TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 11, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Jazz in Film

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, TCM has a nice selection of the earlier films of Gregory Peck. Things I didn't know about Peck: he marched with Martin Luther King Jr., and Brock Peters, who played Tom Robinson, the black man defended by Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, delivered a eulogy at Peck's funeral.

Then in prime time, there is more of the Thursday night beginning of the spotlight of Jazz in Film. Take it away, Roger!

Both jazz and the movies emerged as American art forms at the end of the 19th Century and flowered in the 1920s. Not for nothing was that era called The Jazz Age! Once sound appeared in movies, the two forms melded; noted by the first major "talkie," The Jazz Singer. Since then, jazz artists - many of them African American - have performed regularly in films. Beginning in the 1950s, complete jazz scores were created for film noir and other genres with urban settings.

TCM revisits the legacy of jazz music and its perfect marriage to film over the decades. First appearing as a special theme in 1999, our programming is expanded in this month's Spotlight to two nights a week to encompass the eclectic sounds, artists and films associated with jazz.

The movies in this Spotlight are arranged by categories. Battle of the Big Bands feature two musical-bio pics built around famous bandleaders.

The Glenn Miller Story (1954) looks at the life and career of one of the most famous bandleaders of the swing era, as portrayed by James Stewart. Miller, also a trombonist, arranger and composer, was the best-selling recording artist in the country from 1939 to 1942; his big hits included "In the Mood" and "Moonlight Serenade." During World War II, the plane he was taking on a tour to entertain the troops disappeared over the English Channel. In the film, Stewart's trombone playing is dubbed by Joe Yukl. Miller's wife is played, movingly, by June Allyson, and several music greats play themselves. The film won an Oscar for Best Sound Recording.

The Gene Krupa Story (1959) focuses on the legendary jazz drummer and his struggles with addiction and family problems. Sal Mineo, who plays Krupa, worked with the master himself to mimic his moves at the drums while Krupa provided the offscreen drumming. Susan Kohner and Susan Oliver play the women in Krupa's life, with Red Nichols and singer Anita O'Day as themselves and Bobby Troup as Tommy Dorsey. Numbers include "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Song of India" and "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans."

Other films in the category: Ship Ahoy (1942), Around the World (1943), and Sweet and Low Down (1944).

. . . .

By Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!



6:45 AM -- THRILL OF A ROMANCE (1945)
A soldier returning from World War II finds love with a lady swimmer.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Frances Gifford
BW-105 mins, CC,

This film marked the film debut of Metropolitan Opera star Lauritz Melchior, one of several classical artists lured to MGM by producer Joe Pasternak in the 1940s. Melchior would ultimately appear in three other MGM musicals: Two Sisters From Boston (1946), This Time For Keeps (1947) and Luxury Liner (1948).


8:45 AM -- THE GIRL FROM JONES BEACH (1949)
An artist discovers a real-life version of the perfect woman he's been drawing for years.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Ronald Reagan, Virginia Mayo, Eddie Bracken
BW-78 mins, CC,

Dale Robertson and Jeff Richards, in early uncredited roles as a hunky pair of lifeguards, appear bare-chested, with dialogue, in minimal (1948) bathing attire in their only scenes. Ronald Reagan, although appearing bare-chested in much of the publicity, is only seen unclothed in the imaginary vision of Virginia Mayo at the end of the trial sequence; Eddie Bracken also appears bare-chested in the publicity, but never in the actual film.


10:15 AM -- THE GREAT SINNER (1949)
A young man succumbs to gambling fever.
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas
BW-110 mins, CC,

Deborah Kerr was initially scheduled to co-star with Peck. Then Lana Turner was slotted for the role, and then withdrawn from the production due to her extended European honeymoon with Henry J. Tipping. Finally, Ava Gardner was cast.


12:15 PM -- DESIGNING WOMAN (1957)
A sportswriter and a fashion designer have a lot of adjusting to do when they marry in haste.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Gray
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- George Wells

George Burns later told Gregory Peck that his deadpan reaction to Dolores Gray spilling the plate of ravioli onto his lap was one of the best of its kind Burns had ever seen.


2:30 PM -- DAYS OF GLORY (1944)
Russian freedom fighters battle the Nazi occupying forces.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lowell Gilmore, Maria Palmer
BW-86 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- Vernon L. Walker (photographic), James G. Stewart (sound) and Roy Granville (sound)

Film debut of Gregory Peck.


4:00 PM -- THE GUNFIGHTER (1950)
The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.
Dir: Henry King
Cast: Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell
BW-85 mins, CC,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- William Bowers and André De Toth

The studio hated Gregory Peck's authentic period mustache. In fact, the head of production at Fox, Spyros P. Skouras, was out of town when production began. By the time he got back, so much of the film had been shot that it was too late to order Peck to shave it off and re-shoot. After the film did not do well at the box office, Skouras ran into Peck and he reportedly said, "That mustache cost us millions".


5:45 PM -- GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT (1947)
A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism.
Dir: Elia Kazan
Cast: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield
BW-118 mins, CC,

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Celeste Holm, Best Director -- Elia Kazan, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gregory Peck, Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Dorothy McGuire, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Anne Revere, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Moss Hart, and Best Film Editing -- Harmon Jones

The timeliness of the film is revealed by a telling exchange that took place between screenwriter Moss Hart and a stagehand, as reported in "The Saturday Review", December 6, 1947, pg. 71: "You know," a stagehand is reported to have said to Mr. Hart, "I've loved working on this picture of yours. Usually I play gin-rummy with the boys when scenes are being shot. But not this time. This time I couldn't leave the set. The picture has such a wonderful moral I didn't want to miss it". "Really?" beamed Mr. Hart, pleased not only as a scenarist but as a reformer. "That's fine. What's the moral as you see it?". "Well, I tell you," replied the stagehand. "Henceforth I'm always going to be good to Jewish people because you never can tell when they will turn out to be Gentiles."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: TCM SPOTLIGHT: JAZZ IN FILM



8:00 PM -- THE GLENN MILLER STORY (1954)
The famed bandleader fights to establish himself and keep his family going.
Dir: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Henry Morgan
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Winner of an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Leslie I. Carey (U-I)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -- Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney, and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Joseph Gershenson and Henry Mancini

James Stewart took trombone lessons in order to actually play during scenes where Glenn Miller is seen performing with his orchestra. However, while learning from his tutor Stewart's attempts at practicing the instrument made such horrible noises that the teacher reportedly went home in a rage every night to his family. It was decided that Stewart would accurately mime the motions of playing (especially apparent during the performance of String of Pearls) while his trombone tutor Joe Yukl did the actual playing.

(A moment of personal privilege: while my mom was taking her three days in the hospital after my birht (hey, it was the 1950s!), my dad took my older sister to see this movie. She cried and cried and cried at the ending!)


10:00 PM -- THE GENE KRUPA STORY (1960)
Legendary jazz musician Gene Krupa faces highs and lows along the path of his life.
Dir: Don Weis
Cast: Sal Mineo, Susan Kohner, James Darren
BW-101 mins, CC,

When the film opened in Krupa's hometown of Chicago at the Schiller Theatre on January 15, 1960 both Gene Krupa and Sal Mineo were on hand to greet the public and sign "fan fotos."


12:00 AM -- SWEET AND LOW DOWN (1944)
Benny Goodman and his band are packing up to move on to their next engagement at a military camp, when a kid steals Goodman's clarinet.
Dir: Archie Mayo
Cast: Benny Goodman, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie
BW-76 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- James V. Monaco (music) and Mack Gordon (lyrics) for the song "I'm Making Believe"

Hollywood Reporter production charts listed June Haver in the cast, but she did not appear in the movie.


1:30 AM -- AROUND THE WORLD (1943)
Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge entertain the troops overseas.
Dir: Allan Dwan
Cast: Kay Kyser, Mischa Auer, Joan Davis
BW-79 mins, CC,

Joan Davis encounters a sulphur-crested cockatoo in the streets of Cairo. Cockatoos are native to Australia and some islands to its north, and are not found in Africa.


3:00 AM -- SHIP AHOY (1942)
A dancer sailing to Puerto Rico hides government messages in her tap routines.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr
BW-95 mins, CC,

Frank Sinatra makes his second feature film appearance as a singer with the Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra. Also look quickly for Broadway star John Raitt as a young sailor.


5:15 AM -- SEEING RED (1939)
In this short film, a man fired from his job places a curse on his former boss. Vitaphone Release B194-195.
Dir: Roy Mack
Cast: John Regan, Red Skelton, Mary Wickes
BW-19 mins,