TCM Schedule for Wednesday, December 13: Paddy Chayefsky - Part 2

[CBHagman]

What a fantastic schedule! Daytime is devoted to director George Stevens and an array of genres, and nighttime is all about screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who more than earned his place in U.S. cinema and media generally with Network. Here on DU, we know from "mad as hell."

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

1:15 AM The Blue Dahlia (1946)
A veteran fights to prove he didn't kill his cheating wife.
Dir: George Marshall Cast: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix
Runtime: 98 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: N


3:15 AM Gilda (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she's married to his new boss.
Dir: Charles Vidor Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Suspense/Mystery Rating: TV-PG CC: Y


5:15 AM MGM is on the Move! (1964)
This promotional short showcases MGM's upcoming movies of 1964.
Dir: null Cast: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Runtime: 36 mins Genre: Short Rating: TV-G CC: N



6:00 AM Alice Adams (1935)
A small-town girl with social ambitions falls in love with a local playboy.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone
Runtime: 100 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

&t=42s

7:45 AM Swing Time (1936)
To prove himself worthy of his fiancee, a dancer tries to make it big, only to get involved with his dancing partner.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
Runtime: 105 mins Genre: Musical Rating: TV-G CC: Y

9:45 AM Vivacious Lady (1938)
After a whirlwind courtship, a nightclub singer has to adjust to her professor husband's conservative family.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, James Ellison
Runtime: 90 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: Y

11:30 AM The More the Merrier (1943)
The World War II housing shortage brings three people together for an unlikely romance.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Jean Arthur, Joel Mccrea, Charles Coburn
Runtime: 104 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-G CC: N

1:30 PM I Remember Mama (1948)
Norwegian immigrants face the trials of family life in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka
Runtime: 134 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-G CC: Y

3:45 PM George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984)
Biography of the Academy Award winning director including dramatic color footage of WWII.
Dir: George Stevens Jr. Cast: Fred Astaire, Warren Beatty, Pandro S. Berman
Runtime: 110 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-G CC: N


5:45 PM A Place in the Sun (1951)
An ambitious young man wins an heiress' heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend's pregnancy.
Dir: George Stevens Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters
Runtime: 122 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: PADDY CHAYEFSKY - PART 2

8:00 PM Network (1976)
Television programmers turn a deranged news anchor into the mad prophet of the airwaves.
Dir: Sidney Lumet Cast: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch
Runtime: 121 mins Genre: Drama Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

10:15 PM The Hospital (1971)
A harried hospital administrator copes with rising costs, a seductive young woman and a serial killer.
Dir: Arthur Hiller Cast: George C Scott, Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes
Runtime: 103 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: TV-MA CC: Y

12:15 AM The Americanization of Emily (1964)
A British war widow falls for an opportunistic American sailor during World War II.
Dir: Arthur Hiller Cast: James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas
Runtime: 117 mins Genre: War Rating: TV-PG CC: Y

&t=30s

2:30 AM Altered States (1980)
Respected scientist and psychology professor Edward Jessup decides to combine his experiments in sensory deprivation tanks with powerful hallucinogenic drugs, convinced it may help him unlock different states of consciousness. The experiments are a success at first, but as Jessup continues his work, he begins to experience ...
Dir: Ken Russell Cast: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban
Runtime: 102 mins Genre: Adaptation Rating: TV-MA CC:

4:30 AM Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
A look at Jerry Harvey and his creation, the Z Channel, the first pay cable network. The Z Channel launched in 1974 as California's first pay-TV service, showing two movies a week, and quickly became required viewing for Hollywood's elite and cinephiles alike.
Dir: Xan Cassavetes Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino
Runtime: 122 mins Genre: Documentary Rating: TV-PG CC: N

[Irish_Dem]

1. "The More the Merrier" is a brilliant comedy.

It was perfectly cast, acted and directed.

I have watched it more than one time and I don't even like comedies!

[CBHagman]

2. It's a delight, played by the cast to a fare-thee-well...

...and it's also quite sexy for the time. That scene with Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea on the front stoop!

[Irish_Dem]

3. It was a perfect gem of a film.

Yes the very sexual front stoop scene.
The scene where he gives her the make up case is also sexual.

And then when they are dancing separately.
And then they meet in the hall is hysterical.
The breakfast scenes.

I love the scene where Jean Arthur is trying to throw the two men out of her apartment.
She realizes that the older gentleman has pulled a fast one by subletting his room.
She doesn't yet realize what he is doing (matchmaking.)

He starts bamboozling Jean Arthur about the rent money and talking circles around her.
Joel McCrea is just watching in awe and amusement, admiring the old guy and admiring
Jean Arthur.

There are many genres and artistic creations that are not my thing, including comedy,
but darn it, when I see perfection I have to admire it.