TCM Schedule for Fri, Nov 7, 2025: Socialites/MacGuffins: Wizard of Oz, Raiders of the Lost Ark (TCM Premiere) & more
In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for film. It has been suggested that the word guff, which means anything trivial or worthless, may be the root word for MacGuffin.
Director and producer Alfred Hitchcock popularized the term MacGuffin and the technique with his 1935 film The 39 Steps, in which the MacGuffin is some otherwise incidental military secrets. "The MacGuffin is the thing that the spies are after, but the audience doesn't care," explains Hitchcock.
In contrast to Hitchcock's view, George Lucas believes that "the audience should care about [the MacGuffin almost as much as the dueling heroes and villains on-screen. Lucas describes R2-D2 as the MacGuffin of the original Star Wars film, and said that the Ark of the Covenant, the titular MacGuffin in Raiders of the Lost Ark, was an excellent example.
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin
In addition to the Ark of the Covenant, tonight's MacGuffins include a witch's broom, a golden statuette of a bird, Colombian treasure, and the Golden Fleece.
DAYTIME: (EST)
6:00 AM | Loose Ankles (1930)
A young woman will inherit a million dollars if she marries well.
Dir: Ted Wilde | Cast: Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Louise Fazenda
7:15 AM | The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
A daffy socialite gets her friends mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir: Leigh Jason | Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene
8:45 AM | The Hot Heiress (1931)
When a society woman falls for a riveter, she tries to pass him off as an architect.
Dir: Clarence Badger | Cast: Ben Lyon, Ona Munson, Walter Pidgeon
10:15 AM | The Girl from Missouri (1934)
A gold-digging chorus girl tries to keep her virtue while searching for a rich husband.
Dir: Jack Conway | Cast: Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone
11:45 AM | Auntie Mame (1958)
An eccentric heiress raises her nephew to be a free spirit.
Dir: Morton Dacosta | Cast: Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne
2:15 PM | Party Girl (1958)
A showgirl and a crooked lawyer try to break with a powerful mob boss.
Dir: Nicholas Ray | Cast: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb
4:00 PM | BUtterfield 8 (1960)
A New York model moonlights as a call-girl, but all things change when she falls for a married man.
Dir: Daniel Mann | Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher
6:00 PM | Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948)
A society woman gets involved with a gangster only to find he has hidden plans.
Dir: Richard L. Bare | Cast: Virginia Mayo, Bruce Bennett, Robert Hutton
PRIME TIME, LATE NIGHT, EARLY MORNING
8:00 PM | The Wizard of Oz (1939)
A farm girl dreams herself into a magical land filled with talking scarecrows, wizards, and wicked witches.
Dir: Victor Fleming | Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger
10:00 PM | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) TCM PREMIERE
An archaeologist is tasked by Army Intelligence to locate the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis get it first.
Dir: Steven Spielberg | Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
12:15 AM | Romancing the Stone (1984)
A repressed romance novelist travels to Colombia to uncover the mystery behind her sister's disappearance.
Dir: Robert Zemeckis | Cast: Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, Danny De Vito
2:15 AM | Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
The epic adventure of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece.
Dir: Don Chaffey | Cast: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond
4:15 AM | The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Private eye Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston | Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet
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Any other MacGuffins come to mind?
Glengarry Glen Ross (the Glengarry leads)
Casablanca (letters of transit)
The Pink Panther (diamond)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (buried money)
Lord of the Rings (The One Ring)