*What's on tonight, TCM: The Red Shoes, Rhapsody in Blue +
10:30 PM -- The Red Shoes (1948)
2h 14m | Romance | TV-G
Tale of a famous ballerina who must choose between art and love.
Director: Michael Powell
Cast: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer
Winner of Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Hein Heckroth and Arthur Lawson, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture -- Brian Easdale
Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Emeric Pressburger, Best Film Editing -- Reginald Mills, and Best Picture
When people complained to Hein Heckroth about the grim ending, he pointed out to them that in Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale, the ballerina had her feet hacked off by a woodsman to stop her dancing.
1:00 AM -- Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
2h 19m | Drama | TV-PG
Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway.
Director: Irving Rapper
Cast: Robert Alda, Joan Leslie, Alexis Smith
Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD), and Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
Maurice Ravel actually rejected Gershwin as a student because he was afraid that classical training would interfere with Gershwin's unique style.
3:30 AM -- Romance (1930)
1h 16m | Romance | TV-G
An opera singer leaves her wealthy lover for a young priest.
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Greta Garbo, Lewis Stone, Gavin Gordon
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Greta Garbo, and Best Director -- Clarence Brown
Leading man Gavin Gordon was hit by another vehicle while driving his car to the set the first day of shooting. He was flung onto the pavement and fractured a collarbone, as well as dislocating his shoulder. Gordon was determined to play alongside Greta Garbo and feared his part might be recast if he went to the hospital, therefore proceeding to the set in spite of great pain. He managed to get through the first scene, whereupon he fainted. Garbo visited his bedside at the hospital and told him, production would wait for him. Director Clarence Brown therefore had to shoot all the scenes first in which Gordon didn't appear.
5:00 AM -- Romeo and Juliet (1937)
2h 7m | Romance | TV-G
Shakespeare's classic tale of young lovers from feuding families.
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Norma Shearer, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Basil Rathbone, Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B. Willis, and Best Picture
This was the last film producer Irving Thalberg personally produced before his death. The film's Los Angeles premiere took place at the Carthay Circle Theater on September 14, 1936, the night of Thalberg's death. Frank Whitbeck, the radio announcer for the broadcast of the premiere, decided not to interview the stars of the movie on the air. The actors were so grief-stricken that Whitbeck was afraid they would break down crying, so he simply announced their names as they arrived.
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