TCM Schedule for Friday, January 14, 2022 -- What's on Tonight: Starring Stanley Baker

[Staph]

During the day, it's all about Widows and Widowers. Then in prime time, TCM has a selection of films starring Stanley Baker. An interesting bit of trivia from IMDB -- "Baker was awarded a knighthood in Harold Wilson's resignation Honour's List in June 1976. At the time his knighthood was announced, Baker thought he had beaten his lung cancer following surgery in February of that year. However, although the tumour in his lung had been removed, it had spread into his chest and attached itself to his heart. Since no further surgery was possible, he had only a maximum of nine weeks to live anyway. Three weeks after the announcement of his knighthood, Baker was hospitalized in Spain with pneumonia. As he had died without making the journey to be formally knighted at Buckingham Palace, he cannot be referred to as Sir Stanley, but Queen Elizabeth II agreed that his widow Ellen Martin could use the title Lady Baker." Enjoy!


6:45 AM -- The Strangler (1964)
1h 29m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-PG
A lab technician with low self esteem, brought on by his dominant mother, becomes a serial killer of female nurses.
Director: Burt Topper
Cast: Victor Buono, David Mclean, Diane Sayer

Released nearly 3 months after the real Boston Strangler claimed his final victim.


8:30 AM -- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)
1h 57m | Comedy | TV-G
A young boy plays matchmaker for his widowed father.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Ron Howard

Appearing in "Courtship of Eddie's Father" in his film debut in the uncredited role of Child at Party in Indian headdress is Ron Howard's (Eddie) younger brother, Clint Howard. This marks the beginning of a career for Clint punctuated by appearing in film and television work that also involves his brother Ron.


10:30 AM -- Never a Dull Moment (1950)
1h 29m | Comedy | TV-G
A female music critic marries a rancher and has to adjust to life out West.
Director: George Marshall
Cast: Irene Dunne, Fred Macmurray, William Demarest

Co-stars Fred MacMurray and William Demarest would be reunited many years later on the long-running TV series My Three Sons (1960).


12:15 PM -- Night unto Night (1949)
1h 24m | Romance | TV-PG
A terminally ill scientist seeks comfort from a mentally disturbed widow.
Director: Don Siegel
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Viveca Lindfors, Broderick Crawford

Filmed in 1947, but not released until 1949.


1:45 PM -- Holiday Affair (1949)
1h 27m | Romance | TV-G
A young widow is torn between a boring businessman and a romantic ne'er-do-well.
Director: Don Hartman
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey

In the kitchen scene, Mitchum gives Leigh a Merry Christmas kiss. Janet Leigh was to later say "The expression that is on my face of being overwhelmed was for real". Mitchum revealed, "I wanted to make the kiss memorable, as though the characters were never going to see each other again. The perks of being an actor are at times not bad".


3:15 PM -- Four Wives (1939)
1h 50m | Drama | TV-G
Three married women play matchmaker for their widowed sister.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane

Max Steiner's "Symphonie Moderne", written for the movie, was later expanded and published in 1941.


5:15 PM -- Mother's Cry (1930)
1h 13m | Drama | TV-PG
A widowed mother struggles to raise her four children.
Director: Hobart Henley
Cast: Dorothy Peterson, David Manners, Helen Chandler

The Library of Congress online catalogue lists the title of Helen Grace Carlisle's novel as "Mother Cry", but by all other accounts, the title is "Mother's Cry".


6:30 PM -- The Washington Masquerade (1932)
1h 27m | Drama | TV-G
A widowed U.S. Senator finds himself embroiled in scandal when he remarries.
Director: Charles Brabin
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley, Diane Sinclair

Henri Bernstein's play "La Griffe," opened in Paris, France on 18 April 1906. Its translation and adaptation, "The Claw" by Edward Delaney Dunn and Louis Wolheim, opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 17 October 1921 and had 105 performances. Lionel Barrymore created his movie role in the play, which also included Ian Wolfe in the opening-night cast.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- STARRING STANLEY BAKER



8:00 PM -- Hell Drivers (1957)
1h 48m | Crime | TV-PG
A trucker tangles with a corrupt boss and his thugs.
Director: Cy Endfield
Cast: Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins

Although Stanley Baker had played major supporting roles in movies to great acclaim for several years, this was the first time he played the leading role in a movie.


10:00 PM -- 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

Stanley Baker and David McCallum had starred together as brothers in the previous year's Hell Drivers (1957).


12:00 AM -- Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
1h 35m | War | TV-PG
A British captain will stop at nothing to capture a Burmese village from the Japanese.
Director: Val Guest
Cast: Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo Mckern

Stanley Baker regarded this as one of his best films, although he regretted they did not have a larger budget.


2:00 AM -- Black Samson (1974)
1h 27m | Action | TV-14
Samson is a nightclub owner who does all he can to keep his neighborhood free of drugs and crime.
Director: Chuck Bail
Cast: Rockne Tarkington, Connie Strickland, William Smith

Much of inner-city backgrounds contain graffiti. It's fun to press pause and read it. It's not very authentic and appears to be painted by stage hands to poke fun at each other. Graffiti like "Paul Eats S---" and other messages are amusing.


3:30 AM -- Melinda (1972)
1h 49m | Action | TV-14
A black disc jockey sets out to avenge his girlfriend's murder.
Director: Hugh A. Robertson
Cast: Calvin Lockhart, Rosalind Cash, Vonetta Mcgee

Film debut of Jim Kelly. NOTE: Rockne Tarkington, who plays Tank, was originally cast to play "Williams" in Enter the Dragon (1973). However, the part ultimately went to Kelly and jump-started his career.


5:30 AM -- Match Your Mood (1968)
6m | Short | TV-G
Westinghouse shows women how to improve their lives by decorating their refrigerators.
Director: No Director Available

White Consolidated Industries bought the Westinghouse appliance division in 1975. In turn, it was acquired by Electrolux of Sweden in 1986.


5:40 AM -- The Distant Drummer: A Movable Scene (1970)
22m | Short | TV-14
Drug use and drug culture is exposed.
Director: William Templeton
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Samuel Gershon, C. Mason Harvey

There is some irony in the opening narration about marijuana use by young people, delivered in a somewhat scolding tone, being done by Robert Mitchum. In 1948, Mitchum attended a party that was raided by the Los Angeles police where he was found to be smoking marijuana. His career was briefly derailed by the bad publicity, and he ended up spending 50 days of a 60-day jail sentence the following year. His career quickly recovered, and his next film , "Rachel and the Stranger," was a box office hit.