TCM Schedule for Friday, April 19, 2019 -- TCM Primetime - What's On Tonight: Fan Dedications

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating spring. Then in primetime, TCM is on day five 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:

Wuthering Heights (1939), Brenda Rogers
Kitty Foyle (1940), Moe Resner
Calamity Jane (1953), Lyndsay Rouzer-Squyres•

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- THE SWAN (1956)
On the eve of her marriage to a prince, a noblewoman falls for her brother's tutor.
Dir: Charles Vidor
Cast: Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Helen Rose, who designed the clothing for this movie, was also responsible for the gown Grace Kelly wore when she married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco.


8:00 AM -- BRIGADOON (1954)
Two American hunters in Scotland discover a mystical village that only materializes once every century.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason, Best Costume Design, Color -- Irene Sharaff, and Best Sound, Recording -- Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M)

MGM siphoned money intended for "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" thinking that "Brigadoon" would be the big hit of the year. However, Brigadoon did not even break even in the United States, while "Seven Brides" was a big box office hit.


10:00 AM -- APRIL IN PARIS (1952)
A bureaucrat's mistake sends a chorus girl to Paris representing American theatre in place of a star actress.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Doris Day, Ray Bolger, Claude Dauphin
C-100 mins, CC,

Doris Day wrote in her autobiography that she only encountered trouble or tension on two of her Warner Bros. movies: April in Paris and Young at Heart (1954). Regarding this film, she claimed that leading man Ray Bolger and director David Butler clashed early on, with Butler accusing Bolger of trying to steal scenes away from Day. Day also mentioned that, being a relative newcomer to movies, she was unaware of Bolger's tricks and managed to stay out of the line of fire.


11:45 AM -- VIOLETS IN SPRING (1936)
In this musical short film, a janitor at a carpet sweeping company gets a couple of employees to fall in love.
Dir: Kurt Neumann
Cast: Leonid Kinskey, Robert Middlemass, George Humbert
BW-21 mins,


12:15 PM -- PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND (1963)
College students on spring break turn Palm Springs into a disaster area.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin
C-100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The doorman who silently watches as a parked jalopy falls apart before his eyes was played by former Los Angeles Ram Mike Henry. Following this uncredited part, Henry played the title role in three Tarzan movies, and famously played Junior Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit film franchise.


2:00 PM -- THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (1961)
A fading stage star gets caught up in the decadent life of modern Rome when she hires a male companion.
Dir: José Quintero
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, Lotte Lenya
BW-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lotte Lenya

This was Tennessee Williams' personal favorite film adaptation of any of his works.


4:00 PM -- SPRINGTIME IN THE NETHERLANDS (1951)
This short film explores the customs and traditions of rural Holland.
Dir: Ralph F. Donaldson
C-9 mins,


4:15 PM -- THE SECRET GARDEN (1949)
An orphaned girl changes the lives of those she encounters at a remote estate.
Dir: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Margaret O'Brien, Herbert Marshall, Dean Stockwell
C-92 mins, CC,

British writer Noel Streatfeild (1895-1986), author of children's classic "Ballet Shoes", was on an extended vacation to California in 1947 and spent several weeks observing the filming of the movie, paying especial attention to the younger actors. In a magazine serial in 1948 and then as a book the following year, she published "The Painted Garden" (US: "Movie Shoes&quot . It concerns an English girl who reluctantly has to spend the summer in the States where she is spotted as a potential lead for an adaptation of "The Secret Garden", describing the process of film-making from a child's perspective.


6:00 PM -- PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975)
When a group of schoolgirls mysteriously disappear, the survivors find their lives changed forever.
Dir: Peter Weir
Cast: Martin Vaughan, Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray
C-107 mins, CC,

In casting the pupils of Appleyard College, director Peter Weir ended up searching for unknown girls from outside the cities, looking for the right "innocent faces" to fit the film. However, that meant that apart from Anne-Louise Lambert, none of the other girls had any acting experience, and their amateur performances meant Weir had to cut out much of the dialog.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FAN DEDICATIONS



8:00 PM -- WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
A married noblewoman fights her lifelong attraction to a charismatic gypsy.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven
BW-104 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Gregg Toland

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Laurence Olivier, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Geraldine Fitzgerald, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, Best Art Direction -- James Basevi, Best Music, Original Score -- Alfred Newman, and Best Picture

Sir Laurence Olivier found himself becoming increasingly annoyed with Director William Wyler's exhausting style of filmmaking. After yet another take, he is said to have exclaimed, "For God's sake, I did it sitting down. I did it with a smile. I did it with a smirk. I did it scratching my ear. I did it with my back to the camera. How do you want me to do it?" Wyler's retort was, "I want it better." However, Olivier later said these multiple takes helped him learn to succeed as a movie actor.


10:00 PM -- KITTY FOYLE (1940)
A girl from the wrong side of the tracks endures scandal and heartbreak when she falls for a high-society boy.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig
BW-108 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Ginger Rogers

Nominee for Oscars for Best Director -- Sam Wood, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Dalton Trumbo, Best Sound, Recording -- John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD), and Best Picture

Among the many letters that Ginger Rogers received for her work in the film, this was the one that she treasured the most: "Hello Cutie - Saw "Kitty" last night and must write this note to say "That's it!" Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! You were superb Ginge - it was such a solid performance - the kind one seldom sees on stage or screen and it should bring you the highest honors anyone can win!! Hope to see you soon, As ever your, Fred."


12:00 AM -- CALAMITY JANE (1953)
The Wild West heroine helps bring a star attraction to Deadwood and finds love.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn McLerie
C-101 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) for the song "Secret Love"

Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- William A. Mueller (Warner Bros. Sound Department), and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf

Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner decided to make "Calamity Jane" after he tried - and failed - to buy the movie rights to "Annie Get Your Gun" as a vehicle for Doris Day. He not only drew on another legendary "wild woman" of the Old West for his heroine, he hired the same male star, Howard Keel, who'd appeared in the film of Annie Get Your Gun (1950).


2:00 AM -- SISTERS (1973)
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning
C-92 mins, CC,

Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt were roommates in Southern California in the early 1970s while they were struggling performers. They held parties for their friends and neighbors who included Paul Schrader, Blythe Danner, Bruce Paltrow and Brian De Palma. One year at Christmas, Kidder and Salt opened separate boxes under their Christmas tree and each one contained the script to this film. This project was De Palma's gift to them.


3:45 AM -- EYES OF A STRANGER (1981)
A Miami newswoman must take care of her deaf, blind and mute sister while following the local crime spree of a raping serial killer.
Dir: Ken Wiederhorn
Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Disanti, Lauren Tewes
C-85 mins, CC,

Originally conceived and shot as a more straightforward thriller. Halfway through production, it was decided to embrace the then-current slasher genre and introduce more gore and violence.


5:15 AM -- MGM 40TH ANNIVERSARY (1964)
A brief overview of MGM releases from the first 40 years of the studio.
C-32 mins, Letterbox Format