TCM Schedule for Thursday, October 22, 2015 -- TCM Spotlight: Trailblazing Women

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films about Scotland, historical and (relatively) modern day. In prime time, TCM is celebrating women behind the camera, in series of films on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tonight's feature is Women Film Pioneers -- African-American Independents. Enjoy!


6:12 AM -- A Wee Bit Of Scotland (1949)
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Scotland.
C-10 mins,


6:15 AM -- Bonnie Scotland (1935)
Two Americans in search of a Scottish inheritance wind up serving with the British in India.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Lang
BW-81 mins, CC,

The sets from The Little Minister (1934) were used for the Scottish scenes.


7:45 AM -- Mary of Scotland (1936)
Biography of the flighty Scottish queen who was brought down by love.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge
BW-123 mins, CC,

According to A. Scott Berg's memoir "Kate Remembered", Katharine Hepburn was already chosen for Mary but they had trouble casting Elizabeth. At one point Hepburn, who had by then been nicknamed "Katharine of Arrogance", suggested that she play both roles. Supporting player John Carradine asked, "But if you played both queens, how would you know which one to upstage?" She was not amused at the time but roared with laughter when retelling the story years later.


10:00 AM -- Storm in a Teacup (1937)
A small-town politician tries to end his daughter's romance with a crusading reporter.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Rex Harrison, Cecil Parker
BW-86 mins, CC,

Based on the play Sturm in Wasserglas by Bruno Frank, with an Anglo-Scottish version written by James Bridie.


11:30 AM -- The Green Years (1946)
An orphaned Irish boy is taken in by his mother's Scottish relations.
Dir: Victor Saville
Cast: Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler
BW-125 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Charles Coburn, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George J. Folsey

Jessica Tandy played Hume Cronyn's daughter in the film, although she was, in reality, two years older than him.


1:45 PM -- Let's Be Happy (1957)
An heiress on the loose in Scotland is pursued by fortune hunters.
Dir: Henry Levin
Cast: Vera-Ellen, Tony Martin, Robert Flemyng
C-93 mins, CC,

Vera Ellen's final film.


3:30 PM -- Brigadoon (1954)
Two American hunters in Scotland discover a mystical village that only materializes once every century.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, and Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M)

The Breen office wouldn't allow the use of the two songs the Meg Brockie character sang in the stage version, "The Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day" as the lyrics were too risqué. I just saw a local production of Brigadoon and heard the two songs. They are wonderfully funny and add a great deal to the character of Meg Brockie, but I can understand why the Breen office would have ordered the songs cut.


5:19 PM -- Strauss Fantasy (1954)
In this short film, Johnny Green leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra in a medley of waltzes and other familiar pieces by three members of the Strauss family.
C-10 mins,


5:30 PM -- A Wee Bit of Scotland (1949)
This short film focuses on the history, culture, and people of Scotland.
C-10 mins,


5:45 PM -- Hills of Home (1948)
Lassie helps a Scottish doctor deal with his patients' problems.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Tom Drake
C-97 mins, CC,

Suggested by the sketches "Doctor of the Old School" by Ian Maclaren.


7:30 PM -- MGM Parade Show #16 (1955)
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald perform in a clip from "Maytime"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "I'll Cry Tomorrow." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: WOMEN FILMMAKERS



8:00 PM -- Losing Ground (1982)
A philosophy professor responds to her husband's philandering by pursuing fulfillment on her own.
Dir: Kathleen Collins
Cast: Billie Allen, Gary Bolling, Bill Gunn
C-86 mins,

This was Kathleen Collins' only commercial film. She died in 1988 at the age of 46.


9:45 PM -- Daughters of the Dust (1991)
Three generations of Gullah women reunite in 1902 before the family emigrates to the North.
Dir: Julie Dash
Cast: Cora Lee Day, Bernard Wilson, Zenovia Green
C-112 mins,

Filmed on St. Helena Island, South Carolina.


11:45 PM -- Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1992)
An African-American girl from Brooklyn fights to build a better life.
Dir: Leslie Harris
Cast: Ariyan Johnson, Jerard Washington, Kisha Richardson
C-97 mins, CC,

The initials "I.R.T." in the film's title stand for "Interborough Rapid Transit", which refers to a number of New York City's subway systems. Despite the title, however, there is only one scene where Chantel Mitchell is seen in the subway.


1:30 AM -- Middle of Nowhere (2012)
When her husband is sent to prison medical student drops out to protect his needs.
Dir: Ava Duvernay
Cast: Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Lorraine Toussaint
C-101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ava DuVernay had wanted David Oyelowo to star in the movie but before she could approach him a friend of hers who was considering investing in the film asked an actor on a plane his opinion of the script. The actor was Oyelowo, who contacted DuVernay and asked for the part.


3:15 AM -- Best Men (1997)
On the way to his wedding recently released convict gets caught up in a bank robbery.
Dir: Tamra Davis
Cast: Dean Cain, Andy Dick, Sean Patrick Flanery
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The number of the bus they get on at the end is 2525, the same as in Speed (1994/I).


5:00 AM -- Little Dorrit: Part One Nobody's Fault (1988)
A man returns to England and tries to help an impoverished seamstress.
Dir: Christine Edzard
Cast: Derek Jacobi, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood
C-175 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Alec Guinness, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Christine Edzard

The last film of Joan Greenwood and Bill Fraser.