Summer Under the Stars

[moira finnie]

We probably each nurse a bit of a grudge when one of our faves isn't featured on TCM's Summer Under the Stars in August.

I give a cursory glance at my pitchfork and doused flaming torch each summer too. When will justice be given a Conrad Veidt, Van Johnson, Oscar Levant, Dorothy McGuire, Percy Kilbride, Rory Calhoun, even a Frank McHugh or some other worthy person? Yes, the more obscure the actor, the more I'd love to see them featured. Yet, given how tough it can sometimes be to lease some flicks, I'm still pretty happy to see Claude Rains, Anne Bancroft, Richard Widmark, Kim Novak and Peter Lorre being given their due in the coming week.

Garbo, as fascinating as some of her movies are, may have received enough attention in the past, but...it is designed to appeal to new and old fans of classic movies. I'd love to know what 24 hours you are looking forward to this month. Here's the complete schedule for SUTS

Thank you and stay cool, won't you?

[MissGoddess]

I just saw that they are airing Gold is Where You Find It (1938) tomorrow morning as part of the salute to Claude Raines. I recommend this little "nuggest" as a very entertaining drama that gets George Brent and Claude Raines out in the open air for a change, and out of drawing and court rooms for the most part. Olivia de Havilland is the (as always) charming leading lady.

I also will be recording The Unsuspected, after failling to do so in the past. I love this twisty-turny and most melodramatic film noir.

I understand they are also showing the Robert Taylor/Ava Gardner film noir, The Bribe, on the 21st for Ava's day.

I still have to look at the schedule more closely to see what else appeals to me.

[Mr. O'Brady]

I already enjoyed the Charlie Chaplin day, finally getting to see The Kid . And I saw a little of Marie Dressler this afternoon. Really looking forward to Peter Lorre and Edward G. Robinson too. And I'm thrilled to death that Elvis Presley is not on this year's schedule. Much more interesting than previous years.

Van Johnson would be nice to see. I imagine I'll be long dead before they ever feature Margaret O'Brien or Lionel Barrymore.

[moira finnie]

Mr. O'B.:
Thanks so much for your reply.
I not only hope to see Lionel Barrymore featured, but would like to see a month devoted to Lionel's sister Ethel and brother John in one spectacular Barrymorepalooza. Maybe someone else will see the light someday and feature the siblings as SOTM soon.

Were they ever that young?

I had a chance to see Chaplin's The Circus (1925) in its entirety for the first time the other day and loved it.

It's good to know someone else thinks Van Johnson might be a worthwhile focus for TCM sometime. Van Johnson's films after his first, initial stardom, beginning with Battleground were quite different and at times, more complex than may be clear at first. I'm particularly fond of such fare as The Last Time I Saw Paris, The Caine Mutiny, The End of the Affair, (which is much better rendering of Graham Greene's story than the recent, uncensored version), The Bottom of the Bottle, Miracle in the Rain, and 23 Paces to Baker Street. I also enjoy some of his cheerfully shallow movies in his early years at MGM, which can be fun too, (I'm a sucker for The Human Comedy and High Barbaree). The later films are often dependent on Johnson's capacity to play disagreeable, sometimes self-pitying men in a lacerating way. I admire his commitment to playing these characters as honestly as he could at that time. I wonder if anyone else thinks he deserves a bit of a reassessment sometimes.
Thanks,
moira

P.S. Pssst, I also was secretly joyous to find an Elvis-free August.

[mrsl]

As much as I loved him, they've already had a couple of Elvis days this year, so not being a SUTS is fine.

I agree 100% about Van Johnson, and would love to see them go through their library and find what they can with Ty Power. Does Richard Widmark have a day? If so, I missed seeing it and that is one I would enjoy as long as they play some of his later stuff and not only his sicko earlier films.

I'll just be happy to see some movies with sound instead of all the silents from the past few days.

Anne

[feaito]

I'm so jealous of TCM-USA's SUTS schedule! Specially the Marie Dressler day! "Emma" and "Let Us Be Gay" are two films I've specially wanted to see for years. Has "Christopher Bean" ever been aired by TCM USA?

[moira finnie]

No Christopher Bean on American TCM yet, 'Nando! When I asked our Guest Star Matthew Kennedy (Author of an excellent Marie Dressler bio) about this film back in May he said the following:

Christopher Bean is worth a look for any Dressler fan, but it is very, very rare. The only copy I'm aware of is at the George Eastman House in Rochester. (It may be at UCLA or Library of Congress.) I made a special trip to Eastman to see it, and was glad I did. It's no masterpiece, mind you, but the participation of Lionel Barrymore and Beulah Bondi add interest. It has some of the comedy-drama qualities of Emma.

There are copyright issues that keep it out of circulation. I don't know the details, but I was told these things usually involve the estate of the original author, in this case Sidney Howard. Perhaps a write-in campaign to Turner would help free it from archival bondage.

We can always hope, Fernando. Great hearing from you here! Where ya been, buddy?

Hi Anne,
24 hours of Richard Widmark movies are featured on Monday, August 11. You can see the entire SUTS here.

I believe that TCM has been doing the best it can to lease more Fox movies for broadcast in the last year (you'll see such rarities as Pickup on South Street on Widmark day, for instance). Tyrone Power's films, along with many of the best Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell movies are almost all 20th Century Fox movies and as such, tend to be shown on FMC or, through a previous arrangement, with AMC early in the morning, with commercials. Btw, the Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection 2 has just been released. Many of the following films in that set will undoubtedly become available separately too. Here's the list of movies:
* Johnny Apollo
* Cafe Metropole
* Daytime Wives
* Girls' Dormitory
* I'll Never Forget You
* Love is News
* The Luck of the Irish
* Second Honeymoon
* That Wonderful Urge
* This Above All

Johnny Apollo is my favorite of the bunch with a good script and great supporting cast bringing out Ty's best early work, with This Above All is a close second for me, (though there are a few over the top sentiments expressed, Power and Joan Fontaine are good together under Anatole Litvak's direction). Haven't you been looking for The Luck of the Irish for some time?

[jdb1]

Morning, All.

I moved my comments on Marie Dressler's Tillie's Punctured Romance to the "Marie Dressler Day" thread in People of Film.

[srowley75]

Hi Moira,

Part of me agrees that it would be nice if the station would devote more days to the stars that don't get the ink they should, but - at least at this point in time - another part of me is grateful that TCM devotes time to the legendary stars like Tracy, Garbo, K Hepburn, Bergman and their best pictures. Right now I've got an acquaintance at work who's just getting into classics and her family finally got cable. She's been spending the last few weeks becoming familiar with some classic films that I've seen over and over.

If I could make a day's schedule for any two stars and be given unlimited access to films, these would be my choices (considering not only the importance of each film to said star's career, but also how many are already easily accessible on DVD or given consistent airplay on the station):

(1) Charles Laughton

6 am The Old Dark House (1932)
7:15am The Sign of the Cross (1932)
9:30am Island of Lost Souls (1933)
10:45am Devil and the Deep (1932)
12:00pm The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
1:45pm White Woman (1933)
3:00pm Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
4:30pm They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
6:30pm St. Martin's Lane (1938)
8pm The Suspect (1945)
9:30pm Hobson's Choice (1954)
11:30pm This Land is Mine (1943)
1:15am Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
3:15am Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

(2) Miriam Hopkins

6am Fast and Loose (1930)
7:15am The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
8:45am 24 Hours (1931)
10am The World and the Flesh (1932)
11:15am Two Kinds of Women (1932)
12:30pm Men are Not Gods (1936)
2pm Becky Sharp (1935)
3:30pm The Stranger's Return (1933)
5:00pm All of Me (1934)
6:15pm The Old Maid (1939)
8pm The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
9:15pm Design for Living (1933)
10:45pm These Three (1936)
12:30am Old Acquaintance (1943)
2:30am Splendor (1935)
4am A Gentleman After Dark (1942)

-Stephen

[srowley75]

Yes, the more obscure the actor, the more I'd love to see them featured.

My idea for a "Star of the Week/Month" Gimmick: Find Bess Flowers. For an entire week, schedule only films in which Bess Flowers makes a brief appearance. Viewers could watch the films to see if they could spot Bess in any of the crowd scenes.

Of course, it might also be appropriate if a day or week were devoted to her male counterpart, Charles Lane.

-Stephen

[moira finnie]

Dear Mr. Rowley,
After seeing your astute two day lineup for SUTS, all I can say is:

Can you start working as the Master Programmer next week? Or maybe tomorrow?? I'm especially heartened to see you placing St. Martin's Lane and They Knew What They Wanted in Chas. Laughton's lineup and Miriam Hopkins, one of the more problematic but fascinating actresses of her time, certainly deserves another crack at a day--especially if the legendary The Story of Temple Drake might see the light of day as a result. Btw, tonight at 4:30am EDT, you can see Miriam at her "Hopkinsest" in Lady With Red Hair (1940), an imagined biopic about Mrs. Leslie Carter featuring today's star, Claude Rains, as the most theatrical of producers, David Belasco. It's not great, but it's diverting, certainly!

I always hope that a month of this kind of programming introduces the uninitiated into the joys of classic films too. I hope your co-worker gets a kick out of many of these days this August too.

[srowley75]

Oh, how I'd love to be a programmer. If not for being required to produce a video of myself, I'd have entered last year's guest programmer contest in a heartbeat. Alas, once they'd seen me in front of a camera, I'd have been out of the running in short order.

Even more interesting to me (though I know it'd never happen) would be if TCM did a "Summer Under the Directors" or similar. I think it'd be most interesting to see different days reserved exclusively to analyze the themes of certain directors as they appear and reappear throughout their work.

EDIT: By the way, Thank you, Moira. I didn't mean to ignore you.

-Stephen

[feaito]

Dear Moira,

Thanks for you reply. So "Christopher Bean" is pretty much in the same status than "Night Flight" (1933), "Letty Lynton" (1932), "The Trial of Mary Dugan" (1929), "The Constant Nymph" (1943) et al, all of which, as far as I know, cannot be aired or released on DVD, due to copyright issues concerning the underlying work upon which they are based, due to the ABEND decision.

It's just so unfair that Classic Film Lovers are prevented from watching this films due to legal entaglements!

[moira finnie]

Is anyone watching any of the Barbara Stanwyck films on today on TCM? Some, such as Babyface and Night Nurse are quite familiar, but a few, such as the artifacts, Shopworn (1932) with Regis Toomey (!) as the object of Babs desire, and Ever In My Heart (1933), about an American girl who marries a German immigrant, Otto Kruger, just in time for a torrent of anti-German hatred thanks to that spat between the Kaiser, the King and the Czar that we call WWI, are really stuff I've never seen or heard of before. Tonight TCM has a 1929 movie with Stanwyck & Rod LaRocque called The Locked Door, which may just be her first movie. Hope to catch this one and hear your thoughts about the day. Here's a link to a list of all today's films:

Wish that The Bitter Tea of General Yen were among the offerings, but a little bird told me that may be out by Christmas on dvd!

[Jezebel38]

Moira -

Today I'm recording TEN CENTS A DANCE and THE LOCKED DOOR. I saw SHOPWORN and EVER IN MY HEART last time they played on TCM - the one with Otto Kruger is pretty good.

Didn't you stay up to the wee hours of the morning to catch BITTER TEA when it played during the Asians in Film festival? Just teasing - the film is well worth waiting for the DVD release.