TCM Schedule for Friday, July 6 -- What's On Tonight: James Stewart Westerns

[Staph]

Today we're celebrating Janet Leigh, born Jeanette Helen Morrison on July 6, 1927, in Merced, California. She was a great actress, but is undoubtedly remembered best for her Oscar-nominated role in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). When asked if it was true that she doesn't take showers, she said, "It's actually, honestly true. And not because of the shooting of it. It was the seeing of it. It never dawned on me how truly vulnerable we are. But that's what Hitchcock did. A shower. A bird. All these things that are absolutely ordinary, he made extraordinary."

In primetime, we have a selection of Jimmy Stewart's western films from the 1950s and 1960s. I wish that they had included Destry Rides Again (1939). I haven't seen that one in years! Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- MGM Parade Show #13 (1955)
George Murphy introduces clips featuring Susan Hayward and Fernand Gravet from "The Great Waltz" and "I'll Cry Tomorrow."


6:30 AM -- That Forsyte Woman (1949)
C-113 min, TV-G
An unhappily married woman falls in love with her niece's fiance.
Dir: Compton Bennett
Cast: Errol Flynn, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color -- Walter Plunkett and Valles

When Greer Garson flung her wardrobe open to change into a dress to accompany Soames to the art gallery, Errol Flynn jumped out of the wardrobe which caused her to scream and faint on set.


8:30 AM -- Holiday Affair (1950)
87 min, TV-G
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Dir: Don Hartman
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey

Although this modest film was not a success at the time, annual showings on Turner Classic Movies in recent years has made this film something of a minor Holiday classic.


10:15 AM -- Strictly Dishonorable (1951)
95 min, TV-PG
An opera star risks disaster when he marries a lovesick fan.
Dir: Melvin Frank
Cast: Ezio Pinza, Janet Leigh, Millard Mitchell

The original Broadway production of Preston Sturges' play opened in New York City, New York, USA at the Avon Theater on 18 September 1929 and ran for 557 performances.


12:00 PM -- Two Tickets to Broadway (1951)
C-107 min, TV-G
A small-town girl finds love on the road to Broadway stardom.
Dir: James V. Kern
Cast: Tony Martin, Janet Leigh, Gloria DeHaven

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio)

The roles played by Charles Dale and Joe Smith were orginally intended for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who had to drop out of the film due to an illness contracted by Laurel while filming Utopia.


2:00 PM -- Just This Once (1952)
90 min, TV-G
A playboy hands control of his dwindling fortune to a pretty girl.
Dir: Don Weis
Cast: Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford, Lewis Stone

Based on a story by Max Trell, who wrote serialized children's stories for newspapers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He collaborated with several writers on the Prince Valiant comic strip and related books and authored several other books and screenplays over his long career.


3:45 PM -- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
127 min, TV-PG
A Korean War hero doesn't realize he's been programmed to kill by the enemy.
Dir: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Angela Lansbury, and Best Film Editing -- Ferris Webster

In the scene where Frank Sinatra gives the all-queens deck of cards to Laurence Harvey, Sinatra is out of focus. He had trouble recreating his performance, so director John Frankenheimer left the footage as is. Audiences weren't bothered; they interpreted it as Harvey's blurred perspective.


6:00 PM -- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
C-112 min, TV-G
A rock star's personal appearance turns a small town into a disaster area.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Johnny Green, and Best Sound -- Charles Rice (Columbia SSD)

The throng of uncredited teenagers included future actresses and celebrities Melinda Marx (daughter of Groucho Marx), Kim Darby (starred in True Grit), Linda Henning (Betty Jo Bradley in Petticoat Junction (1963)), Elaine Joyce (actress, game show guest star and wife to Bobby Van and Neil Simon) and Melody Patterson (Wrangler Jane on F Troop).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: JAMES STEWART WESTERNS


8:00 PM -- The Man From Laramie (1955)
C-102 min, TV-PG
A wandering cowboy gets caught in the rivalry between an aging rancher's sons.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp

The last of James Stewart's Western collaborations with Anthony Mann, the film has been described as western version of King Lear.


10:00 PM -- The Naked Spur (1953)
C-92 min, TV-PG
A captive outlaw uses psychological tactics to prey on a bounty hunter.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom

When this film was released in Spain, its title was changed to "Colorado Jim" and the name of James Stewart's character was also changed from "Howard Kemp" to "Colorado Jim", for unknown reasons.


12:00 AM -- Two Rode Together (1961)
C-109 min, TV-PG
Two tough westerners bring home a group of settlers who have spent years as Comanche hostages.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: James Stewart, Richard Widmark, Shirley Jones

This was the last film in which James Stewart wore his familiar cowboy hat. Up to this point, he had worn it in all his westerns since Winchester '73, except Broken Arrow. This was Stewart's first film with John Ford, and Ford didn't want him to wear it as he thought it was the worst looking cowboy hat he had ever seen. As Stewart said in the documentary, "A Wonderful Life", Ford relented, but got back at him in their next western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, when he didn't let Stewart wear a hat at all.


2:00 AM -- Possession (1981)
C-123 min, TV-MA
In search of his missing wife, a man uncovers a deadly motive for her behavior.
Dir: Andrzej Zulawski
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen

The film originally appeared on the DPP 72 list of UK video nasties. It was banned but never prosecuted, and was eventually passed uncut by the BBFC in 1999.


4:15 AM -- Repulsion (1965)
105 min, TV-PG
Strange dreams haunt a beautiful young woman left alone in her apartment.
Dir: Roman Polanski
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser

This film, along with Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant, forms a loose trilogy by Roman Polanski about the horrors of apartment/city dwelling.