August 2011 TCM Schedule

TCM Movie Morlocks · Post by **moira finnie** » April 26th, 2011, 9:53 pm

I don't know if this will disappear from the internet, since these schedules tend to be works in progress, but as of today, the TCM July Schedule is here, for the moment:
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html?tz=est&sdate=2011-07-01

Here's the August Schedule as it currently appears:
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html?tz=est&sdate=2011-08-01

Summer Under the Stars highlights:
Ann Dvorak gets her own day on 8/9 finally!
Ben Johnson gets his day on 8/11 wee-ha!
Jean Gabin gets 8/18 oh, be still my foolish heart.
Conrad Veidt gets all day to himself with many rare movies on 8/23 including Jew Suss (1933) and The Hands of Orlac (1925). Yippee!

Moraldo Rubini · Post by **Moraldo Rubini** » April 27th, 2011, 12:12 am

moirafinnie wrote:Summer Under the Stars highlights:
Ann Dvorak gets her own day on 8/9 finally!
Ben Johnson gets his day on 8/11 wee-ha!
Jean Gabin gets 8/18 oh, be still my foolish heart.
Conrad Veidt gets all day to himself with many rare movies on 8/23 including Jew Suss (1933) and The Hands of Orlac (1925). Yippee!

Am I crazy, or is August 31 not listed? The Stars are a balance of popular warhorses and interesting choices. Nice to see Paulette Godard, Ralph Bellamy and Carole Lombard given their recognition. Surprised to see Bette Davis on the board, since it seems like only yesterday that she had an entire month devoted to her. Love that Lon Chaney, Conrad Veidt and Jean Gabin made the list! For years I've been suggesting (read: begging) that TCM devote August 30 to birthday girl Joan Blondell. She made the roster, though not on her birthday! Anne Francis was in Summer Holiday?! Happy that the scintillating Colbert is there, but how I wish her elusive movie, Tovarich was among the included films. I look forward to August!

srowley75 · Post by **srowley75** » April 27th, 2011, 6:08 am

I don't know about the schedule, but this was my first visit to the website in a very long time (as I no longer have cable) and I absolutely despise the changes. I much prefer the cleaner, less cumbersome pages that simply listed the schedule of films and gave brief synopses. Not all change is a good thing, even if it's brought on by advances in technology.

[Speaking of which - I bought a copy of Mon Oncle, possibly the wittiest commentary ever produced on pervasive yet unnecessary gadgetry, along with Pandora's Box during the mini-Criterion sale going on at Amazon.com this week. The DVDs and Blu-rays of some of the newer Criterions like Modern Times, 8 1/2, The Naked Kiss, Senso, and several others are drastically reduced. If you're a Criterion lover, you might want to head over and price your wish list.]

Also, some of the synopses need to be edited. I clicked on one title and the synopsis was in Italian.

JackFavell · Post by **JackFavell** » April 27th, 2011, 7:58 am

Thanks for the Criterion info!

The schedule is a mess, put together by someone who thinks all months have 30 days. Everyone uniformly hates it.

TCM Movie Morlocks · Post by **moira finnie** » April 27th, 2011, 8:42 am

I am sorry about the layout and other problems that individuals have encountered when trying to access info at the TCM site, but thought that the information about the movies might be of interest.

JackFavell · Post by **JackFavell** » April 27th, 2011, 9:05 am

Oh, no Moira - I am so glad you posted this info!

Ann Harding · Post by **Ann Harding** » April 27th, 2011, 9:58 am

I checked the Gabin pictures! WOW! That's a very good choice.
Here are the masterpieces, not to be missed:

Gueule d'amour (1937) This Gremillon drama follows a former soldier (Gabin) who becomes prey to luscious femme fatale (Mireille Balin). Superb!
Remorques (1941) Another Gremillon picture with Gabin paired with Michèle Morgan. A film full of poetry.
Le Jour Se Lève (1939) Carné's film belongs to the 'poetic realism' movement, some kind of a film noir before its time. Superb cast (Arletty, Jules Berry).
La Bandera (1934) A colonial picture by Duvivier with Gabin as the doomed soldier.
La Bête Humaine (1938) A good Renoir adaptation of Zola with Simone Simon.
La Grande Illusion (1937) A brilliant Renoir with a scintilating cast: Pierre Fresnay and Erich von Stroheim.
Pépé Le Moko (1938) Far superior to the Hollywood remake IMHO, with again Mireille Balin as the femme fatale.
Maria Chapdelaine (1934) An adaptation of a Canadian classic novel shot on locations in Canada with lovely Madeleine Renaud

Not quite as good, but still worth watching:
Le Désordre et la nuit (1958) An ageing police officer (Gabin) falls for a young drug addict.
Des gens sans importance (1955) A worthy later Gabin playing a simple truck driver in love with a young waitress (F. Arnoul)
L'Air de Paris (1954) Haven't seen that one. But, with Arletty and Gabin, it's worth catching!

TCM Movie Morlocks · Post by **moira finnie** » April 27th, 2011, 10:43 am

No problem, JF! Since I am aware that the TCM site can be a bit wonky right now, I tried to post the entire schedule here (without the 31st day of July or August!), but we have a limit on 60,000 words per post. I have copied and saved the schedules here if you need to see both months on one page. I do know that TCM is well aware of the issues on their website, and are actively seeking solutions to the problems.

Thanks for the heads up with your take on the Gabin lineup, Christine. It looks like a glorious feast of Jean G. in August. While the Gabin films chosen from the '50s may not be as good as others on the schedule, I get a kick out of the old tom cat as he shows the youngsters how to express a lifetime of experience in just a look. I wish that Renoir's French Cancan (1954) and Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954) were among the movies as well as the guilty pleasure The Sicilian Clan (1969)--but we mustn't be greedy. Now if only we could have a day devoted to Alain Delon too. (Maybe next year).

JackFavell · Post by **JackFavell** » April 27th, 2011, 12:49 pm

All I know is, TCM listens! So keep plugging your favorites.

Those Gabin films are to die for! This August is so exciting!

charliechaplinfan · Post by **charliechaplinfan** » April 27th, 2011, 1:52 pm

I'm excited about the Gabin day, so many movies I haven't watched, I hope someone will be recording. It's funny you should mention The Sicilian Clan, my hubby watched it whilst we were away, I kept telling him how great Gabin was but he didn't get my enthusiasm. Alain Delon has made some good movies particularly his early films.

pvitari · Post by **pvitari** » April 27th, 2011, 2:48 pm

I'm thrilled with Ben Johnson day and I sure hope War Drums is broadcast in the proper widescreen aspect ratio, as it's always pan and scan on Encores Western.

I'm even more thrilled about Conrad Veidt day, because this means I will finally get a decent copy of Jew Suss, a not to be missed performance from Veidt. Christopher Isherwood wrote a marvelous portrait of Veidt on the set of Jew Suss... I'll try to look it up this evening and post it.

TCM Movie Morlocks · Post by **moira finnie** » April 27th, 2011, 5:43 pm

pvitari wrote:I'm even more thrilled about Conrad Veidt day, because this means I will finally get a decent copy of Jew Suss, a not to be missed performance from Veidt. Christopher Isherwood wrote a marvelous portrait of Veidt on the set of Jew Suss... I'll try to look it up this evening and post it.

I posted this verbatim from the piece I wrote several week's ago on the Movie Morlocks. Like you, I am thrilled that Connie gets his due this August (though I wish Rome Express was included!). Here's the relevant portion --
Christopher Isherwood recounted a memorable moment he witnessed at British-Gaumont Studios in the early 1930s during the filming of Jew Süss:

“[Conrad Veidt] was a very famous German actor and probably one of the greatest of the early film actors. Everybody agreed that he was extraordinary as a film actor. This is just a description of the kind of actor he was. The character he was playing was a Jew who had been very wealthy in a medieval town; now, suddenly he’s brought to ruin and he’s going to be executed and he is in the cart on the way to the execution. Now they are going to shoot this scene in the studio and there sits Veidt in the cart. This is what I write about it [in Christopher and His Kind: 1929-1939 (Farrar, Straus Giroux, 1976):

Veidt sat in a cart, his hands manacled, on his way to death – a wealthy and powerful man ruined, alone. However, just as the filming was about to begin, something went wrong with the lights. There was to be a delay of five minutes. Veidt stayed in the cart. And now a stenographer came up to him and offered him a piece of candy. The gesture was perhaps deliberately saucy. Some stars would have been annoyed by it because they were trying to concentrate on their role and remain ”in character”. They would have ignored the stenographer. Others would have chatted and joked with her, welcoming this moment of relaxation. Veidt did neither. He remained Suess, and through the eyes of Suess he looked down from the cart upon this sweet Christian girl, the only human being in this cruel city who had the heart and the courage to show kindness to a condemned Jew. His eyes filled with tears. With his manacled hands he took the candy from her and tried to eat it – for her sake, to show his gratitude to her. But he couldn’t. He was beyond hunger, too near death. And his emotion was too great. He began to sob. He turned his face away.”

srowley75 · Post by **srowley75** » April 27th, 2011, 7:21 pm

Sorry to be the eternal party popper (with apologies to Lucy as well), but while I'm elated about Jean Gabin day (I'll definitely be setting my folks' DVR) and I'm glad to see Joan Blondell get her own marathon - it's disappointing that there aren't more Paramount/Universal films scheduled when, from all I'd heard, TCM has been working with Universal quite a bit as of late. The Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, and Charles Laughton days would've all been great for some Paramount precoders. I'd love to see TCM air Laughton's The Suspect just ONCE.

TCM Movie Morlocks · Post by **moira finnie** » April 27th, 2011, 7:36 pm

srowley75 wrote: I'd love to see TCM air Laughton's The Suspect just ONCE.

It's not the ideal way to view this Robert Siodmak-directed film, Steven, but you can see the entire movie on youtube beginning below. I hope that helps a bit. I wish that more of Siodmak's movies were on DVD or at least broadcast. I'd also love to see They Knew What They Wanted (1940), which I've heard is one of Laughton's best.
[youtube][/youtube]

knitwit45 · Post by **knitwit45** » April 27th, 2011, 7:52 pm

charliechaplinfan wrote:I'm excited about the Gabin day, so many movies I haven't watched, I hope someone will be recording. It's funny you should mention The Sicilian Clan, my hubby watched it whilst we were away, I kept telling him how great Gabin was but he didn't get my enthusiasm. Alain Delon has made some good movies particularly his early films.

I'm your girl!!!!

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