TCM Schedule for Friday, September 9 -- What's On Tonight -- Danny Thomas

[Staph]

Tonight's featured star is Marlo's dad -- Danny Thomas. Born Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yakhoob on January 6, 1914 in Deerfield, Michigan, he chose his stage name from his oldest brother Thomas and his youngest brother Danny. He started in nightclubs and radio, but is best remembered as family man Danny Williams in The Danny Thomas Show (1953-1964). TCM is showing three of Thomas' films. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- The Happy Years (1950)
Friends and family try to tame an unruly student at the turn of the century.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Dean Stockwell, Darryl Hickman, Scotty Beckett.
110 min, TV-G, CC

Robert Wagner's first film.


8:00 AM -- Pat And Mike (1952)
Romance blooms between a female athlete and her manager.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray.
95 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin

The writers, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, were close friends of Hepburn and Tracy, and wrote the film to showcase Hepburn's athletic abilities.

This was Chuck Connors' film debut.


9:45 AM -- Her Twelve Men (1954)
A dedicated teacher turns around the troublesome students at a boys' school.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, Barry Sullivan.
91 min, TV-G, CC

Among the supporting cast is Frances Bergen in her second film. You may know her better as wife of Edgar Bergen, and the mother of Candice Bergen, Kris Bergen, and Charlie McCarthy.


11:30 AM -- Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (1956)
A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence.
Dir: Fritz Lang
Cast: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer.
80 min, TV-PG, CC

The last film that Fritz Lang made in the USA before returning to Germany.


1:00 PM -- Party Girl (1958)
A showgirl and a crooked lawyer try to break with a powerful mob boss.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb.
C-99 min, TV-PG

Director Nicholas Ray was certainly impressed with Robert Taylor's commitment. "He worked for me like a true Method actor," said Ray, who remembered Taylor going to an osteologist, poring over X-rays and asking probing questions so that he would have an understanding of where in his body the pain would be from his character's crippled leg.


3:00 PM -- The Angel Wore Red (1960)
A priest and a prostitute fall in love during the Spanish Civil War.
Dir: Nunnally Johnson
Cast: Ava Gardner, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Cotten.
99 min, TV-PG, CC

Based on the novel The Fair Bride by Bruce Marshall.


4:45 PM -- The Main Attraction (1962)
An unscrupulous drifter causes problems for a small European circus.
Dir: Daniel Petrie
Cast: Pat Boone, Nancy Kwan, Mai Zetterling.
C-89 min, TV-PG, CC

One of Pat Boone's fourteen theatrical films.


6:30 PM -- Looking For Love (1964)
A promising singer has to choose between show business and marriage.
Dir: Don Weis
Cast: Connie Francis, Jim Hutton, Susan Oliver.
C-84 min, TV-PG, CC

When Connie Francis ran into singer Elvis Presley on the set for this movie, he reportedly told her, "I hear you're using a lot of guest-stars in your new musical. How about a job for a hungry folk singer?" This was due to the fact that there were so many guest-stars scheduled in the film that it was joked anyone could be in it if they asked.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DANNY THOMAS



8:00 PM -- I'll See You in My Dreams (1951)
Songwriter Gus Kahn fights to make his name, then has to fight again to survive the Depression.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Doris Day, Danny Thomas, Frank Lovejoy.
110 min, TV-G

Doris Day and Danny Thomas recorded a Columbia 10-inch LP featuring eight film songs which climbed to number one on the "Billboard" pop albums chart.


10:00 PM -- The Jazz Singer (1953)
A cantor's son goes against family tradition to become a popular singer.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Danny Thomas, Peggy Lee, Mildred Dunnock.
C-107 min, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner

In Eddie Fisher's autobiography "Been There, Done That", he states that before Danny Thomas was cast in the lead for this film, there was a big rumor going around Hollywood that Fisher would be cast. Fisher believed he was too young at the time for the role, and that he thought Danny Thomas was brilliant in the part.


12:00 AM -- Big City (1948)
Three bachelors adopt an orphan, then fight over custody when each falls in love.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Margaret O'Brien, Robert Preston, Danny Thomas.
103 min, TV-G, CC

Betty Garrett's film debut.


2:00 AM -- Breakin' (1984)
Three struggling dancers create a dazzling break-dancing act.
Dir: Joel Silberg
Cast: Bruno Falcon (Taco), Shabba-Doo, Scott Cooper.
C-87 min, TV-14

In the first "street dancing" scene (the one in which Kelly accompanies Ozone and Turbo to the beach), the audience watching the dancing is comprised of surfers and beach bums. In said audience, we see a man in a black singlet clapping with the music. This man is Jean-Claude Van Damme in his first on-screen appearance. According to Van Damme, he tried hard to draw attention to himself by jumping in the air and doing flips but they were not included in the film.


3:30 AM -- Roller Boogie (1979)
When her favorite roller disco is threatened with closing, a girl organizes the skaters to save it.
Dir: Mark L. Lester
Cast: Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland.
C-104 min, TV-PG, CC

The original male lead was slated to be Canadian actor David Kennedy. However, due to his off-screen romance with Linda Blair and their subsequent break-up, he was allegedly dismissed at the behest of Blair. Originally, Jim Bray was hired as a stunt double for Linda Blair's then-uncast leading man, but when the producers failed to find an actor to their liking, Bray was promoted. Perhaps ironically, Bray had a stunt double (Jerry Bregman) who skated in his place in all of the skate park scenes and who jumped over the limo with Blair's stunt double.


5:30 AM -- Now Playing September (2011)
Features highlights of the month's programming on TCM, including festivals and stars.
16 min, TV-PG, CC