TCM Schedule Saturday 11-23-24 - Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy, 1944 film noir, Westerns, Yentl

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Day at a glance

FILM NOIR FROM 1944
Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Phantom Lady (1944)
Mask of Dimitrios, The (1944)
- TCM LATE NIGHT:
JIMMY WAKELY WESTERN
Brand of Fear (1949)
- TCM DAYTIME
WEEKEND FEATURES
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
MGM Cartoons: Blackboard Jumble (1957)
Hot News Margie (1931) (short)
Believe It or Not #3 (1931) (short)
Hold That Line (1952)
The Wolf Dog Ch. 8: Avenging Fangs (1933) (TCM Premiere)
Popeye: The Jeep (1938)
Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)
Spills for Thrills (1940) (short)
Yentl (1983) (Musical Matinee)
Plymouth Adventure (1952)
First Texan, The (1956)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
- TCM PRIMETIME
TCM SERIES: TWO FOR ONE
- ETHAN HAWKE
Gunfighter, The (1950)
Gun Crazy (1950)
- NOIR ALLEY
Trapped (1949)
- TCM LATE NIGHT: MRS. DRAMAS
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Mrs. Soffel (1984)


Full day's schedule

11:45 PM Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Detective Philip Marlowe's search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: For the scene in which Marlowe is drugged, Edward Dmytryk showed Dick Powell falling through a sea of faces. He borrowed a trick from Saboteur (1942) by having the camera pull back from the actor to make it seem like he was falling. He also had the camera accelerate as it pulled back, to intensify the horror.

1:30 AM Phantom Lady (1944)

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A mystery woman is a murder suspect's only alibi for the night of his wife's death.
Dir: Robert Siodmak Cast: Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis
Runtime: 87 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: After the film's release, Jacques Press and Eddie Cherkose sued Universal for $20,000 for not getting on-screen credit for their song "Chick-ee-Chick."


3:15 AM The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

A meek novelist investigates the mysterious death of a notorious scoundrel.
Dir: Jean Negulesco Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson
Runtime: 95 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: Although he has the largest role in the film (and plays the hero for once), Peter Lorre is billed fourth behind Greenstreet, Scott and Faye Emerson. This was Zachary Scott's first film role and Faye Emerson has quite a small part confined to only one section of the film. The billing was always ascribed by Lorre to the personal enmity studio boss Jack L. Warner felt toward him.

5:00 AM Brand of Fear (1949)



Two cowboys try to help the new schoolteacher when she's accosted by bandits.
Dir: Oliver Drake Cast: Jimmy Wakely, Dub "Cannonball" Taylor, Tom London
Runtime: 56 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-G CC: Y


6:00 AM Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)

Backstage problems jeopardize a Broadway musical.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: The song "Dear Mr. Gable" was a birthday present for Clark Gable's 36th birthday. Composer and arranger Roger Edens adapted the old song "You Made Me Love You" by James V. Monaco. It was sung at Gable's studio birthday party by a young Judy Garland. Studio head Louis B. Mayer was so impressed by it, that he gave orders to let Garland sing it again in the next great musical MGM was going to produce.

Trivia: Two years after making this film, Charley Grapewin, who portrays horse trainer Blakeley and shares no scenes with Judy Garland, achieved screen immortality playing Garland's Uncle Henry (husband of "Auntie Em&quot in the 1939 M-G-M classic The Wizard of Oz (1939). Buddy Ebsen, who dances with Garland in this movie, was originally cast as The Tin Woodman opposite Garland in Oz, but had a serious reaction from inhalation of the character's powdered aluminum makeup and wound up in the hospital. He was replaced by Jack Haley.

8:00 AM Short: Blackboard Jumble (1957)
A Southern Wolf becomes a substitute teacher at an elementary school and tries to teach them some of the traditions of the Confederacy. The Droopy students have other ideas.
Dir: Michael Lah Cast: Daws Butler, Joe Trescari
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:07 AM Short: Hot News Margie (1931)
A reporter for a tabloid newspaper attempts to find out if a college football star is secretly married. Vitaphone Release 1290.
Dir: Alfred J. Goulding Cast: James C. Morton, Charles Wilson, Marjorie Beebe
Runtime: 6 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: N


8:14 AM Short: Believe It or Not #3 (1931)
Robert L. Ripley shares with reporters the various sights and oddities he has seen through his world travels such as a baseball team made up of nine brothers.
Dir: Murray Roth Cast: Clarence E Willard, James Dunn, Robert L Ripley, Murray Roth
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: Y


8:25 AM Hold That Line (1952)

The Bowery Boys crash college when one of them lands on the football team.
Dir: William Beaudine Cast: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, John Bromfield
Runtime: 64 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Gloria Winters, who plays Penny here, would later be known as Penny again in her most famous role on the TV series Sky King (1951).

9:30 AM Serial: The Wolf Dog (1933); Chapter 8: Avenging Fangs (TCM Premiere)
When a boy's guardian secretly plots to steal his inheritance, only his radio operator friend and wolf-dog companion stand between him and disaster.
Dir: Colbert Clark, Harry L. Fraser Cast: Rin Tin Tin Jr., Frankie Darro, Boots Mallory
Runtime: 20 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-G CC:


10:00 AM Cartoon: The Jeep (1938)
Popeye and the Jeep, his magical dog, visit Olive and learn Swee'Pea has crawled out of his crib and disappeared. Olive is frantic so Popeye tells her the Jeep will use his magical powers to find the missing infant.
Dir: Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel Cast: Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
Runtime: 7 mins Genre: Animation Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


10:10 AM Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)

A young doctor gives up big-city success to help his father set up a small-town clinic.
Dir: Harold S. Bucquet Cast: Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day
Runtime: 78 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Trivia: Gene Lockhart, who plays George Winslow, a man of 60, was only 49 years old when this film was made.

11:30 AM Short: Spills for Thrills (1940)
This pays tribute to Hollywood's stunt men and women with clips of difficult stunts on land and in the air.
Dir: De Leon Anthony Cast: Allen Pomeroy, Harvey Parry, Mary Wiggins
Runtime: 18 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N

12:00 PM Yentl (1983)

Yentl is a 1983 American romantic musical drama film directed, co-written, co-produced by, and starring American entertainer Barbra Streisand. It is based on Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy".

The film incorporates music to tell the story of an Ashkenazi Jewish woman in Poland in 1904 who decides to disguise herself as a man so that she can receive an education in Talmudic law. The film's musical score and songs, composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, include the songs "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel", both sung by Streisand. The film received the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy and Best Director for Streisand, making her the first woman to win Best Director at the Golden Globes.

Dir: Barbra Streisand Cast: Barbra Streisand, Mandy Patinkin, Amy Irving
Runtime: 134 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Amy Irving {"Hadaas"}
ART DIRECTION -- Art Direction: Roy Walker, Leslie Tomkins; Set Decoration: Tessa Davies
(*WINNER*) MUSIC (Original Song Score or Adaptation Score) -- Song Score by Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
MUSIC (Original Song) -- "Papa, Can You Hear Me?," Music by Michel Legrand; Lyric by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
MUSIC (Original Song) -- "The Way He Makes Me Feel," Music by Michel Legrand; Lyric by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman

Trivia: Barbra Streisand hand-picked Mandy Patinkin for this movie, and he politely declined several times because he did not like the script. He was eventually invited to Streisand's house where they could discuss the parts he wanted to change. He then agreed to be in the film.

2:30 PM Plymouth Adventure (1952)

Epic dramatization of the Pilgrims' journey to the new world on the Mayflower.
Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Lowell Gilmore, Tommy Ivo, John Dehner
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Epic Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
(*WINNER*) SPECIAL EFFECTS -- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Trivia: Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney had an affair that lasted for the duration of filming.

4:30 PM The First Texan (1956)



After arriving in Texas to escape a scandal back east, a lawyer becomes involved in the independence of Texas.
Dir: Byron Haskin Cast: Joel McCrea, Felicia Farr, Jeff Morrow
Runtime: 82 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: The Battle of San Jacinto involved over 3000 combatants. As a cost-saving measure, the movie's battle involves less that 200 extras.

6:00 PM Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (most commonly referred to as the World's Fair) in the spring of 1904.[4][5] The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll. The film was adapted by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories by Sally Benson originally published in The New Yorker magazine called "The Kensington Stories"[6] and later in novel form as Meet Me in St. Louis. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, who met Garland on the set and later married her. Tony Award-winning designer Lemuel Ayers served as the film's art director.[7]

Upon its release, Meet Me in St. Louis was both a critical and a commercial success. It became the second-highest-grossing film of 1944, behind only Going My Way,[8] and was also MGM's most successful musical of the 1940s. In 1994, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Garland debuted the standards "The Trolley Song", "The Boy Next Door" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", all written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the film, and all of which became hits after the film was released. The film's producer Arthur Freed also wrote and performed one of the songs.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor
Runtime: 113 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) -- George Folsey
MUSIC (Scoring of a Musical Picture) -- Georgie Stoll
MUSIC (Song) -- "The Trolley Song," Music and Lyrics by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin
WRITING (Screenplay) -- Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe

Trivia: Following Margaret O'Brien's rapid ascent to stardom, her mother believed they were entitled to a significant raise, and she used this film as leverage, realizing how integral the role of Tootie was to the story. MGM raised the ante by announcing the casting of Sharon McManus in O'Brien's place. McManus was the daughter of a studio electrician and the brass went so far as to fit her with costumes, assuming this would pressure O'Brien's mother into accepting their terms. But she held fast, and MGM was ultimately forced to concede to her demands for the salary increase. Once production was underway, O'Brien was filming a scene when McManus' father, who was employed on the film, intentionally dropped a heavy lighting instrument from the catwalk to the sound stage floor, narrowly missing the pint-sized star. He was taken away and briefly admitted to a mental institution for his deed.

8:00 PM The Gunfighter (1950)

Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.
Dir: Henry King Cast: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell
Runtime: 85 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
WRITING (Motion Picture Story) -- William Bowers, Andre de Toth

Trivia: The studio hated Gregory Peck's authentic period mustache. In fact, the head of production at Fox, Spyros P. Skouras, was out of town when production began. By the time he got back, so much of the film had been shot that it was too late to order Peck to shave it off and reshoot. After the film did not do well at the box office, Skouras ran into Peck and reportedly said, "That mustache cost us millions."


9:45 PM Gun Crazy (1950)

Two disturbed young people release their fascination with guns through a crime spree.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis Cast: Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Kroeger
Runtime: 87 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: 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.

12:00 AM Trapped (1949)



U.S. Treasury Department agents go after a ring of counterfeiters.
Dir: Richard Fleischer Cast: Lloyd Bridges, Barbara Payton, John Hoyt
Runtime: 78 mins Genre: Crime Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

Trivia: During the chase scene, the car driven by Agent Downey and Jack Sylvester passes the Alto-Nido Apartments (1851 N. Ivar Street, Hollywood, California). In Sunset Boulevard (1950), this is the apartment building where Joe Gillis lived before he moved to Norma Desmond's mansion.

1:45 AM McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

An itinerant gambler and a madame become business partners in this off-beat western set in a small mining town in the Pacific Northwest.
Dir: Robert Altman Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois
Runtime: 121 mins Genre: Western Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

Oscar nominations:
ACTRESS -- Julie Christie {"Mrs. Constance Miller"}

Trivia: For a distinctive look, Robert Altman and Vilmos Zsigmond chose to "flash" (pre-fog) the film negative before its eventual exposure, as well as use a number of filters on the cameras, rather than manipulate the film in post-production; in this way the studio could not force him to change the film's look to something less distinctive. However, this was not done for the final 20 minutes of the picture, as Altman wanted the danger to McCabe to be as realistic as possible. Note the change when McCabe wakes up, grabs a shotgun, and starts off to the church.

Trivia: During post-production on this film, Robert Altman was having a difficult time finding a proper musical score, until he attended a party where the album "Songs of Leonard Cohen" was playing and noticed that several songs from the album seemed to fit in with the overall mood and themes of the movie. Cohen, who had been a fan of Altman's previous film, Brewster McCloud (1970), allowed him to use three songs from the album - "The Stranger Song", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Winter Lady" - although Altman was dismayed when Cohen later admitted that he didn't like the movie. A year later, Altman received a phone call from Cohen, who told him that he changed his mind after re-watching the movie with an audience and now loved it.

4:00 AM Mrs. Soffel (1984)

A prison warden's wife is seduced into helping a notorious killer escape.
Dir: Gillian Armstrong Cast: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Romance Rating: TV-14 CC: Y

Trivia: The jail used in the movie is the actual Allegheny County Jail that figures in the story. Designed by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson, built between 1884-1888, it served as a jail until 1995 and is now used by the juvenile and family sections of the Common Pleas Court.