters flirt with an attractive British lady while hunting down a large tiger shark terrorizing the Mexican East coast.
Director: Rene Cardona
Cast: Roberto Guzman, Susan George, Hugo Stiglitz

The underwater scenes showing the Tintorera are stock footage, and the shark is barely five feet long (although it is described as "the largest shark ever seen" at over seven feet long due to trick photography).


5:30 AM -- Changing (1971)
28m | Short, Documentary | TV-MA
A young family tries to cope with shifting social values in this short film.
Director: Hubert Smith
Cast: Gene Kopp, Edward Kutner, Kathy Mcginnis