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 not an easily recognizable name today.
That’s why TCM’s decision to dedicate a day to him is so welcome. Really, let’s take a break from Judy Garland…
Sterling Hayden’s “Summer Under the Stars” day will offer no less than five TCM premieres:
- The Korean War adventure tale Battle Taxi (1955);
- The crime drama Manhandled (1949), starring a sarong-less Dorothy Lamour;
- The Western The Iron Sheriff (1957);
- The pirate story The Golden Hawk (1952), with Rhonda Fleming;
- The drama Loving (1970), a drama directed by Irvin Kershner.
Loving sounds like the most interesting of the bunch. George Segal stars as an artist looking for meaning in his life while trying to handle wife, kids, and mistress. Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront, 1954) plays the wife, while the supporting cast includes veterans Keenan Wynn and Roland Winters, in addition to future Hollywood studio honcho Sherry Lansing.
Directed by Sidney Salkow, The Golden Hawk is a brightly colored pirate adventure that doesn’t have all that much to offer apart from its good-looking leads and equally good-looking vistas. For some, that should probably more than suffice.
Of the other scheduled Sterling Hayden films, here are brief comments about three of them:
Dr. Strangelove is a great Peter Sellers showcase and it provides Hayden with what may well be the best role of his career – he’s the bomb-crazed Brigadier General Jack Ripper. Yet, this Stanley Kubrick classic, considered by many one of the greatest films of the 1960s (perhaps of all time) doesn’t do all that much for me. I do like it, mind you, but all the same I find it more than a little overlong, and much of the humor falls flat. Even so, those who haven’t seen it must check it out. And those who have might want to take a look at it again. War crazies, after all, remain with us more than four decades after the film’s original release, and Dr. Strangelove is a good reminder of where those types can lead us all if they take control of things.
John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) stars Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern at his scuzziest, and Marilyn Monroe at her sultriest. Although Monroe is the best-remembered performer, Jean Hagen is the one who creates the most memorable character. Huston received an Oscar nod for his efforts.
Directed by Nicholas Ray from a screenplay by Philip Yordan (based on Roy Chanslor’s novel), Johnny Guitar (1954) is another Hayden classic, this time around in the Western genre. (Hayden looked comfortable – or at least comfortably stiff – no matter the guise.) Now, this is a classic that even I can appreciate – in fact, in my view Johnny Guitar is one of the top five or so Westerns ever made.
Hayden stars as the Johnny G. of the title, but this psychological drama set in the American West actually belongs to two larger-than-life women: Joan Crawford as Johnny’s love interest, the saloon owner Vienna, and Mercedes McCambridge as Emma Small, a local toughie consumed by a grudge against Vienna. But why the grudge? Well, silly excuses aside (“jealousy,” “competition”), let’s just say that the line separating mad hatred from mad passion is very fine indeed.
At 81 minutes, Zero Hour!, costarring Linda Darnell and Dana Andrews, sounds like it could be enjoyable tale about an airplane in trouble (one hopefully more entertaining than the far more successful The High and the Mighty), while Crime of Passion (1957) stars Barbara Stanwyck. Can’t think of a better reason to recommend any movie.
Now, hopefully TCM will one day unearth Bahama Passage (1941), in which Sterling Hayden costars with his future wife (1942–1946), ravishing Madeleine Carroll. (Virginia, made that same year and which also paired Hayden and Carroll, is a good-looking dud.)
Sterling Hayden films: TCM schedule (PDT) – Aug. 22
3:00 AM Battle Taxi (1955)
Director: Herbert L. Strock.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Arthur Franz, Marshall Thompson.
80m4:30 AM Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
Director: Joseph H. Lewis.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Sebastian Cabot, Carol Kelly.
81m6:15 AM Ten Days to Tulara (1958)
Director: George Sherman.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Grace Raynor, Carlos Muzquiz.
76m8:00 AM Five Steps To Danger (1957)
Director: Henry S. Kessler.
Cast: Ruth Roman, Sterling Hayden, Werner Klemperer.
80m9:30 AM Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Director: Stanley Kubrick.
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens.
95m11:30 AM Zero Hour! (1957)
Director: Hall Bartlett.
Cast: Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Sterling Hayden.
81m1:00 PM Johnny Guitar (1954)
Director: Nicholas Ray.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge.
110m3:00 PM The Last Command (1955)
Director: Frank Lloyd.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson.
110m5:00 PM The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Director: John Huston.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Marilyn Monroe.
112m7:00 PM Manhandled (1949)
Director: Lewis R. Foster.
Cast: Dorothy Lamour, Sterling Hayden, Dan Duryea.
96m9:00 PM Crime of Passion (1957)
Director: Gerd Oswald.
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano, Jay Adler, Stuart Whitman, Malcolm Atterbury, Robert Quarry.
86m10:30 PM The Golden Hawk (1952)
Director: Sidney Salkow.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Rhonda Fleming, Helena Carter.
82m12:00 AM The Iron Sheriff (1957)
Director: Sidney Salkow.
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Constance Ford, John Dehner.
73m1:30 AM Loving (1970)
Director: Irvin Kershner.
Cast: George Segal, Eva Marie Saint, Sterling Hayden.
89m