TCM Schedule for Friday, June 29 -- What's On Tonight: How To Murder Your Wife

It's a day of 1940's mysteries, and an evening of women in jeopardy. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- The Letter (1940)
95 min, TV-PG
A woman claims to have killed in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- James Stephenson, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Tony Gaudio, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Film Editing -- Warren Low, Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

Previously filmed as an early talkie in 1929 starring Jeanne Eagels, The Letter. Herbert Marshall, who plays the husband in this film, portrayed the lover in that version.


7:45 AM -- High Sierra (1941)
100 min, TV-G
An aging ex-con sets out to pull one more big heist.
Dir: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis

This was the last movie Humphrey Bogart made where he did not receive top billing. The studio thought that Ida Lupino should have top billing given the fact that she had been such a big hit in They Drive by Night and so her name ended up above Bogart's on the title card. Bogart was reportedly unhappy about receiving second billing but never complained.


9:30 AM -- The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
94 min, TV-PG
Nazi spies pursue a Spanish Civil War veteran in search of a priceless keepsake.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- C. Bakaleinikoff and Roy Webb

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 14, 1944 with Maureen O'Hara and Walter Slezak reprising their film roles.


11:15 AM -- Johnny Angel (1946)
79 min, TV-G
A sailor sets out to solve his father's murder.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: George Raft, Claire Trevor, Signe Hasso

Hoagy Carmichael performs "Memphis In June", music by Hoagy Carmichael and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

Based on the novel "Mr. Angel Comes Aboard" by Charles Gordon Booth


12:45 PM -- Deception (1946)
92 min. TV-PG
A woman tries to protect her refugee husband from her rich and powerful ex-lover.
Dir: Irving Rapper
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains

Paul Henreid could not play the cello. While he was able to fake it in the long shots, to achieve the illusion in close up, he wore a special jacket with no sleeves and holes for two real cellists to insert their arms - one to bow, and one to accurately finger the music - while seated behind him, out of shot.


2:45 PM -- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
113 min, TV-PG
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman's older husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway

This caused a stir amongst 1940s audiences who were shocked when it seemed clear to them that John Garfield uses his tongue in one of his kissing scenes with Lana Turner.


4:45 PM -- Hollow Triumph (1948)
83 min, TV-PG
A crook on the lam poses as a psychiatrist.
Dir: Steve Sekely
Cast: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz

The film debuts of Jack Webb and Thomas Browne Henry.


6:15 PM -- The Bribe (1949)
98 min, TV-PG
A sultry singer tries to tempt a federal agent from the straight-and-narrow.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 10, 1949 with Ava Gardner reprising her film role.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE


8:00 PM -- Woman In Hiding (1950)
92 min. TV-PG
Dir: Michael Gordon
Cast: Ida Lupino, Stephen McNally, Howard Duff

Film debut of Peggy Dow.


9:47 PM -- The Woman In The House (1942)
11 min
This short looks at the illness anthropophobia, the fear of people.
Dir: Sammy Lee
Cast: Ann Richards

In 1901, young Catherine Starr, who lives in a small English coastal town, has an argument with her fiancé. He leaves her house, goes off to serve in the Boer War, and dies of malaria. Catherine blames herself for his death and fears others will also blame her. She does not leave her house for forty years. Groceries are delivered to the house, but no one sees who retrieves them. When the Nazis bomb her house in September 1941, she is forced to cope with the outside world.


10:00 PM -- Julie (1956)
98 min, TV-PG
A stewardess is stalked by her psychotic estranged husband.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone
Cast: Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan

Nominated for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Leith Stevens (music) and Tom Adair (lyrics) for the song "Julie", and Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original -- Andrew L. Stone

While on location for this film, Doris Day fell in love with the region. She retired to Carmel, California, in the late 1970s, and has lived there ever since.


11:50 PM -- Why Is It? (1948)
C-8 min
Dir: Dave O'Brien
Narrator: Pete Smith


12:00 AM -- The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
99 min, TV-G
A woman slowly discovers that her artist husband is a deranged killer.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith

Although the movie was completed om 6/21/45, it was not released until 3/4/47, when Bogart's box-office appeal was at a high. Unfortunately for him, most critics thought he was miscast.


1:50 AM -- On Location With Westworld (1973)
C-9 min
This promotional short shows what went on behind the scenes during the shooting of the science fiction classic Westworld.
Cast: Richard Benjamin, Yul Brynner, Michael Crichton

The first use of computer digitized images as part of a feature film (not merely monitor graphics) was the Gunslinger's point of view in Westworld. After the process was finally developed enough to produce satisfactory results, it took a mere eight hours to produce each ten seconds of Gunslinger's pixellated POV.


2:00 AM -- Multiple Sidosis (1970)
C-10 min, TV-PG
A short film utilizing quick cuts and multiple angles of a one-man-band musical performance.

Sid Laverents was a former vaudeville performer whose act was playing several instruments at once as a "one man band". He passed away in 2009 as the age of 100. This film is one of the few amateur films to be included in the National Film Registry.

The next three shorts are parts of Sid's biography, filmed while he was in his 80s.


2:15 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 1 (1985)
C-27 min
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.

2:15 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 2 (1987)
C-31 min
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.

2:15 AM -- The Sid Saga Part 3 (1989)
C-31 min
A filmmaker chronicles his 100 year odyssey in a variety of different professions.


3:45 AM -- Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
C-75 min, TV-MA
Cameras capture the backstage drama as acting students audition for a film.
Dir: William Greaves
Cast: Patricia Ree Gilbert, Don Fellows, Jonathan Gordon

Followed in 2005 by Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2 -- the same director and some of the same actors come back to Central Park 35 years later.


5:05 AM -- Law And The Lab (1956)
The latest in CSI technology from the 1950s.
8 min
Dir: Frances Dinsmoor
Narrator: Bob Hite


5:15 AM -- Six Murderous Beliefs (1956)
This short film from the National Safety Council details six commonly held beliefs that can lead to death.
12 min, TV-PG

The six beliefs are: safety is for sissies; your number is up; the law of averages; the price of progress; the other fellow; and finally, I'm lucky.


5:30 AM -- Crisis in Morality (1962)
26 min, TV-PG