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Today we celebrate the birth of Edward Everett Horton, born on this day in 1886. If you were not raised on the comedies of the 1930s, you may remember him as the Fractured Fairy Tale narrator from Rocky and Bullwinkle, or medicine man Roaring Chicken of the Hekawi tribe in F-Troop. My favorite Horton roles were his appearances in many of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers films, as the befuddled but rich best friend of Astaire. (Fun fact -- Horton's grandfather was Edward Everett Hale, author of "The Man Without a Country.").
Our primetime star is French star Jeanne Moreau, who was called "the greatest actress in the world" by Orson Welles. Enjoy!
6:30 AM -- Kiss Me Again (1931)
A French army officer and a cabaret singer chase each other across Europe.
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Bernice Claire, Frank McHugh.
Dir: William A. Seiter.
C-74 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
Although originally released in 2-strip Technicolor, the TCM print is in black and white.
7:45 AM -- Lonely Wives (1932)
A lawyer hires someone to impersonate him so he can have an affair.
Cast: Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante.
Dir: Russell Mack.
BW-86 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
Based on a play by A.H. Woods.
9:15 AM -- Roar of the Dragon (1932)
Bandits menace Americans on a Chinese riverboat.
Cast: Richard Dix, Gwili Andre, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles.
BW-69 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
Based on the novel A Passage to Hong Kong, by George Kibbe Turner, a muck-raking journalist from the turn of the last century.
10:30 AM -- Easy to Love (1934)
When she thinks her husband has been unfaithful, a woman claims to be having an affair of her own.
Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Genevieve Tobin, Mary Astor.
Dir: William Keighley.
BW-61 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format
The play, "As Good as New," opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 3 November 1930 and closed in December 1930 after 56 performances. The opening night cast included Marjorie Gateson, Otto Kruger and Vivienne Osborne.
11:45 AM -- Sing And Like It (1934)
A gangster tries to turn his tone-deaf girlfriend into a singing star.
Cast: ZaSu Pitts, Nat Pendleton, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: William A. Seiter.
BW-72 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
Although the Catholic Church of Detroit placed this movie on its "to be boycotted" list in July 1934, the Production Code Administration gave it an approval certificate for its re-release in 1935, when the its Code was more rigorously enforced.
1:00 PM -- Smarty (1934)
A squabbling couple can't seem to make it to the divorce court.
Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: Robert Florey.
BW-65 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
The play opened first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on 1 October 1927. It was retitled "Funny Face" for its New York run off-Broadway beginning 22 November 1927. It has no relation to the Fred Astaire / Audrey Hepburn film Funny Face (1957).
2:15 PM -- Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935)
A portrait painter is reunited with a lost love when her upcoming memoirs threaten his political career.
Cast: Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: Edward H. Griffith.
BW-83 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
The line "You used to be quite a nice boy - fun occasionally" prompted a complaint letter to the Hays office from the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae, the members of which heard "You used to be quite a nice boy - fornicationally."
3:45 PM -- Going Highbrow (1935)
A nouveau riche couple try to break into high society.
Cast: Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: Robert Florey.
BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
"Moon Crazy" by Louis Alter and Jack Scholl was written for the movie but not heard on the soundtrack.
5:00 PM -- In Caliente (1935)
At a Mexican resort, a fast-talking magazine editor woos the dancer he's trashed in print.
Cast: Dolores Del Rio, Pat O'Brien, Edward Everett Horton.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon.
BW-84 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
The costumes in "The Lady in Red" number were actually blue, but looked "red" when photographed in black and white.
6:30 PM -- Hitting a New High (1938)
A crackpot press agent tries to pass off an aspiring opera singer as a jungle girl.
Cast: Lily Pons, Jack Oakie, Eric Blore.
Dir: Raoul Walsh.
BW-85 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg
The film lost considerable money at the box office. Lily Pons never made another non-concert film.
WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: JEANNE MOREAU
8:00 PM -- Monte Walsh (1970)
An aging cowboy faces changes in the West with the rise of civilization.
Cast: Lee Marvin, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Palance.
Dir: William A. Fraker.
C-99 mins, TV-14,
Eric Christmas' first movie.
10:00 PM -- Viva Maria! (1965)
Traveling players invent the strip tease while mixed up in a Central American revolution.
Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, George Hamilton.
Dir: Louis Malle.
C-117 mins, TV-PG, CC,
This movie was the subject of one of two U.S. Supreme Court cases that led to the establishment of the MPAA Ratings Code. Upon the U.S. release of this "Viva Maria," the movie classification board of the city of Dallas, Texas, banned the movie within the city on the grounds that it was too racy. The American distributor sued - case title: "Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. City of Dallas (1968) - and, on 22 April 1968, won. In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that censorship aimed at minors was okay, but censorship could not be applied to adults. On the same day, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in a second case, titled "Ginsberg v. New York (1968)," which established that 17 years of age constituted adulthood in cases of censorship. The case involved a New York City luncheonette owner named Sam Ginsberg who was caught selling a "Playboy" magazine to a 16 year old in a NYPD sting operation. The Supreme Court ruled that if the boy had been 17 years old, then Ginsberg would have done no wrong in selling him the magazine. By combining these two rulings, the Supreme Court established the precedent that adult-oriented movies were acceptable as long as "no one under 17 is admitted without parent or adult guardian."
12:15 AM -- Jules And Jim (1962)
A tempestuous beauty comes between college friends.
Cast: Oskar Werner, Jeanne Moreau, Henri Serre.
Dir: Francois Truffaut.
BW-106 mins, TV-14, CC,
One of the earliest foreign films to be distributed in the US by two Harvard students, Cyrus Harvey and Brian Halliday, under their newly formed company, Janus Films. Janus went on to distribute all sorts of classic foreign films and is now owned by Criterion.
2:00 AM -- The Boogens (1982)
Four vacationing college students unearth deadly creatures locked up in an abandoned mine.
Cast: Rebecca Balding, Fred McCarren, Anne-Marie Martin.
Dir: James L. Conway.
C-95 mins, TV-MA, CC,
Some believe that "The Boogens" is an actual term once used by miners to describe the fear some would experience while spending too much time in deep mines. In fact, it was a word fabricated by screenwriter David O'Malley, using the word "boogeyman" as it's root.
3:45 AM -- Ghoulies (1985)
A young man's obsession with controlling demonic forces threatens all around him.
Cast: Peter Liapis, Lisa Pellikan, Michael Des Barres.
Dir: Luca Bercovici.
C-81 mins, TV-14,
Mariska Hargitay's film debut.
5:15 AM -- Time Out For Trouble (1961)
Filmmakers examine household accidents to determine their causes.
Cast: Bonnie Hammett, John Nesom, Stephen Bell.
Dir: David B. Glidden.
BW-19 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format
Produced by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
5:45 AM -- Match Your Mood (1968)
Westinghouse shows women how to improve their lives by decorating their refrigerators.
C-6 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format
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