TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 13, 2017 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Ronald Colman

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, it's all horror all the time. Yuck! Then in prime time, it's more of the tribute to Star of the Month, the dashing Ronald Colman. Enjoy!


6:15 AM -- MAD LOVE (1935)
A mad doctor grafts the hands of a murderer on to a concert pianist's wrists.
Dir: Karl Freund
Cast: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive
BW-68 mins, CC,

Charles Chaplin called Lorre the screen's best actor after seeing his performance in "Mad Love."


7:30 AM -- THE HIDDEN HAND (1942)
The body count rises during the competition for a family inheritance.
Dir: Ben Stoloff
Cast: Craig Stevens, Elisabeth Fraser, Julie Bishop
BW-67 mins, CC,

Based on the play Invitation to a Murder, by Rufus King.


8:45 AM -- SCARED TO DEATH (1947)
A beautiful murder victim recalls how she met her untimely end.
Dir: Christy Cabanne
Cast: Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton
C-68 mins,

The only color film to star Bela Lugosi (he appeared in a 1930 Technicolor film, Viennese Nights (1930), but did not star in it). The only other color footage of the actor is in a wartime short in which he can be seen giving blood for the war effort.


10:00 AM -- THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943)
A girl's search for her missing sister puts her in conflict with a band of satanists.
Dir: Mark Robson
Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell
BW-71 mins, CC,

Notable cast members include Hugh Beaumont (Gregory Ward), who played the father, Ward Cleaver in the TV series Leave It To Beaver; Barbara Hale (uncredited subway passenger), who played secretary Della Street in Perry Mason, pioneering celebrity chef Joseph "Chef" Milani, who ran the famous Hollywood Canteen during WWII, and character actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr (cult henchman), whose best-known role was as the mad monk Jorge De Burgos in The Name of the Rose (1988) (and the Old Man in Moonstruck (1987)).


11:15 AM -- THE SORCERERS (1967)
A great hypnotist develops a technique for controlling minds.
Dir: Michael Reeves
Cast: Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy
C-86 mins, CC,

In the scene with the exploding car, the fire apparently got so out of control that the real police and fire brigade were on their way. The film crew had to get the shot and leave in a hurry, as they had not obtained any permission from anyone to shoot the scene.


12:45 PM -- THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1962)
A scientist keeps his wife's severed head alive until he can find a new body for her.
Dir: Joseph Green
Cast: Virginia Leith, Herb Evers, Adele Lamont
BW-82 mins, Letterbox Format

At least a few of Virginia Leith's lines were dubbed by Doris Brent, who played a nurse in this film. Reportedly Leith hated the film so much she refused to return for post-production.


2:15 PM -- HORROR HOTEL (1960)
A young coed travels to a village to continue her research on witchcraft, and discovers some horrifying secrets.
Dir: John Moxey
Cast: Patricia Jessel, Betta St. John, Christopher Lee
BW-78 mins, CC,

"City of the Dead" aka "Horror Hotel" was the first film made by Amicus Productions, one of Hammer's most successful rivals in the 60s and 70s. At the time of this film, however, the company was known as Vulcan Productions.


3:45 PM -- THE LEOPARD MAN (1943)
When a leopard escapes during a publicity stunt, it triggers a series of murders.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Dennis O'Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks
BW-66 mins, CC,

In the Summer of 1952, RKO reissued this film as a double feature with King Kong (1933). RKO "cashed in", as young theatergoers, due to this film's title, were expecting to see a second "creature" film.


5:00 PM -- THE PLUMBER (1979)
The arrival of a mysterious plumber upsets a doctor's wife.
Dir: Peter Weir
Cast: Judy Morris, Ivar Kants, Robert Coleby
C-78 mins, CC,

Peter Weir based the movie on two real-life incidents. The first involved two of Weir's friends, who suffered through a number of house-calls made by an incessantly talkative yet incompetent plumber. The second involved Weir himself riding in a cab in the late 1960s with a driver who appeared to be a hippie. When the pair began discussing the Vietnam war, the driver espoused numerous fascist and pro-war sentiments, concluding his diatribe by expressing a desire to see the entire nation of Vietnam destroyed with an atomic bomb.


6:30 PM -- THE TERROR (1963)
A lost soldier discovers a mysterious beauty haunting a half-deserted castle.
Dir: Roger Corman
Cast: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight
C-79 mins, CC,

Roger Corman made this picture in the midst of a cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations and considers it an "honorary member" of that cycle. The previous Poe pictures had ended with the castle or mansion being destroyed by fire (Corman's crew had some to look forward to "fire day&quot but with this one, Corman decided to change the formula and have the castle destroyed by a flood instead. Noting the abundance of second-unit directors who had worked on the film--four, to that point--Jack Nicholson requested and received permission to direct the climactic flood sequence himself.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: RONALD COLMAN



8:00 PM -- LOST HORIZON (1937)
Four fugitives from a Chinese revolution discover a lost world of peace and harmony.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton
BW-133 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Stephen Goosson, and Best Film Editing -- Gene Havlick and Gene Milford

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- H.B. Warner, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), Best Assistant Director -- Charles C. Coleman, Best Music, Score -- Morris Stoloff (head of department) with score by Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

Frank Capra hated screen tests; scripts were developed with specific actors in mind. Ronald Colman was first choice to play Conway from the very beginning. It was only over who should play the High Lama that he had problems and had to resort to screen tests. Sam Jaffe was eventually chosen for the part.


10:30 PM -- IF I WERE KING (1938)
Vagabond poet Francois Villon wins the chance to improve life in Medieval France, if he will give up his lower-class friends.
Dir: Frank Lloyd
Cast: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee
BW-101 mins, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Basil Rathbone, Best Art Direction -- Hans Dreier and John B. Goodman, Best Sound, Recording -- Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD), and Best Music, Original Score -- Richard Hageman

Ronald Colman was a frequent guest on Jack Benny's radio show, where he was supposedly Jack's next-door neighbor in Beverly Hills. A 1946 broadcast had Colman rehearsing his recital of the poem, "If I Were King," only to find himself being drowned out by Jack's violin playing from next door.


12:21 AM -- COLORFUL BOMBAY (1937)
This short film focuses on the history, people, and landscapes of Bombay.
C-8 mins,


12:30 AM -- CLIVE OF INDIA (1935)
An enterprising clerk leads the British colonial campaign in India.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski
Cast: Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, Colin Clive
BW-94 mins, CC,

Film debut of Don Ameche.


2:15 AM -- THE LIGHT THAT FAILED (1939)
A London artist struggles to complete one last painting before going blind.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Ronald Colman, Walter Huston, Muriel Angelus
BW-99 mins,

Ida Lupino was so anxious to play the part, that she stole a copy of the script and stormed into William Wellman's office demanding a chance to audition. She convinced Wellman but not co-star Colman, who wanted Vivien Leigh to play the role. Because Wellman held out for Lupino, the actor unsuccessfully tried to have him replaced. The actor and director maintained a chilly relationship on the set.


4:00 AM -- THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO (1935)
An expatriate Russian prince creates a scandal by winning big at the gambling tables.
Dir: Stephen Roberts
Cast: Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett, Colin Clive
BW-67 mins, CC,

Based on the play by Ilya Surguchev and Frederick Albert Swan. The play was inspired by the music hall song of the same name, written by Frederick Gilbert in 1891 or 1892.


5:08 AM -- ALL-STAR VAUDEVILLE (1935)
This short film presents a miniature vaudeville review, featuring such selections as "Why Don't You Practice What You Preach?" and "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady." Vitaphone Release 1791.
BW-11 mins,


5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #31 (1956)
Walter Pidgeon discusses Greta Garbo's later career with director George Cukor.
BW-26 mins,

[regnaD kciN]

1. What? No "A Tale of Two Cities"...?

My mom was an extra in the final scene.

[Staph]

2. How cool!

You have to get your mother to tell stories! And then pass those stories along to us movie nerds!

A Tale Of Two Cities (1935), with Ronald Colman, will be shown on TCM on Thursday, July 20, at 8:00 PM EDT. Enjoy!