TCM Schedule for Friday, April 26, 2019 -- TCM Primetime - What's On Tonight: Fan Dedications

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were the first comedy team to emerge as stars from sound pictures with their partnership lasting until Woolsey's death in 1938. Then in primetime, TCM is on the last day 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 CUCKOOS (1930)
Two tramps-turned-fortune-tellers try to solve a kidnapping.
Dir: Paul Sloane
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, June Clyde
BW-97 mins, CC,

Fans of this film have wondered as to the identity of the two women who are dining at the casino early in the film. They enjoy a lengthy sequence when Wheeler & Woolsey sit at their table and flirt with them as the two women feed them straight-lines so Wheeler & Woolsey can give the comedic rejoinder. The girl playing straight for Bert Wheeler is Audree Henderson. (Though the trade papers of the day would occasionally misspell her first name as Audrey.) She was a contract player at R.K.O. at the time The Cuckoos was filmed. Audree later became the fourth wife of film director A. Edward Sutherland from 8 January 1933, until they were divorced on 11 December 1935. The actress playing straight for Robert Woolsey is Betty Recklaw. She appeared in small roles in a number of films made for different studios during the late twenties and early thirties.


7:45 AM -- HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE (1930)
Two servicemen dodge military police during an unauthorized leave in Paris.
Dir: Paul Sloane
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee
BW-78 mins, CC,

Three songs by Harry Tierney have been cut from the movie: "Kiss Me, Cherie" (sung by Dorothy Lee and Bert Wheeler), "Riviera Moon", and "On Parade" (danced by Original John Tiller Girls).


9:15 AM -- DIXIANA (1931)
A circus star falls for a society playboy in 19th-century New Orleans.
Dir: Luther Reed
Cast: Bebe Daniels, Everett Marshall, Bert Wheeler
C-99 mins, CC,

The first screen credit for Max Steiner, as orchestrator, and the film debut of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson!


11:15 AM -- HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER (1931)
Two insurance men try to help a runaway heiress run a hotel.
Dir: Edward Cline
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee
BW-75 mins, CC,

This film, along with Amos 'n' Andy's Check and Double Check (1930), were the most successful of RKO's 1930 productions.


12:45 PM -- CAUGHT PLASTERED (1932)
Stranded vaudevillians help save a small-town druggist from bankruptcy.
Dir: William Seiter
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee
BW-69 mins,

Alternative title in the US - Full of Notions.


2:00 PM -- GIRL CRAZY (1932)
City slickers try to turn a broken-down ranch into a resort.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee
BW-74 mins, CC,

Adapted from a Broadway stage musical, "Girl Crazy" opened on October 14, 1930 at the Alvin Theater in New York (now known as the Neil Simon Theatre) and ran for 272 performances. Ginger Rogers starred, and Ethel Merman, in a supporting role, introduced her first trademark song, "I Got Rhythm."


3:30 PM -- PEACH-O-RENO (1932)
Two divorce lawyers run a gambling joint by night.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee
BW-63 mins,

All contemporary reviews and the copyright records use "Peach O'Reno" as the title of this movie.


5:00 PM -- COCKEYED CAVALIERS (1934)
Two nitwits are mistaken for the king's physicians in medieval England.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Thelma Todd
BW-72 mins,

Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were originally scheduled to star in a college spoof entitled "Frat Heads", but with the success of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's The Devil's Brother (1933) and Roman Scandals (1933) with Eddie Cantor, RKO decided to make a costume period piece. All that remains of "Frat Heads" are a few publicity stills.


6:30 PM -- THE NITWITS (1935)
Two cigar-stand attendants get mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Fred Keating
BW-82 mins, CC,

One of 21 movies made by popular comedy duo Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey between 1929 and 1937, before Woolsey died in 1938. It is also the last minor feature directed by film luminary George Stevens before he broke through with Alice Adams (1935).



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: FAN DEDICATIONS



8:00 PM -- HIGH SOCIETY (1956)
In this musical version of The Philadelphia Story, tabloid reporters invade a society wedding.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra
C-112 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Cole Porter for the song "True Love", and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin

Grace Kelly's last feature film before retiring from acting. Kelly, recently engaged to Prince Rainier of Monaco, wore her actual engagement ring for her character's engagement ring. The engagement ring is a 10.5-carat, emerald-cut, diamond flanked by two baguettes.


10:00 PM -- JOHNNY BELINDA (1948)
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford
BW-102 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Jane Wyman

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Lew Ayres, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Charles Bickford, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Agnes Moorehead, Best Director -- Jean Negulesco, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ted D. McCord, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Robert M. Haas and William Wallace, Best Film Editing -- David Weisbart, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Max Steiner, Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson, and Best Picture

Jane Wyman's Oscar acceptance speech is reportedly the shortest on record for Best Actress: "I won this award by keeping my mouth shut and I think I'll do it again."


12:00 AM -- SOLDIER IN THE RAIN (1963)
A story of friendship between a worldly-wise Army Master Sergeant and his naive worshiper.
Dir: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Jackie Gleason, Steve McQueen, Tuesday Weld
BW-87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Jackie Gleason released a version of the title music as a single on Capitol in early 1964, with another Henry Mancini composition, Bird Brain, as the b-side. This puts Soldier in the Rain (1963) in the same category as Thunder Road (1958) and Because They're Young (1960): movies which had a version of the theme song performed by a member of the cast and released as a single, while that version wasn't the one used in the movie.


2:00 AM -- MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE (1996)
A teen working at the local movie theater wants to fit in with the other employees.
Dir: Sarah Jacobson
Cast: Lisa Gerstein, Greg Cruikshank, Beth Allen
C-95 mins, CC,

Filmed entirely on super 8 colour reversal film, which was considered a cheap amateur film stock at the time. Since then, many fans of the aesthetic look of super 8 film have embraced this movie and it has gained a cult following.


3:45 AM -- I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER (1993)
A young woman pushed to the breaking point by sexist men seeks revenge.
Dir: Sarah Jacobson
Cast: Kristin Calabrese, Phil Calabrese, Corey
BW-25 mins, CC,

The film was made for $1600, with Sarah Jacobson using volunteers and equipment from the San Francisco Art Institute.


4:15 AM -- I WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE (1987)
Teenaged vigilantes kill a drug pusher only to have him return as a zombie.
Dir: John Elias Michalakias
Cast: Michael Rubin, Steve McCoy, George Seminara
C-92 mins,

Peter Dendle writing in the Zombie Movie Encyclopedia cited the film as being on of the forebears of the modern Rom-Com-Zom film genre.