TCM Schedule for Thu, Apr 24, 2025: Shirley MacLaine / Merchant Ivory Productions Part 2

[Auggie]

Happy Birthday, Shirley MacLaine.

MacLaine (April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears. She has been honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014. MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, MacLaine made her acting debut as a teenager with minor roles in the Broadway musicals Me and Juliet and The Pajama Game. MacLaine's career began during the final years of the Golden Age of Hollywood where she made her film debut with Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy The Trouble with Harry (1955), winning the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. She rose to prominence with starring roles in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Some Came Running (1958), Ask Any Girl (1959), The Apartment (1960), The Children's Hour (1961), Irma la Douce (1963), and Sweet Charity (1969).

A six-time Academy Award nominee, MacLaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment (1983). Her other prominent films include The Turning Point (1977), Being There (1979), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Steel Magnolias (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), In Her Shoes (2005), Bernie (2011), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Elsa & Fred (2014), and Noelle (2019).

MacLaine starred in the sitcom Shirley's World (1971–1972) and played the eponymous fashion designer in the biopic television film Coco Chanel (2008), receiving nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award for the latter. She also made appearances in several television series, including Downton Abbey (2012–2013), Glee (2014), and Only Murders in the Building (2022). MacLaine has written many books regarding the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, and reincarnation, as well as a best-selling memoir, Out on a Limb (1983).

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




Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928).

Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their time together, they made 44 films. The films were for the most part produced by Merchant and directed by Ivory, and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013) in some capacity. The films were often based upon novels or short stories, particularly the work of Henry James, E. M. Forster, and Jhabvala herself.

The initial goal of the company was "to make English-language films in India aimed at the international market". The style of Merchant Ivory films set and photographed in India became iconic. The company also went on to make films in the United Kingdom and America.

The expression "Merchant–Ivory film" has made its way into common parlance, to denote a particular genre of film rather than the actual production company. While 1965's Shakespeare Wallah put this genre on the international map, its heyday was the 1980s and 1990s with such films as A Room with a View (1985) and Howards End (1992). A typical "Merchant–Ivory film" would be a period piece, based on a classic novel, set in the early 20th century, usually in Edwardian England, featuring lavish sets and top British actors portraying genteel characters who suffer from disillusionment and tragic entanglements. The main theme often surrounded a house, which took on a particular importance in many Merchant Ivory films.

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Ivory_Productions

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DAYTIME: (EST)

6:00 AM | The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)
A Rolls-Royce passes through the lives of three different owners.
Dir: Anthony Asquith | Cast: Rex Harrison, Jeanne Moreau, Shirley MacLaine

8:15 AM | Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Phileas Fogg journeys around the world in the "record time" of 80 days using every mode of transportation.
Dir: Michael Anderson | Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine

11:30 AM | The Sheepman (1958)
A tough sheep farmer battles the local cattle baron for land and a beautiful woman.
Dir: George Marshall | Cast: Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen

1:00 PM | Some Came Running (1958)
A veteran returns home to deal with family secrets and small-town scandals.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli | Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine

3:30 PM | Being There (1979)
Political pundits mistake an illiterate gardener for a media genius.
Dir: Hal Ashby | Cast: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas

6:00 PM | Two Loves (1961)
A conservative teacher struggles with her values while teaching natives in New Zealand.
Dir: Charles Walters | Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Laurence Harvey, Jack Hawkins


PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING

8:00 PM | The Remains of the Day (1993)
A proper British butler sacrifices happiness to remain faithful to his position.
Dir: James Ivory | Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Christopher Reeve

10:30 PM | Howards End (1992)
A noblewoman's surprising bequest puts three families from different social levels on a collision course.
Dir: James Ivory | Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave

1:00 AM | The White Countess (2005) TCM PREMIERE
1930s Shanghai: a blind American diplomat develops a relationship with a Russian refugee who works odd jobs to support her dead husband's aristocratic family.
Dir: James Ivory | Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave

3:30 AM | Merchant Ivory (2024)
Documentary on Merchant Ivory partnership, featuring interviews with James Ivory and close collaborators.
Dir: Stephen Soucy | Cast: John David Allen, Helena Bonham Carter, John Bright

5:30 AM | MGM Parade Show #25 (1955)
Clips from "The Firefly" and "Meet Me in Las Vegas."
Cast: George Murphy, Jeanette MacDonald, Dan Dailey