TCM Schedule for Thursday, July 23, 2015 -- What's On Tonight - Burns and Allen

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring films starring Claudette Colbert (no relation to Stephen!). This evening's theme is the films of the comedy team of George Burns and his wife Gracie Allen. They didn't make a lot of films, but they made some funny ones! Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption.
Dir: Frank Capra
Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains
BW-130 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story -- Lewis R. Foster

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- James Stewart, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Harry Carey, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Claude Rains, Best Director -- Frank Capra, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Buchman, Best Art Direction -- Lionel Banks, Best Sound, Recording -- John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD), Best Film Editing -- Gene Havlick and Al Clark, Best Music, Scoring -- Dimitri Tiomkin, and Best Picture

Bitterly denounced by Washington insiders angry at its allegations of corruption, yet banned by fascist states in Europe who were afraid it showed that democracy works.


8:15 AM -- It's a Wonderful World (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee
BW-86 mins, CC,

Based on an original story by Ben Hecht and Herman J. Mankiewicz.


9:45 AM -- The Secret Heart (1946)
A recent widow tries to help her emotionally disturbed stepdaughter.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson
BW-97 mins, CC,

After filming The Secret Heart (1946) together, Claudette Colbert and co-star June Allyson became such great friends in real life Colbert became godmother to Allyson's daughter Pamela.


11:30 AM -- Without Reservations (1946)
A woman writer falls for a war hero who's a perfect match for the hero of her latest novel.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Claudette Colbert, John Wayne, Don DeFore
BW-101 mins, CC,

There is a cameo of Jack Benny as himself. About 15 or so minutes in, when Christopher (Kit) Madden (Claudette Colbert) is in the train station, Jack approaches her and asks her if she is Christoper Madden and when she says yes, he asks her to autograph the book she is holding (which she wrote) and asks her to make it out to Jack Benny. He first approaches with is back to the camera, so it's impossible to see who he is, but when he speaks, his voice is immediately recognizable. He then self-identifies to verify the viewer's suspicions, but not until she signs the book and moves on does he turn around and face the camera for the final verification.


1:20 PM -- Over The Seas To Belfast (1946)
This short film takes the viewer to Belfast, Northern Ireland.
C-9 mins,


1:30 PM -- Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)
A scarred veteran presumed dead returns home to find his wife remarried.
Dir: Irving Pichel
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent
BW-104 mins, CC,

The ocean liner briefly shown that John and Margaret sailed upon from Europe is the RMS Queen Mary. The ship is now a hotel and tourist attraction in Long Beach, California.


3:19 PM -- This Theatre And You (1948)
This short film takes a look at the importance of the motion picture theatre to small-town communities.
Cast: Brandon Beach,
BW-8 mins,


3:30 PM -- Three Came Home (1950)
A woman fights to survive as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, Florence Desmond
BW-105 mins, CC,

It was while filming this movie that Claudette Colbert sustained the back injury that forced her to give up the part of Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950) to Bette Davis.


5:21 PM -- Salar, The Leaper (1957)
This short film focuses on Atlantic salmon fly-fishing in New Brunswick, Canada.
Dir: Douglas Sinclair
BW-8 mins,


5:30 PM -- Parrish (1961)
When his mother marries into the tobacco business, a young man struggles to find himself.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Troy Donahue, Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden
C-138 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Joshua Logan originally wanted Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh to play the parents, and he tested Warren Beatty and Jane Fonda, among others, for the younger characters.


7:52 PM -- A Vitaphone Pictorial Revue No. 2-6 (1937)
This short film contains three segments, showcasing Arabian trick and race horses, hockey, and footwear. Vitaphone Release B56.
Dir: Clem McCarthy
BW-7 mins,



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BURNS AND ALLEN



8:00 PM -- The Big Broadcast Of 1936 (1935)
A radio star's efforts to save his station get him mixed up with con men, enemy agents and a beautiful countess.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Jack Oakie, George Burns, Gracie Allen
BW-95 mins,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- LeRoy Prinz for "Elephant - It's the Animal in Me".

The number "It's the Animal in Me" was originally intended for the movie We're Not Dressing (1934), but was cut from that film before release.


9:45 PM -- Lambchops (1929)
In this short film, George Burns and Gracie Allen perform a comic routine along with the musical number, "Do You Believe in Me? I Do." Vitaphone Release 891.
Cast: George Burns, Gracie Allen,
BW-8 mins,

Burns and Allen received $1,700 for starring in this film. "I'd never heard of $1,700 in my life, especially for nine minutes' work," George Burns wrote in his 1955 autobiography. With dollar signs in his eyes, Burns actively sought out more film work for the comedy duo.


10:00 PM -- The Big Broadcast Of 1937 (1936)
A failing radio station needs to put on a ratings winner to have any chance of continued operation.
Dir: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen
BW-100 mins, CC,

Shortly after arriving in the US from Germany, Oskar Fischinger was contracted by Paramount Pictures to create an animated sequence (in Technicolor or Gasparcolor; sources differ) for this movie. The movie was scored to a jazz piece, "Radio Dynamics", by studio musician Ralph Rainger. Unfortunately, Paramount switched the production to black-and-white, and Fischinger's animation became a sequence within the film, showing consumer products emanating from a radio broadcasting tower, rather than pure abstract imagery. Fischinger later released his color version as Allegretto (1936).


11:50 PM -- Oriental Paradise (1936)
This short film takes the viewer to Japan and focuses on flower arranging, a temple deer park, and Mount Fuji.
C-8 mins,


12:00 AM -- A Damsel In Distress (1937)
An American dancer on vacation in England falls for a sheltered noblewoman.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen
BW-101 mins, CC,

Won an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Hermes Pan for "Fun House"

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction -- Carroll Clark

After learning that Fred Astaire wanted Burns and Allen to audition for him, George Burns hired a vaudeville dancer he knew to choreograph a complex routine with whisk brooms. Astaire enjoyed the performance by George and Gracie so much that he insisted on working it into the film.


1:45 AM -- Honolulu (1939)
A movie star trades places with a Hawaiian plantation owner.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Eleanor Powell, Robert Young, George Burns
BW-84 mins, CC,

Final film appearance of George Burns and Gracie Allen together.


3:15 AM -- Going In Style (1979)
Three elderly men decide to better their lot by robbing a bank.
Dir: Martin Brest
Cast: George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg
C-98 mins, CC,

In the scene where Joe (George Burns) is looking through his old photos and other memorabilia, he looks at a photo of a young couple - presumably Joe and his wife - and it makes him start to cry. The photo is actually a picture of George Burns and his real (late) wife Gracie Allen. She died in 1964.


5:00 AM -- The Steel Trap (1952)
When he has second thoughts, an embezzler races the clock to return what he stole.
Dir: Andrew Stone
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright, Jonathan Hale
BW-85 mins, CC,

The Osbornes attempt to board a Chicago and Southern Airlines flight in New Orleans for Brazil. Chicago and Southern Airlines was the name of a real carrier based in Memphis, TN. In 1953, they were integrated into Delta Airlines.