TCM Schedule for Friday, March 15, 2013 -- What's On Tonight -- TCM Spotlight: Roberto Rossellini

[Staph]

Happy Ides of March, TCM is celebrating George Brent today. The favorite leading man of star actress Bette Davis, was born George Brendan Nolan on March 15, 1899 in Shannonbridge, Offaly, Ireland, and became an orphan at the tender age of eleven. For a while, he stayed with an aunt in New York, but returned to Ireland to study at the University of Dublin. After leaving university in 1919, George became a courier for Sinn Fein leader Michael Collins, hunted by the Black and Tan, with a price on his head. By that time, he had developed an interest in acting and joined the Abbey Theatre Players. In 1925, he returned to New York, touring with 'Abie's Irish Rose', then working with stock companies in Colorado, Florida and Massachusetts.

In prime time, we have more of Director of the Month Roberto Rossellini, with four of his six films starring Ingrid Bergman, including the first and last. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Rich Are Always With Us (1932)
A socialite gets a divorce but can't keep out of her ex-husband's life.
Dir: Alfred Green
Cast: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Bette Davis
BW-71 mins, TV-G,

The scene in this movie where George Brent lights two cigarettes and passes one to Ruth Chatterton is similar to one in 1942 movie Now Voyager which star Bette Davis who was a supporting player here. Most people incorrectly think that the idea was original to the 1942 film.


7:15 AM -- So Big (1932)
A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Dickie Moore
BW-81 mins, TV-G,

The second of three film versions of Edna Ferber's novel. The 1924 version starred Colleen Moore in the Barbara Stanwyck role; the 1953 version starred Jane Wyman.


8:45 AM -- Housewife (1934)
Success could spell divorce for an advertising writer.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: George Brent, Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak
BW-69 mins, TV-G,

Both Lee Phelps (Court Clerk) and Lester Dorr (Chauffeur) are in studio records/casting call lists for their roles, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.


10:00 AM -- Front Page Woman (1935)
Rival reporters try to scoop each other while covering a fire.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Roscoe Karns
BW-83 mins, TV-G,

In the promotional trailer, Bette Davis and George Brent talk about a proposed radio broadcast dealing with their latest picture, Front Page Woman.


11:30 AM -- Jezebel (1938)
A tempestuous Southern belle's willfulness threatens to destroy all who care for her.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis (On 19 July 2001 Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscar statuette at a Christie's auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This was the second time in five years Spielberg did so to protect an Oscar from further commercial exploitation.), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Fay Bainter

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Ernest Haller, Best Music, Scoring -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

The red dress sequence was based on a real-life white ball in Hollywood at which all the women dutifully appeared in white - except for Mrs. MGM, Norma Shearer. Comment from another guest: "Who does Norma think she is - the house madam?"


1:15 PM -- Dark Victory (1939)
A flighty heiress discovers inner strength when she develops a brain tumor.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart
BW-104 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

During the filming of the emotionally-charged scene when Bette Davis' character needs to find her way upstairs to her room after the brain tumor has caused her blindness, the cast and crew and several visitors were watching as Davis grasped the banister and began to feel her way up the steps, one-by-one. Halfway to the top of the staircase, Davis paused, stopped the scene, briskly walked back downstairs, and addressed director Edmund Goulding. "Ed," Davis said, "is Max Steiner going to be composing the music score to this picture?" Goulding, surprised by the question, replied that he didn't know, and asked Davis why the matter was important enough to stop the filming of the scene. "Well, either I'm going to climb those stairs or Max Steineris going to climb those stairs," Davis responded, "but I'll be God-DAMNED if Max Steiner and I are going to climb those stairs together!"


3:15 PM -- The Old Maid (1939)
An unmarried mother gives her illegitimate child to her cousin.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent
BW-95 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Humphrey Bogart was originally cast as the male lead, but dismissed after four days' filming.


5:00 PM -- In This Our Life (1942)
A neurotic southerner steals her sister's husband then vies with her for another man.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent
BW-97 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Both Bette Davis' and Olivia de Havilland's characters have masculine given names -- "Stanley" and "Roy," respectively. Interestingly, the film never hints that there is anything unusual about their names, nor does it offer any explanation.

In David Maraniss's 2012 biography of President Barack Obama, titled Barack Obama: The Story, Maraniss reports that Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro, was named "Stanley" not after her own father, Stanley Dunham, but after the Bette Davis character in the movie In This Our Life. Maraniss says that President Obama's maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, saw the movie while pregnant with Obama's mother, and she thought the name sounded sophisticated for a girl.


6:45 PM -- Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano (1984)
A documentary depicting the life and career of one of America's premiere actresses.
Cast: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald
C-60 mins, TV-G, CC,

An episode of the BBC arts programme Arena.


TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: ROBERTO ROSSELLINI



8:00 PM -- Stromboli (1950)
A refugee marries a Sicilian fisherman but can't cope with the harshness of her new life.
Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale, Renzo Cesana
BW-107 mins, TV-14, CC,

During production of this film, 'Ingrid Bergman' entered into an extra-marital affair with Roberto Rossellini and became pregnant. The resulting scandal in America effectively blacklisted her from the North American movie market and she was even condemned by politicians and religious figures. She was finally forgiven and welcomed back to America upon the success of Anastasia, but her Hollywood career was temporarily ended by this movie.


10:00 PM -- Europa '51 (1952)
When a well-off woman loses her son, her recovery confronts her with the problems of the less fortunate.
Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Alexander Knox, Ettore Giannini
BW-110 mins, TV-14,

Also known in the US as The Greatest Love.


12:00 AM -- Journey to Italy (1955)
A married couple seek insight and direction within their relationship in Italy.
Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders,
BW-83 mins,

Based on the novel Duo by Colette.


1:45 AM -- Fear (1956)
The wife of a prominent scientist is blackmailed after her extramarital affair is discovered.
Dir: Roberto Rossellini
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Mathias Wieman, Kurt Kreuger
BW-78 mins,

The last film Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman made together before their divorce in 1957.


3:15 AM -- The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962)
A former prison doctor abducts beautiful women from nightclubs and tries to use their skin to repair his daughter's fire-scarred face.
Dir: Jesús Franco
Cast: Howard Vernon, Conrado San Martín, Diana Lorys
BW-90 mins,

Director Cameo (Jesus Franco): Man playing piano in bar.


5:00 AM -- Holiday From Rules (1959)
In this educational film, a group of young children understand why rules are important.
Dir: William H. Murray
BW-11 mins, TV-G,


5:00 AM -- Booked For Safekeeping (1960)
In this short documentary, police officers are trained in the assistance and management of mentally ill and confused persons.
Dir: George C Stoney
BW-32 mins, TV-14,

[CBHagman]

1. The background information is especially juicy today.

In fact it's enough for multiple discussions.

The mini-biography of George Brent was new to me, as was the role the movies played in the choice of a name for the president's mother.

The public outcry over Ingrid Bergman's affair is another reminder of the degree to which things are shaped by power and PR. Think of how many secrets actors and directors (and, for that matter, religious leaders and politicians) have managed to keep from the public eye. So while Ingrid Bergman is publicly denounced, things carry on behind the scenes as they always do...