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TCM Guest Programmer Month: scheduling by the starsI'm not sure why, but even though I enjoy watching classic movies on television, I don't like renting them. Something about catching them when they air makes them cooler. So I keep tabs on Turner Classic Movies' schedule, just in case it's Topper movie day or spy movie day or Barbra day.
During the month of November, TCM is turning over its evening programming to celebrities, from Whoopi to The Donald to Cybill — even Kermit the Frog gets a turn. And not only do they choose the films, but they also join host Robert Osborne to explain why. Tonight (Nov. 5), Rose McGowan is guest programmer.
McGowan grew up in a Children of God commune in Italy, where her father led a chapter of the cultish organization. In her interview with Osborne, she explains that even as a small child, she could recognize false prophets within the group. One of McGowan's choices is Night of the Hunter, the 1955 film with Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Mitchum plays a homicidal preacher who stalks two children — a brother and sister — because $10,000 is stuffed inside the little girl's doll. McGowan thinks the movie reflects the fact that children can see more of the truth than we think. This film definitely would fit on Ace's list of non-horror movies that haunt me.
McGowan's other selections are Out of the Past, with Mitchum and Kirk Douglas; A Place in the Sun, with Winters, Montgomery Clift and a not-yet-18 Elizabeth Taylor; and That Touch of Mink, with Doris Day, Cary Grant and Gig Young.
On Nov. 15, Cybill Shepherd selects Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, Notorious, starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Shepherd describes it as a "shocking, monstrously sexual love affair." The film is famous for the erotic sensuality Hitchcock was able to convey within the bounds of the time's tight censorship. The sexual tension between Grant and Bergman is so intense that Shepherd describes it as "a permanent hot flash."
For the rest of the evening, Shepherd lightens the mood with Greta Garbo's first comedy, Ninotchka, and His Girl Friday, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Tracey Ullman (Nov. 17) chose Born Yesterday, with Judy Holliday, because it's such an "essentially American" movie. Ullman tells Osborne that the U.S. seems to think it has to import older women from Great Britain, while older American actresses "freeze and fill" to try to look young. But, Ullman says, "You can't take a bit of your bum and put it in your lip and think it's gonna fool people."
Some celebrities' selections fit with their public images. Martha Stewart (Nov. 30) surely has advice in mind as she watches Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Harvey Fierstein (Nov. 26) goes with The Catered Affair, which he is making into a stage production, The Boy With Green Hair, The Devil Is a Sissy and The Women.
Other guest programmers include Renee Fleming, Alec Baldwin, Chris Elliott and Matt Groening. Personally, I'm impressed with the selections, for the most part. For details, visit the TCM website. Click on a day of the month for interviews with the celebs and film summaries. When TCM has AfterEllen.com month, my top pick will be easy — Harold and Maude. That movie literally changed my life. I saw it when I was struggling with my sexual orientation and a woman I was falling in love with took me to see it. As Cat Stevens sang, "if you want to be free, be free," I knew I was about to be. And for the past 15 years, I've watched Harold and Maude once or twice a year to remind me that I am.
My other choices would be harder. I'm not sure Defending Your Life qualifies as a classic movie, but I love it. And definitely some Katharine Hepburn — The Lion in Winter, maybe. How about you? What classic movies would you pick? Submitted by on November 5, 2007 - 6:58pm. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
AfterEllen.com Month
Programming...
Suddenly Last Summer
tough, but awesome
Classics that have defined aspects of my life:
Pride & Prejudice - Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Not the best version of Austen, but certainly one of the most beautiful (and funny!). Aldous Huxley wrote the screenplay, pre-Brave New World.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - Still my favorite John Wayne to this day. I used to want to BE John Wayne when I was 8. And my mom was surprised when I told her I was gay...
Bringing Up Baby/The Philadelphia Story - Carry Grant and Katherine Hepburn can do no wrong.
The Long Hot Summer - Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. I saw that, and realized what sex was for the first time (though the theme song in the beginning is horrible).
So Proudly We Hail! - 1) Claudet Colbert. 2) Paulette Goddard. 3) the power of women to survive, to heal, to fight, to love. Nevermind that it was a WWII morale-upper campaign of a movie. I think that was my first real foray into feminism.
Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name.
[From Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson]
Pride and Prejudice
I am so sorry for disagreeing with you but this is my all time very favourite novel. I have read it more times than I have fingers and toes (therefore I have lost count). This version of Pride and Predudice makes me cringe. Greer Garson as Elizabeth!!! Much as I love her as an actress she is far too old to play Elizabeth. You don't deny that it is not the best version and that accolade doesn't go to the recent film either. BBC have 2 versions, the second with Colin Firth as Darcy is probably the best and most accurate.
Also as far as I am concerned Katherine Hepburn can simply do no wrong. Love all her films.
I wasn't saying it isn't the
I wasn't saying it isn't the best Austen book - I meant the best Austen representation on film. I love the book. (although admittedly, Sense & Sensibility is my all time favorite). I was saying that that movie version isn't very good ... I agree with you. But I was raised with it, so it stays in my heart. And I did fall in love with Greer Garson.
I don't like the Colin Firth version ... at all. As far as Mr. Darcy goes, I thought the guy who played Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightly version was very good ... matched all of my expectations. Colin Firth was just too much for me. *MY* issue with P&P on screen, is that I have YET to see someone worthy of Elizabeth.
Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name.
[From Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson]
too many
Too many to choose from. Really any/all of Katherine Hepburn and Greer Garson's movies. Adam's Rib, Anne of the Thousand Days, Sunset Boulevard, Rebecca, The Lion in Winter, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Wizard of Oz, Calamity Jane, Move Over, Darling, Yours, Mine and Ours, Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
Baby Jane
"Male Hysteria" night
Scarlet Street (dir. Fritz Lang, US, 1945): I *love* Edward G. Robinson, and largely for his films in the male hysteria sub-genre. (I would place his role in Double Indemnity in this category.) Also Fritz Lang and one of the great European-emigre expressionist noir. This film is the scheisse!
The Bad and the Beautiful (dir. Vincente Minnelli, US, 1952): When Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner) "takes the party" to Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) his response defines the male hysteria sub-genre: "How do you know how I feel about you, how deep it goes? Maybe I don't want anybody to own me. You or anybody. Get out! Get out! GET OUT!" Then you get Lana "driving" (!!!) her car away. It also contains one of my favourite film lines EVER: "There are no 'great men,' buster, there's only men."
Gilda (Charles Vidor, US, 1946): I can't even describe why this film... Let's just say Gilda (Rita Hayworth) and
Johnny (Glenn Ford) look equally "beautiful." And you have to see it.
And now, I need some [ahem] "quiet time"...
'oh Toto' said Shadowbox 'you spend all your money
chasing bed women around the world'
(Kathleen Mary Fallon, Working Hot)
oh you.
Double Indemnity = sheer brilliance. You can double my indemnity any time (and do, on a daily basis)
Naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essences, and it means power. But on wild nights who can call you home? Only the one who knows your name.
[From Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson]
VERY nice choices...
..better than those of anyone they actually let program. Though Mr. Ellroy's night does look quite promising.
I'd put up
Vampyr.Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill, and - well, I'm not sure. I'd say Peggy Cummings in Gun Crazy, but perhaps I should add some color. Perhaps House of Bamboo ; I'd want to put some Fuller in there, anyway.
way too many good choices
Sciuscià (Shoe-Shine) my favorite DeSica film, and though Pasolini is my fave neo-realist Italian filmmaker, seeing Sciusia for the first time was almost as life changing as hearing Patti Smith's Horses (which from me is saying something).
A Woman Under the Influence wri/dir. by John Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands. Every time I watch this film I change my ideas and opinions on a- what it's "really" about and b- my level of affection for it. sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, but my respect for it only increases over time. (My admiration for Gena Rowlands performance never waivers). The fact that my reactions and opinions about the film are never fixed is imho, one of the clearest signs of art succeeding.
I see on TCM you're only allowed four. And the last two slots are driving me NUTS. I would choose Ace in the Hole (as it is definitely in my Top 10 of all time) but Neil LaBute chose it, so I feel like if I had a chance, it would've already been covered anyway.
Fat Girl wri/dir by Catherine Breillat. I know it's recent. but if Criterion marks it as a classic why the hell can't I? Alright let's be honest, TCM would never in a million years play this, not even at 2AM, it's too hardcore for them. But it might be one of the most brilliant films ever made, and even amongst my fellow filmgeek friends, few have seen it.
Freaks dir. Tod Browning, wri. by Tod Robbins and a few others. Gets no descriptor because you probably know it and I've rambled too long already. One of us = pure awesome.
No, I don't like controversial films I have no idea what you are talking about.
Freaks
Oh Greta
evil childrenunfounded rumors and the failure to take a stand can do.I missed that!
I love the classics...
Jean Arthur
I would definitely program something with Jean Arthur -- a actress with great comedic timing. Perhaps "The Devil and Miss Jones," "Talk of the Town" or "The More the Merrier". Folks here have made some great suggestions already.
Oh, I would also play Johnny Guitar. One of the weirdest westerns ever.
For a bit of foreign flavour, I would go for "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" with a young Catherine Deneuve and the most amazing colour palette.
We would need a dish to get TCM and we would have to chop down trees to get a signal. It is the only regret I have about buying the house we bought. TCM is my dream channel.
carmen-dorothy dandridge is
carmen-dorothy dandridge is still one of the most gorgeous women in the world.
(the original) imitation of life- it was melodramatic and had insulting stereotypes but it was still pretty good.
guess who's coming to dinner- interracial marriage was legalized a few months before this film was released, and my dad still loves this movie.
jezebel- two words: bette davis.
(the original) cape fear- the movie is pretty amazing. and terrifying.
gentlemen prefer blondes- the humor in this movie still works today, and marilyn monroe was never more blonde and fabulous.
queen christina-greta garbo was hot.
bombshell- jean harlow had great comedic timing, and lots of the jokes are relevant to the cult of celebrity today.
red-headed woman- a pre-code movie that was pretty risque and jean harlow plays a bad girl who wins. i love it!
roots- so what if it was it was a t.v. movie. it was groundbreaking. i think it inspired my dad to look up our family geneology. unfortunately he hasn't managed to get as far as alex haley did. maybe he never will.
the color purple- this movie needs to be declared a modern classic, if it hasn't been already.
father of the bride- spencer tracy as the overwhelmed and bewildered dad gets me everytime, and elizabeth taylor looks gorgeous.
gone with the wind- the bloated epic, which portrays the "old south" and confederacy in a positive light (don't make me hurl) and the slaves/colored people as imbecilic children eternally happy to serve master. SIGH. don't ask me how but somehow i found it in my heart to love this movie too. maybe its vivian leigh and those fabulous costumes.
breakfast at tiffanys- can i please have audrey hepburn's wardrobe from this movie?
There are so many classic films I love,
...but I'll confine my list of recommendations to four:
1. Bringing Up Baby - Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant still make me roll with laughter whenever I watch this movie. Anybody who has seen this film is practically guaranteed to laugh if you mention the worlds "inter-coster clavicle" to them.
2. Gilda - Rita Hayworth is absolutely flawless as the troubled, flawed beauty in this noir classic.
3. Sylvia Scarlet - Hepburn as a girl masquerading as a boy named Sylvester is a little-known treasure, but she would have never fooled me with that disguise! The relationship between Sylvia and her father is especially touching.
4. Wuthering Heights - The Laurence Olivier version. It never fails to make me melancholy with empathy for poor Heathcliff's longing and madness over Cathy, and to actually be relieved when he finally joins her in eternity.
"Never explain, never complain." - Katherine Hepburn
my favorite classic movies.
- rear window.
- all about eve.
- the apartment.
favorite classic movies
~the philadelphia story
~the ghost and mrs muir
~breakfast at tiffany's
~holiday
~notorious
~tales of manhattan
~sunset boulevard
and i am sure i am forgetting some others!
I <3 Turner Classic Movies!
I watch it all the time. There is nothing like watching a great old movie on a Sunday afternoon.
There are a lot of old classics I love...many others have already mentioned...like Breakfast At Tiffany's...and Rear Window. I could watch them again and again.
Plus among the old classics...The Best Years of Our Lives...a pretty unflattering look (for its time) at life back home for soldiers and their families after WWII...I think it is as timely today as it was when it was first released.
But there are "new" classics too...at least according to TCM's programming schedule...and here is my list among those...
Heaven Can Wait
Moonstruck
Tootsie
Victor/Victoria
Children of a Lessor God
On Golden Pond
fav classic movies
Sunset Boulevard
Psycho
The old Miss Marple movies with Margaret Rutherford
Murder By Death
One, Two, Three
Judgment at Nuremberg
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check out Sarah Bettens at www.myspace.com/sarahbettens
Love TCM
I love it when people under 40, like Rose McG, have such an understanding of "classic" movies. A lot of stuff is corny, dated and silly but so much amazing stuff is also to be found.
If you want to be scared you must watch Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. He's one of my all time favorites and he is so menacing in this. His only equals in this sort of role were the youngish DeNiro and Ray Liotta.
I love Tracey's comments.
imthey, your choices are excellent! Holiday is my fave Hepburn movie and I will go to my grave thinking Bergman was the most beautiful face on screen (more than Garbo and Liz Taylor. I know it's subjective but I knew for sure I was gay when I saw her in Joan of Arc when I was about 12 or so. )