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Jean Arthur on Turner Classics

Jean Arthur is one of my all-time favorite performers. So, it’s great to see her listed as one of Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" stars. Jean Arthur Day will take place on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Jean Arthur was Columbia’s top star from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, when Rita Hayworth became the studio’s reigning queen and Arthur semi-retired from films. Her characters were cynical but idealistic, strong but vulnerable, independent-minded but deeply devoted to whoever her leading man might be. In other words, Jean Arthur was the Ideal Woman: complex, passionate, warm — and she had sparkling eyes only matched by her equally sparkling smile. (And there was that voice. It should have been trademarked.)
Of course, since [...]

Peter Sellers on TCM

Peter Sellers in Lolita. Photo: Courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.

Peter Sellers will have his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Turner Classic Movies will present thirteen Peter Sellers vehicles, including two TCM premieres, John Guillermin’s Waltz of the Toreadors and Robert Day’s Two-Way Stretch.
First of all, I must admit that I’m not that familiar with Sellers’ film career. Among the few of his films I’ve seen are a couple of the Pink Panther flicks — neither of which was very good — in addition to his two Oscar-nominated performances in Dr. Strangelove and Being There. So, this Peter Sellers Day on TCM will be a good opportunity for myself — and others — to become better [...]

Ida Lupino on TCM

Ida Lupino, one of the top Warner Bros. stars of the ’40s, will have her "Summer Under the Stars" day on Thursday, Aug. 27.
More than a second-rank Bette Davis but less than a truly great talent, Ida Lupino — whether at her best or at her worst — was invariably interesting. Yet, I can’t say that I’m an inveterate Ida Lupino admirer. My problem with the likes of Lupino, Anne Baxter, Susan Hayward, and, oftentimes, Bette Davis is that when they emoted, they ***EMOTED*** — in caps, italics, bold, and with asterisks all around it. Just in case you didn’t get that their characters were going through some really rough times.
That said, what makes those actresses interesting — as [...]

Fredric March on TCM

Carole Lombard, Fredric March in a Nothing Sacred publicity shot.

Fredric March has his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Monday, Aug. 24.
Turner Classic Movies will present 13 Fredric March films, including the TCM premiere of Richard Boleslawski’s Academy Award-nominated Les Miserables (1935), a handsome — if dramatically stale — adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel that pits March’s bread-thief Jean Valjean against Charles Laughton’s law-enforcing sociopath Inspector Javert.
Among the other Fredric March must-sees that day are:
Produced by David O. Selznick, William Wellman’s 1937 version of A Star Is Born features Janet Gaynor the actress doing a delicious impersonation of Janet Gaynor the persona, here named Esther Blodgett (and later renamed Vicki Lester), an ambitious but [...]

Sterling Hayden on TCM

Sterling Hayden’s "Summer Under the Stars" Day will take place on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Now, Sterling Hayden is an interesting choice for the Turner Classic Movies series. Like previous TCM "Summer Under the Stars" honoree Gloria Grahame, Hayden — though tall, blond, and handsome — was never a major Hollywood personality or a top box-office attraction. And despite his presence in several important and still well-known films — The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar, Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather — he’s hardly a recognizable name today. And that’s why TCM’s decision to dedicate a day to him is so welcome. I mean, let’s take a break from Judy Garland…
Sterling Hayden Day will offer no less than five TCM premieres, of [...]

Gene Hackman on TCM

Gene Hackman’s "Summer Under the Stars" day is Friday, Aug. 21.
Turner Classic Movies will present 11 films featuring or starring two-time Academy Award-winner Gene Hackman (The French Connection and, in the supporting category, Unforgiven), whom some consider one of the best American actors of the last four decades.
I can’t say that I agree with that assessment, though throughout his long career Hackman has delivered some truly remarkable performances. My personal favorite is his paranoid surveillance expert in writer-director Francis Ford Coppola’s intriguing The Conversation (top photo, 1974), which is part of TCM’s Hackman line-up.
This Academy Award-nominated and Palme d’Or-winning drama, released not long after the Watergate scandal (though made before the shady events became public knowledge), [...]

John Wayne on TCM

John Wayne in The Alamo. Photo: Courtesy Turner Classic Movies.

It’s John Wayne day on Tuesday, Aug. 18, as Turner Classic Movies continues with its "Summer Under the Stars" series.
One of the most popular film stars ever, John Wayne was almost invariably John Wayne (or the screen version of himself) no matter who or what he played. But then again, the same can be said of Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and other well-respected actors of the studio era. I’m not quite sure why Wayne is generally regarded as less of an actor than those other performers, but perhaps one explanation is that Westerns and war movies aren’t perceived as settings for a real actor, and Wayne made his [...]

Jennifer Jones on TCM

Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones in Portrait of Jennie. Photo: Courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.

Jennifer Jones‘ "Summer Under the Stars" day on Turner Classic Movies is Monday, Aug. 17.
A very popular actress in the 1940s and 1950s, Jennifer Jones isn’t as well remembered today as she should be. After all, she won an Oscar in 1943 for her performance as Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette, and starred in three of the biggest box-office hits of the ’40s — the aforementioned The Song of Bernadette, Since You Went Away, and Duel in the Sun — and two major hits of the 1950s, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing and A Farewell to Arms.
So, why isn’t she better remembered? Lack of good [...]

Elvis Presley on TCM

Ann-Margret, Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas. Photo: Courtesy Turner Classic Movies.

I can only think of one Elvis Presley song I like: "Can’t Help Falling in Love." I don’t know if he sings it in any of his films.
In other words, Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" day dedicated to Elvis Presley isn’t exactly my cup of Hawaiian punch. But for all those Elvis fans out there, TCM’s Sunday, Aug. 16, programming is a whole tastier smorgasbord, I’m sure.
I’ve seen a handful of the movies listed below and they all look and sound the same to me. The leading ladies, however, do vary, even if I can’t quite figure out why they bothered since Elvis’ gals were [...]

Deborah Kerr on TCM

Deborah Kerr’s day in the Turner Classic Movies"Summer Under the Stars" series will feature two TCM premieres: The Day Will Dawn / The Avengers, a British-made 1942 spy drama, and Leo McCarey’s An Affair to Remember (1957), one of Kerr’s best-known films.
I haven’t seen The Day Will Dawn, but An Affair to Remember is an effective romantic comedy-drama, with both Kerr and Cary Grant in top form as the couple who fail to meet as near to heaven as possible, but who go on loving one another, anyways.
As I’ve said before in this blog, Deborah Kerr is one of my favorite dozen or so actors. Her performances, however cool and composed on the surface, always carry within them [...]

Sidney Poitier on TCM

Sidney Poitier’s "Summer Under the Stars" day is Friday, Aug. 14.
Turner Classic Movies will have no Sidney Poitier premieres, but fans of the groundbreaking actor will have the opportunity to catch him in some of his most important roles.
Poitier’s acting always looked and sounded like Acting (capital "A") to me, while the characters he played tended to be much too stolidly dignified for my taste. Had I been Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner I’d have told my daughter to go find herself someone — whatever the skin color — less one-dimensionally perfect. And that’s why I’ve never been a Sidney Poitier fan. Yet, Poitier’s crucial role in film history is undeniable. Therefore, those unfamiliar with [...]

Gloria Grahame on TCM

Gloria Grahame is Turner Classic Movies‘ star of the day on Thursday, Aug. 13.
TCM’s "Summer Under the Stars" series continues with an offbeat choice, for Gloria Grahame was hardly what one would call a top star or one who fit the mold of your usual Hollywood personality of that era, whether on or off screen.
In films, Grahame usually came across as vulgar, sleazy, and untrustworthy — and I mean that as a compliment; in my book, shady movie characters have almost invariably been much more interesting than clean-cut movie heroes. Off-screen she could be just as interesting: for instance, footage from the 1954 A Star Is Born premiere shows the actress clearly intoxicated (and not [...]

Clark Gable on TCM

Clark Gable has his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Turner Classic Movies will present thirteen of the actor’s films, all of which have been shown before. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure what a rare Clark Gable movie would be, unless one includes the pre-1931 films in which Gable was an extra. Else, I believe that just about every single one of those films in which he starred or had supporting roles have been shown either on TCM or elsewhere a number of times — something that’s quite unusual.
Now, the King of Hollywood would never have risen to the throne had I had any say in the matter, but I didn’t. Lots [...]

Audrey Hepburn on TCM

Audrey Hepburn has her "Summer Under the Stars" day today, Tuesday, Aug. 11, on Turner Classic Movies.
All of the Hepburn vehicles have been shown before on TCM; even so, there are two premieres in the schedule: Laughter in Paradise and The Secret People, two British productions in which Hepburn has small roles. (Actually, she has a mere bit part in Laughter in Paradise.) The former is a comedy with a first-rate cast that includes Alastair Sim and Fay Compton; the latter is a thriller starring the capable Valentina Cortese and Serge Reggiani.
As for the actual Hepburn vehicles, all of them are worth checking out because, well, Audrey Hepburn is in them. Now, to be honest, I don’t think [...]

Dirk Bogarde on TCM

Strangely, Dirk Bogarde never became a major star in the United States. I’m sure he was well known in the US in the ’50s and ’60s, but he wasn’t the superstar he was in Britain or the top star he was internationally. Perhaps Bogarde just didn’t care for Hollywood stardom — certainly not when in Europe he got to work for the likes of Joseph Losey, Luchino Visconti, Alain Resnais, Liliana Cavani, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John Schlesinger, Anthony Asquith, and the now all-but-forgotten but generally capable Basil Dearden.
Anyhow, today is Dirk Bogarde day as Turner Classic Movies continues with its "Summer Under the Stars" series, which features two TCM premieres later this evening: The Blue Lamp [...]

Cary Grant on TCM

Cary Grant, Myrna Loy in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (top); Cary Grant, Gail Patrick, Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott in My Favorite Wife

Cary Grant will have his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Sunday, Aug. 9.
Turner Classic Movies will not present any Cary Grant rarities or little-seen films, which is unfortunate, but if Cary Grant is in it, no matter what it may be, it will be worth a look. Or perhaps even a second (or third or fourth or fifth…) look as well.
One look is more than enough for the dreary Irving Reis-directed comedy The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), which happened to be one of the biggest box-office hits of the year and the Oscar winner [...]

Bette Davis on TCM

No rare Bette Davis flicks on her Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" day, Saturday, Aug. 8.
That’s too bad, as TCM now has access to Columbia’s film library. They could have unearthed Davis’ early Columbia flick The Menace (1931), which isn’t very good, but it’s rare and it’s Bette Davis. Also, there’s the little-seen, Columbia-distributed, political drama Storm Center (1956), in which Davis co-stars with Kim Hunter, who happened to be blacklisted during the anti-Red hysteria of the 1950s. Well, maybe later in the year…
I can’t say I’m a huge Bette Davis fan, but I do like watching her. In fact, I find several of her performances to be among the best ever committed to [...]

Glenn Ford on TCM

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford in Gilda

Glenn Ford will have his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Friday, Aug. 7.
The Turner Classic Movies Glenn Ford marathon will include three TCM premieres: Convicted Woman, Mr. Soft Touch, and A Time for Killing. The first one sounds like a B flick that may be quite enjoyable (hey, it revolves around women behind bars); the one in the middle is directed by Gordon Douglas, which is almost invariably a good sign; and the third one is a wild card: it could be a forgotten gem; it could be the sort of dreary star vehicle that ruined Ford’s film career at about that time.
Now, I must admit that I haven’t seen most of the [...]

Judy Garland on TCM

Judy Garland vehicles are a Turner Classic Movies staple, so the "Summer Under the Stars" day — Thursday, Aug. 6 — dedicated to the star of The Wizard of Oz and A Star Is Born brings nothing new.
Yet, those who have never watched or who don’t mind watching yet again and again some of Judy Garland’s classics and not-so-classics might want to check out or rewatch Meet Me in St. Louis (above, 1944), The Clock (1945), Summer Stock (1950), A Child Is Waiting (1962), and I Could Go On Singing (1963).
Directed by Garland’s soon-to-be husband, Vincente Minnelli, Meet Me in St. Louis is a charming — if a little overlong — family musical. By that I don’t [...]

Harold Lloyd on TCM

Silent-comedy fans will be rejoicing today, as Turner Classic Movies‘ "Summer Under the Stars" series continues with a day dedicated to Harold Lloyd, one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1920s.
Personally, I’m not a fan of knockabout silent comedies, which usually leave me as stone-faced as Buster Keaton. That said, Lloyd’s go-getter was a pleasant character (even if a tad creepy-looking, what with those geeky glasses and all that makeup plastered on his face), and some of his stunts remain as remarkable today as they were more than eight decades ago. Particularly memorable is his spider-man bit in Safety Last! (1923), in which he scales the side of a Los Angeles building.
Speedy (1928), directed by Ted [...]

Hollywood’s Greatest Year in New York City

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (top); Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald in Dark Victory (middle); Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights (bottom)

Gone with the Wind, the 1939 Best Picture winner, will kick off the New York presentation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ latest screening series, "Hollywood’s Greatest Year: The Best Picture Nominees of 1939," on Saturday, June 20, at 12:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Theater in New York City. Turner Classic Movies host and film historian Robert Osborne will host the event.
"Hollywood’s Greatest Year" will continue through mid-October, showcasing all 10 Best Picture nominees from 1939. Screenings will take place on Monday at 7:30 p.m., [...]

Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in GUNGA DIN Screening

George Stevens‘ rousingly politically incorrect — and for the most part much admired — action-adventure tale Gunga Din will have a special screening on Friday, June 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Prior to the film, Oscar winners Ben Burtt and Craig Barron will discuss the sound and visual effects used in this 1939 classic starring Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Victor McLaglen.
Gunga Din will also will be presented in New York City on Monday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy Theater.
Written by Joel Sayre and Fred Guiol, from a story by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, which [...]

Latino Images in Film: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Warner Baxter on TCM

Turner Classic Movies‘ series "Race in Hollywood: Latino Images in Film" kicks off this evening.
So what if "Latino" isn’t a race? So what if it isn’t even an ethnic or a cultural group, but merely a US-made sociopolitical construct? I’d say that what matters here are the films themselves — all Hollywood productions. And hopefully some of the introductions, provided by Robert Osborne and UCLA professor of film and media studies Chon A. Noriega, will be illuminating.
Tonight, TCM watchers will be able to catch Hollywood’s foremost couple of the 1920s, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, playing Spanish-speaking characters (by way of English-language intertitles) in, respectively, the D. W. Griffith-directed early short Ramona [...]

Joseph L. Mankiewicz Centennial

Four-time Academy Award winner screenwriter-director-producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz will be saluted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a special 50th anniversary screening of a recently restored print of Suddenly, Last Summer, starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor (above, and right, with Mankiewicz), and Montgomery Clift. The screening will take place on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The evening will also celebrate the recent gift of the Joseph L. Mankiewicz Papers to the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Turner Classic Movies host and The Young Turks co-creator Ben Mankiewicz, Joseph L.’s great nephew and grandson of Citizen Kane co-screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, will host [...]

Christopher Plummer Interview at TCM

Christopher Plummer, whose autobiography In Spite of Myself has just come out, was interviewed by Jeff Stafford for the Turner Classic Movies website. Below is a brief snippet:
TCM: With you being such a classically trained actor, I was curious about your opinion of "The Method" and Marlon Brando’s impact on the theatre world with A Streetcar Named Desire.
CP: Listen, to me "The Method" is usually totally misunderstood. It doesn’t mean that you have to mumble and not be heard. It means that you use it when you’re in deep trouble, when you can’t bring your imagination to work then you try and have a sense memory of your own that can help and [...]

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