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Staph

(6,245 posts)
Tue Jun 11, 2013, 09:09 PM Jun 2013

TCM Schedule for Friday, June 14, 2013 -- Friday Night Spotlight: Noir Writers

This month's Friday Spotlight is Noir Writers, and today's featured writer is David Goodis. You may not know the name, but you know his screenplays and the films based on his stories and novels. And in the daylight hours, TCM is continuing their tribute to the late Esther Williams. Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- Easy To Wed (1946)
In this remake of Libeled Lady, a tough newspaper editor hires a gigolo to compromise a woman suing his paper for libel.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball
C-110 mins, TV-G, CC,

Early in this film, on the lower left of the screen, Fidel Castro, without beard, is seen as a poolside spectator with a drink in front of him. Young Fidel did "extra" work for MGM, while a student at UCLA, before becoming fully active in politics.


9:15 AM -- The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
After finding religion, a cynical newspaperman tries to help young hoods.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: William Powell, Esther Williams, Angela Lansbury
BW-92 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Angela Lansbury, who could sing, resented that in this and her other MGM films the studio insisted on giving her a voice double. Years later she had stage hits on Broadway in two singing roles, "Mame" and "Sweeney Todd."


11:00 AM -- Fiesta (1947)
A Mexican beauty replaces her toreador brother in the bull ring so he can pursue his musical career.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Esther Williams, Akim Tamiroff, Ricardo Montalban
C-102 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green

Esther Williams, in her autobiography "Million Dollar Mermaid" states that during the shooting of "Fiesta", her husband at the time - Ben Gage - got drunk and had a run-in with the Mexican police, causing production to be halted as the authorities had him thrown out of the country.



1:00 PM -- This Time For Keeps (1947)
A famous singer's son falls for a swimming star.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante, Lauritz Melchior
C-105 mins, TV-G, CC,

Esther Williams was pregnant during the filming of this movie. Unfortunately a couple months later she suffered a miscarriage.


3:00 PM -- On An Island With You (1948)
A movie star falls for a handsome naval officer during location shooting in Hawaii.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalban
C-108 mins, TV-G, CC,

Cyd Charisse completed the bulk of this film (most impressively in two romantic dance duets with Ricardo Montalban), then broke her leg during the filming of the big ceremonial dance, where the corps de ballet is in island native makeup. A double completed her scenes (shot at full length), but the injury kept her out of her next scheduled film, Easter Parade. That role, which would've advanced her to fourth billing, went to Ann Miller, making her MGM debut.


5:00 PM -- Pagan Love Song (1950)
An American tourist romances a Tahitian beauty.
Dir: Robert Alton
Cast: Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Minna Gombell
C-77 mins, TV-G, CC,

The melody to the song "The House Of Singing Bamboo" was actually written in 1945 by Harry Warren for the MGM picture The Harvey Girls, which starred Judy Garland. The song was called "Hayride" and it originally had lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was cut from the picture. In 1950, the Mercer lyrics were dumped and the melody was changed slightly for use in this picture.


6:30 PM -- Texas Carnival (1951)
A penniless carnival worker runs up a mountain of debts when he's mistaken for a millionaire.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel
C-77 mins, TV-G, CC,

At the time "Texas Carnival" was filmed, Red Norvo's trio included an African-American musician, bassist Charles Mingus, and when they recorded their number for this film (backing Ann Miller on "It's Dynamite&quot Mingus played on the soundtrack. But when the number was filmed MGM executives insisted that a white bassist substitute for Mingus on screen.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FRIDAY NIGHT SPOTLIGHT: NOIR WRITERS



8:00 PM -- Dark Passage (1947)
A man falsely accused of his wife's murder escapes to search for the real killer.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett
BW-106 mins, TV-PG, CC,

When Vincent (Bogart) reads the newspaper clipping about Irene's (Bacall's) father, the accompanying photograph of her father is that of director/screenwriter Delmer Daves.


10:00 PM -- Nightfall (1956)
A man on a hunting trip gets mixed up with murderous bank robbers.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft
BW-79 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Based on David Goodis' novel.


11:30 PM -- The Burglar (1956)
A band of crooks robs a spiritualist.
Dir: Paul Wendkos
Cast: Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers
BW-90 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Producer Louis W. Kellman cast the relatively unknown Jayne Mansfield as Gladden after seeing the normally jaded and unflappable film crew's "overheated" reaction to her on the set of Pete Kelly's Blues.


1:15 AM -- Shoot The Piano Player (1960)
A concert pianist on the run gets mixed up with gangsters.
Dir: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger
BW-81 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

Because no funding was available from any of the studios, François Truffaut and his crew shot the film on the fly on the streets of Paris, often making up the script as they went along. The ending was decided on the basis of who was available at the time of shooting.


2:45 AM -- The Burglars (1971)
A motley group of professional robbers plan a gem heist from the home of an emerald collector.
Dir: Henri Verneuil
Cast: Omar Sharif, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Dyan Cannon
C-114 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format

The film was shot in two languages (French and English) with the same cast.


5:00 AM -- The Unfaithful (1947)
While her husband is away, a woman gets mixed up in murder.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott
BW-109 mins, TV-PG,

The original Broadway production of "The Letter" by W. Somerset Maugham, based on Maugham's short story of the same name, opened at the Morosco Theater on September 26, 1927 and ran for 104 performances. David Goodis and James Gunn adapted their screenplay from that play.


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