MARCH ON TCM

Classic Hollywood, Classic Movies, TCM 8 Minutes

STAR OF THE MONTH: DORIS DAY (MONDAYS IN MARCH)

Doris Day marks her fourth time as TCM’s Star of the Month tying Greta Garbo with the most SOTM tributes. Since there has been a lot written about Day, I’m not going to give a biography this month. Instead, I’m recommending some of her lesser-known work.

  • It’s a Great Feeling (March 2 @ 5:15AM/4:15AM)-a meta comedy which mirrors Day’s attempts to be noticed by Hollywood producers. Actors Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson play “themselves” who vie for the lovely Doris and features multiple cameos who were currently working on the Warner Bros. lot in the late 1940s and poked fun at their images. Notable cameos include Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford and Edward G. Robinson.
  • Storm Warning (March 2 @ 7AM/6AM)-Doris is the younger sister of model Ginger Rogers. When Ginger arrives in town, she witnesses the murder of a man by the KKK. One of the murderers is Day’s husband! Rogers must decide whether to tell her pregnant sister the horrible truth about her groom. Ronald Reagan co-stars as a crusading lawyer.
  • Calamity Jane (March 8 @ 8PM/7PM)-Day’s favorite role. A musical about the gunslinger. Co-starring Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok.
  • Midnight Lace (March 15 @ 8PM/7PM)-Doris is terrorized and stalked while wearing glamourous costumes by Irene.
  • It Happened to Jane (March 23 @ 2AM/1AM)-Doris teams up with Jack Lemmon in their only film together.
  • Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (March 30 @ 2:15AM/1:15AM)-Doris is a housewife who deals with her husband’s new job, a move to the country and four rambunctious boys especially the youngest who has a knack for escaping from his crib. It’s so bad that the couple had to make the crib into a baby cage!

Edited to add: The Flight Attendant’s and The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco is going to be playing Day in a limited series. What do you think of her casting?

TCM SPOTLIGHT: GROWING UP ON SCREEN (TUESDAYS IN MARCH)

Many child stars fail to transition into adult stardom. This is not about them. These are the stories of the child stars who made it. TCM looks at ten children/teenagers who grew up before our eyes. TCM also interviews several former child stars including Alex Winter, Todd Bridges, Mara Wilson, film historian John Fricke, Natasha Gregson Wagner and her husband Barry Watson, and a little-known actress named Jodie Foster.

Night one stars teenage movie team Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The duo appeared in ten films starting in 1937 when Judy was 15 and Rooney was 17. Other films show Judy at 26 and 32 years and Rooney again at 17, 23, 29, 38, and 58.

Night two features Dean Stockwell (who turned 85 on March 5) and Kurt Russell (who will be 70 on St. Patrick’s Day). The audience will see Stockwell at 9, 10, 14, and 34 while Russell is shown at 13, 29, and 36.

Night three features best friends Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell starting with Liz at age 12, then 18, 26, and 34 then Roddy at age 15 (with an 11-year-old Taylor), 24, and 39.

Night four features Jodie Foster at ages 14 and 18 followed by Patty McCormack at ages 10, 15, 34 and 23.

Finally on night five it’s the works of Natalie Wood and Jackie Cooper. Wood is featured at 8, 17, 27, 3 and 43 while Cooper is shown at ages 12 and 18.

  • March 2 & 3: Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney-Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (March 2 @ 8PM/7PM); Easter Parade (March 2 @ 9:30PM/8:30PM); A Star is Born (March 2 @ 11:30PM/10:30PM); A Family Affair (March 3 @ 2:45AM/1:45AM); The Human Comedy (March 3 @ 4AM/3AM); Quicksand (March 3 @ 6AM/5AM); Andy Hardy Comes Home (March 3 @ 7:30AM/6:30AM); The Black Stallion (March 3 @ 9AM/8AM)
  • March 9 & 10: Dean Stockwell & Kurt Russell-Anchors Aweigh (March 9 @ 8PM/7PM); The Green Years (March 9 @ 10:30PM/9:30PM); Kim (March 10 @ 12:45AM/March 9 @ 11:45PM); The Dunwich Horror (March 10 @ 2:45AM/1:45AM) Guns of Diablo (March 10 @ 4:30AM/3:30AM); Fools’ Parade (March 10 @ 6AM/5AM); Overboard (March 10 @ 8AM/7AM)
  • March 16 & 17: Elizabeth Taylor & Roddy McDowell-National Velvet (March 16 @ 8PM/7PM); Father of the Bride (March 16 @ 10:15PM/9:15PM); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (March 17 @ 12:15AM/March 16 @ 11:15PM); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (March 17 @ 2:15AM/1:15AM); Lassie Come Home (March 17 @ 4:30AM/3:30AM); The Steel Fist (March 17 @ 6:15AM/5:15AM); The Cool Ones (March 17 @ 7:45AM/6:45AM)
  • March 23 & 24: Jodie Foster & Patty McCormack-Bugsy Malone (March 23 @ 8PM/7PM); The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (March 23 @ 10PM/9PM); Foxes (March 24 @ midnight/March 23 @ 11PM); The Bad Seed (March 24 @ 2:15AM/1:15AM); The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (March 24 @ 4:30AM/3:30AM); The Young Runaways (March 24 @ 6:30AM/5:30AM)
  • March 30 & 31: Natalie Wood & Jackie Cooper-The Green Promise (March 30 @ 8PM/7PM); Rebel Without a Cause (March 30 @ 9:45PM/8:45PM); Inside Daisy Clover (March 30 @ 11:45PM/10:45PM); The Candidate (March 31 @ 2AM/1AM); Brainstorm (March 31 @ 4AM/3AM); Treasure Island (March 31 @ 6AM/5AM); Gallant Sons (March 31 @ 8AM/7AM)

TCM SPECIAL THEME: REFRAMED (THURSDAYS IN MARCH)

I love classic movies which were made decades before I was born. However, the majority of films made then couldn’t be made today. Times change and so do people’s attitudes. Many classics of yesteryear are seen as “problematic” today. The five hosts from TCM look at 20 films that are classic, but have a lot of problems. The discussion includes the first sound film where the main character wears blackface during his act, pleasant views of slavery, stereotypes of non-white characters including Blacks, Asians, Arabs, and Native Americans, the “shame” of being homosexual or transgender, and misogyny. The 20 films in this series are:

  • Gone With the Wind (March 4 @ 8PM/7PM)-Positive views of the Confederacy, happy slaves and marital rape
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (March 5@midnight/March 4@11PM)-Sexism, the kidnapping and forced marriage of six women as “meet-cute.”
  • Rope (March 5 @ 2AM/1AM)-Homosexual undertones between the killers and their victim
  • The Four Feathers (March 5 @3:30AM/2:30AM)-British colonialism in India and Arabs as “savages”
  • Woman of the Year (March 11 @ 8PM/7PM)-the third act where apparently the main character had to be taken down a peg
  • Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (March 11 @ 10:15PM/9:15PM)-Sidney Poitier is positioned as a perfect black man; daring in its time. Today people would be concerned about the couple’s age difference and life experience.
  • Gunga Din (March 12 @ 12:15AM/March 11 @ 11:15PM)-The title character is played by a white guy in brownface and British colonialism in India
  • Sinbad the Sailor (March 12 @ 2:30AM/1:30AM)-The title character is a white guy in brownface
  • The Jazz Singer (March 12@ 4:45AM/3:45AM)-The title character is in blackface
  • The Searchers (March 18 @ 8PM/7PM)-Cruelty towards Native Americans
  • Breakfast at Tiffany’s (March 18 @ 10:15PM/9:15PM)- Mickey Rooney in yellowface
  • Swing Time (March 19 @ 12:30AM/March 18 @ 11:30PM)-Fred Astaire in blackface
  • Stagecoach (March 19 @ 2:30AM/1:30AM)-Native Americans are treated as the bad guys
  • Tarzan. the Ape Man (March 19 @ 4:15AM/3:15AM)
  • My Fair Lady (March 25 @ 8PM/7PM)-Henry Higgins misogyny towards Eliza Doolittle
  • The Children’s Hour (March 25 @ 11PM/10PM)-portraying LGBT individuals in a bad light
  • Psycho (March 26 @ 1AM/midnight)-LGBTQ issues
  • Dragon Seed (March 26 @ 3AM/2AM)-the entire cast including star Katharine Hepburn portray Chinese characters

NOIR ALLEY

Noiristas, here’s the March schedule for Noir Alley. Remember, Noir Alley is taking the month of April off due to TCM’s annual but later this year, 31 Days of Oscar festival. See you in May!

  • Killers Kiss (March 6 & 7)-Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film about an aging boxer whose girlfriend is kidnapped by her violent boss. The boxer moves heaven and earth to find her.
  • The Night Holds Terror (March 13 & 14)-a film I’ve never heard of. Three hitchhikers take a family hostage.
  • The Third Man (March 20 & 21)-Joseph Cotten searches for an elusive “third man” after his childhood buddy Orson Welles has died. Shot on location in Vienna, Austria.
  • Pepe Le Moko (March 27 & 28)-French noir. Jean Gabin hides from the police in the Casbah. There was an American remake released one year later with Charles Boyer in the Gabin role.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID NIVEN! (MARCH 1-DAYTIME)

In honor of his 111th birthday, TCM presents a full day of films starring the suave and well-liked David Niven. He was so well-liked that the largest bunch of flowers at his funeral was from the porters at London’s Heathrow Airport. Their note read: “To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these halls. He made a porter feel like a king.”

The day starts with Niv co-starring with buddy Errol Flynn in 1938’s WWI film The Dawn Patrol (6AM/5AM), next Niven has a supporting role in 1950’s The Toast of New Orleans (8AM/7AM) where he loses the girl to opera star Mario Lanza, then its the weird occult horror film Eye of the Devil (9:45AM/8:45AM), next its the British comedy Tonight’s the Night (11:45AM/10:45AM) with Yvonne de Carlo. The afternoon lineup starts with Niv co-starring with Jane Wyman in A Kiss in the Dark (1:15PM/12:15PM), next its the romantic fantasy essential A Matter of Life and Death (2:45PM/1:45PM) and finally it is the 1956 Best Picture winner Around the World in 80 Days (4:45PM/3:45PM) starring Niven as Phineas Fogg and Shirley MacLaine playing an Indian princess-this movie would also be a good candidate for March’s Reframed spotlight.

MOVIE MACGUFFINS (MARCH 5 & 12)

MacGuffin-an object or device in a movie or book that serves merely as a trigger for the plot. Screenwriter Angus McPhail coined the term while working with director Alfred Hitchcock and Hitch used the “MacGuffin” in his most popular films. TCM hosts Ben Mankiewicz and Eddie Muller present six films of cinema’s most famous “plot devices.” In fact, three films come from the Master of Suspense himself!

  • The 39 Steps (March 5 @ 8PM/7PM)-What are the 39 Steps?
  • Psycho (March 5 @ 9:45PM/8:45PM)-the $40,000
  • North by Northwest (March 5 @ 11:45PM/10:45PM)-the microfilm
  • The Maltese Falcon (March 12 @ 8PM/7PM)-the falcon DUH
  • Casablanca (March 12 @10PM/9PM)-the letters of transit
  • Citizen Kane (March 13 @ midnight/March 12 @ 11PM)-ROSEBUD

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

TCM’s annual St. Patty’s Day tribute starts with the 1940 musical Irene (9:30AM/8:30AM), followed by Judy Garland in a dual role in Little Nellie Kelly (11:30AM/10:30AM), next is The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady (1:30PM/12:30PM), followed by Flight of the Doves (3:30PM/2:30PM), and Francis Ford Coppola’s Finian’s Rainbow (5:30PM/4:30PM). The nighttime lineup starts with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in John Ford’s The Quiet Man (8PM/7PM), followed by Ford’s Young Cassidy (10:30PM/9:30PM), Carol Reed’s Odd Man Out (12:30AM/11:30PM) and David Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter (2:45AM/1:45AM)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOAN CRAWFORD! (MARCH 23-DAYTIME)

Joan Crawford is given a daytime tribute of some of her best films. Crawford’s birthday is definitely March 23 but her birth year is uncertain. Sources give 1904, 1905, 1906, and 1908. Joan’s tombstone says 1908 but daughter Christina says Joan was born in 1904. Even Wikipedia has given up on putting a birth year on Crawford’s page.

Surprisingly, all, except one but both films are in one year of each other, of Joan’s films airing today are chronological. The morning lineup starts with the 1933 musical drama Dancing Lady (6AM/5AM) featuring the film debut of Fred Astaire. Next is 1938’s Mannequin (7:45AM/6:45AM), the only time Joan co-starred with Spencer Tracy. Then it a double treat of Crawford’s later MGM films A Woman’s Face (9:30AM/8:30AM) and Susan and God (11:30AM/10:30AM). The afternoon movies were all made at Warner Bros. starting with Joan’s Oscar-winning role in Mildred Pierce (1:30PM/12:30PM) and Oscar-nominated role in 1947 Possessed (3:30PM/2:30PM)-Crawford made a film in 1931 also called Possessed. Finally, it’s the battle royale between Joan and Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (5:30PM/4:30PM).

SYDNEY GREENSTREET & PETER LORRE (MARCH 24)

This film noir duo appeared in some nine films together. TCM presents the two in eight movies this evening (sorry Hollywood Canteen). The night starts with The Mask of Dimitros (8PM/7PM) followed by The Verdict (9:45PM/8:45PM), Three Strangers (11:30PM/10:30PM), Passage to Marsielle (1:15AM/12:15AM), The Conspirators (3:15AM/2:15AM), Background to Danger (5AM/4AM), The Maltese Falcon (6:30AM/5:30AM) and Casablanca (8:30AM/7:30AM).

WARREN BEATTY’S 84TH BIRTHDAY (MARCH 30-DAYTIME)

The legendary Hollywood lothario is going to be 84 today! All of today’s lineup is from the first decade of Beatty’s film career-the 1960s. It starts with his first roles as an Italian gigolo romancing widow Vivien Leigh in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (6:30AM/5:30AM) and a sexually frustrated teenager in Splendor in the Grass (8:15AM/7:15AM)-Beatty’s film debut. Next he is a very bad boy in All Fall Down (10:30AM/9:30AM) and a comedian???!! in the crime drama Mickey One (12:30PM/11:30AM). Then its a double dose of comedy starting with Kaleidoscope (2:15PM/1:15PM) and Promise Her Anything (4:15PM/3:15PM) co-starring then girlfriend Leslie Caron. Finally it’s Beatty’s breakthrough film Bonnie and Clyde (6PM/5PM); starting a second career as a producer.

Published by Mariah

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