TCM Schedule for Tuesday, July 4: Happy Independence Day!

[CBHagman]

As you would expect, TCM is serving up an all-American roster of movies. Expect entertainment, though not necessarily American exceptionalism. Arguments, abductions, cons, conflicts — TCM has 'em all.



Tuesday, July 4, 2023

1:15 AM Road to Utopia (1946)
Two song-and-dance men on the run masquerade as killers during the Alaskan gold rush.
Dir: Hal Walker Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y


3:00 AM Road to Bali (1953)
Two song-and-dance men on the run dive for treasure while competing for a beautiful princess.
Dir: Hal Walker Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y


4:45 AM The Bill of Rights (1939)
This dramatizes the birth of the American Bill of Rights.
Dir: Crane Wilbur Cast: Ted Osborn, John Harron, Russell Simpson
Runtime: 16 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N


5:05 AM The Declaration of Independence (1938)
This short film offers an account of the meeting of the Continental Congress in the summer of 1776. Vitaphone Release 8874-8875.
Dir: Crane Wilbur Cast: John Litel, Tom Chatterton, Gordon Hart
Runtime: 17 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N


5:30 AM Small Town Girl (1953)
A sheriff's daughter falls for a playboy arrested for speeding.
Dir: Leslie Kardos Cast: Jane Powell, Farley Granger, Ann Miller
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

7:30 AM Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
The true story of Annette Kellerman, who as a child in Australia, learns to swim to overcome a potentially crippling physical handicap and develops into a champion. As a young woman, she travels with her father to London and dreams of a career as a dancer.
Dir: Mervyn Leroy Cast: Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon
Runtime: 115 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

9:30 AM Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Fanciful musical biography of Wild West sharpshooter Annie Oakley.
Dir: George Sidney Cast: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern
Runtime: 107 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

11:30 AM Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
The seven Pontipee brothers ease the loneliness of their Oregon farm by courting seven women.
Dir: Stanley Donen Cast: Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Jane Powell, Julie Newmar
Runtime: 103 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

&t=21s

1:30 PM Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
The champion ball club The Wolves' success depends on the powerhouse double play combination of O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg. Trouble is O'Brien and Ryan would rather be pursuing their vaudeville career than playing baseball...that is until the team gets a new owner, beautiful K.C. Higgins.
Dir: Busby Berkeley Cast: Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly
Runtime: 93 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

3:30 PM On the Town (1949)
Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.
Dir: Gene Kelly Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller
Runtime: 98 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

5:30 PM Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
The life story of dancing vaudevillian George M. Cohan.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston
Runtime: 126 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

&t=69s

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

8:00 PM The Music Man (1962)
A con man, masquerading as a music professor, convinces a small town to form a brass band as a way for him to pocket some money.
Dir: Morton Dacosta Cast: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Pert Kelton, Hermione Gingold
Runtime: 151 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

10:45 PM 1776 (1972)
The founding fathers struggle to draft the Declaration of Independence.
Dir: Peter H. Hunt Cast: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard, Blythe Danner
Runtime: 141 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

1:45 AM The Devil's Disciple (1959)
A preacher and a rebel leader change places during the Revolution.
Dir: Guy Hamilton Cast: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier
Runtime: 82 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

3:15 AM The Scarlet Coat (1955)
During the American War of Independence, an American officer deserts to the British in order to unmask a traitor.
Dir: John Sturges Cast: Cornel Wilde, Michael Wilding, George Sanders
Runtime: 101 mins Genre: Adventure Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

5:00 AM Ah, Wilderness (1935)
In his only comedy, Eugene O'Neill captures the trials of growing up in small-town America.
Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Aline Macmahon
Runtime: 101 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

[BigmanPigman]

1. I am always amazed at Cagney's dancing skills.

When he dances in Yankee Doodle he looks so light like he is a puppet on strings. I watched it again yesterday and found myself signing along to Over There, Grand Old Flag, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.

[CBHagman]

2. Just a splendid performance

That last dance down the stairs gets me every time.