TCM Schedule for Thursday, September 9, 2021 -- The Greatest Stories Ever Rolled

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has a nice selection of films starring Eleanor Parker. She was a gifted actress who never quite made it to the top. From her mini-bio on IMDB:

Parker proved herself to be a supremely talented and very versatile lead actress. The versatility was likely one of the reasons she never quite became a major star. Audiences attending a movie starring Parker never knew quite what to expect of her; if they even remembered she was the same actress they had seen before in a different type of role in another picture. Her turns in Detective Story (1951) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) could not have been more different. Parker's stardom and subsequent fame (and remembrance) suffered from her focusing on being a serious actress and creating a character who fit the motion picture she was in, rather than playing a character again and again and again, as most movie stars do. She is probably best remembered for the relatively tame part as the Baroness in The Sound of Music (1965).

Then in prime time, TCM is starting one of their weirder month-long themes - The Greatest Stories Ever Rolled! From the TCM website:

Roller skating, which had its origins in theater productions of the 18th century, emerged as a popular recreational activity beginning in the 1880s, and roller-skating scenes were included in movies from the early days of silent film. Our Spotlight features the art of roller skating in all its various iterations: dance, derby, sport and leisure. We offer a sampling of cinematic skating through various decades of the 20th century, with highlights shown below.

The Rink (1916) is a silent short in which Charlie Chaplin shows off his roller-skating skills for comic effect. Chaplin, who also wrote and directed the short, plays a clumsy waiter who happens to be a virtuoso on skates. The film features some of Chaplin’s funniest slapstick, and the final sequence – a free-for-all on skates – is especially hilarious and impressive.

Shall We Dance (1937), the seventh of the 10 movie musicals Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together, includes a delightful number in which the pair dances on roller skates to George and Ira Gershwin’s “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” The scene is set in the Central Park skating rink and was choreographed by Astaire and Hermes Pan. Capturing the tricky combination of skating and tap-dancing was said to have involved some 150 takes and lots of bruises for the two stars.

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), an MGM musical starring Gene Kelly and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, includes what many consider the best dancing/skating routine ever put on film: Kelly’s “I Like Myself.” The upbeat number, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with music by André Previn, was staged as a New York City street scene with passers-by reacting to Kelly’s virtuoso skating.

Funny Girl (1968) has Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice hilariously sabotaging a skating routine in which she is a member of the chorus, “Roller Skate Rag.” This number was not in the Broadway show, which also starred Streisand, but was written for the film by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. Streisand practiced diligently to be able to skate so badly in the number, which leads into her vibrant solo on “I’d Rather Be Blue” – with the star still on skates but moving more gracefully now.

Roller Boogie (1979), a frenetic festival of roller-skating stunts that has emerged as a cult favorite, stars Linda Blair of The Exorcist fame and real-life competitive skater Jim Bray. They play young roller-boogie enthusiasts who fall in love as they prepare to perform in a contest at their favorite disco skating rink. A time capsule of its era, this one was chosen by Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson as one of the 100 most enjoyably bad movies ever made.

Solarbabies (1986, TCM premiere) is a futuristic sci-fi flick that’s also in the “so-bad-it’s-good” category. Set in a time when water has become scarce, the story concerns a sinister post-apocalyptic government agency defied by teenage orphans who spend their time competing in Rollerball-like skating competitions in the desert! Lukas Haas and Jami Gertz have prominent roles, and the director is Alan Johnson, a choreographer who often worked with Mel Brooks (this movie’s executive producer).

Other films in our roller-skating retrospective are Modern Times (1936), I Love Melvin (1953), Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Unholy Rollers (1972) and Rollerball (1975).

And after the trio of skating films, there's a trio of George Brent films. Today is an embarassment of riches! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Soldiers in White (1941)
20m | Short | TV-PG
A man comes to understand his position in the Army Medical Corps.
Director: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: William T. Orr, Eleanor Parker, John Litel

When Eleanor Parker reports in to the commander of the hospital, she is reporting to Colonel George Beach who was the actual commander of Brooke General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston where the movie was filmed. That scene was actually filmed in Colonel Beach's office. This was Parker's debut.


6:30 AM -- Above and Beyond (1952)
2h 2m | Drama | TV-PG
The pilot who helped drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima struggles with the demands of the dangerous mission.
Director: Melvin Frank
Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, James Whitmore

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Beirne Lay Jr., and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Hugo Friedhofer

The sequences showing the bombing of Hiroshima were lifted from another MGM film, The Beginning or the End (1947), which was about the development and use of the first atomic bombs.


8:45 AM -- The Woman in White (1948)
1h 49m | Romance | TV-G
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Director: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet

According to an August 1946 Hollywood Reporter news item, Eleanor Parker was given her dual role in this film after she was suspended for refusing to appear in Warner Bros.' Love and Learn (1947).


10:45 AM -- The Last Ride (1944)
57m | Crime | TV-G
A detective suspects foul play in a series of accidental deaths.
Director: D. Ross Lederman
Cast: Richard Travis, Charles Lang, Eleanor Parker

Tires were the first items to be rationed in the U.S. after its entry into WWII. The Japanese had overrun Malaya and the Dutch East Indies by March 1942, cutting off over 90% of the nation's natural rubber supply. Tire rationing began on January 5, 1942 and lasted until the end of 1945.


12:00 PM -- Valley of the Kings (1954)
1h 26m | Adventure | TV-PG
Archaeologists clash with graverobbers during the search for a priceless Egyptian treasure.
Director: Robert Pirosh
Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Carlos Thompson

Filming in Egypt included views of the exterior and interior of Abu Simbel. The view also includes the Nile river in the background of one shot. The filming location is no longer accessible having been buried under Lake Nasser with the building of the Aswan dam. The massive complex was cut into large blocks and moved uphill between 1964-1968 to save it from being flooded.


1:45 PM -- Scaramouche (1952)
1h 55m | Adventure | TV-PG
In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.
Director: George Sidney
Cast: Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh

In the original novel by Rafael Sabatini, the climactic duel occurred outdoors. The shooting script had planned for the duel to occur in a garden, until someone had the idea of moving it to the theater. In the climactic theatre scene, a shot where Andre Moreau swings on a rope to arrive on stage was cut. Still in, however, is the later shot where he uses the rope to swing up to the balcony.


4:00 PM -- The Very Thought of You (1944)
1h 39m | Romance | TV-G
In-law problems threaten a wartime marriage.
Director: Delmer Daves
Cast: Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark

Eleanor Parker herself had a war-time marriage to a Navy dentist the previous year. They would divorce soon after this picture was released. Faye Emerson also married during the war. She wed Elliott Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, shortly after this film was released.


6:00 PM -- Lizzie (1957)
1h 21m | Drama | TV-PG
A mousy woman discovers she has two other personalities.
Director: Hugo Haas
Cast: Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone, Joan Blondell

Shirley Jackson was not impressed with this filmed adaptation of her novel "The Bird's Nest." Her assessment: "Abbott and Costello meet a multiple personality." (From Ruth Franklin's 2016 biography "Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life." )


7:30 PM -- Men of the Sky (1942)
20m | Short | TV-PG
This short film, produced in cooperation with the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII, focuses on a group of fledgling pilots receiving their wings.
Director: B. Reeves Eason
Cast: Tod Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Don Defore

Second of over 400 films produced by the U.S. Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit released through Warner Bros. under the auspices of the Office of War Information.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- THE GREATEST STORY EVER ROLLED



8:00 PM -- Modern Times (1936)
1h 27m | Silent | TV-G
An oppressed assembly-line factory worker is mistaken for a radical political leader.
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

Charles Chaplin devoted eight days to filming the department store roller-skating scene where he skates blindfolded on the edge of the fourth floor, coming within inches of falling over the edge into the deep stairwell below. The dangerous large drop was actually a painted scene on a pane of glass carefully placed in front of the camera to align with the existing set and create the illusion of great height.


9:45 PM -- The Rink (1916)
21m | Classic Hollywood | TV-G
After causing restaurant chaos at work, a bumbling waiter tears up the local roller rink with his skating.
Director: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell

The movie is best known for showcasing Charles Chaplin's roller skating skills.


10:15 PM -- Shall We Dance (1937)
1h 56m | Musical | TV-G
A ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love.
Director: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- George Gershwin (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) for the song "They Can't Take That Away from Me"

The scene where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance on roller skates took about 150 takes, according to one of the VHS versions of the film. At the end of the roller skate dance number in the park the stars flop onto the "lawn". In the film both Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear uncomfortable as they get up. This is because both were bruised from more than fifteen earlier takes and were actually in pain.


12:30 AM -- Out of the Blue (1947)
1h 26m | Comedy
A married man has a one-night stand with a tipsy interior decorator, but he thinks he has killed her.
Director: Leigh Jason
Cast: George Brent, Virginia Mayo, Turhan Bey

Based on a short story by Vera Caspary.


2:15 AM -- My Reputation (1946)
1h 36m | Romance | TV-PG
A widow generates small-town gossip when she falls in love too soon after her husband's death.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Warner Anderson

First film since the inception of the "Production code" in the 1930's to show a double bed in a married couple's bedroom.


4:00 AM -- Luxury Liner (1948)
1h 31m | Musical | TV-PG
The daughter of a ship's captain becomes a sea-going cupid.
Director: Richard Whorf
Cast: George Brent, Jane Powell, Lauritz Melchior

In her autobiography, Jane Powell says that years later, she reconnected with George Brent who would occasionally court her. He proposed marriage and she turned him down, because she wasn't interested in getting married again. Brent was upset with her after she married James Fitzgerald in 1965.