First things first. The Turner Classic Movies Warren William birthday bash television schedule for December 2, 2011:
- 11:30 am – Expensive Women (1931) starring Dolores Costello, Warren William, H.B. Warner
- 12:45 pm – Beauty and the Boss (1931) starring Marian Marsh, Warren William, Charles Butterworth
- 2:00 pm – The Dark Horse (1932) starring Warren William, Guy Kibbee, Bette Davis
- 3:15 pm – Under Eighteen (1932) starring Marian Marsh, Warren William, Regis Toomey
- 4:45 pm – The Woman from Monte Carlo (1932) starring Walter Huston, Lil Dagover, Warren William
- 6:00 pm – Skyscraper Souls (1932) starring Warren William, Maureen O’Sullivan, Wallace Ford
TCM schedule for the US, All times EST
Because of the leap year Warren’s birthday will fall on a Sunday in 2012. TCM doesn’t do birthday tributes over the weekend, so this may possibly be the most we get at one time until 2013!
We can hold out hope for TCM Star of the Month Tribute (I see one night of Pre-Codes; One of Lone Wolf titles; One of Perry Mason plus remaining detectives; and One of leftover titles), but as much as I love Warren I just don’t see it happening.
I think our best shot for a nice solid block of Warren in 2012 will come in August when TCM does their annual Summer Under the Stars broadcasting centering 24 hours at a time around one specific star. Start lobbying now! (Idea borrowed from our friend, the Magnificent Scoundrel.)
So I had three goals with this post but I think I’m going to add a fourth: 1) Post the TCM schedule … Check; 2) Post still photo from Warren William’s lost 1922 debut, The Town that Forgot God … Check, immediately below; 3) Post a link to last year’s birthday celebration post. Done and done again below; and 4) Look back on all of the new Warren-William.com posts since December 2, 2010.
December 2, 2010 – Happy 116th Birthday Warren William. Last year’s birthday post came from a silly mood and a lot of time. Not to pat myself on the back too much but it still makes me laugh.
December 8, 2010 – Apple Annie: Old News by 1933. Believe it or not I still haven’t done a proper write-up of Lady for a Day (1933), one of Warren’s key roles. In fact there are a few others I haven’t hit either, but that’s what I love about this site. I take my time and we’ll get to all of them one of these days. This Apple Annie post is a historical look at the real-life Apple Annies of the Great Depression.
January 18, 2011 – Warner Archives Releases The Warren William Collection. And we’re still sighing. Times Square Playboy, Don’t Bet on Blondes and The Woman from Monte Carlo. Underwhelming. Here’s hoping 2012 sees a three-pack featuring The Mouthpiece, Skyscraper Souls and Employees’ Entrance. Let’s do it right this time!
February 7, 2011 – As Kurt Anderson of Employees’ Entrance. This one follows the pattern I went on for the remainder of the year. Getting new articles up about Warren’s film titles as Turner Classic Movies chooses to air them. This is my favorite Warren William movie and so I covered it not only here but on my more general classic movie and collectibles site, Immortal Ephemera, as well.
May 17, 2011 – The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939) – Warren William is Michael Lanyard for the First Time. And already the exception to my TCM rule established above. The Classic Movie Blog Association (CMBA), is a group that I and this site belong to consisting of many excellent classic film blogs. They run blogathons every so often where all members write about a single topic. This past May it was classic movies of that classic year of 1939, so I figured what better way to kick off a series on The Lone Wolf.
July 5, 2011 – Warren William Featured in Film Forum’s Essential Pre-Code Series. These guys, on the other hand, got it right in terms of film selection. Warren was the featured star of this series shown on the big screen in New York City and the Film Forum selected 8 essential pre-code titles of his to put on display. Well done!
July 25, 2011 – Warren William Everywhere; Plus The Private Affairs of Bel Ami on Netflix Instant. Links to several Warren William articles around the web plus a link over to The Private Affairs of Bel Ami on Netflix Instant where you can still stream the title today. Also some screen captures from Bel Ami on this page.
September 15, 2011 – The Dragon Murder Case (1934) featuring Warren William as Philo Vance. TCM was airing a run of Philo Vance films on Saturday mornings so it was time to write about this one.
October 21, 2011 – Haven’t Seen The Mouthpiece? Check Out Illegal (1955) on TCM Saturday at 10 pm EST. Illegal was a remake of The Mouthpiece, the title which first brought Warren William to great prominence. Interesting in that it starred old Warner Brothers stablemate Edward G. Robinson in the part Warren played 23 years earlier. Side by side screenshots highlight the similarities of the two movies.
November 5, 2011 – Warren William Runs the Show in Stage Struck (1936). Thank TCM once more for lighting a fire. Warren isn’t top billed in this one so just to cover it from all angles I also posted a more general article on Immortal Ephemera at the same time.
November 21, 2011 – The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940) – Warren William, Fishkeeper and Master Impersonator. TCM went out of order and this one doesn’t actually air until tomorrow, December 3, but I chose to cover the Lone Wolf entries in order so The Lone Wolf Strikes was second in my series.
November 24, 2011 – The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940) Starring Warren William with Jean Muir. Which meant I had to get this one out quick to beat it onto the air last Saturday. I really enjoyed this movie. It’s nice to go through the Lone Wolf titles again. Look for The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940) sometime very soon!
December 1, 2011 – The Dark Horse (1932) – Warren William Promotes Hicks from the Sticks. Just posted this one last night in anticipation of the TCM birthday schedule. An imperfect but essential Warren William pre-code title, it’s about time it makes its way onto this site!
As I type this I have a very rough draft ready to go for Beauty and the Boss, also airing on TCM December 2. I forgot how much I enjoyed this one and look forward to getting the article up for you as soon as possible. Will it be live before TCM airs it? I hope so, but honestly I haven’t slept in quite awhile so I’m going to leave it, nap on it, and hopefully wake up to something that makes sense.
If it’s not up by 11:30 tomorrow morning when Expensive Women rolls then it probably won’t be posted until sometime over the weekend. I’m taking it easy on Friday and going to do my best to sit still and enjoy the movies, even the ones I’ve just watched in preparation for this–dare I say it–event!
Enjoy the movies, hope you find some new favorites. And please, at the bare minimum, if you record or watch nothing else, grab Skyscraper Souls and, if you can, The Dark Horse. Neither are in print in any form at the moment so this will be your last chance to catch them until who knows when. Enjoy!
I don’t think I ever posted the shot above before. It’s from a May 1937 Screen Actors Guild Meeting and features Warren William at the extreme left. Below him, seated, are Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone. Standing to Warren’s right are Donald Woods walking towards him and Robert Young looking the other way down upon SAG President Robert Montgomery.
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Congratulations on a year with many a job well done! I finally got a chance to see PART of “Stage Struck” based on your recommendation … I do look forward to seeing the rest of it but I was too DUMB-struck by the Yacht Club Boys to continue right away. In a perverse way, though, they were more fascinating than some other members of the cast (not our hero, of course–how spiteful of WB to inflict them on him at the end of his contract as a parting “gift”!).
Thank you (again), Jeffers! This site intimidated me a bit this year, especially after John Stangeland’s book came out at the end of 2010–it’s so complete, especially on Warren’s personal life! Plus my already established irregular schedule for posting, but I’m glad I kept it up and it’s still going.
The Beauty and the Boss post won’t be going up today. Between Warren here and William Powell on my other site I was basically on a 36 hour writing and image gathering marathon. I’ve got something for Beauty, but it’s ugly! Maybe over the weekend.
Hey, maybe I was completely wrong about the Yacht Club Boys. I posted on Stage Struck here and Immortal Ephemera at the same time and I noticed far more search queries for them than I had Warren or even Dick and Joan! People seem fascinated by them. I like to think it’s in a train wreck sort of way, but who knows, my tastes have veered from the norm before.
“Parting gift,” heh heh 🙂
The Yacht Club Boys are more than a train wreck – if you’ve seen Lars Von Trier’s new film, think of the scene where Melancholia crashes into the earth – it’s on that scale. I was definitely curious and looked them up on google, just out of sheer disbelief. I’ll bet most others did the same…
You’ve done a great job on the site this year, Cliff. I really enjoy reading everything you post. And the pics from today (SAG meeting and TTTFG) were fantastic. Warren with that scruffy beard? Priceless.
As always, thanks for the kind words about Magnificent Scoundrel. I’ve got a few new irons in the fire right now, waiting to see what heats up. I’m seriously considering a book about the great, great Aline MacMahon in the future. She certainly deserves it!
Happy Holidays to all the Warren William fans out there!
Oh wow, already saving a nice space on Immortal Ephemera to review and interview you about Aline MacMahon.
She certainly does deserve it, though I must say you’re certainly not looking crack the bestseller lists with your choices of subject, are you John!
Thanks for the kind words! Luckily I still have plenty of individual film titles to cover yet along with the occasional TCM and DVD release notes–let’s hope they both keep it up throughout 2012. When it comes to the off-screen stuff though I think my best bet is just to point people your way. That is unless some startling and unknown press pic sends me on the research trail again!
Not to be unkind towards anyone, but others disdain for the Yacht Club Boys makes me feel good. At least I’m not totally out of touch.
Just caught Warren in Skyscraper Souls on TCM. I know he was a cad but not the worst sort. There was a redeeming quality about his love for the building and his refusal to take advantage of the drunk Maureen O’Sullivan that made me think I might not mind being a cad just like him. Happy Birthday, Warren! Hope to catch your follow-up performance here or in the next life.
Thanks for visiting, Mike. David Dwight is one of Warren’s best characters, I defend him quite a bit in my Skyscraper Souls article elsewhere on the site. I think the character is captured perfectly in his speech to partner Ham (old Egg) towards the end. The one he punctuates by looking up at Ham and saying, “You crook.” I do hope you catch more–for a different look at Warren no better place to start than the Lone Wolf entry TCM is airing tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, The Lone Wolf Strikes.
True, an Aline MacMahon bio will not appear on any best seller lists! But jeez, I just love her, and from the modest reasearch I’ve done so far she’s a fascinating woman. Aline will (hopefully) have to wait if I can sell the book I’m shopping right now. At least that one has some sales potential!
Cliff, you picked the exact moment that I observed about David Dwight, too: he doesn’t respect Ham because it’s only about the money for him. Dwight wants to build something for the future. Audiences innately appreciate the difference…
John, you know you’re killing me by mentioning a mystery book subject.
Right about Dwight. There’s some reason we keep watching these movies and while I’m certain there’s a bit of escapist fantasy (for me there is at least: he’s always such a bastard … wish I could get away with that!) there also has to be a little something drawing us all to these characters. In Skyscraper Souls, as in others, it’s that drive. Very entrepreneurial in spirit, passion for his work, etc. I’m not building skyscrapers or running Macy’s here, but in my small way I can relate.