TCM shakes up the schedule a bit this month with some new musical selections, including one by Dorothy Arzner as part of their fantastic Trailblazing Women series! Lots of great ladies in front of the camera as well this month, too, including Maureen O’Hara, Jeanette MacDonald, Lucille Ball, June Allyson, Kathryn Grayson, Vera-Ellen, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, and many more.
Sunday October 4
8:00am / The Opposite Sex (1956)
Remake of The Women adds songs AND men to this one.
Tuesday October 5
12:00pm / Rose Marie (1936) [review]
The preeminent Canadian mountie musical, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, as well as a young Jimmy Stewart.
8:00pm / Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Dorothy Arzner-directed musical! Maureen O’Hara and Lucille Ball play two dancers who take different paths—O’Hara struggles as a ballerina, but Ball makes it big as a burlesque queen. Problematically, both fall for Louis Hayward.
Wednesday October 7
9:15am / Two Sisters from Boston (1946)
Kathryn Grayson and June Allyson play the titular siblings trying to make it on Broadway while working in a Bowery saloon.
11:15am / Good News (1947)
June Allyson plays nerdy college girl Connie Lane, who attracts the unlikely attention of popular football stud Peter Lawford.
Thursday October 8
7:15am / Street Girl (1929)
The mysteriously foreign Frederika Joyzelle (Betty Compson) was an esteemed violinist in her home country, but now penniless in New York City. When she teams up with a jazz quartet, it could mean fame, fortune, and love for them all.
9:00am / Colleen (1936)
Rich boy Dick Powell’s infatuation with employee Ruby Keeler seems to be clouding his business judgment when he hires her to run his dress shop.
10:45am / Hitting a New High (1937)
Appropriately named press agent Corny Davis (Jack Oakie) tries to sell opera singer Lily Pons as a “jungle girl” with an incredible range called… Oogahunga, the Bird Girl. (yikes)
4:45pm / Radio City Revels (1938)
Out-of-work songwriters Jack Oakie and Milton Berle realizes one of their students has incredible songwriting talent—but only when he’s asleep. Ann Miller and Helen Broderick play their neighbors.
6:30pm / Something to Shout About (1943)
A divorced woman tries to produce a vaudeville show, but her talentless chief investor insists on starring in the show. Score by Cole Porter and Cyd Charisse’s feature film debut.
Saturday October 10
6:00am / Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Massive wartime ensemble musical, featuring more candid appearances from Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, and many more.
Tuesday October 20
6:30am / Happy Go Lovely (1951)
Showgirl Vera-Ellen gets a part in a show due to her appearance in the gossip rags—linking her to a millionaire she’s never actually met.
Thursday October 22
1:45pm / Let’s Be Happy (1957)
Vera-Ellen heads to scenic Scotland to claim a castle she’s inherited—with a gang of gold-digging suitors hot on her heels.
Friday October 23
3:00pm / Broadway Hostess (1935)
Small town girl Wini Shaw faces troubles in love and life on her ascent to Broadway stardom. Among the first group of Oscar nominees for the short-lived Best Dance Direction category.
Monday October 26
5:00pm / Girl Rush (1944)
Enterprising vaudevilleans try to provide Gold Rush prospectors with the resource they’re truly lacking—girls.
Lots of fun singing and dancing in October. I look forward to “Street Girl” and Betty Compson. I think “Two Sisters from Boston” is adorable, and (if memory serves) Joan Blondell and Jack Oakey do a swell number in “Colleen”. The “Ice Cold Katie” routine in “Thank Your Lucky Stars” is a highlight. Thanks for the run-down on all the musicals.