Turner Classic Movies is dedicating each of August’s 31 days to showcasing one of Hollywood’s most enduring personalities. This one-of-a-kind festival is an opportunity for viewers to enjoy a varied selection from each star’s body of work, uncut and commercial free, beginning with Henry Fonda on August 1st.
Want to watch a full day of movies with your all time favorite movie star? Or spend a day discovering a new favorite? Well you’re in luck, because even after seven years, TCM’s impressive resources allow for yet another unique assembly from the network’s library of more than 5,000 films. Along with the plethora of anticipated faces (Bette Davis, Cary Grant, John Wayne, etc), this year more than half of the month’s featured actors and actresses are first-timers to this, the 7th annual festival.
The 17 newcomers include many well-known Academy Award recipients including James Coburn, Gloria Grahame, Yul Brynner, Gene Hackman, Fredric March, and (honorary recipient) Harold Lloyd. Other familiar stars getting their first showcase include the erudite James Mason, early comedienne Marion Davies, Dirk Bogarde (considered to be the British Rock Hudson), funny man Red Skelton, drama queen Miriam Hopkins, iron jawed Sterling Hayden, dark beauty Merle Oberon, tough English rose Ida Lupino, Capra’s favorite actress Jean Arthur, and the ever elegant Claire Bloom.
Along with these individual additions, this year’s Summer Under the Stars also features 42 films making their premiere on TCM, which means it is very likely you’ll have the rare treat of seeing a film with your favorite star you’ve never seen before. These new to TCM films include the 1940 classic “The Grapes of Wrath”, one of the all-time greatest romance films, “An Affair to Remember”, the immortal tale “Les Miserables” (1935), Best Picture nominee “Mississippi Burning”, and the heartwarming tale of a spinster teacher, “Good Morning, Miss Dove” (I saw this film as a kid and absolutely loved it).
All new to this year’s celebration is an online counterpart. Turner Classic Movies is giving online movie fans a fresh look at classic films with a set of some really cool looking, exclusively designed movie posters touting the network’s annual festival. The posters are part of the network’s extensive digital offerings for the August showcase which also include an embeddable widget, backgrounds on the movies and stars, video, photos, a sweepstakes and so much more – pretty much offering the classic movie fan everything thing they want, every way that they want it.
Summer isn’t the same without a festival, and Summer Under the Stars provides the opportunity to enjoy one from the comfort of your own home, or anywhere you have access to a computer. TCM’s Summer Under the Stars website is accessible through tcm.com/summer.