TCM Schedule for Friday, January 31, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: New Yorkers In Love

Last edited Mon Mar 23, 2020, 07:44 PM - Edit history (1)

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birth of the beautiful Jean Simmons, born on January 31, 1929, in London, England, UK. Then in prime time, TCM is giving us a look at a variety of different New Yorkers in love. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945)
Julius Caesar gives the famed Egyptian queen lessons in government.
Dir: Gabriel Pascal
Cast: Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, Flora Robson
C-128 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color -- John Bryan

This movie was shot during World War II, which resulted in production being halted repeatedly, due to German bombing raids. The war also hampered the production's ability to get necessary materials, so the crew had to do the best they could with what they had.


8:30 AM -- GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1946)
A mysterious benefactor finances a young boy's education.
Dir: David Lean
Cast: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Finlay Currie
BW-119 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Guy Green, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- John Bryan and Wilfred Shingleton

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- David Lean, Best Writing, Screenplay -- David Lean, Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, and Best Picture

Jean Simmons (Young Estella) played Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1989).


10:45 AM -- SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950)
A woman searches for her missing brother in Paris despite the fact that nobody believes he exists.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Cast: Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, Honor Blackman
BW-86 mins, CC,

Audiences in 1950 had no trouble identifying where the somewhat ungainly title came from. It's from the fourth line of a well-beloved folk song, not heard much anymore:
"Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair."
It's no stretch to understand who Johnny is in the movie: It's Jean Simmon's character's missing brother, Johnny, and he certainly seems to have overstayed his welcome at this Paris World's Fair.


12:30 PM -- TRIO (1950)
W. Somerset Maugham introduces three more of his stories about human foibles.
Dir: Ken Annakin
Cast: James Hayter, Kathleen Harrison, Felix Aylmer
BW-92 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Cyril Crowhurst

Based on three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All", and "The Sanatorium".


2:15 PM -- THE ACTRESS (1953)
True story of Ruth Gordon's early struggles on the road to stage stardom.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, Teresa Wright
BW-91 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Walter Plunkett

Debbie Reynolds was MGM and George Cukor's first choice to play Ruth Gordon. After some time, Cukor began to have doubts about her. He thought that although she had the right qualities for the part, she was lacking in other areas. He especially didn't like that she wasn't familiar with Shakespeare. He didn't think her test was all that good and cast Jean Simmons instead.


4:00 PM -- AFFAIR WITH A STRANGER (1953)
A playwright and his wife search the past for the key to saving their troubled marriage.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Mary Jo Tarola
BW-87 mins, CC,

Filmed in July and August of 1952 but not released until almost a year later during the tumultuous ownership of RKO by Howard Hughes.


5:45 PM -- YOUNG BESS (1953)
The future Elizabeth I fights court intrigue in the turbulent years before her ascension to the throne.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis and Jack D. Moore, and Best Costume Design, Color -- Walter Plunkett

Cast as on-screen lovers Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I) and Sir Thomas Seymour, in real life Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger were married to each other when this movie was filmed. They also appeared together in Footsteps in the Fog (1955) and Adam and Evalyn (1949); additionally Simmons had an uncredited bit part in Granger's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: NEW YORKERS IN LOVE



8:00 PM -- MOONSTRUCK (1987)
When she tries to make peace in her new family, an engaged woman falls for her fiance's brother.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Cast: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia
C-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Cher, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Olympia Dukakis, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- John Patrick Shanley

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Vincent Gardenia, Best Director -- Norman Jewison, and Best Picture

Norman Jewison has stated that the climactic kitchen sequence was the most difficult scene that he ever shot in his career. The crew were dismissed and Jewison rehearsed with the cast for some time, using a stage production approach. Only after the actors perfected their timing did he decide where to put the camera.


10:00 PM -- THE APARTMENT (1960)
An aspiring executive lets his bosses use his apartment for assignations, only to fall for the big chief's mistress.
Dir: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
BW-125 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- Billy Wilder, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Jack Lemmon, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Kruschen, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, and Best Sound -- Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Although Billy Wilder generally required his actors to adhere exactly to the script, he allowed Jack Lemmon to improvise in two scenes: in one scene he squirted a bottle of nose drops across the room, and in another he sang while making a meal of spaghetti (which he strains through the grid of a tennis racket)


12:15 AM -- ANNIE HALL (1977)
A comedian and an aspiring singer try to overcome their neuroses and find happiness.
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts
C-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Diane Keaton, Best Director -- Woody Allen (Woody Allen was not present at the awards ceremony. Co-presenter King Vidor accepted the award on his behalf.), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman (Woody Allen was not present at the awards ceremony.), and Best Picture

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Woody Allen

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton had trouble keeping a straight face when working together. An example of the uncontrollable laughter between the two was the lobster dinner scene. It was the first scene shot for the movie and neither Woody nor Diane had to do much acting for the scene, for their laughter was completely spontaneous.


5:15 AM -- ONE GOT FAT (1963)
Children wearing monkey masks pay the price for bad bicycle safety habits in this instructional short.
Dir: Dale Jennings
Cast: Diane Chambers, Charles Hagens, Kevin Lindsay
C-15 mins,

The opening car crash sound effects from Signal 30 (1959) are copied for when the last monkey is hit by a car in the dark.


5:15 AM -- THE CORVAIR IN ACTION! (1960)
Technicians herald the arrival of a new car that "delivers the goods as no other compact car can" in this short advertisement.
C-6 mins,


5:15 AM -- THE BOTTLE AND THE THROTTLE (1965)
In this short film, a teenager runs down a mother and child after having one too many alcoholic beverages.
C-10 mins,


5:15 AM -- WILD AT THE WHEEL (1970)
This short film looks at the importance of traffic rules to avoid serious automobile accidents.
Dir: Bob Ellis
C-10 mins,