TCM Schedule for Wednesday, April 8th: TCM Prime Time Feature: Morris Engel

[CBHagman]

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009.


12:45 AM 49th Parallel (1941)
The crew of a stranded German U-boat tries to evade capture in Canada during World War II. Cast: Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey, Laurence Olivier. Dir: Michael Powell. BW-122 mins, TV-14

3:00 AM Animal Kingdom, The (1932)
An intellectual publisher can't choose between his society wife and his free thinking former love. Cast: Leslie Howard, Ann Harding, Myrna Loy. Dir: Edward H. Griffith. BW-85 mins, TV-G

4:30 AM Secrets (1933)
A New England society girl braves the West to help her husband build his fortune. Cast: Mary Pickford, Leslie Howard, C. Aubrey Smith. Dir: Frank Borzage. BW-84 mins,

6:00 AM MGM Parade Show #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy. BW-26 mins, TV-G

6:30 AM Spring Fever (1927)
In this silent film, a shipping clerk pretends to be a champion golfer to win an heiress' heart. Cast: William Haines, Joan Crawford, George K. Arthur. Dir: Edward Sedgwick. BW-78 mins, TV-G

8:00 AM Smart Set, The (1928)
An egotistical polo player has to redeem himself after he's kicked off the U.S. team. Cast: William Haines, Jack Holt, Alice Day. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-80 mins,

9:30 AM Suicide Fleet (1931)
Three Navy shipmates fight over the same girl. Cast: Bill Boyd, Robert Armstrong, Ginger Rogers. Dir: Albert Rogell. BW-87 mins, TV-G

11:15 AM Carnival Boat (1932)
A logger defies his father to court a showgirl. Cast: Bill Boyd, Ginger Rogers, Fred Kohler, Sr. Dir: Albert Rogell. BW-62 mins, TV-G

12:30 PM Tip-Off, The (1932)
A dim-witted boxer helps a naive friend romance a gangster's girl. Cast: Eddie Quillan, Robert Armstrong, Ginger Rogers. Dir: Albert Rogell. BW-71 mins, TV-G

1:45 PM You Said A Mouthful (1932)
To sell his unsinkable bathing suit, an inventor passes himself off as a championship swimmer. Cast: Joe E. Brown, Ginger Rogers, Sheila Terry. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. BW-70 mins, TV-G

3:00 PM Professional Sweetheart (1933)
A radio star's pure image leads to a fake engagement to a hayseed. Cast: Ginger Rogers, Norman Foster, ZaSu Pitts. Dir: William A. Seiter. BW-73 mins, TV-G

4:15 PM In Person (1935)
A movie star runs off to the mountains for an incognito vacation. Cast: Ginger Rogers, George Brent, Alan Mowbray. Dir: William A. Seiter. BW-87 mins, TV-G

5:45 PM Star Of Midnight (1935)
A New York lawyer tries to track down a kidnapped actress. Cast: William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly. Dir: Stephen Roberts. BW-90 mins, TV-PG

7:30 PM Morris Engel The Indendent (2007)
This documentary explores the life and career of independent filmmaker Morris Engel. Dir: Mary Engel. BW-28 mins, TV-14, CC

What's On Tonight: TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: TRIBUTE TO MORRIS ENGEL

8:00 PM Little Fugitive, The (1953)
Fearing he has killed his older brother, a boy runs off to Coney Island. Cast: Richie Andrusco, Richard Brewster, Winifred Cushing. Dir: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin. BW-81 mins,

9:30 PM Lovers and Lollipops (1956)
An engineer courts a beautiful widow with a young daughter. Cast: Lori March, Cathy Dunn, Gerald S. O'Loughlin. Dir: Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin. BW-82 mins,

11:00 PM Weddings and Babies (1958)
A photographer tries to better his lot by buying a movie camera. Cast: Viveca Lindfors, John Myhers, Joanna Merlin. Dir: Morris Engel. BW-78 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

12:30 AM Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life (1995)
Friends and associates recall the life of renowned photographer and filmmaker Ruth Orkin. Cast: Julie Harris narrates, Cornell Capa, Ninalee Craig. Dir: Mary Engel. BW-18 mins, TV-14

1:00 AM Little Fugitive, The (1953)
Fearing he has killed his older brother, a boy runs off to Coney Island. Cast: Richie Andrusco, Richard Brewster, Winifred Cushing. Dir: Ray Ashley, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin. BW-81 mins,

2:30 AM Lovers and Lollipops (1956)
An engineer courts a beautiful widow with a young daughter. Cast: Lori March, Cathy Dunn, Gerald S. O'Loughlin. Dir: Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin. BW-82 mins,

4:00 AM Weddings and Babies (1958)
A photographer tries to better his lot by buying a movie camera. Cast: Viveca Lindfors, John Myhers, Joanna Merlin. Dir: Morris Engel. BW-78 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

5:30 AM Morris Engel The Indendent (2007)
This documentary explores the life and career of independent filmmaker Morris Engel. Dir: Mary Engel. BW-28 mins, TV-14, CC

[lavenderdiva]

1. Today's William Haines is the actor who went on to a distinguished

career as an interior designer. There is a wonderful, very thick book on his decorative work. He was such a talented designer, and thought up all sorts of new furniture. His 'look' is still a classic one, even today-

from IMDB:

Born in Staunton, Virginia, William Haines ran off to live life on his own terms while still in his teens, moving to New York City and becoming friends with such later Hollywood luminaries as designer Orry-Kelly and Cary Grant. His film career started slowly, but by the end of the silent era he was regularly named as the #1 male box-office draw. He also became fast friends with a number of contemporaries, such as Joan Crawford and Marion Davies, whose fame would eclipse his. His career faded rapidly in the early 1930s, and he was finally released allegedly due to a fight with MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer over Haines' refusal to end his relationship with his lover, Jimmie Shields. However, as his film career ended, his interior design career blossomed, resulting in major work for Jack L. Warner and the Bloomingdales, and culminating in the refurbishing of the American ambassador's residence in London, England. Although Haines was quite open about his homosexuality and entertained many of Hollywood's gay set - including George Cukor and Clifton Webb - his story is missing from many histories of the era. Haines and Shields remained a couple for 50 years; Crawford called them "the happiest married couple in Hollywood."

Trivia

Almost 3 months after William's death, his lifelong partner, Jimmie Shields, broken-hearted, committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills.

Following the Great Depression and a tight crackdown on morality, MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer insisted Haines leave his lover and publicly marry a woman. Haines refused and was fired. His relationship with longtime lover, Jimmie Shields, lasted fifty years.

In 1930, Haines was the top box-office male star and Joan Crawford the top female.

Was approached, along with fellow silent screen veterans Buster Keaton and Anna Q. Nilsson, to play one of Gloria Swanson's bridge partners in Sunset Blvd. (1950). Swanson herself reportedly asked him to do it. Haines declined and fellow screen veteran H.B. Warner took the part.

Won the "New Faces of 1922" contest sponsored by the Samuel Goldwyn Co. and was awarded an eventual contract, which shifted to MGM upon the company merger.

After involuntarily retiring from acting, he took up a successful, prolific, decades-long career as an interior decorator. Some of his clients included Carole Lombard and Mr. and Mrs. Fredric March.

He was an active supporter of the Republican Party and a close friend of Ronald Reagan.

link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0354313/bio

too bad about the Republican part....