TCM Schedule for Friday, January 13, 2023 -- What's On Tonight: Female Detectives Part 2

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM is featuring My Favorite Murders, with Philo Vance, Hildegarde Withers, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Jane Marple. Then in prime time, TCM is continuing their series on Female Detectives. Part Two -- Torchy Blane Gets Her Way. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Bishop Murder Case (1930)
1h 28m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Quick-witted private investigator Philo Vance is in search of a cryptic killer.
Director: David Burton
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young

Several times Sigurd Arnesson (Roland Young) sarcastically calls Philo Vance (Basil Rathbone) "Sherlock Holmes". Nine years later, Rathbone would take the role of Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) (and 14 sequels), and it became his iconic role.


7:45 AM -- Penguin Pool Murder (1932)
1h 10m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A feisty school teacher sets out to solve a murder in an aquarium.
Director: George Archainbaud
Cast: Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Robert Armstrong

The first of three appearances by Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers, the others being Murder on the Blackboard (1934) and Murder on a Honeymoon (1935). The series ground to a halt when Edna May Oliver left her RKO contract in 1935. The studio tried to continue the series with different actresses but audience interest was negligible and original novelist Stuart Palmer was not happy about this attempt at all.


9:15 AM -- The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
1h 13m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Reporter has bright idea of claiming to be a murderer and writing his own expose.
Director: J. Walter Ruben
Cast: Dorothy Jordan, Eric Linden, Rosco Ates

Based on the novel L'épouvante by Maurice Level.


10:45 AM -- The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
1h 13m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette

Dr. Doremus' repeated line "I'm a doctor not a . . . " was later used as the catchphrase of DeForest Kelley's character Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek (1966).


12:15 PM -- The Dragon Murder Case (1934)
1h 8m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Society sleuth Philo Vance looks into a murder near a mysterious "dragon pool."
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Cast: Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot

Tropical fish were not as yet popular in Southern California, but they were called for in the script as one of the film's most important sets was a solarium filled with fish tanks, most remarkably, Siamese fighting fish. Pet stores did not stock them as there was no demand. Then an advanced collector located in the San Fernando Valley agreed to have his collection rented. The appearance of tropical fish in "The Dragon Murder Case" was the spark that boosted tropical fish sales nationwide.


1:30 PM -- The Casino Murder Case (1935)
1h 23m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Society sleuth Philo Vance takes on a series of murders at an aging dowager's mansion.
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Paul Lukas, Alison Skipworth, Donald Cook

This film went through many casting changes before production began. MGM originally planned this as a vehicle for William Powell and Myrna Loy, but Powell refused, saying he was tired of playing the character. The studio then considered Otto Kruger, Fred Keating, Warren William, and Ricardo Cortez before settling on Paul Lukas two weeks before the production started. Eugene Pallette and Edward Brophy were slated for the role of Sgt. Heath that eventually went to Ted Healy. Constance Collier was set to play Mrs. Llewellyn, but she backed out to take a break, so Alison Skipworth was borrowed from Paramount for the role.


3:00 PM -- The Garden Murder Case (1936)
1h 2m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Society sleuth Philo Vance suspects dirty doings behind a mysterious series of suicides.
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Edmund Lowe, Virginia Bruce, Benita Hume

MGM originally considered Brian Aherne and Rosalind Russell for the leads. Russell had played a leading role in the previous film in the series, The Casino Murder Case (1935).


4:15 PM -- Grand Central Murder (1942)
1h 12m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
A detective investigates an actress's murder in a train car.
Director: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Van Heflin, Patricia Dane, Cecilia Parker

Sixth billed Sam Levene as Inspector Gunther has more dialogue than anyone else in the movie, including its top billed star Van Heflin.


5:45 PM -- The Alphabet Murders (1965)
1h 30m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders committed in alphabetical order.
Director: Frank Tashlin
Cast: Tony Randall, Anita Ekberg, Robert Morley

The only movie in which both Hercule Poirot (Tony Randall) and Miss Jane Marple (Dame Margaret Rutherford) appeared.


7:30 PM -- MGM Parade Show #2 (1955)
25m | Documentary | TV-G
Judy Garland and Bert Lahr perform in a clip from The Wizard of Oz.
Cast: Gene Kelly, Bert Lahr, George Murphy



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- FEMALE DETECTIVES, PART TWO



8:00 PM -- Smart Blonde (1936)
59m | Comedy | TV-G
An ambitious reporter forces her policeman boyfriend to let her help with a murder case.
Director: Frank Mcdonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Winifred Shaw

Jane Wyman who played Dixie, the hatcheck girl in this film, would go on to play Torchy Blane herself in the final installment in the series Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite (1939).


9:15 PM -- Fly Away Baby (1937)
1h | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Reporter Torchy Blane takes to the skies to track down a band of killers.
Director: Frank Mcdonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Gordon Oliver

The famous Broadway columnist, What's My Line? (1950) star and possible murder victim Dorothy Kilgallen contributed to the script of this film. It is (very) loosely based on her participation in an around the world air race, as chronicled in Lee Israel's excellent book, "Kilgallen."


10:30 PM -- Torchy Blane, the Adventurous Blonde (1937)
1h 1m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-PG
Reporter Torchy Blane walks out on her own wedding to solve the case of a murdered actor.
Director: Frank Macdonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Anne Nagel

By the telegrams shown near the beginning of the film, Torchy and Theresa Gray are on the "Broadway Limited" train of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and they are going eastbound. This was the railroad's premier passenger train between New York and Chicago. It ran the 908 mile route daily form 1912 to 1995. From 1938 on, the trip took 16 hours. It competed with the 20th Century Limited of the New York Central Railroad.


11:45 PM -- Blondes at Work (1938)
1h | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
Even a jail term for contempt can't keep reporter Torchy Blane from investigating the case.
Director: Frank Mcdonald
Cast: Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy

The $10 that Torchy tips the taxi driver for following another cab would be equivalent to $180.88 in 2021.


1:00 AM -- Torchy Blane in Panama (1938)
58m | Suspense/Mystery | TV-G
An ambitious newspaper woman traces bank robbers to an ocean liner.
Director: William Clemens
Cast: Lola Lane, Paul Kelly, Tom Kennedy

The fifth of nine "Torchy Blane" films released by Warner Brothers from 1937 to 1939, and one of two where Torchy was not played by Glenda Farrell.


2:15 AM -- Super Fly (1972)
1h 36m | Crime | TV-MA
A cocaine dealer tries to pull off one big score so he can get out of crime.
Director: Gordon Parks Jr.
Cast: Ron O'Neal, Carl Lee, Sheila Frazier

Priest's Cadillac Eldorado was owned by K.C., the pimp who makes an appearance in the nightclub scene. The deal was that he would get a part in the movie in exchange for use of his car. At the film's 40th-anniversary screening, held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY, K.C. revealed that his customized Cadillac was eventually seized by the IRS.


4:15 AM -- Dolemite (1975)
1h 28m | Crime | TV-MA
When he's framed for drug dealing, a pimp enlists his call girls to bust him out.
Director: D'Urville Martin
Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, D'Urville Martin, Jerry Jones

Moore first developed the character of Dolemite in his stand-up comedy routines, and later appeared on his 1970 debut album, Eat Out More Often, which reached the top 25 on the Billboard 200. He released several more comedy albums using this persona. In 1975, Moore decided to create a film about Dolemite, paying for most of the production out of his own pocket, and using many of his friends and fellow comedians as cast and crew.