TCM Guest Programmer

[ortega76]

Every month, Turner Classic Movies has a guest programmer, a celebrity who chooses 5 movies that are meaningful to him or her.

So, I'm curious. What would YOU pick?

My 5?

1. The Roaring Twenties. Seeing Bogart as a bad guy in an early role is great.

2. Come Blow Your Horn. By no means a great Sinatra film but a very fun Sinatra film.

3. Orchestra Wives. Glenn Miller AND Cesar Romero (sans Joker outfit)!

4. Miller's Crossing. While only 16 years old, this film is a wonderful gangster flick. The plot twists and turns like sidewinder snake on meth.

5. A Night At The Opera. "Marx Brothers" says it all.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

1. The Road to Utopia
2. Sergeant York
3. Strangers on a Train
4. The Big Sleep
5. Out of the Past

 

[Feraud]

Picking 5 is tough but this is what I would choose today:

The Ox-Bow Incident

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Maltese Falcon

The Fallen Idol

 

[VintageJess]

Interesting topic!!

1. Sands of Iwo Jima
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Since You Went Away
4. So Proudly We Hail
5. Till The End of Time

Sorry, I'm a sucker for WW2 movies.

Jessica

 

[Rosie]

Hard Choice

In no particular order:

Imitation of Life (1934) and (1959)
Gone with the Wind
Casablanca
The World, The Flesh and the Devil

(cheat)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

 

[artdecodame]

I would try to choose things not usually played (if at all), and not very well-known titles. Assuming TCM could get the rights for some of these (3 are Fox & 2 Paramount, I believe):

1. "Follow Thru" (1930)
2. "Girls About Town" ('31)
3. "I Am Suzanne" ('33)
4. "I Loved You Wednesday" ('33)
5. "Blood Money" ('33)

(And if not, these are already available in their library):

1. "Safe in Hell" ('31)
2. "Heat Lightning" ('34)
3. "Go Into Your Dance" ('35)
4. "The Show of Shows" ('29, Warners revue)
5. "Marianne" ('29)

 

[Citizen Ed]

Excellent topic!


I'd go with
1. To Be or Not to Be- Jack Benny had perfect delivery
2. The Seven Little Foys- Bob Hope singing voice is highly under appreciated
3. Shane- a perfect western
4. Cool Hand Luke- my all time fave anti-hero
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail- I will forever be a Knight Who Says Ni

 

[LizzieMaine]

Assuming, as Artdecodame said, that TCM could cut some deals with studios for which it doesn't own rights...

1. The Broadway Melody (1929) -- The first all-talkie musical, and Bessie Love's finest moment on film.

2. Sunnyside Up (1929) -- Wonderful Janet Gaynor-Charles Farrell early talkie musical, and one of the best of the early crop of sound films in general.

3. The King of Jazz (1930) -- Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra in Technicolor!

4. Just Imagine (1930) -- A dopey goof falls asleep in 1930 and awakens in 1980. Futuristic musical hijinks ensue!

5. Follow Thru (1930) -- Another classic early Technicolor musical, with Nancy "Born to be shown in shades of Red and Green" Carroll and Buddy Rogers. (Artdecodame and I could co-host!)

 

[Hannigan Reilly]

"The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer"
"Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse"
"They Got Me Covered"
"Harvey"
"Double Indemnity"

 

["Doc" Devereux]

It's a tough choice and, like Feraud, I'm only saying these are my choices today, but:

Hell's Angels (1930)
Some of the acting leaves a little to be desired, but the aviation sequences are spectacular even by today's standards.

The Third Man (1949)
Music, acting, cinematography... I somehow doubt that I need to lionise this movie any more, considering the company.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lawrence is one of my heroes, and Lean one of my favourite directors. Everything about this movie just works so terribly well for me that it's a perennial favourite here at Castle Devereux.

Battle of Britain (1969)
A particular favourite of mine because it shows both sides as people.

The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
"Two thousand and five?" I hear you cry. Stick with me, since it's a black and white silent made in the twenties' style. At less than an hour, it also helps balance out the enormous length of my two preceding selections! But seriously, if you've not seen it try to find a copy.

Hmm. Only one horror movie and only two with aeroplanes. Nice to see I can keep myself under control when I have to...

 

[decodoll]

This is extremely difficult, but here goes...

Bachelor Mother

Roman Holiday

It Happened One Night

The Thin Man

Swing Time

 

[mikepara]

more..

..heres mine.

Nightporter. Dirks finest, darkest hour. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071910/

All quite on the Western Front. Just...like Wow.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/

Ice Cold In Alex. My favourite non-war war movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053935/

Blue Angel. Love at first sight.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020697/

Downfall . My favourite Brand new old movie.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/

Mmm no jolly ones! a bit war-ish.

 

[ITG]

Love Finds Andy Hardy
Imitation of Life (Lana Turner/Sandra Dee)
Glenn Miller Story
Greyfriar's Bobby
Long, Long Trailer

 

[artdecodame]

2. Sunnyside Up (1929) -- Wonderful Janet Gaynor-Charles Farrell early talkie musical, and one of the best of the early crop of sound films in general.

3. The King of Jazz (1930) -- Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra in Technicolor!

4. Just Imagine (1930) -- A dopey goof falls asleep in 1930 and awakens in 1980. Futuristic musical hijinks ensue!

5. Follow Thru (1930) -- Another classic early Technicolor musical, with Nancy "Born to be shown in shades of Red and Green" Carroll and Buddy Rogers. (Artdecodame and I could co-host!)

Yay, I assumed I was going to be the oddball one with my choices as usual! I saw a restored clip of "Follow Thru" on a PBS Broadway documentary once- it looks so very fun. I think Nancy and Zelma O'Neal are such cuties!

 

[G. Fink-Nottle]

Tension - film-noir with a very hot Cyd Charisse

Topper - Cary in Thorne Smith's comedy

The Set-up = Robert Ryan as a washed-up pugilist

Strangers on a Train

Shadow of a Doubt - Joseph Cotten, Our Most Underrated Actor

 

[Novella]

Ooo, this is fun!:

1. The Thin Man - one of the first classic films I fell in love with

2. This Gun for Hire - Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd are so cute

3. Footlight Parade - I'm not a big musicals person, but I love Busby Berkeley musicals (and Dick Powell).

4. The 39 Steps - Hitchcock with Robert Donat

5.EDIT: I think I need a silent in here somewhere: The Affairs of Anatol - laughs and drama both (originally: Kind Hearts and Coronets - a fun dark humor movie)

 

[DancingSweetie]

Bed Of Roses (1933)
The Showoff (1926)
The Women
Some Like it Hot
A Streetcar Named Desire

I'ts too hard to choose with so many great movies.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

1. The FBI Story (1959) The Bureau's history...Hoover style!

2. The Human Comedy (1943) If you couple this with Since You Went Away your tear ducts will be dehydrated...

3. Out of the Past (1947) The year's best Noir in Noir's best year.

4. My Man Godfrey (1936) If only to remind me what we lost when Carole Lombard died...

 

[jasmynskyes]

Hmm, how about

Show Boat
All About Eve
Arsenic and Old Lace
Top Hat
Porgy and Bess

 

[mlktrout]

ONLY FIVE???

How can anyone pick only 5?

If someone held a gun to my head...

The Dawn Patrol. Errol Flynn, David Niven, Basil Rathbone (in a wonderful role) -- brilliant WW1 flying movie and character study.

Watch on the Rhine. Paul Lukas, Bette Davis. Before America entered WW2, people were already fighting...this was a nice kick to our complacency. Scripted by Lillian Hellman & Dashiell Hammett too.

Casablanca. Need I say more?

The Man from Snowy River. What can I say, I'm a nut for Aussies and horses.

Music for Millions. Terrific WW2 tearjerker.