TCM Schedule for Friday, April 8, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Play Ball - Night One

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating the birthday of Virginia O'Brien, born on April 18, 1919, in Los Angeles. Yes, she was born on April 18, not April 8, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate. From her mini-bio on IMDB:

Known to classic film fans by various nicknames--including Miss Deadpan, Frozen Face, and Miss Ice Glacier--this statuesque, dark-haired singer/actress carved a unique niche for herself on stage and screen by the hilarious Sphinx-like way she delivered a song. The daughter of the captain of detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department, Virginia Lee O'Brien became interested in music and dance at an early age (it didn't hurt her career chances that her uncle was noted film director Lloyd Bacon). Her big show-business break came in 1939 after she secured a singing role in the L.A. production of the musical/comedy "Meet the People". On opening night, when time came for her solo number, Virginia became so paralyzed with fright that she sang her song with a wide-eyed motionless stare that sent the audience (which thought her performance a gag) into convulsions. Demoralized, Virginia left the stage only to soon find out that she was a sensation.

Signed by MGM in 1940, she deadpanned her way to acclaim and immense popularity with appearances in some of the studio's most memorable musicals including Thousands Cheer (1943), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Panama Hattie (1942), Ship Ahoy (1942), Meet the People (1944) and Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), performing inimitable renditions of such classic songs as "The Wild Wild West" (from The Harvey Girls), "A Fine Romance" (from Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)), "It's a Great Big World" (from The Harvey Girls (1946)), "Poor You" (from Ship Ahoy (1942)), and "Say We're Sweethearts Again" (from Meet the People (1944)).

Although too often relegated to featured songs and small supporting roles, she still managed to become an audience favorite by the sheer force of her personality, polished vocals and way with a comic quip. The latter ability is especially apparent in one of her last MGM films, Merton of the Movies (1947), in which she co-starred with Red Skelton. In 1948, after 17 memorable screen appearances for MGM, the studio unceremoniously dropped her from its roster. She returned to films only twice more after her termination from MGM, in Universal's Francis in the Navy (1955) and Disney's Gus (1976), preferring to focus her energies on television and the stage, where she delighted audiences for three more decades.

In the 1980s the still youthful beauty toured the country in a one-woman show and recorded a live album at the famed Masquers Club entitled, "A Salute to the Great MGM Musicals". One of her last significant stage appearances came in 1984 as Parthy Ann in the Long Beach Civic Light Opera's production of "Showboat", with Alan Young. She remained in semi-retirement in a large home in Wrightwood, California, for most of her later years until her death at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills in January, 2001.

Then in prime time, we get Night One of Play Ball, that was originally scheduled for last Thursday. I guess if the baseball season can be delayed, so can TCM's salute to baseball! Enjoy!


7:15 AM -- Hullabaloo (1940)
1h 17m | Comedy | TV-G
A radio star creates a national panic when he announces a Martian invasion.
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Frank Morgan, Virginia Grey, Dan Dailey Jr.

Virginia O'Brien's first credited screen appearance, as well as Connie Gilchrist.


8:45 AM -- The Big Store (1941)
1h 20m | Comedy | TV-G
A detective and his zany pals take over a failing department store.
Director: Charles Riesner
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was watching a private screening of this film when he received news that Nazi second-in-command Rudolf Hess had flown to Britain on an unauthorized mission to end the conflict between Britain and Germany during World War II. Churchill decided that the news was so unimportant he ignored it, went back into his screening room and watched the rest of the movie. In his 1972 autobiography "An Evening with Groucho", Groucho Marx tells this anecdote but the movie he refers to is Monkey Business (1931), still another source claims it was Go West (1940).


10:30 AM -- Panama Hattie (1942)
1h 19m | Musical | TV-G
A nightclub owner in Panama takes on Nazi spies.
Director: Norman Z. Mcleod
Cast: Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, "Rags" Ragland

When Hattie (Ann Sothern) is first in a scene with all three sailors (Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, and Ben Blue) Red's character asks her if she wants to go movies with them. Rags Ragland's character says, "Yeah, it's a swell picture. 'Maisie, the Beautiful Laundry Girl'." Ann Sothern replies, "Ah, she gives me a pain." Ann Sothern was the star of all the series of Maisie movies, up to, and past that point. "Maisie, the Beautiful Laundry Girl" is not an actual title of one of those movies, but was made up just for this film.


12:00 PM -- Ship Ahoy (1942)
1h 35m | Musical | TV-G
A dancer sailing to Puerto Rico hides government messages in her tap routines.
Director: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr

The title was changed from "I'll Take Manila" to "Ship Ahoy" because the Philippines had already fallen to the Japanese in the war. The ship destination was changed from Manila to Puerto Rico, and the song "I'll Take Manila" was changed to "I'll Take Tallulah".


1:45 PM -- Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
1h 41m | Musical | TV-G
A night club employee dreams he's Louis XV, and the star he idolizes is his lady love.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly

In the fantasy sequence, Mitchell Lewis is the man who lets Lucille Ball and Virginia O'Brien in after getting the password from Lucille Ball. He is most famous for being the Winkie guard in THE WIZARD OF OZ who says to Dorothy "She's dead. You killed her." He also worked a few years later with Judy Garland in THE HARVEY GIRLS. In that movie, he plays the bartender who tells her where the stolen meat is.


3:45 PM -- Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
2h 4m | Musical | TV-G
Singing sisters create a World War II canteen and become rivals for the same man.
Director: Richard Thorpe
Cast: June Allyson, Gloria Dehaven, Van Johnson

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman

At the end of her number, Virginia O'Brien breaks into a big grin--surprising and amusing audiences who were accustomed to her deadpan expression. The song itself, "Take It Easy," in which she complains about being tired from lovemaking, may well have been an inspiration for the similarly-themed "I'm Tired" from "Blazing Saddles."


6:00 PM -- The Harvey Girls (1946)
1h 41m | Musical | TV-G
Straitlaced waitresses battle saloon girls to win the West for domesticity.
Director: George Sidney
Cast: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger

Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for the song "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe"

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

Virginia O'Brien was pregnant with daughter Terri during the filming, but delays caused by Judy Garland made her condition harder and harder to conceal, which is why her character seems to disappear in the second half of this movie.


7:45 PM -- Martin Block's Musical Merry-Go-Round #4 (1948)
10m | Short | TV-G
In this short film, Virginia O'Brien and Les Brown and His Band of Renown perform several numbers.
Director: Jack Scholl
Cast: Les Brown, Virginia O'Brien

This is a rare instance of O'Brien (who's playing herself) smiling on camera--she explains to Block that she adopted the deadpan face because "it just comes second-nature to me."



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- PLAY BALL - NIGHT ONE



8:00 PM -- Angels in the Outfield (1951)
1h 42m | Drama | TV-G
The short-tempered manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates mends his ways in return for a little divine assistance.
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn

The uncredited hat check girl was played by Barbara Billingsley, future TV mother on Leave It to Beaver (1957) and the jive-talking interpreter in Airplane! (1980).


10:00 PM -- Bull Durham (1988)
1h 48m | Comedy | TV-14
Comedy about a losing minor league baseball team in North Carolina, and the English teacher who seduces a player each year.
Director: Ron Shelton
Cast: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen -- Ron Shelton

There really was a ballplayer named "Crash" Davis. Ron Shelton found his name in a baseball listing as a minor leaguer and American Legion player. Realizing that he would have to have the permission of the real Davis to use his name (and thus avoid a lawsuit). When Shelton approached Davis, he was asked "Do I (meaning Kevin Costner) get the girl in the end?" Shelton told him he does and Davis signed off his permission.


12:00 AM -- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
1h 33m | Musical | TV-G
A beautiful woman takes over a turn-of-the-century baseball team.
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly

In the 'stepping into the bucket' scene during field practice, Gene Kelly tells Esther Williams that he tends to twitch his posterior several times back-and-forth before stepping up to the plate to hit. While at first this appears to be a sexual ruse in order to entice Williams to do the same, in later playing scenes, Kelly does indeed twitch his posterior every time he steps up to the plate.


2:00 AM -- Hell Night (1981)
1h 42m | Horror
Four college pledges are forced to spend the night in a deserted old mansion.
Director: Tom Desimone
Cast: Jimmy Sturtevant, Peter Barton, Suki Goodwin

Actress Linda Blair said in an interview that after her head turning role in the feature film, The Exorcist (1973), she was unable to break free of the young girl as a victim role. So she wanted to revitalize her image after she finished this film. She wanted to show the world she was a grown woman capable of adult roles, which is why she posed for nude photos in the October 1982 issue of Oui magazine. Unfortunately, the photoshoot had an unintended consequence. Instead of big Hollywood pictures, Linda would go on to appear in more exploitation B-films like this one or smaller television roles for most of her career.


4:00 AM -- Killer Party (1986)
1h 31m | Horror/Science-Fiction | TV-14
The fraternity house is haunted by a college student who died there twenty years before.
Director: William Fruet
Cast: Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes

The film suffered severe cuts by the MPAA. As a result, most of the murders occur off-camera and feature little to no gore or violence. Because of this, the filmmakers edited the film in such a way in that the murders seem to happen immediately after each other in quick succession. When the film was originally shot, more time had passed between each murder, which included special effects and on-screen violence. Ironically, the promotional material released feature several shots of the excised deaths, including Pam (Deborah Hancock) getting skewered by the trident and Virgil (Jeff Pustil) with his hand chopped off.


5:45 AM -- When You Grow Up (1973)
11m | Short | TV-G
In this short film, children learn about the world of fun that awaits them when they grow up.
Director: Jerry Kurtz
Cast: Robert Babcock, Linda Gries, Ingvar Grimsgaard