TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 24, 2021 -- Primetime Theme: Juvenile Delinquents

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In the daylight hours, TCM moves from last week's June weddings to this week's memorable June honeymoons. Then in prime time, TCM finishes its month-long look at Juvenile Delinquents. Tell us more, Roger!

Spotlight: Juvenile Delinquents - Thursdays in June
By Roger Fristoe
May 25, 2021

This month-long Spotlight examines the “juvenile delinquent” movies of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, when the subject of youthful alienation and anti-social behavior was a popular one in both exploitation flicks and more serious studies. Movies about youthful crime had been made throughout the 1920s and ‘30s, but it was in the following decades that the issue was presented as a social problem in need of solutions.

. . .

Bad Boys include James Dean in his iconic performance as anguished, misunderstood teenager Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), directed by Nicholas Ray for Warner Bros. It did as much as anything to establish him as a cinematic legend despite the brevity of his career before he died in an automobile crash the same year the film was released.

Nicholas Ray also directed Columbia’s Knock on Any Door (1949), another film with a troubled young protagonist. In this case, the character played by baby-faced John Derek is already a hardened criminal who is accused of murder, with Humphrey Bogart as the lawyer who defends him. This was Derek’s first important role and, if it failed to do for his image what Rebel did for James Dean’s, it set him on the path to a successful career.

Other “Bad Boy” films include Teen-Age Crime Wave (1955), The Young Stranger (1957), Hot Rod Gang (1958), Violent Playground (1958), Look in Any Window (1961) and Wild Seed (1965).

. . .

Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Above Suspicion (1943)
1h 30m | Suspens/Mystery | TV-PG
A honeymooning couple are asked to spy on the Nazis in pre-war Europe.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt

This was the final film Joan Crawford made under her long-term contract with M-G-M. Frustrated at being continuously offered what she considered "second rate scripts," shortly after completing this, Crawford chose to buy out her studio contract (at great personal expense) and continue her career elsewhere. It was nearly two years later that she appeared in her next leading role, Mildred Pierce at Warner Brothers, for which she won the 1945 Academy Award as Best Actress.


7:45 AM -- Girl Missing (1933)
1h 9m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A new bride disappears from her honeymoon hotel the same night a dead body pops up.
Director: Robert Florey
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Ben Lyon, Mary Brian

The $25,000 reward would equate to over $490,000 in 2019.


9:00 AM -- The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936)
1h 3m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Perry Mason's honeymoon with Della Street is interrupted by the murder of a scandal-sheet publisher.
Director: William Clemens
Cast: Warren William, Claire Dodd, Winifred Shaw

Fourth of six "Perry Mason" films released by Warner Bros. from 1934 to 1937 and the last with Warren William in the lead role.


10:15 AM -- Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)
1h 14m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A schoolteacher jumps into detective mode when a fellow airplane passenger gets sick and dies.
Director: Lloyd Corrigan
Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane

In the last scene of The Penguin Pool Murders (the first of three films starring Edna May Oliver and James Gleason), Inspector Oscar Piper proposes to Hildegarde Withers, and they dash out the door to get a marriage license. However, the two characters are not married in this second sequel, nor were they married in the first sequel, prior to this one. In fact, there's no mention in either film of an engagement, and the characters give no indication that they've ever been romantically involved.


11:30 AM -- Haunted Honeymoon (1940)
1h 23m | Comedy | TV-G
British sleuth Sir Peter Wimsey's wedding celebration is cut short by the discovery of a murdered man in his honeymoon cottage.
Director: Arthur B. Woods
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Constance Cummings, Leslie Banks

The producers of the second 'Lord Peter Wimsey' series, starring Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey, wanted to film a version of this story, but because the rights had been sold to Hollywood years before, they were unable to do so; Petherbridge did act in a version of "Busman's Honeymoon," but it was for the stage and not television or the movies.


1:15 PM -- Having Wonderful Crime (1945)
1h 11m | Comedy | TV-PG
Three amateur detectives try to find a missing magician.
Director: Eddie Sutherland
Cast: Pat O'Brien, George Murphy, Carole Landis

Carole Landis was borrowed from Twentieth Century-Fox for this film.


2:30 PM -- The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
1h 36m | Comedy | TV-G
Life on the road isn't what it's cracked up to be when a honeymooning couple invests in an oversized motor home.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main

After filming, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz kept the trailer used in the movie at their home. In an interview, daughter Lucie Arnaz recalls using it as the children's playhouse and how much fun they had opening and closing the door to hear the chimes.


4:15 PM -- The Doughgirls (1944)
1h 42m | Comedy | TV-G
Honeymooners in Washington get caught up in wartime crowding, with disastrous results.
Director: James V. Kern
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson

Based on the architecture seen through the window, the setting is the Willard Hotel, located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. This hotel is famous for its lobby, which is the basis for the word, "lobbyist." People who wanted contracts with the government would wait in the lobby of the Willard hoping to meet government officials.


6:00 PM -- The Family Way (1966)
1h 54m | Comedy | TV-14
Living with his parents keeps a newlywed husband from consummating his marriage.
Director: Roy Boulting
Cast: Hayley Mills, John Mills, Hywel Bennett

Sir Paul McCartney's movie scoring debut, which helped this movie very much financially.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- JUVENILE DELINQUENTS



8:00 PM -- Wild Seed (1965)
1h 39m | Drama | TV-PG
A young drifter forms an alliance with a runaway girl.
Director: Brian G. Hutton
Cast: Michael Parks, Celia Kaye, Ross Elliott

The script was written in 1957 and sold to Marlon Brando's company. Brando had originally intended to play the lead, but by the time the film was made he was deemed too old.


9:45 PM -- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
1h 51m | Drama | TV-PG
An alienated teenager tries to handle life's troubles and an apron-wearing dad.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sal Mineo, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Natalie Wood, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Nicholas Ray

Warner Brothers has had its Midwestern Street town square on their backlot since 1939. In "Rebel" one of its faux buildings provided the front entrance to the police station. The same exterior was also the front entrance to the River City library in "The Music Man". That exterior was attached to the left side of Rory's high school building in "Gilmore Girls". The list is practically endless. (I saw this on a trip to Los Angeles in the fall of 2018. It's absolutely fascinating to stand in the middle of all of these film sets!)


11:45 PM -- Look In Any Window (1961)
1h 27m | Drama | TV-PG
A troubled teen loses his job as a aircraft mechanic and goes on a drinking binge.
Director: William Alland
Cast: Paul Anka, Ruth Roman, Alex Nicol

Film debut of Jack Cassidy. Jack Cassidy is the father of future teen idol David Cassidy. George Dolenz (Carlo) is the father of future teen idol/Monkee Micky Dolenz.


1:30 AM -- Violent Playground (1958)
1h 48m | Crime | TV-PG
A delinquent's sister falls for a police officer.
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Stanley Baker, Anne Heywood, David McCallum.

Not given a U.S. release due to what the studio thought was a glut of similar juvenile crime films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Blackboard Jungle (1955) for example. However, it was distributed in the U.S. in the 1960's to capitalize on the popularity of David McCallum in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and the fact that The Beatles were from Liverpool.


3:30 AM -- The Young Stranger (1957)
1h 24m | Drama | TV-PG
A neglected teen gets into trouble with the law.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: James MacArthur, Kim Hunter, James Daly

Film debut of James MacArthur. Book 'em, Danno!


5:15 AM -- Knock on Any Door (1949)
1h 40m | Drama | TV-PG
A crusading lawyer fights to save a juvenile delinquent charged with murder.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, John Derek, George MacReady

When Humphrey Bogart was told that director Nicholas Ray wanted to film the entire 'sentencing statement for the defense' sequence in a single take, Bogart was concerned because he had never delivered such a long speech without cuts and feared he couldn't do it. Ray calmed Bogart down, suggested several rehearsals, and much to Bogart's surprise, Ray rolled during the rehearsals filming most of what has become the famous and well-played sentencing sequence.