TCM Schedule for Friday, May 24, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: Lillian Hellman

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is putting children in danger - kidnapping and murder! In primetime, TCM is celebrating the writing of Lillian Hellman. I love her thoughts on the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s, "Wearing or not wearing a bra is terribly unimportant. It's being able to buy that bra yourself - that's important." Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- DESPERATE SEARCH (1953)
A man fights to find his children after their plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness.
Dir: Joseph Lewis
Cast: Howard Keel, Jane Greer, Patricia Medina
BW-71 mins, CC,

The uncredited music used is Miklós Rózsa's score for The Asphalt Jungle (1950).


7:15 AM -- PURSUIT (1935)
The reward in a kidnapping case attracts a variety of desperate characters.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Chester Morris, Sally Eilers, Scotty Beckett
BW-60 mins, CC,

Based on the story Gallant Highway, by Lawrence G. Blockman.


8:30 AM -- THE SEARCHERS (1956)
An Indian-hating Civil War veteran tracks down the tribe that slaughtered his family and kidnapped his niece.
Dir: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles
C-119 mins, CC,

Natalie Wood was still a student in high school when this film was being made, and on several occasions both John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter had to pick her up at school on days when she was required on the se


10:30 AM -- A CRY IN THE NIGHT (1956)
A police captain's emotions get in the way when his daughter is kidnapped.
Dir: Frank Tuttle
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Brian Donlevy, Natalie Wood
BW-75 mins, CC,

Owen Clark is played by Richard Anderson, who would later star opposite Raymond Burr in the final season of "Perry Mason."


12:00 PM -- RANSOM! (1956)
A wealthy couple tries to cope with the press and the police when their son is kidnapped.
Dir: Alex Segal
Cast: Glenn Ford, Donna Reed, Leslie Nielsen
BW-102 mins, CC,

Film debut of Leslie Nielsen.


1:45 PM -- NIGHT NURSE (1931)
A nurse discovers that the children she's caring for are murder targets.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell
BW-72 mins, CC,

James Cagney was originally supposed to play Nick, but when The Public Enemy (1931) became a big hit, it was decided that he should no longer be relegated to supporting roles, allowing the relatively unknown Clark Gable to step in instead.


3:00 PM -- SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
A child is left mute by the sight of her stepmother's murder.
Dir: Patrick Jackson
Cast: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau
BW-84 mins, CC,

The first woman seen is a maid, Olga, who is played by none other than "The Beaver's" mother, Barbara Billingsly!


4:30 PM -- THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
A bogus preacher marries an outlaw's widow in search of the man's hidden loot.
Dir: Charles Laughton
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
BW-93 mins, CC,

At their initial meeting, Lillian Gish asked Charles Laughton why he wanted her for the part; he replied, "When I first went to the movies, they sat in their seats straight and leaned forward. Now they slump down, with their heads back, and eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again."


6:15 PM -- THE NANNY (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir: Seth Holt
Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett
BW-93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The role of the Nanny was originally intended for Greer Garson who first accepted then declined, saying the script would not be good for her career. Jimmy Sangster who wrote and produced the film later said, "I went to Santa Fe and met with Greer, and she said she liked the script, and everything was fine. When I got back to London, we had a message from L.A. saying that Greer Garson didn't think the script would do her career much good. I didn't like to say she didn't have a career in those days."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: LILLIAN HELLMAN



8:00 PM -- THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)
An ambitious woman takes on her corrupt brothers and honest husband in her drive for wealth.
Dir: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright
BW-116 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Patricia Collinge, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Teresa Wright, Best Director -- William Wyler, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Lillian Hellman, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White -- Stephen Goosson and Howard Bristol, Best Film Editing -- Daniel Mandell, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture -- Meredith Willson, and Best Picture

Although Lillian Hellman has the credit for writing the screenplay for this version of her famous play, three others get credit for additional scenes and dialogue. They were Hellman's ex-husband (Arthur Kober), her closest friend (Dorothy Parker) and the latter's husband (Alan Campbell).


10:15 PM -- TOYS IN THE ATTIC (1963)
Man finds trouble when he brings young bride back to his New Orleans home.
Dir: George Roy Hill
Cast: Dean Martin, Geraldine Page, Yvette Mimieux
BW-91 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for Oscars for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Bill Thomas

The original Broadway production of "Toys in the Attic" by Lillian Hellman opened at the Hudson Theater in New York on February 25, 1960, ran for 456 performances and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for the Best Play.


12:00 AM -- WATCH ON THE RHINE (1943)
Nazi agents pursue a German freedom-fighter and his family to Washington.
Dir: Herman Shumlin
Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald
BW-112 mins, CC,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Paul Lukas

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Lucile Watson, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Dashiell Hammett, and Best Picture

This adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play was written by her longtime companion, Dashiell Hammett. Hellman was unable to write the adaptation herself as she was contracted to work on the screenplay for The North Star (1943). She recommended that Hammett be given the assignment as he was very familiar with the material. (Hammett also needed the money.)


2:00 AM -- SANTA CLAUS (1959)
Santa Claus enlists Merlin to help him save Christmas from the devil.
Dir: Rene Cardona, K. Gordon Murray
C-95 mins,

Wow! IMDB has nothing on this film or either of its directors. TCM's synopsis of this 1959 film reads like a bit of a joke - "Santa Claus, high above the North Pole in his cloud-borne castle equipped with more surveillance devices than the Impossible Mission Force, prepares to deliver presents on Christmas night. Santa is especially interested in helping Lupita, the daughter of a poor family who wants nothing more than a doll; and a young boy whose parents are so wealthy they never spend any time with him (Santa fixes this by feeding them Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters). However, the Devil will have none of this and sends his minion, Pitch, to foil Santa's plans. Pitch in turn recruits three Naughty Boys to help him set traps for Santa." Watch at your own discretion!


4:00 AM -- SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)
Martians kidnap Santa Claus to cheer up their children.
Dir: Nicholas Webster
Cast: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck
C-81 mins,

The film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie® Movie Guide, and is included in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way)" by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell.


5:30 AM -- MGM PARADE SHOW #22 (1955)
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald perform in a clip from "Maytime"; Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz introduce a clip from "Forever Darling." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-29 mins,