TCM Schedule for Fri, Jan 10, 2024 - Dane Clark / Was It A Dream? (The Wizard of Oz + more)

[Auggie]

Dane Clark (born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz; February 26, 1912 – September 11, 1998) was an American character actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average."

He graduated from Cornell University in 1936 and earned a law degree in 1938 at St. John's University School of Law in Brooklyn, New York, which was before its current building was constructed at St. John's campus in Queens.

During the Great Depression he worked as a professional boxer, minor league baseball player, construction worker, and model. Modeling brought him in contact with people in the arts. He gradually perceived them to be snobbish, with their talk of the "theatah," and "I decided to give it a try myself, just to show them anyone could do it."

Clark's first film was The Pride of the Yankees (1942). He had an uncredited bit in The Glass Key (1942) at Paramount. But the big break came when he was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943, allowing him to work alongside some of his era's biggest stars, often in war movies such as Action in the North Atlantic (1943) with Humphrey Bogart. By 1945 exhibitors voted Clark the 16th most popular star at the US box office.

Full bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_Clark




--- DAYTIME (EST) ---

6:00 AM | God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)
A flyer dismissed as too old fights to prove himself against the Japanese.
Dir: Robert Florey | Cast: Dennis Morgan, Dane Clark, Raymond Massey

7:45 AM | Pride of the Marines (1945)
A blinded Marine tries to adjust to civilian life.
Dir: Delmer Daves | Cast: John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark

10:00 AM | That Way with Women (1947)
An elderly millionaire makes a hobby of playing cupid.
Dir: Frederick De Cordova | Cast: Dane Clark, Martha Vickers, Sydney Greenstreet

11:30 AM | Embraceable You (1948)
When he accidentally injures a young girl, a gangster risks his freedom to nurse her.
Dir: Felix Jacoves | Cast: Dane Clark, Geraldine Brooks, S. Z. Sakall

1:00 PM | Whiplash (1948)
An artist becomes a boxer but finds that it may not have been the best career choice.
Dir: Lew Seiler | Cast: Dane Clark, Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott

3:00 PM | Barricade (1950)
Two fugitives try to prove the head of a mining camp is a murderer.
Dir: Peter Godfrey | Cast: Dane Clark, Raymond Massey, Ruth Roman

4:30 PM | Backfire (1950)
A veteran tries to clear an old friend of a murder charge.
Dir: Vincent Sherman | Cast: Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Dane Clark

6:30 PM | Blackout, AKA Murder by Proxy (1954)
An American in London finds himself caught up in a murder plot.
Dir: Terence Fisher | Cast: Dane Clark, Belinda Lee, Betty Ann Davies


--- PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING ---

8:00 PM | The Wizard of Oz (1939)
A farm girl, transported to the magical land of Oz, attempts to return home.
Dir: Victor Fleming | Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger

10:00 PM | The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)
A young boy dreams that his piano teacher is a super-villain out to rule the world.
Dir: Roy Rowland | Cast: Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried

11:45 PM | Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)
A baby-sitter dreams himself and his best friend into the famous fairy tale.
Dir: Jean Yarbrough | Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello

1:15 AM | My Dream Is Yours (1949)
A talent scout turns a young unknown into a radio singing star.
Dir: Michael Curtiz | Cast: Jack Carson, Doris Day, Lee Bowman

3:15 AM | Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
A coatroom attendant accidentally ingests a drug making him dream he's a French King.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth | Cast: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly

5:00 AM | Carefree (1938)
A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be helping into matrimony,
Dir: Mark Sandrich | Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy

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Film noir fans -- note this afternoon lineup: Whiplash, Backfire, Blackout, AKA Murder by Proxy, and possibly the western, Barricade. I haven't seen any of these but they sound pretty good. TCM usually schedules their best right before prime time, so the British production Murder By Proxy (U.S. tile Blackout) warrants particular attention ( it's received above average reviews from Rotten Tomatoes -- check out https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blackout1954/reviews?type=user).

Final note, The Wizard of Oz -- Several years back TCM premiered The Wizard of Oz in a restored 4K version. I've seen the film in theater from a restored negative, but the 4K restoration blows it away. It's worth catching if you haven't seen it before.