TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 19 -- Star of the Month - Esther Williams

[Staph]

A day of suspense and film noir, and an evening with Star of the Month, Esther Williams. Enjoy!



6:15 AM -- Escape In The Desert (1945)
In this remake of The Petrified Forest, Nazi spies infiltrate a hotel in the American Southwest.
Dir: Edward A. Blatt
Cast: Jean Sullivan, Philip Dorn, Irene Manning.
79 min, TV-PG

Based on the play by Robert E. Sherwood


7:45 AM -- The Petrified Forest (1936)
An escaped convict holds the customers at a remote desert cantina hostage.
Dir: Archie L. Mayo
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin.
82 min, TV-G, CC

Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart had played the same roles in the stage version. Warner Brothers wanted to put Howard in the film but replace Bogart with Edward G. Robinson. Howard insisted on Bogart, and Robinson was happy to step aside from yet another gangster role. Bogart would later name his second child with Lauren Bacall Leslie, in honor of Howard, the man who gave him his first big break.


9:15 AM -- The Killers (1946)
An insurance investigator uncovers a string of crimes when he tries to find a murdered boxer's beneficiary.
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien.
102 min, TV-14, CC

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- Robert Siodmak, Best Film Editing -- Arthur Hilton, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Miklós Rózsa, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Anthony Veiller

This was Burt Lancaster's first important movie role. He was the third choice for the part of The Swede, and was signed only after actors Wayne Morris and Sonny Tufts proved unavailable. Lancaster was an ex-circus acrobat from Union City, New Jersey. When producer Mark Hellinger saw the first rushes of Lancaster's performance in a private screening room, he was so pleased that he yelled "So help me, may all my actors be acrobats!"


11:00 AM -- Where Danger Lives (1950)
A psychopath draws her doctor into her murderous schemes.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains.
80 min, TV-PG, CC

Working title was "A White Rose for Julie."


12:30 PM -- His Kind Of Woman (1951)
A deported gangster causes problems for guests at a Mexican resort.
Dir: John Farrow
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price.
120 min, TV-PG, CC

John Farrow finished the film, but Howard Hughes brought in Richard Fleischer to add a few shots (Hughes himself co-wrote the ending with Fleischer). Fleischer ended up reshooting the entire film.


2:45 PM -- The Big Sleep (1946)
Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a society girl's involvement in the murder of a pornographer.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely.
114 min, TV-PG, CC

While working on the script, writers William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett couldn't figure out from the novel who murdered a particular character. So they phoned Raymond Chandler, who angrily told them the answer was right there in the book. They shrugged and returned to their work. Chandler soon phoned to say that he looked at the book himself and couldn't figure out who killed the character, so he left it up to them to decide. In the original cut, shown to the armed services, this question is resolved; in the film as released, it isn't.


4:45 PM -- Crime in the Streets (1956)
A social worker tries to end juvenile crime by getting involved with a street gang.
Dir: Don Siegel
Cast: James Whitmore, Sal Mineo, Mark Rydell.
91 min, TV-14

Remake of "The Elgin Hour: Crime in the Streets (#1.12)" (1955). John Cassavetes reprises his role.


6:30 PM -- Side Street (1950)
A New York City mailman is chased by both cops and crooks when he steals a shipment of dirty money.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig.
83 min, TV-PG, CC

The drugstore that Joe Norson calls from is the set of another MGM Film Noir, Tension (1950), which was shooting at approximately the same time.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ESTHER WILLIAMS



8:00 PM -- Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
True story of Annette Kellerman, the world's first great swimming star.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon.
C-110 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey

Esther Williams broke her neck diving off a 50-foot tower during the sequence in which she wears a golden swimming costume. She spent six months in a body cast before recovering to complete the film.


10:00 PM -- Skirts Ahoy! (1952)
Three women join the Navy to find husbands.
Dir: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Esther Williams, Joan Evans, Vivian Blaine.
C-110 min, TV-G, CC

In her autobiography ("Million Dollar Mermaid") Esther Williams asserts that she designed the swimsuits in the film (with the help of Cole of California), after seeing the Navy's swimsuits for women. Esther describes the old ones as "cotton sleeveless T-shirts" that were not at all good for swimming. She spoke to the director of the Navy, who then made the swimsuit the new official swimsuit of the US Navy. She also worked with the writer to add more swimming sequences.


12:00 AM -- Dangerous When Wet (1953)
A family of fitness freaks sets out to swim the English Channel.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, Jack Carson.
C-96 min, TV-PG, CC

Featuring a swimming sequence with Williams and cartoon characters Tom and Jerry.


1:45 AM -- Easy to Love (1953)
Two men vie for the heart of a Cypress Gardens swimming star.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Van Johnson, Tony Martin.
C-96 min, TV-G, CC

Esther Williams chooses Van Johnson over Tony Martin; toward the end of the movie, Martin bumps into Cyd Charisse (in a cameo), his real-life wife at the time.


3:30 AM -- Jupiter's Darling (1955)
A beautiful Roman mounts a romantic campaign to halt Hannibal's invasion of the empire.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Marge Champion.
C-96 min, TV-G, CC

A reprise of "I Had A Dream" performed by Esther Williams and George Sanders was filmed but cut from the release print.


5:15 AM -- MGM Parade Show #33 (1955)
Walter Pidgeon introduces Part Two of "The Pirate" and a clip from "Gaby."
26 min, TV-G