TCM Schedule for Friday, September 11, 2020 -- What's On Tonight: Ursula Andress

[Staph]

After a couple of additional medical heroes films left over from yesterday, TCM has films about newcomers in Hollywood. Then in prime time, there are a trio of films starring the beautiful Ursula Andress. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- ANGEL OF MERCY (1939)
This short film details the life of Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross.
Dir: Edward L. Cahn
Cast: Ann Rutherford, Barry Norton, Emmett Vogan
BW-10 mins,

Re-released in 1942 as 'Flag of Mercy' with new framework footage relating it to America's involvement in World War Two.


6:45 AM -- THE WHITE ANGEL (1936)
In this true story, Florence Nightingale defies military leaders to organize humanitarian nursing services during the Crimean War.
Dir: William Dieterle
Cast: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Donald Woods
BW-92 mins, CC,

Much disagreement to the origin of the source material exists. Some contemporary sources believed the source was Lytton Strachey's 1918 biographical essay in "Eminent Victorians". Others contend Michael Jacoby was the author. Warner Bros. executive Hal B. Wallis contended that the life of Florence Nightingale was in the public domain, and that screenwriter Mordaunt Shairp did his own research. The MPAA agreed with Wallis; no source credit was necessary.


8:30 AM -- BUD ABBOTT AND LOU COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD (1945)
A pair of wacky lackeys try to take Tinseltown by storm.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Frances Rafferty
BW-83 mins, CC,

The film, made by MGM under the studio's loanout deal with Universal for the team's services, is set on the MGM lot, but the studio's major stars - Clark Gable, Lana Turner and Judy Garland - are only mentioned by name and not seen. The actual cameos were confined to second-tier stars Rags Ragland, Preston Foster, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins and Lucille Ball.


10:00 AM -- MERTON OF THE MOVIES (1947)
A star-struck hick goes to Hollywood to become a star.
Dir: Robert Alton
Cast: Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien, Gloria Grahame
BW-82 mins, CC,

This was Virginia O'Brien's final starring role and the last film she made for MGM. After this she had small roles in two later films but otherwise retired from the screen.


11:30 AM -- SHOW GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD (1930)
A Broadway songbird goes to Hollywood in search of screen stardom.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Alice White, Jack Mulhall, Blanche Sweet
BW-78 mins, CC,

Cameos by Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Loretta Young and Noah Berry Jr. at the premiere of the film-in-a-film.


1:00 PM -- GOLDIE GETS ALONG (1933)
A small-town girl schemes to get to Hollywood only to run into the man she left behind.
Dir: Malcolm St. Clair
Cast: Lily Damita, Charles Morton, Sam Hardy
BW-68 mins, CC,

Based on the book Goldie Gets Along by Hawthorne Hurst.


2:15 PM -- TALENT SCOUT (1937)
A Hollywood heartthrob helps a small-town girl achieve stardom.
Dir: William Clemens
Cast: Donald Woods, Jeanne Madden, Fred Lawrence
BW-62 mins,

Craig Reynolds, who appears briefly from archive footage in the movie, was originally cast as the star of this movie, but caught the flu and was replaced by Donald Woods.


3:30 PM -- PICK A STAR (1937)
A young innocent in Hollywood enlists a publicist's help in her search for stardom.
Dir: Edward Sedgwick
Cast: Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley, Rosina Lawrence
BW-70 mins, CC,

The opening credits show a picture of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy on the frame following Lyda Roberti's name, but they are not identified. Also, they are not in the comprehensive cast list in the end credits; so, technically, they both are uncredited.


4:45 PM -- BOY MEETS GIRL (1938)
Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Marie Wilson
BW-86 mins, CC,

The original award-winning play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 27 November 1935 and had 669 performances. The opening cast included Jerome Cowan and Allyn Joslyn as Benson and Law, and Everett Sloane as Rosetti. There were 2 revivals, in 1943 and 1976.


6:15 PM -- MOVIE CRAZY (1932)
A stagestruck young actor accidentally receives somebody else's invitation to test in Hollywood.
Dir: Clyde Bruckman
Cast: Harold Lloyd, Constance Cummings, Kenneth Thomson
BW-96 mins,

Clyde Bruckman is the credited director, but most of the film was actually directed by Harold Lloyd due to Bruckman's often being incapacitated due to his alcoholism.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: URSULA ANDRESS



8:00 PM -- SHE (1965)
Explorers uncover a lost kingdom ruled by an immortal queen.
Dir: Robert Day
Cast: Ursula Andress, John Richardson, Peter Cushing
C-106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Ursula Andress was re-voiced by Nikki Van der Zyl, the same actress who dubbed her voice in the James Bond movie, Dr. No (1962).


10:00 PM -- CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)
A Greek hero fights a series of monsters, including the dreaded gorgon, to win the woman he loves.
Dir: Desmond Davis
Cast: Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith
C-118 mins, CC,

Despite being listed on posters and having main title billing, Ursula Andress only says one line in the entire movie.


12:15 AM -- CASINO ROYALE (1967)
A retired James Bond goes back into action to infiltrate a nest of enemy spies.
Dir: John Huston
Cast: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress
C-131 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (lyrics) for the song "The Look of Love"

Capucine, Joan Collins, and Elizabeth Taylor turned down the role of Vesper Lynd, played by Andress.


2:45 AM -- PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)
Aliens bring the dead to life to conquer the Earth.
Dir: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Cast: Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore
BW-78 mins, Letterbox Format

Bela Lugosi appears in footage shot just before his death, but with no script in mind. Edward D. Wood Jr. wrote the script to accommodate all the footage shot in a cemetery and outside Tor Johnson's house in the new production. Lugosi was doubled by Tom Mason, Wood's wife's chiropractor, who was significantly taller than Lugosi, and played the part with a cape covering his face.


4:15 AM -- REEFER MADNESS (1936)
Drug dealers lure a pair of young innocents into marijuana addiction.
Dir: Louis Gasnier
Cast: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles
BW-66 mins, CC,

Inspired by the case of Victor Licata, who killed his father, mother, two brothers, and a sister with an ax in Tampa, Florida on October 16, 1933, allegedly while under the influence of marijuana. Declared unfit to stand trial for reasons of insanity, subsequent psychiatric examination at the Florida State Mental Hospital determined that Licata suffered from schizophrenia with homicidal tendencies. The Licata case was used to propagandize for the passage of the federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 that effectively outlawed legal sales of the "demon weed".


5:15 AM -- SEX MADNESS (1938)
Philanthropist Paul Lorenz is one of the more public faces in the fight against behavior that spreads the many "social diseases", such as syphilis and gonorrhea.
Dir: Dwain Esper
Cast: Vivian McGill, Rose Tapley, Al Rigeli
BW-52 mins,

[BigmanPigman]

1. Sounds like Party Friday Night!

Plan 9, Reefer and Sex Madness. Oh my!

[Staph]

2. In my college days,

there would have been a watch party, featuring various intoxicating substances!