TCM Schedule for Thursday, January 20, 2022 -- What's on Tonight: True Crime

[Staph]

During the daylight hours, we're watching Corporate Affairs. Then in prime time, it's the third week of True Crime. Enjoy!


7:00 AM -- Behind Office Doors (1931)
1h 26m | Drama | TV-G
An under-appreciated secretary finds a new job and takes her former boss's success with her.
Director: Melville Brown
Cast: Mary Astor, Robert Ames, Ricardo Cortez

Duneen hires Daisy at $50/week - prompting a concerned look from Mary. She had a good reason as the average salary for all workers in 1931 was $35/week, and secretaries on average made only $20/week.


8:30 AM -- H. M. Pulham, Esq. (1941)
2h | Drama | TV-PG
A stuffy businessman livens things up by having a fling.
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Robert Young, Ruth Hussey

Very strangely, no one in the film, especially her life-long flame Harry Pulham, ever comments on the extreme oddity of the distinctly male first name of heroine Marvin Myles. Nor, despite her obvious European accent and her claim that she wasn't born in the US, is her native country or ethnic background ever identified.


10:45 AM -- The Boss Didn't Say Good Morning (1937)
10m | Short | TV-G
In this short film, an office worker fears for his job after his boss fails to respond to his "good morning".
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Cast: Donald Haines, John Ince, Granville Bates

When the narrator states that John Jones is "almost as contented as a certain famous brand of cows", the reference is to the Carnation company and it's long-running advertising line "Carnation Condensed Milk, the milk from contented cows".


11:00 AM -- Cash McCall (1960)
1h 42m | Romance | TV-PG
A corporate spoiler makes a play for a failing company and the owner's daughter.
Director: Joseph Pevney
Cast: James Garner, Natalie Wood, Nina Foch

James Garner's last film under his Warner Brothers contract. After a writer's strike halted all Warner Brothers productions, even though Garner had a "play or pay" contract, Warner Brothers refused to pay him. Garner sued the studio for breach of contract and won.


12:45 PM -- Executive Suite (1954)
1h 44m | Drama | TV-PG
When a business magnate dies, his board of directors fights over who should run the company.
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Nina Foch, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- George J. Folsey, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Cedric Gibbons, Edward C. Carfagno, Edwin B. Willis and Emile Kuri, and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

While the practice of including a large, all-star cast had been popular in the 1930s, particularly with films such as Grand Hotel (1932) and Dinner at Eight (1933), it was a relatively rare occurrence in the 1950s. Producer John Houseman admitted many years after the film's production that the decision to cast so many recognizable stars was part of an effort by MGM to compete with the soaring popularity of television.


2:45 PM -- The Fountainhead (1949)
1h 54m | Drama | TV-PG
An idealistic architect battles corrupt business interests and his love for a married woman.
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey

King Vidor originally hoped to cast Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the lead roles, but Ayn Rand insisted on Gary Cooper in the lead. Bacall was cast opposite Cooper, but dropped out before filming began. Hoping the film would make her a star, Warner Bros cast a relative unknown, 22-year-old Patricia Neal, after considering and then rejecting Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, Alexis Smith, and Barbara Stanwyck as replacements for Bacall. Cooper objected to Neal being cast, but during filming, Cooper and Neal began an affair.


4:45 PM -- Patterns (1956)
1h 23m | Drama | TV-G
A replacement in a large corporation encounters loyalty and power struggles.
Director: Fielder Cook
Cast: Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley

Based on a teleplay by Rod Serling, Kraft Theatre: Patterns (1955). It featured several of the same actors who would appear in the movie, including Everett Sloane and Ed Begley. However, the part of Fred Staples, the lead, was originated by Richard Kiley. Begley's character, Bill Briggs, was called Andy Sloane in the original version. Serling's teleplay won him the first of his six Emmy Awards.


6:15 PM -- The Power and the Prize (1956)
1h 38m | Drama | TV-G
An ambitious executive jeopardizes his career to marry a European refugee.
Director: Henry Koster
Cast: Robert Taylor, Elisabeth Mueller, Burl Ives

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Helen Rose

Miriam Linka's leather purse bears the initials EM signifying it must have actually been the property of actress Elisabeth Müller, who plays the role.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PRIMETIME THEME -- TRUE CRIME



8:00 PM -- The French Connection (1971)
1h 44m | Crime | TV-MA
A tough-talking New York City detective and his partner uncover an international drug smuggling ring.
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Gene Hackman, Best Director -- William Friedkin, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Ernest Tidyman, Best Film Editing -- Gerald B. Greenberg, and Best Picture

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Roy Scheider, Best Cinematography -- Owen Roizman, and Best Sound -- Theodore Soderberg and Christopher Newman

Several French signs appear onscreen in the New York City sequences that might be taken as jokes or commentaries on the action. Near the beginning of Doyle's chase of Frog One on foot, he rounds on a corner below a wall sign that reads "le dernier cri," which means "the last cry." Doyle also stakes out Frog One during his lengthy dinner with a minion at a restaurant named "Copain" which means "friend," and often specifically "boyfriend," in French.


10:00 PM -- Patty Hearst (1988)
1h 48m | Biography
Based on Hearst's own memoirs, a retelling of her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
Director: Paul Schrader
Cast: Natasha Richardson, William Forsythe, Ving Rhames

The real Patricia Hearst was pardoned by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001--his last official act before he left office.


12:00 AM -- Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
2h 15m | Drama | TV-MA
The singles scene takes its toll on a young teacher.
Director: Richard Brooks
Cast: Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, Richard Gere

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Tuesday Weld, and Best Cinematography -- William A. Fraker


2:30 AM -- Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
2h 10m | Crime | TV-MA
A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Carol Kane

Winner of an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay -- Frank Pierson (Frank Pierson was not present at the awards ceremony. Presenter Gore Vidal accepted the award on his behalf.)

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Al Pacino, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Chris Sarandon, Best Director -- Sidney Lumet, Best Film Editing -- Dede Allen, and Best Picture

Although he had initially agreed to play the part of Sonny, Al Pacino told Sidney Lumet near the start of production that he couldn't play it. Pacino had just completed production on The Godfather: Part II (1974) and was physically exhausted and depressed after the shoot. With his reliance on the Method, Pacino didn't relish the thought of working himself up to a state of near hysteria every day. Lumet unhappily accepted the actor's decision and dispatched the script to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was being considered.


4:45 AM -- Star 80 (1983)
1h 43m | Biography | TV-14
The fact-based story about the life and death of Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten.
Director: Bob Fosse
Cast: Mariel Hemingway, Cliff Robertson, Carroll Baker

Debut cinema movie as actors of both Roger Rees and Keenen Ivory Wayans.

[IcyPeas]

1. Set my DVR for Patterns. Never seen it before. Thanks