TCM Schedule for Thursday, May 12 -- Star of the Month - Esther Williams

[Staph]

Happy birthday to Katharine Hepburn, born on this day in 1907. We have a day with seven of her first dozen films, including the performance that earned her first Oscar in Morning Glory (1933), and an evening with Star of the Month, Esther Williams. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Morning Glory (1933)
A stage struck girl travels to New York determined to make it on Broadway.
Dir: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Adolphe Menjou.
74 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Katharine Hepburn (Katharine Hepburn was not present at the awards ceremony.)

The four portraits that Eva sees in the theatre are of Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, Sarah Bernhardt and John Drew. Sarah Bernhardt is well-known in her own right even now. The portrait of John Drew is likely to be of John Drew Jr (1853-1927) rather than John Drew Sr (1827-1862) (an American actor of the early 1800s). John Drew Jr was a renowned American actor of the late 1800s, the leading matinée idol of his time. Maude Adams (1872-1953) was one of the most popular American actresses of the 1890s and early 1900s, achieving great fame in J. M. Barrie's plays. Drew Jr and Adams worked together for 5 years from 1892, achieving great success and making Adams a star. Ethel Barrymore (1879-1959), with brothers Lionel and John, was one of the Barrymore siblings who achieved greatness on the American Stage and in films. The Barrymore siblings were the niece and nephews of John Drew Jr.


7:15 AM -- The Little Minister (1934)
A young miss masquerades as a gypsy to win a minister's love.
Dir: Richard Wallace
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, John Beal, Alan Hale.
110 min, TV-G, CC

Katharine Hepburn reportedly wasn't interested in taking the part of "Babbie" until she heard Margaret Sullavan wanted the part badly.


9:15 AM -- Break of Hearts (1935)
An unknown composer tries to save the conductor she loves from his drinking problem.
Dir: Philip Moeller
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer, John Beal.
78 min, TV-G, CC

The character of Franz Roberti was based on two real-life conductors of the period: Leopold Stokowski, who was well known for his rearrangements of music by Bach, Wagner and other composers; and Arturo Toscanini, who was notorious for insulting his musicians during rehearsals the way Roberti does in the film.


10:45 AM -- Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
A female con artist masquerades as a boy to escape the police.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Brian Aherne.
95 min, TV-PG, CC

Howard Hughes visited the set one day, landing his amphibious plane near the beach where they were filming. Hughes said he stopped by to say hello to his good friend Cary Grant but in actuality he wanted to meet Katharine Hepburn, whom he was fascinated by. The film The Aviator (2004) recreates this first meeting of theirs.


12:30 PM -- A Woman Rebels (1936)
A Victorian feminist has an illegitimate baby.
Dir: Mark Sandrich
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Herbert Marshall, Elizabeth Allen.
88 min, TV-G, CC

The film lost $222,000 at the box office and was Katharine Hepburn's 3rd flop in a row, contributing to exhibitors declaring her "box office poison".


2:00 PM -- Quality Street (1937)
A woman masquerades as her own niece to get back at a neglectful suitor.
Dir: George Stevens
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Franchot Tone, Eric Blore.
83 min, TV-G, CC

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Roy Webb (musical director) and Score by Roy Webb

The original Broadway play starred legendary actress Maude Adams. It opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York on November 11, 1901 and ran for 64 performances.


3:30 PM -- Little Women (1933)
The four March sisters fight to keep their family together and find love while their father is off fighting the Civil War.
Dir: George Cukor
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas.
116 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Writing, Adaptation -- Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason

Nominated for Oscars for Best Director -- George Cukor, and Best Picture

Joan Bennett was pregnant at the time she played Amy, the youngest of the March sisters.


5:30 PM -- Katharine Hepburn (One) (1973)
Katharine Hepburn appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired September 14, 1973.
C-68 min, TV-14, CC


6:45 PM -- Katharine Hepburn (Two) (1973)
Katharine Hepburn appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired October 2, 1973.
C-70 min, TV-14, CC



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: ESTHER WILLIAMS



8:00 PM -- Neptune's Daughter (1949)
Mistaken identity complicates a polo player's romance with a bathing suit designer.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban.
C-93 min, TV-G, CC

Won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Frank Loesser for the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

In a 1999 interview, Esther Williams recalled that she and Ricardo Montalban were originally supposed to sing Frank Loesser's song, "I'd Love to Get You (On a Slow Boat to China)" in this film. But MGM's censors rejected the song as too suggestive. (Strangely, they interpreted "get" as "have" in a sexual sense.) When Williams asked Loesser for a new song, he offered the now-classic, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The MGM censors offered no objection to it, even though Williams thought the lyrics were even more suggestive than "Slow Boat To China".


9:50 PM -- Diamond Demon (1947)
The unusual talents of Johnny Price, a minor league baseball pitcher and trick artist, are showcased.
9 min

Among other talents, Mr. Price can throw two (and, in certain situations three) baseballs simultaneously to different people. The catchers can be side by side, with one high and one low, or standing on the pitcher's mound and second base while Price throws the ball from the catchers position. He can even perform these feats while suspended upside-down.


10:00 PM -- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
A beautiful woman takes over a turn-of-the-century baseball team.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly.
C-93 min, TV-G, CC

According to Esther Williams in her memoirs, Judy Garland was the original choice for K.C. Higgins but was replaced after she'd become undependable owing to her developing drug habit. June Allyson was also considered but had become pregnant and opted not to work during her pregnancy.


11:45 PM -- Duchess Of Idaho (1950)
During a Sun Valley vacation, a woman tries to solve her roommate's romantic problems only to get caught in a love triangle of her own.
Dir: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Esther Williams, Van Johnson, John Lund.
C-98 min, TV-G, CC

Eleanor Powell's last film.


1:30 AM -- Pagan Love Song (1950)
An American tourist romances a Tahitian beauty.
Dir: Robert Alton
Cast: Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Minna Gombell.
C-77 min, TV-G, CC

The original title for this film was "Tahiti." The writers of the music for the film, 'Harry Warren' and Arthur Freed, wrote a song by that title, but when the title of the movie was changed, the song was dropped and Nacio Herb Brown and Freed's "Pagan Love Song" was added.


3:00 AM -- Texas Carnival (1951)
A penniless carnival worker runs up a mountain of debts when he's mistaken for a millionaire.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel.
C-77 min, TV-G, CC

The second of five films starring Esther Williams and Red Skelton.


4:30 AM -- The Circus Clown (1934)
A young man defies his father's wishes to join the circus.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Joe E. Brown, Patricia Ellis, Dorothy Burgess.
65 min, TV-G

According to a review summary in the New York Times, Joe E. Brown was affectionately pawed by a lion during one take, requiring 6 stitches in his arm. The article also points out that Brown did his own "spectacular acrobatics" - no doubles were used.


5:38 AM -- Freddie Rich And His Orchestra In "Mirrors" (1934)
In this short film, Freddie Rich and his orchestra perform popular songs, accompanied by guest performers.
Dir: Roy Mack
11 min