TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 21 -- What's On Tonight: Teen Idols

[Staph]

Today we are celebrating the work of Ida Lupino, born February 4, 1918, in London, England, and died August 3, 1995, in Los Angeles, California. Lupino started as bleached blonde in small acting parts, and ended up as a respected director and the second woman to be admitted to the Director's Guild. In prime time, TCM continues this month's spotlight on Teen Idols, with idols Fabian, Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, and Rickie Nelson. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
127 min, TV-G
An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Cantor, Bette Davis

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Arthur Schwartz (music) and Frank Loesser (lyrics) for the song "They're Either Too Young or Too Old"

In the scene where Conrad Wiedell takes Bette Davis and does a "Jitterbug" dance, she felt he was holding back in rehearsals, and told him to treat her like an experienced dance partner. When the cameras rolled, Wiedell - a national jitterbug champion hired specifically for this dance - pulled out all the stops and swung her around and she fell on her knee. As she finishes her song, you see her limping out of the nightclub set and leaning against a post, rubbing her knee. This was a real injury, but she finished the song despite the pain. When director David Butler asked Davis to "try it once more", she replied, "No! No! I said one take, and that was it." She then turned to the press who had shown up to watch her number, telling them "Show's over, gentlemen. Now get the hell out."


8:15 AM -- Pillow To Post (1945)
92 min, TV-G
A girl pretends to be a war bride to get a hotel room in Washington.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, William Prince

William Conrad's first film project.


10:00 AM -- The Man I Love (1947)
90 min, TV-G
A night-club singer gets involved with a mobster.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King

Filmed in mid-1945, but nor released until 1947.


11:45 AM -- Deep Valley (1947)
106 min, TV-PG
A farmer's daughter helps an escaped convict.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Ida Lupino, Dane Clark, Wayne Morris

Primarily filmed in Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, because of a set-builders' strike at Warners.


1:30 PM -- Escape Me Never (1947)
104 min, TV-G
A composer forsakes his innocent bride to romance his brother's fiancee.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker

A remake of Escape Me Never (1935), starring Elisabeth Bergner and Hugh Sinclair in the Lupino and Flynn roles.


3:15 PM -- On Dangerous Ground (1951)
82 min, TV-PG
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond

Ida Lupino directed the film for several days when Nicholas Ray fell ill.


4:45 PM -- The Bigamist (1953)
79 min, TV-PG
A woman discovers her husband has another family in another city.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Joan Fontaine, Ida Lupino, Edmund Gwenn

This would be the last feature film directed by Ida Lupino for more than 12 years until The Trouble with Angels.


6:15 PM -- While The City Sleeps (1956)
100 min, TV-PG
Reporters compete to catch a serial killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders

Although Howard Duff and Ida Lupino were married in real life at this time, they have no scenes together.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: TEEN IDOLS


8:00 PM -- Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
C-102 min, TV-G
Three young surfers travel to Hawaii in search of love and the perfect wave.
Dir: Don Taylor
Cast: Fabian, Shelley Fabares, Tab Hunter

Those shots of Fabian, Peter Brown, and Tab Hunter - photographed from mid-chest up - riding their surfboards were actually shot in California inside Columbia Studios. The actors balanced on Radio Flyer wagons in front of a rear-projection screen showing ocean waves. Assistants then sprayed them with water while maneuvering the wagons to give the desired effect.


10:00 PM -- Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
C-97 min, TV-G
The surfing gang rescues a beautiful singer from evil bikers.
Dir: William Asher
Cast: Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Deborah Walley

This was the final full appearance in a "Beach Party" movie for Frankie Avalon. He only appears in six minutes of the follow-up, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.


11:48 PM -- King Of The Duplicators (1968)
William Tuttle, chief of MGM's makeup department for over 30 years, makes life masks of performers.
C-12 min
Cast: William Tuttle, Wayne Thomas, Charles H. Schram

Shows makeup from The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond: The Day the World Wept-The Lincoln Story (1960), Twilight Zone: The After Hours (1960), 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964), Penelope (1966), The Power (1968), and The Extraordinary Seaman (1969).


12:00 AM -- That Funny Feeling (1965)
C-93 min, TV-PG
A cleaning girl tries to pass off her workplace as her home, not knowing she's dating her boss.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, Donald O'Connor

In one scene, Tom Milford (Bobby Darin) explains to Harvey Granson (Donald O'Connor) that the party scheduled for that night will celebrate the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty which took place 78 years ago that day. So the date of the party is 28 October 1964 since the unveiling of the Statue took place on 28 October 1886.


1:40 AM -- Forest Commandos (1945)
19 min
The forest commandos of the title are the Ontario fire rangers who, with the aide of their bush pilot comrades, keep watch over Ontario's forests.
Dir: Van Campen Heilner
Cast: Knox Manning, Bill McCormick, George Phillips

The original release prints of this short were printed in Technicolor. The only known existing prints are in black and white.


2:00 AM -- The Wackiest Ship In The Army (1961)
C-99 min, TV-G
The captain of a broken-down ship has to sneak an Australian spy into enemy waters during World War II.
Dir: Richard Murphy
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, John Lund

The movie is loosely based upon an actual commissioned Navy ship, the USS Echo (IX-95). As in the movie, the Echo was a scow loaned to the Navy from New Zealand in 1942, but was used for carrying cargo and supplies to Army bases in the South Pacific, earning her an Army commendation. She was decommissioned in 1944 and can be seen in Picton New Zealand as a museum.


3:45 AM -- Army Champions (1941)
C-11 min
This MGM short focuses on the young men who have signed up to serve their country.
Dir: Paul Vogel
Narrator: Pete Smith

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel


4:00 AM -- Instant Love (1964)
C-92 min, TV-PG
A romance quickly turns into a marriage, but then runs into problems as the lovers face a combination of boredom and jealousy.
Dir: Paul Sylbert
Cast: Carlos Alberto, Peter Bashka, Rhonda Fleming

The party seen in the movie is a "Festa Junina" (June Party), a traditional Brazilian party.


5:40 AM -- Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939)
19 min
Dir: Joseph Henabery
Cast: Hal Le Roy, Betty Hutton, Chaz Chase