TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 31, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Big Breaks

Last edited Wed Jan 30, 2019, 09:08 PM - Edit history (2)

During the daylight hours, TCM is all about crime in the Old West, with a swerve just before the evening to show The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Then in prime time, TCM says "you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!" (Well, not really -- they're not showing 42nd Street (1933)!) What TCM is doing is celebrating the umpteenth version of A Star is Born by showing the original two films, What Price Hollywood (1932) and the first remake, A Star Is Born (1937). Other films tonight that fit the Big Breaks theme are Singin' In The Rain (1952), Show People (1928), and The Player (1992). Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938)
When a cowboy is framed for murder, he travels to Harlem and masquerades as a gangster.
Dir: Richard C. Kahn
Cast: Herb Jeffries, Marguerite Whitten, Clarence Brooks
BW-65 mins

Herb Jefferies, son of an Irish mother and a father of mixed Sicilian, French, Italian and Moorish roots, was considered the only black singing cowboy in Hollywood.


7:15 AM -- Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw's life when he's falsely accused of a crime.
Dir: Mack V. Wright
Cast: John Wayne, Duke, Henry B. Walthall
BW-58 mins

Using the name "Monte Black" as the villain was something of an in-joke at Warners, where Monte Blue was a star during the silent era. After sound came in, he was relegated to minor supporting roles at the studio, albeit in some very good films like Casablanca (1942) and Key Largo (1948).


8:17 AM -- Nut Guilty (1936)
This comedic short film presents Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy providing their own form of comic justice over the courtroom. Vitaphone Release 1935.
Dir: Lloyd French
Cast: Gerrie Worthing, George Anderson, Frank Lillo
BW-11 mins, CC


8:30 AM -- Empty Holsters (1937)
An outlaw frames a cowboy to steal his girl.
Dir: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Dick Foran, Patricia Walthall, Emmett Vogan
BW-62 mins

Based on a story by Ed Earl Repp.


9:45 AM -- The Fighting Gringo (1939)
A cowboy tries to clear an innocent Mexican rancher of murder charges.
Dir: David Howard
Cast: George O'Brien, Lupita Tovar, Lucio Villegas
BW-59 mins

Film debut of Ben Johnson.


10:47 AM -- A Failure At Fifty (1939)
In this short film, the story of Abraham Lincoln's 30-year struggle of persistence-through-failure is told to an unemployed 50 year old man.
Dir: Will Jason
Cast: Edward Coxen, George Chesebro, Mary Anderson
BW-10 mins

Based on the story He Could Take It by Arno B. Reincke.


11:00 AM -- Trouble in Sundown (1939)
A man's friend searches for the real crooks when he's accused of robbery and murder.
Dir: David Howard
Cast: George O'Brien, Rosalind Keith, Ray Whitley
BW-60 mins

Filmed under the working title A Knight in Ghost Town.


12:15 PM -- Come on Danger (1942)
When a woman turns outlaw, she's suspected of murder.
Dir: Edward Killy
Cast: Tim Holt, Frances Neal, Ray Whitley
BW-59 mins, CC

A four-minute-long scene near the end of Come on Danger is an exact copy - line for line and shot for shot - of a scene in George O'Brien's The Renegade Ranger. Watch for the scenes at the 50-minute mark in both movies. It begins with the hero and two sidekicks listening outside a window as the villain discusses murdering the heroine, followed by a fight in which the villains' cook comes out of the kitchen and disrupts the fight by cutting the rope which holds up a suspended wagon-wheel chandelier. In Come on Danger the hero is Tim Holt and his sidekicks are Ray Whitley and Lee White. In The Renegade Ranger the hero is George O'Brien and his sidekicks are Ray Whitley (again) - and none other than Tim Holt. In both versions, Tim Holt pretends to be injured and staggers passed two guards, then he falls over while his two companions jump the distracted guards.


1:18 PM -- So You Think You're Not Guilty (1950)
In this comedic short, a simple traffic violation turns into a 10-year jail sentence for Joe McDoakes. Vitaphone Release 1876A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: Fred Kelsey, Paul Panzer, Nolan Leary
BW-11 mins

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead

A rare entry in the Joe McDoakes series because there is no narrator.


1:30 PM -- Sagebrush Law (1943)
A Western bank president is framed on embezzlement charges.
Dir: Sam Nelson
Cast: Tim Holt, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, Joan Barclay
BW-56 mins

One of six films Tim Holt made for RKO between May 11-July 17, 1942, before he went into the US Army Air Forces--where he became an officer and bombardier on B-29 Superfortresses in the Pacific Theater, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart.


2:30 PM -- Gun Law Justice (1949)
Jimmy Wakely helps a former outlaw clear his name and go straight.
Dir: Lambert Hillyer
Cast: Jimmy Wakely, "Cannonball" Taylor, Jane Adams
BW-54 mins

Screenplay by Basil Dickey, writer of a ton of movie serials like The Perils of Pauline (1933) and Flash Gordon (1936).


3:30 PM -- The Badlanders (1958)
Western outlaws join forces for a daring gold robbery in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado
C-84 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ernest Borgnine met his future wife Katy Jurado while working on this film. A reporter saw the two laughing over lunch one day and started a rumor that the two were involved romantically, which Borgnine insisted for the rest of his life was not true. The story persisted, though, and Borgnine's wife ended up divorcing him because of it. Ironically, he and Jurado grew closer and closer because of this trouble, and ended up marrying in 1959.


5:00 PM -- Guns of Hate (1948)
Two drifters are falsely accused of murder.
Dir: Lesley Selander
Cast: Tim Holt, Nan Leslie, Richard Martin
BW-62 mins, CC

Westerns are famous for allowing six shooters to fire endlessly without reloading. Filmmakers hope the audience wouldn't count the shots. But in this movie Jason Robards Sr. hides behind a rock and defends himself from Steve Brodie and his henchman by firing three shots -- from a double barrel shotgun.


6:15 PM -- The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Jackie Robinson plays himself in this true story of the man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.
Dir: Alfred E. Green
Cast: Jackie Robinson, Ruby Dee, Minor Watson
BW-77 mins, CC

When Jackie Robinson gets a draft notice in the mail, he doesn't explicitly say what it is. He only says it begins with the word "Greetings." In 1950 audiences would have remembered that World War II draft notices began that way. It was a popular source of dark humor at the time.


7:38 PM -- A Thrill For Thelma (1935)
In this short film, a young girl, wanting a life of luxury, takes the "easy" way and winds up in jail.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: William Tannen, Fred Graham, Poppy Wilde
BW-18 mins, CC

Number 4 in the Crime Does Not Pay series.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BIG BREAKS



8:00 PM -- What Price Hollywood? (1932)
A drunken director whose career is fading helps a waitress become a Hollywood star.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton
BW-88 mins

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Adela Rogers St. Johns and Jane Murfin

George Cukor, who directed this film, was offered the chance to direct its "partial remake," A Star Is Born (1937), but turned it down, claiming the two films were too similar. Interestingly, Cukor would later direct the 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason musical remake of that film, often cited as the best version of this material.


9:45 PM -- A Star is Born (1937)
A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he's shepherded to stardom.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou
C-111 mins, CC

Winner of an Honorary Oscar Award for W. Howard Greene for the color photography of A Star Is Born. (plaque) This award was recommended by a committee of leading cinematographers after viewing all the color pictures made during the year.

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- William A. Wellman and Robert Carson

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Fredric March, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Janet Gaynor, Best Director -- William A. Wellman, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Alan Campbell, Robert Carson and Dorothy Parker, Best Assistant Director -- Eric Stacey, and Best Picture

Widely considered to be the first Technicolor film that was a bona fide critical and box office success. Until A Star is Born and Nothing Sacred (1937), color films had been garish, over saturated and, as many critics complained, headache-inducing. Producer David O. Selznick insisted on muted, realistic color, and it was the success of these two films that paved the way for his Technicolor masterpiece, Gone with the Wind (1939).


11:45 PM -- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
A silent-screen swashbuckler finds love while trying to adjust to the coming of sound.
Dir: Gene Kelly
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds
C-103 mins, CC

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Jean Hagen, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

In the looping sequence, Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) is seen dubbing the dialogue for Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) because Lina's voice is shrill and screechy. However, it's not Reynolds who is speaking, it's Jean Hagen herself, who actually had a beautiful deep, rich voice. So you have Jean Hagen dubbing Debbie Reynolds dubbing Jean Hagen. And when Debbie is supposedly dubbing Jean's singing of "Would You?" the voice you hear singing actually belongs to Betty Noyes, who had a much richer singing voice than Debbie.


1:33 AM -- So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947)
Joe McDoakes learns what a bumpy road it can be to become an Hollywood star in this comedic short. Vitaphone Release 1537A.
Dir: Richard Bare
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Jane Harker, Jack Mower
BW-11 mins, CC

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel -- Gordon Hollingshead

Actor and future President Ronald Reagan is referred to by the narrator as "Ronnie" Reagan as he walks through the studio streets.


1:45 AM -- Show People (1928)
In this silent film, a small-town girl tries to make it in Hollywood.
Dir: King Vidor
Cast: Marion Davies, William Haines, Dell Henderson
BW-79 mins

The well known faces appearing in the banquet scene are, in the order they appear on screen: Dorothy Sebastian, Louella Parsons, Estelle Taylor, Claire Windsor, Aileen Pringle, Karl Dane, George K. Arthur, Leatrice Joy, Renée Adorée, Rod La Rocque, Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Norma Talmadge, Douglas Fairbanks, Marion Davies, and William S. Hart.


3:15 AM -- The Player (1992)
A rising producer tries to cover up the accidental killing of a screenwriter who was stalking him.
Dir: Robert Altman
Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Peter Falk
C-124 mins, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Robert Altman, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published -- Michael Tolkin, and Best Film Editing -- Geraldine Peroni

The film has more Oscar winning actors and actresses in the cast than any other movie in history. There are twelve: Cher, James Coburn, Louise Fletcher, Whoopi Goldberg, Joel Grey, Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, Marlee Matlin, Tim Robbins, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Rod Steiger. Thirteen, when you count Oscar winning Producer and Director Sydney Pollack, who also makes a cameo appearance. Also includes fifteen other actors and actresses who received Oscar nominations: Karen Black, Dean Stockwell, Michael Tolkin, Gary Busey, Peter Falk, Teri Garr, Jeff Goldblum, Elliott Gould, Sally Kirkland, Buck Henry, Sally Kellerman, Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte, Richard E. Grant and Lily Tomlin.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #19 (1955)
Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly perform in a clip from "Ziegfeld Follies"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Ransom." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-29 mins