Raquel Welch will join Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies this spring to present four of her favorite films in TCM's "Guest Programmer" series on Thursday, April 1.
Welch will discuss Humphrey Bogart-Lauren Bacall's To Have and Have Not, in addition to a couple of films featuring strong-willed women: George Cukor's Adam's Rib, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, with Jean Arthur and James Stewart. The last presentation of the Welch evening will be the girl flick of 1961, Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's, in which Audrey Hepburn's sweet sex worker (not that you'd actually be told what the character does for a living) finds both both love and her missing cat.
It's too bad the evening won't include Myra Breckenridge.
Welch’s new book, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, will be published on April 1. By the way, Raquel Welch was my favorite star when I was four years old. That was after I saw One Million Years B.C. on TV. Back in those days, anyone who had co-starred with large reptiles would have a special place in my heart.
The following are the films Raquel Welch has chosen for Thursday, April 1 (schedule and synopsis — all times shown are Eastern — from TCM):
8 p.m. Adam’s Rib (1949) – This fourth pairing of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy casts them as lawyers working on opposite sides of an attempted-murder case. The hilarious script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin is one of Hollywood’s best examples of a battle of the sexes. Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne and Jean Hagen co-star under the direction of George Cukor.
10 p.m. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – One of Frank Capra’s most beloved films, this slice of Americana stars Jimmy Stewart as a young man who suddenly finds himself a member of the United States Senate. There, his idealism is nearly crushed in the face of corruption. Jean Arthur, Claude Rains and Harry Carey co-star.
12:15 a.m. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Audrey Hepburn brings sparkling life to Holly Golightly, the backwoods girl who comes to mod New York in this adaptation of Truman Capote’s romantic comedy. George Peppard co-stars. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River” won an Oscar, as did Mancini’s outstanding score.
2:15 a.m. To Have and Have Not (1944) – Humphrey Bogart is a skipper hired to help the French Resistance in this Howard Hawks drama based on the Ernest Hemingway novel and scripted by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman. Lauren Bacall, in her screen debut, mixes toughness and sex appeal. Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael co-star.
Photos: Courtesy of Turner Classic Movies
Myra would have been great, really. I'd love to see Raquel discussing that movie. I hope she does that in her book.