TCM Schedule for Tuesday, September 11: Cary Grant

[CBHagman]

Tuesday, September 11th, 2012

1:30 AM
Les Girls (1957)
Three showgirls recall different versions of their time together touring Europe.
Dir: George Cukor Cast: Gene Kelly , Mitzi Gaynor , Kay Kendall .
C-114 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

3:30 AM
River of No Return (1954)
A frontier farmer takes off with his son and a saloon singer after the man who stole his rifle and his horse.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Robert Mitchum , Marilyn Monroe , Rory Calhoun .
C-91 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

5:15 AM
MGM Parade Show #14 (1955)
Clark Gable and Charles Laughton perform in a clip from "Mutiny on the Bounty"; Howard Keel introduces a clip from "Kismet." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-25 mins, TV-G,

6:00 AM
Going Places (1938)
A sporting-goods salesman poses as a jockey to stimulate sales.
Dir: Ray Enright Cast: Dick Powell , Anita Louise , Allen Jenkins .
BW-84 mins, TV-G,

7:30 AM
He Couldn't Say No (1938)
A timid advertising man learns to fight for the girl of his dreams.
Dir: Lew Seiler Cast: Frank McHugh , Jane Wyman , Cora Witherspoon .
BW-57 mins, TV-G,

8:30 AM
Fast Company (1938)
Married book-dealers Joel and Gerda Sloane try to clear a friend in the murder of a rival book-seller .
Dir: Edward Buzzell Cast: Melvyn Douglas , Florence Rice , Claire Dodd .
BW-75 mins, TV-PG,

10:00 AM
Affairs of Annabel, The (1938)
A screen queen suffers through harebrained publicity stunts schemed up by her press agent.
Dir: Ben Stoloff Cast: Jack Oakie , Lucille Ball , Ruth Donnelly .
BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC,

11:15 AM
Annabel Takes A Tour (1938)
A movie star on tour gets thrown into a variety of wacky publicity stunts.
Dir: Lew Landers Cast: Jack Oakie , Lucille Ball , Ruth Donnelly .
BW-67 mins, TV-G, CC,

12:30 PM
Hold That Kiss (1938)
Romance blossoms when a man and woman each think the other is rich.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin Cast: Maureen O'Sullivan , Dennis O'Keefe , Mickey Rooney .
BW-79 mins, TV-G, CC,

2:00 PM
Maid's Night Out (1938)
A wealthy boy masquerading as a milkman falls for an heiress he thinks is a maid.
Dir: Ben Holmes Cast: Joan Fontaine , Allan Lane , Billy Gilbert .
BW-64 mins, TV-PG,

3:15 PM
Too Hot To Handle (1938)
Rival newsreel photographers vie for scoops and a beautiful lady flyer.
Dir: Jack Conroy Cast: Clark Gable , Myrna Loy , Walter Pidgeon .
BW-107 mins, TV-PG, CC,

5:15 PM
Four's A Crowd (1938)
A publicist falls for his most difficult client's daughter.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Rosalind Russell .
BW-92 mins, TV-G, CC,

7:00 PM
Block-Heads (1938)
Chaos erupts when a man tries to help an old war buddy.
Dir: John G. Blystone Cast: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Patricia Ellis .
BW-57 mins, TV-G,

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: CARY GRANT

8:00 PM
Monkey Business (1952)
A scientist's search for the fountain of youth makes him and his wife regress to childhood.
Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Cary Grant , Ginger Rogers , Charles Coburn .
BW-97 mins, TV-G, CC,

10:00 PM
People Will Talk (1951)
A controversial doctor gets mixed up with an unwed mother.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cast: Cary Grant , Jeanne Crain , Finlay Currie .
BW-110 mins, TV-PG, CC,

12:00 AM
I Was A Male War Bride (1949)
An Army woman stationed overseas tries to get her French husband back home.
Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Cary Grant , Ann Sheridan , Marion Marshall .
BW-105 mins, TV-G, CC,

2:00 AM
Awful Truth, The (1937)
A divorced couple keeps getting mixed up in each other's love lives.
Dir: Leo McCarey Cast: Irene Dunne , Cary Grant , Ralph Bellamy .
BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC,

3:45 AM
Bishop's Wife, The (1947)
An angel helps set an ambitious bishop on the right track.
Dir: Henry Koster Cast: Cary Grant , Loretta Young , David Niven .
BW-109 mins, TV-G, CC,

[Matilda]

1. Interesting choices for a Cary Grant night,

in that I don't think many are among his best work. Of all these, my favourite is The Bishop's Wife, which is required viewing at our house over Christmas.

Did you know that originally, the two male roles were reversed, and David Niven was supposed to play the angel, but he was depressed following the recent death of his wife, and it was he and Grant together who decided that their roles should be reversed? When you watch the film, it's hard to imagine how anyone could ever have thought otherwise.

Even knowing that the Grant image was manufactured, as much of an acting role as any of his films, it's still impossible to resist Cary Grant. Not just his good looks and style, but he did have a beautiful way with comedy, both the physical (mostly in his early work) and the verbal. And he could be surprisingly dark when required, too. And not to forget his voice, which always kept an underlay of lovely British tones (probably as carefully cultivated as the rest of his persona).