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TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 6, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: I Don't Know!
In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birthday of Carole Lombard. From her IMDB mini-bio:Carole Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908. Her parents divorced in 1916 and her mother took the family on a trip out West. While there they decided to settle down in the Los Angeles area. After being spotted playing baseball in the street with the neighborhood boys by a film director, Carole was signed to a one-picture contract in 1921 when she was 12. The film in question was A Perfect Crime (1921).
Although she tried for other acting jobs, she would not be seen onscreen again for four years. She returned to a normal life, going to school and participating in athletics, excelling in track and field. By age 15 she had had enough of school, though, and quit. She joined a theater troupe and played in several stage shows, which were for the most part nothing to write home about. In 1925 she passed a screen test and was signed to a contract with Fox Films. Her first role as a Fox player was Hearts and Spurs (1925), in which she had the lead. Right after that film she appeared in a western called Durand of the Bad Lands (1925). She rounded out 1925 in the comedy Marriage in Transit (1925) (she also appeared in a number of two-reel shorts).
In 1926 Carole was seriously injured in an automobile accident that resulted in the left side of her face being scarred. Once she had recovered, Fox canceled her contract. She did find work in a number of shorts during 1928 (13 of them, many for slapstick comedy director Mack Sennett), but did go back for a one-time shot with Fox called Me, Gangster (1928). By now the film industry was moving from the silent era to "talkies". While some stars' careers ended because of heavy accents, poor diction or a voice unsuitable to sound, Carole's light, breezy, sexy voice enabled her to transition smoothly during this period.
Her first sound film was High Voltage (1929) at Pathe (her new studio) in 1929. In 1931 she was teamed with William Powell in Man of the World (1931). She and Powell hit it off and soon married, but the marriage didn't work out and they divorced in 1933. No Man of Her Own (1932) put Carole opposite Clark Gable for the first and only time (they married seven years later in 1939). By now she was with Paramount Pictures and was one of its top stars. However, it was Twentieth Century (1934) that showed her true comedic talents and proved to the world what a fine actress she really was.
In 1936 Carole received her only Oscar nomination for Best Actress for My Man Godfrey (1936). She was superb as ditzy heiress Irene Bullock. Unfortunately, the coveted award went to Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld (1936), which also won for Best Picture. Carole was now putting out about one film a year of her own choosing, because she wanted whatever role she picked to be a good one. She was adept at picking just the right part, which wasn't surprising as she was smart enough to see through the good-ol'-boy syndrome of the studio moguls. She commanded and received what was one of the top salaries in the business - at one time it was reported she was making $35,000 a week.
She made but one film in 1941, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). Her last film was in 1942, when she played Maria Tura opposite Jack Benny in To Be or Not to Be (1942). Tragically, she didn't live to see its release. The film was completed in 1941 just at the time the US entered World War II, and was subsequently held back for release until 1942. Meanwhile, Carole went home to Indiana for a war bond rally. On January 16, 1942, Carole, her mother, and 20 other people were flying back to California when the plane went down outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. All aboard perished. The highly acclaimed actress was dead at the age of 33 and few have been able to match her talents since.
Although she tried for other acting jobs, she would not be seen onscreen again for four years. She returned to a normal life, going to school and participating in athletics, excelling in track and field. By age 15 she had had enough of school, though, and quit. She joined a theater troupe and played in several stage shows, which were for the most part nothing to write home about. In 1925 she passed a screen test and was signed to a contract with Fox Films. Her first role as a Fox player was Hearts and Spurs (1925), in which she had the lead. Right after that film she appeared in a western called Durand of the Bad Lands (1925). She rounded out 1925 in the comedy Marriage in Transit (1925) (she also appeared in a number of two-reel shorts).
In 1926 Carole was seriously injured in an automobile accident that resulted in the left side of her face being scarred. Once she had recovered, Fox canceled her contract. She did find work in a number of shorts during 1928 (13 of them, many for slapstick comedy director Mack Sennett), but did go back for a one-time shot with Fox called Me, Gangster (1928). By now the film industry was moving from the silent era to "talkies". While some stars' careers ended because of heavy accents, poor diction or a voice unsuitable to sound, Carole's light, breezy, sexy voice enabled her to transition smoothly during this period.
Her first sound film was High Voltage (1929) at Pathe (her new studio) in 1929. In 1931 she was teamed with William Powell in Man of the World (1931). She and Powell hit it off and soon married, but the marriage didn't work out and they divorced in 1933. No Man of Her Own (1932) put Carole opposite Clark Gable for the first and only time (they married seven years later in 1939). By now she was with Paramount Pictures and was one of its top stars. However, it was Twentieth Century (1934) that showed her true comedic talents and proved to the world what a fine actress she really was.
In 1936 Carole received her only Oscar nomination for Best Actress for My Man Godfrey (1936). She was superb as ditzy heiress Irene Bullock. Unfortunately, the coveted award went to Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld (1936), which also won for Best Picture. Carole was now putting out about one film a year of her own choosing, because she wanted whatever role she picked to be a good one. She was adept at picking just the right part, which wasn't surprising as she was smart enough to see through the good-ol'-boy syndrome of the studio moguls. She commanded and received what was one of the top salaries in the business - at one time it was reported she was making $35,000 a week.
She made but one film in 1941, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941). Her last film was in 1942, when she played Maria Tura opposite Jack Benny in To Be or Not to Be (1942). Tragically, she didn't live to see its release. The film was completed in 1941 just at the time the US entered World War II, and was subsequently held back for release until 1942. Meanwhile, Carole went home to Indiana for a war bond rally. On January 16, 1942, Carole, her mother, and 20 other people were flying back to California when the plane went down outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. All aboard perished. The highly acclaimed actress was dead at the age of 33 and few have been able to match her talents since.
Then in prime time, TCM's Now Playing newsletter says that the theme is Starring Anton Walbrook. However, he doesn't appear in any of tonight's films! The five films that begin in prime time this evening are Cool Hand Luke (1967), East of Eden (1955), Tortilla Flat (1942), Cannery Row (1982), and Of Mice and Men (1939). The last four are based on the novels of John Steinbeck, but Cool Hand Luke was written by Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson, and Hal Dresner. What do you think the theme is? I certainly don't know!
Enjoy anyway!
6:00 AM -- MGM Parade Show #30 (1955)
25m | Documentary | TV-G
Walter Pidgeon discusses Greta Garbo's early career.
Director: No Director Available
Cast: No Cast Information Available.
6:30 AM -- Fools for Scandal (1938)
1h 21m | Comedy | TV-G
A Hollywood star falls for a broken down aristocrat.
Director: Mervyn Le Roy
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fernand Gravey, Ralph Bellamy
This film was such a box office failure it prompted Carole Lombard to pursue dramatic parts for the next few years until she did Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941).
8:00 AM -- Vigil in the Night (1940)
1h 36m | Drama | TV-PG
A good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Carole Lombard, Brian Aherne, Anne Shirley
The production of the movie was held up several weeks when Carole Lombard was admitted to the hospital after suffering a miscarriage. The press dubbed it an 'appendectomy' to cover up.
9:45 AM -- In Name Only (1939)
1h 42m | Drama | TV-G
A wealthy man falls for a widow but can't get his wife to divorce him.
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Kay Francis
Carole Lombard insisted her friend Kay Francis get the role of Maida, as her career was waning and she had been dropped by Warner Bros. the previous year, where she had worked for most of the decade.
11:45 AM -- Swing High, Swing Low (1937)
1h 37m | Musical | TV-PG
When success goes to his head, a bandleader could lose everything.
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Charles Butterworth
According to legend, the trend toward women not wearing hats began with this movie. Maggie (Carole Lombard) enters a restaurant and removes her hat, something previously taboo with women.
1:30 PM -- The Gay Bride (1934)
1h 20m | Comedy | TV-G
A gold digger tries to get ahead by marrying a succession of ill-fated racketeers.
Director: Jack Conway
Cast: Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Zasu Pitts
The only film Carole Lombard made for MGM, even though she had a non-exclusive contract with Paramount.
3:00 PM -- Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
1h 29m | Comedy | TV-G
A quarrelsome couple discovers their marriage isn't legal.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond
Carole Lombard was a devoted Democrat, while Robert Montgomery was a Republican. During breaks in filming, Lombard made a point of running into the studio parking lot and putting election bump
4:45 PM -- Nothing Sacred (1937)
1h 15m | Comedy | TV-PG
When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an ambitious newspaperman turns her into a national heroine.
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger
Carole Lombard's only Technicolor film. When this film was re-released in 1945 by Film Classics, it was not deemed important enough to be reprinted in Technicolor. Prints were struck in the less expensive--and far inferior--Cinecolor process, and this was the only way it was to be seen for the next 40 years, until its Technicolor restoration in the 1980s.
6:00 PM -- To Be or Not to Be (1942)
1h 39m | Comedy | TV-PG
A troupe of squabbling actors joins the Polish underground to dupe the Nazis.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Werner R. Heymann
Mary Livingstone Benny reported in her book "Jack Benny" that Jack could not attend a preview screening scheduled for the release of the movie on the Monday following Carole Lombard's death because he was so distraught by her death. She also indicated that the preview audience gasped when Jack'S and Carole's names appeared in the opening credits and then clapped and cheered every time she appeared on screen.
WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- I DON'T KNOW!!!
8:00 PM -- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
2h 9m | Drama | TV-14
A free-spirited convict refuses to conform to chain-gang life.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon
Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- George Kennedy
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Newman, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, and Best Music, Original Music Score -- Lalo Schifrin
A Southern prison camp was built for this movie just north of Stockton, California. A dozen buildings were constructed, including a barracks, mess hall, warden's quarters, guard shack, and dog kennels. While passing by the prison camp set, a San Joaquin County building inspector thought it was a recently constructed migrant workers' complex, and posted "condemned" notices on the buildings for not being up to code.
10:15 PM -- East of Eden (1955)
1h 55m | Drama | TV-PG
Two brothers compete for their father's approval and a woman's love.
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Julie Harris, James Dean, Raymond Massey
Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jo Van Fleet
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Dean (This was the first posthumous acting nomination in Academy Awards history, although Jeanne Eagels was retroactively credited with a posthumous nomination for the 2nd Academy Awards in 1930, when no nominees were announced prior to the ceremony.), Best Director -- Elia Kazan, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paul Osborn
John Steinbeck stayed away from the set during production. His son Tom has said that Steinbeck felt it was Elia Kazan's movie and not his and that he didn't want to be an intimidating factor to the director and cast. "He'd bend over backwards to help if he thought you were going in the right direction, and he thought Kazan was," Tom said. "They worked very well together."
12:30 AM -- Tortilla Flat (1942)
1h 45m | Drama | TV-PG
Inhabitants of a Southern California fishing village strive for the simple pleasures of life.
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Frank Morgan
Just before the final credits roll, an appeal for the public to support the war bonds drive appears. Such announcements were common in films, newspapers, magazines and on posters during WW2.
2:30 AM -- Cannery Row (1982)
1h 55m | Adaptation | TV-14
A marine biologist falls for a prostitute in an offbeat waterfront town.
Director: David S. Ward
Cast: Nick Nolte, Debra Winger, Audra Lindley
The movie was based on not one but two John Steinbeck novels, the picture taking the setting story and its title from Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" and most plot elements from its sequel, "Sweet Thursday". The idea of using two Steinbeck books had been the concept behind the libretto of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Pipe Dream".
4:45 AM -- Of Mice and Men (1939)
1h 47m | Drama | TV-14
A drifter and his slow-witted pal try to make their way in the West.
Director: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Burgess Meredith, Betty Field, Lon Chaney Jr.
Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD), Best Music, Scoring -- Aaron Copland, Best Music, Original Score -- Aaron Copland, and Best Picture
Lon Chaney Jr. had played the role of "Lennie" in the Los Angeles stage production of "Of Mice and Men," and asked director Lewis Milestone for a screen test. Milestone was planning on casting Broderick Crawford in the role, but agreed to let Chaney feed lines to actresses testing for the part of "Mae." By the end of all the tests, Milestone had changed his mind, and cast Chaney in the part without a test of his own.
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SPECIAL THEME: THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST
Thursdays in October
Join host Ben Mankiewicz on Thursday evenings as TCM marks the 75th anniversary of the Hollywood Blacklist with a special curation of films.
https://www.tcm.com/this-month?icid=mainnav17-this-month (scroll down a bit)
