TCM: Turner Classic Mishpocha

Film
At the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel a cocktail reception celebrating 30 years of Turner Classic Movies: TCM. A classy affair with a real family feeling. Mishpocha, in Yiddish, means “family.” One was struck, in attending Turner Classic Movies‘ 30th anniversary gathering, January 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel, that, beyond the ...

More than a ‘mogul’: 20th C-Fox’s Darryl Zanuck in new Eyman book and on TCM 3

Film
New Eyman book for Running Press The respected and feared Darryl F. Zanuck ran his studio, Twentieth Century-Fox, like a Swiss watch and devised entertainment for the masses, including bright musicals starring Fox blondes Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, even Shirley Temple. He commandeered technologically innovative epics (The Robe, the movies’ first CinemaScope production), ...

Not a ‘witch hunt,’ Mr. Trump, decries daughter of John Garfield

Film · Ideas & Opinion
Mr. Trump, words matter. If not to you, then to the rest of us. Trump’s repeated flinging of the loaded expression ‘witch hunt’ (yet again this morning, via Twitter) in a moment of his wounded narcissism strikes a deep, deep chord. It brings painful memories of a shameful chapter of American history. It brings rage ...

In memorium: Robert Osborne (1932-2017)

Film
A life well lived, and a great contributor to our culture. It was my honor to have been interviewed by him, to converse with him at TCM Fest and on the TCM Cruise. And naturally, to spend countless evenings in his company watching movies on Turner Classic Movies. It is a great loss that I ...

Pre-tax pleasure: ‘Starring George Chakiris’ April 14

Dance · Film
We’re fans and we’re friends. That’s why we are so pleased that Turner Classic Movies is showcasing the creative output of actor/dancer/singer George Chakiris, whose triple-threat talent and smoldering good looks were made for the movies. Though a huge teen heartthrob in the sixties, Chakiris was often cast as a dark figure, famously in WEST ...

Merry Christmas, Adolf! ~ love, TCM 3

Dance · Film
Achtung, baby! Righteous programming, this Christmas night, from Turner Classic Movies: choreographer/director Alan Johnson’s TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1984), a remake of the Lubitsch political satire, well selected on this day of off-the-grid distribution of North Korea spoof, “The Interview.” Johnson and the great Mel Brooks collaborated on this promotional video for the ...

God dances, courtesy of director Charles Walters, on TCM

Dance · Film
Fred Astaire wants to be a dancin’ man in THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1952). Do you think he succeeds? Part of Turner Classic Movies Friday Night Spotlights devoted to the dancing movies, and more, of director Charles Walters.

TCM salutes Hollywood’s distinguished costume designers

Fashion · Film
We like Deborah Nadoolman Landis. She’s pretty, she’s nice, she wears spectacles, she has a cool husband, and she’s an arts·meme subscriber. Hey, she’s a Deborah! What’s not to love? More importantly, Ms. Nadoolman Landis is a huge expert in a super interesting field. She earned a Ph.D. in history of design from the Royal ...

Gene Kelly’s witty number in “It’s Always Fair Weather” 5

Dance · Film
We enjoyed watching  “It’s Always Fair Weather” (MGM, 1955, co-dir: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen) recently on Turner Classic Movies. The song-and-dance number in the video above, Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks, bears much influence of Jack Cole (he, too, worked with Gray, coaching the non-dancer in “Kismet” and “Designing Woman,” both at MGM). So ...

The dancing Douglases

Dance · Film
Does love of dance run in the family? If so, then actress/producer Illeana Douglas has traced her dance gene. Illeana, a great film buff, is hosting Turner Classic Movies’ “Second Looks” programming on Friday nights of this month. Her marvelous, quirky film curation is catalogued in a wonderful essay written for TCM by Roger Fristoe. ...