TCM Schedule for Thursday, April 18, 2019 -- TCM Primetime - What's On Tonight: Fan Dedication

[Staph]

In the daylight today, it's all about M.U.R.D.E.R! (Say that in a really creepy voice!) Then in primetime, TCM is on day four of Fan Dedications. Take it away, Roger!

In celebration of TCM's 25 years on air, we have handpicked 25 fans who entered our Fan Dedication Contest to introduce a film of their choice on air with Ben Mankiewicz. Each fan's choice is dedicated to a special person that they have chosen. Our 25 fans come from all walks of life and backgrounds brought together through their love of classic film and TCM. Each night during the 3rd and 4th weeks of April, each winner will discuss their pick with Mankiewicz. Here are the fans and their films:

Raffles (1939), Rowan Tucker-Meyer
The Quiet Man (1952), Terry Sullivan
The Graduate (1967), Christopher Malcolm

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946)
Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott
BW-115 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- John Patrick

Kirk Douglas's film debut.


8:15 AM -- IMPACT (1949)
After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Dir: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, Charles Coburn
BW-111 mins, CC,

The William's Apartment building is the Brocklebank, most famous for its appearance in Vertigo (1958).


10:15 AM -- CONFIDENTIAL REPORT (1955)
A private eye investigates a millionaire's mysterious past before a murderer can get to the witnesses.
Dir: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Robert Arden, Paola Mori
BW-106 mins, CC,

Maurice Bessy ghost-wrote the "Mr. Arkadin" novel that was released shortly after the movie premiered. Though Orson Welles is credited as the author, he didn't write a single word of it.


12:00 PM -- DETOUR (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man's identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer
Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake
BW-68 mins, CC,

Was the first "B" movie chosen by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry, in 1992. Also the first Hollywood "Noir" honored.


1:30 PM -- SUDDENLY (1954)
Gunmen take over a suburban home to plot a presidential assassination.
Dir: Lewis Allen
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason
BW-77 mins, CC,

This is the film that Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly watched just a few days before assassinating President John F. Kennedy.


3:00 PM -- HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948)
A crook on the lam poses as a psychiatrist.
Dir: Steve Sekely
Cast: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz
BW-82 mins, CC,

Film debut of Jack Webb.


4:30 PM -- THE HITCH-HIKER (1953)
A dangerous madman kidnaps two businessmen on a hunting trip.
Dir: Ida Lupino
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman
BW-71 mins, CC,

In an interview, William Talman recalled an incident that happened shortly after the release of The Hitch-Hiker (1953), in which he gave a chilling portrayal of escaped murderer and serial killer Emmett Meyers. He was driving his convertible in Los Angeles with the top down, and he stopped at a red light. Another driver in a convertible who was stopped next to him stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "You're the hitchhiker, right?" Talman nodded, indicating that he was. The other driver got out of his car, went over to Talman's car and slapped him across the face, then got back in his car and drove off. In recalling the story, Talman said, "You know, I never won an Academy Award but I guess that was about as close as I ever will come to one."


6:00 PM -- GILDA (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she's married to his new boss.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready
BW-110 mins, CC,

Harry Cohn was worried about bad publicity affecting Rita Hayworth's box-office pull; her marriage to Orson Welles was a constant worry for him. Hayworth and Welles were, in fact, in the middle of one of their separations during the shooting, and the gossip magazines were full of stories of an affair between her and Glenn Ford. When the two weren't filming, the mogul would barrage the duo with angry phone calls and demand that Hayworth go home. Cohn went so far as to spy on his actors - he had recording devices set up in their dressing rooms. He got no useful information, though; as Ford later said, "Of course, we knew our dressing rooms were bugged. The sound department tipped us off." (Welles knew of the hidden mics when he returned to Columbia to make The Lady from Shanghai (1947) with his estranged wife. He said that he and Rita would perform impromptu skits and radio shows in their dressing room for the benefit of their "listeners&quot .



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FAN DEDICATIONS



8:00 PM -- RAFFLES (1939)
A suave thief falls in love again with his high school sweetheart and finds temptation and a detective on his trail while visiting her family.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: David Niven, Olivia De Havilland, Dame May Whitty
BW-72 mins, CC,

David Niven was due to join the British Army but was given a 21-day grace period to finish his scenes for the movie. The production crew worked double time and filmed Niven's scenes first to comply with his obligation to start his military service.


9:45 PM -- THE QUIET MAN (1952)
An Irish ex-boxer retires to Ireland and searches for the proper wife.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald
C-129 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Director -- John Ford, and Best Cinematography, Color -- Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Victor McLaglen, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Frank S. Nugent, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Frank Hotaling, John McCarthy Jr. and Charles S. Thompson, Best Sound, Recording -- Daniel J. Bloomberg (Republic Sound Department), and Best Picture

At the film's conclusion, after the credits, we see Kate and Sean standing in their garden waving good-bye. Maureen O'Hara turns to John Wayne and whispers something in his ear, evoking a priceless reaction from Wayne. What was said was known only to O'Hara, Wayne and director John Ford. In exchange for saying this unscripted bit of text, O'Hara insisted that the exact line never be disclosed by any involved parties. In her memoirs she says that she refused to say the line at first as she "couldn't possibly say that to Duke", but Ford insisted, claiming he needed a genuine shock reaction from Wayne. The line remains a mystery to this day, and with O'Hara's death, will never be known.


12:15 AM -- THE GRADUATE (1967)
A recent college graduate has an affair with his neighbor's wife, then falls for their daughter.
Dir: Mike Nichols
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Director -- Mike Nichols

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Dustin Hoffman, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Anne Bancroft, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Katharine Ross, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, Best Cinematography -- Robert Surtees, and Best Picture

During rehearsals of Dustin Hoffman's and Anne Bancroft's first encounter in the hotel room, Bancroft did not know that Hoffman was going to grab her breast. Hoffman decided to do it because it reminded him of schoolboys trying to nonchalantly grab girls' breasts in the hall by pretending to put their jackets on. When Hoffman did it, Director Mike Nichols began laughing loudly. Hoffman began to laugh as well, so rather than stop the scene, he turned away and walked to the wall. Hoffman banged his head on the wall, trying to stop laughing, and Nichols thought it was so funny, it stayed in the finished film.


2:15 AM -- MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949)
A talent scout turns a young unknown into a radio singing star.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Jack Carson, Doris Day, Lee Bowman
C-101 mins, CC,

The novelty song "I Tick, Tick, Tick" that Doris Day's character sings for her first audition was written to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the atomic clock which had just been invented. This clock, now even more precise, is now the standard to which all clocks in the US are set.


4:15 AM -- IT'S A GREAT FEELING (1949)
When nobody at Warner Bros. will work with him, movie star Jack Carson decides to turn an unknown into his co-star.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson
C-85 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "It's a Great Feeling"

Joan Crawford does a cameo and directs a short speech to Jack Carson before slapping his face. It's the same one she gives to Ann Blyth in Mildred Pierce (1945) before slapping her face. Carson co-starred in that film with Crawford.