2018 Star of the Month Predictions/Hopes

[speedracer5]

The entire 2017 Star of the Month (SOTM) selections have been decided. The TCM Programmers have surely started working on the January 2018 schedule.

 

Who are your predictions for the 2018 SOTM honorees? Who do you hope is spotlighted this upcoming year?

 

PREDICTIONS

 

I can see William Holden and Rita Hayworth selected for their 100th birthdays.

 

HOPES

 

Ida Lupino

Jack Carson

Joan Blondell

Don Ameche

Eve Arden

John Garfield

Carole Lombard

Danny Kaye

Charles Coburn

Miriam Hopkins

Ann Blyth

Gloria Grahame

Betty Grable

Paulette Goddard

Agnes Moorehead

Eleanor Powell

[scsu1975]

HOPES

 

Tor Johnson

Allison Hayes

Dick Miller

Mamie Van Doren

Yvette Vickers

 

PREDICTIONS

 

None of the above

[TopBilled]

I think all of these are worthy (and none of them have been featured yet):

 

MARLON BRANDO; MARILYN MONROE; PETER LAWFORD; YVONNE DE CARLO; GEORGE SANDERS; TYRONE POWER; FAYE DUNAWAY; WILLIAM HAINES; GENE TIERNEY; AUDIE MURPHY; DEANNA DURBIN; CLIFF ROBERTSON; TONY CURTIS; JACK NICHOLSON

[jakeem]

 

Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann

[lydecker]

Great topic!

 

I'd say:

 

Roland Young

George Sanders

Joan Blondell

Gene Tierney

Eve Arden

Edna May Oliver

Basil Rathbone

Ann Sheridan

Paul Douglas

Warren William

Glenda Farrell

Ann Dvorak

Edward Arnold

[VivLeighFan]

I would love to see Vera-Ellen honored. She was one of the most talented dancers to appear on screen. If there aren't enough movies, they could go the SUTS route.

[TopBilled]

I would love to see Vera-Ellen honored. She was one of the most talented dancers to appear on screen. If there aren't enough movies, they could go the SUTS route.

 

Yes, she'd be an excellent choice for SUTS.

[Sepiatone]

I might have a few ideas.  But for all I know, they might have already been honored with a SOTM.  And most others I might think of were already covered by this august assemblage. 

 

 

So, have STEVE COCHRAN, JOHN HODIAK,  WILLIAM BENDIX,  VIRGINIA MAYO, WENDY HILLER ,  MARJORIE MAIN and JOHN CARRADINE already been thus honored?

 

 

Sepiatone

[Hibi]

JOAN BENNETT and CHARLES BOYER. Still waiting for their first go-round. Sister Constance was honored several years ago. Get with it, TCM!!!!

[Hibi]

 

Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann

 

 

YES! But good luck on that one........

[Arturo]

More Fox stars:

 

Janet Gaynor

Warner Baxter

Alice Faye

Linda Darnell

Anne Baxter

Jeanne Crain

Laird Cregar

Clifton Webb

 

Along with aforementioned ones like:

 

Tyrone Power

Don Ameche

Betty Grable

Marilyn Monroe

Gene Tierney

Paul Douglas

[TopBilled]

JOAN BENNETT and CHARLES BOYER. Still waiting for their first go-round. Sister Constance was honored several years ago. Get with it, TCM!!!!

 

I agree about Joan Bennett. I should have mentioned her in my earlier post. So many great films she made.

[GGGGerald]

I think this is an interesting thread. But, I think (my own opinion of course), it would be cool if each post would focus on one whom they would really like to nominate (As if TCM would actually listen ).

 

We all could make lists but, if you had to narrow it down (I know its hard to do), who would you really like to see as star of the month and why ?

 

 

[TomJH]

I think it's time that TCM honoured some of the great studio house directors, rather than the legends like Hitchcock or Ford or Welles.

 

Top of the list: Michael Curtiz.

 

And TCM certainly has access to many of his films.

 

What I would particularly like to see them revive of Curtiz's career is THE SEA WOLF (1941), to be released in October by Warners Archives in its full 100 minute version, not the 86 minute version shown for years on the channel.

 

Among Curtiz's other films:

 

1929 Noah's Ark

1932 Dr X

1933 Twenty Thousands Years in Sing Sing

1935 Captain Blood

1936 Charge of the Light Brigade

1937 Kid Galahad

1937 Perfect Specimen (not shown on TCM in years due to copyright issues)

1938 Adventures of Robin Hood

1938 Four Daughters

1938 Angels With Dirty Faces

1939 Dodge City

1940 Sea Hawk

1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942 Casablanca

1945 Mildred Pierce

1947 Life With Father

1950 Young Man With A Horn

1950 Breaking Point

1954 White Christmas

1954 Egyptian

1958 Proud Rebel

 

A breath taking collection of films, many of them cherished classics

 

 

[speedracer5]

I think it's time that TCM honoured some of the great studio house directors, rather than the legends like Hitchcock or Ford or Welles.

 

Top of the list: Michael Curtiz.

 

And TCM certainly has access to many of his films.

 

What I would particularly like to see them revive of Curtiz's career is THE SEA WOLF (1941), to be released in October by Warners Archives in its full 100 minute version, not the 86 minute version shown for years on the channel.

 

Among Curtiz's other films:

 

1929 Noah's Ark

1932 Dr X

1933 Twenty Thousands Years in Sing Sing

1935 Captain Blood

1936 Charge of the Light Brigade

1937 Kid Galahad

1937 Perfect Specimen (not shown on TCM in years due to copyright issues)

1938 Adventures of Robin Hood

1938 Four Daughters

1938 Angels With Dirty Faces

1939 Dodge City

1940 Sea Hawk

1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy

1942 Casablanca

1945 Mildred Pierce

1947 Life With Father

1950 Young Man With A Horn

1950 Breaking Point

1954 White Christmas

1954 Egyptian

1958 Proud Rebel

 

A breath taking collection of films, many of them cherished classics

 

 

 

Michael Curtiz (and other directors) would be a great idea! Curtiz made so many films in so many different genres, much like Vincente Minnelli.  I would especially love to see The Perfect Specimen.  I've only ever seen a really poor quality bootleg and I've heard the Lux Radio Theater version with Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell. 

[MovieFanLaura]

Alan K. Rode's book on Michael Curtiz should be out this November (700 pages, University Press of Kentucky), and UCLA will be honoring Curtiz with a retrospective series in a few months.  Just some more Curtiz info FYI!

[TomJH]

Alan K. Rode's book on Michael Curtiz should be out this November (700 pages, University Press of Kentucky), and UCLA will be honoring Curtiz with a retrospective series in a few months.  Just some more Curtiz info FYI!

 

Thanks,MFLaura. Perhaps TCM could get Alan K. Rode on to discuss Curtiz's career if they had the director as star of the month. I bet Rode would love to do it, a great way to share his love for Curtiz films as well as promote his book.

 

[speedracer5]

To go along with what Gerald said:

 

I think if I were going to pick someone off my list who should get the SOTM treatment, it'd be Joan Blondell.  Blondell is a very underrated and largely forgotten actress today, except of course, among the classic movie circles.  Some people familiar with Grease *may* recognize her from there, but I think it's very unlikely, since Blondell looks and sounds very different than she did during her hey day.  Blondell had a very long career and appeared in a wide array of different genres.  Perhaps she never achieved the upper echelon of stardom (unlike peers like Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck) because she never appeared as a lead in a top "A" production.  She appeared in A-films, but usually as a supporting lead with a bigger name like Stanwyck.  When she did have the lead, they were usually in lesser, "B" pictures.  Also from doing some research on Blondell, it appears that she never fought for a bigger salary or refused assignments like her contemporaries (Bette Davis & James Cagney come to mind).  She was happy to be working and needed to be working and kept on making her standard contract wage, whereas Davis and Cagney were making much more because they fought for their careers and were willing to take the risk of being put on suspension.  It seems that Blondell didn't want to make waves and thus, did what was asked of her at the wage that she was given.  Maybe if Blondell had not played it so safe, she would have been a bigger name? But that could have easily backfired on her as easily as it could have benefited her.  Who knows? 

 

Blondell was a big star during the early 1930s and appeared in a lot of the great precodes of the day.  By picking Blondell, we'd get to see more of these great precodes and hopefully with her selection would come the premiere of The Blue Veil, which I *don't* think has ever been on TCM.  Also, TCM if they could get the rights back, could air The Perfect Specimen, which to my knowledge, has not aired on TCM in quite some time.  

 

We could also get to see a lot of the great precode musicals of the day like my personal favorite The Golddiggers of 1933.  I also wouldn't mind a repeat of Nightmare Alley and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I also really liked her in Desk Set.  

 

Joan Blondell deserves her time in the spotlight! 

[jamesjazzguitar]

To go along with what Gerald said:

 

I think if I were going to pick someone off my list who should get the SOTM treatment, it'd be Joan Blondell.  Blondell is a very underrated and largely forgotten actress today, except of course, among the classic movie circles.  Some people familiar with Grease *may* recognize her from there, but I think it's very unlikely, since Blondell looks and sounds very different than she did during her hey day.  Blondell had a very long career and appeared in a wide array of different genres.  Perhaps she never achieved the upper echelon of stardom (unlike peers like Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck) because she never appeared as a lead in a top "A" production.  She appeared in A-films, but usually as a supporting lead with a bigger name like Stanwyck.  When she did have the lead, they were usually in lesser, "B" pictures.  Also from doing some research on Blondell, it appears that she never fought for a bigger salary or refused assignments like her contemporaries (Bette Davis & James Cagney come to mind).  She was happy to be working and needed to be working and kept on making her standard contract wage, whereas Davis and Cagney were making much more because they fought for their careers and were willing to take the risk of being put on suspension.  It seems that Blondell didn't want to make waves and thus, did what was asked of her at the wage that she was given.  Maybe if Blondell had not played it so safe, she would have been a bigger name? But that could have easily backfired on her as easily as it could have benefited her.  Who knows? 

 

Blondell was a big star during the early 1930s and appeared in a lot of the great precodes of the day.  By picking Blondell, we'd get to see more of these great precodes and hopefully with her selection would come the premiere of The Blue Veil, which I *don't* think has ever been on TCM.  Also, TCM if they could get the rights back, could air The Perfect Specimen, which to my knowledge, has not aired on TCM in quite some time.  

 

We could also get to see a lot of the great precode musicals of the day like my personal favorite The Golddiggers of 1933.  I also wouldn't mind a repeat of Nightmare Alley and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I also really liked her in Desk Set.  

 

Joan Blondell deserves her time in the spotlight! 

 

I have a book called The Leading Ladies;   It features 6 actresses;   Bette Davis,  Olivia DeHavilland,  Barbara Stanwyck,  Joan Crawford,  Rosalind Russell,  and Joan Blondell.     

 

In the intro to the Blondell section it mentions that to some, Blondell doesn't belong in the book and that it was likely that Joan would agree (she was known to understate her contributions and was insecure).  But the author included her because she was a fine actress and a star that elevated every film she was in,   as either a leading lady,  secondary lead, or character actor.    

[Sepiatone]

To go along with what Gerald said:

 

I think if I were going to pick someone off my list who should get the SOTM treatment, it'd be Joan Blondell.  Blondell is a very underrated and largely forgotten actress today, except of course, among the classic movie circles.  Some people familiar with Grease *may* recognize her from there, but I think it's very unlikely, since Blondell looks and sounds very different than she did during her hey day.  

 

Joan Blondell deserves her time in the spotlight! 

 

I guess you missed my post a few months or so ago when I mentioned a grandniece, who when very little and over our house a lot, used to LOVE watching "Grease", and just a few days before the post I refer to, was over to visit my wife when I had an old Blondell movie on( forget which one now).  She glanced a the screen and said, "That lady's pretty.  Who is she?" , knowing I watch a lot of old movies and probably figured I'd know.  So I asked, "Don't YOU recognize her?"  and she looked puzzled at me so I told her, "It's VI, the malt shop waitress from GREASE!"

 

After her chin hit the floor,all she could say was "wow!" 

 

 

Sepiatone

[marcar]

I going to keep pushing for my love MARCELLO MASTROIANNI as SOTM.

 

Buona Fortuna...but I doubt they'll pick him

 

http://www.theordinarystranger.com/Shop2/img/cms/tumblr_n9zapdjbdf1tuo9iwo5_500.jpg

[sewhite2000]

TCM does run a promo that celebrates Curtiz' career. While I don't think they would ever substitute a Star of the Month with a director, there have been months in the past where they've had a director spotlight in addition to the SOTM. They had a Billy Wilder spotlight pretty recently, right? And they've had a Hitchcok spotlight more than once. Curtiz is certainly worthy of such a spotlight, and with so many of his films in TCM's "library", it seems like a no-brainer.

[TomJH]

TCM does run a promo that celebrates Curtiz' career. While I don't think they would ever substitute a Star of the Month with a director, there have been months in the past where they've had a director spotlight in addition to the SOTM. They had a Billy Wilder spotlight pretty recently, right? And they've had a Hitchcok spotlight more than once. Curtiz is certainly worthy of such a spotlight, and with so many of his films in TCM's "library", it seems like a no-brainer.

 

Among this relatively unknown director's accomplishments, he directed both Cagney and Crawford to their only Oscars, was the director of the films that made stars of Flynn, John Garfield and Doris Day, and was at the directorial helm of the most famous and popular black and white film ever made, Casablanca.

 

Taking a look at the tremendous list of film titles for which he was responsible, one is almost bound to find a favoruite film or two or more in the collection. And he covered all film genres with equal skill, ranging from gangster dramas to musicals, swashbucklers to war dramas, film noirs to westerns and Biblical epics. Probably the sole film genre Curtiz didn't master were comedies. But even then he was at the helm of Life With Father, a gentle period adaption of the stage hit, his one real triumph there, as well.

 

Michael Curtiz was a truly great director.

 

 

Billy Halop threatening to play slapstick comedy with him, probably on the Angels With Dirty Faces set.

[Hibi]

I going to keep pushing for my love MARCELLO MASTROIANNI as SOTM.

 

Buona Fortuna...but I doubt they'll pick him

 

http://www.theordinarystranger.com/Shop2/img/cms/tumblr_n9zapdjbdf1tuo9iwo5_500.jpg

 

 

Yeah, good luck on that one. Outside of Sophia Loren, I dont think any foreign actors have been chosen.....

[Hibi]

To go along with what Gerald said:

 

I think if I were going to pick someone off my list who should get the SOTM treatment, it'd be Joan Blondell.  Blondell is a very underrated and largely forgotten actress today, except of course, among the classic movie circles.  Some people familiar with Grease *may* recognize her from there, but I think it's very unlikely, since Blondell looks and sounds very different than she did during her hey day.  Blondell had a very long career and appeared in a wide array of different genres.  Perhaps she never achieved the upper echelon of stardom (unlike peers like Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck) because she never appeared as a lead in a top "A" production.  She appeared in A-films, but usually as a supporting lead with a bigger name like Stanwyck.  When she did have the lead, they were usually in lesser, "B" pictures.  Also from doing some research on Blondell, it appears that she never fought for a bigger salary or refused assignments like her contemporaries (Bette Davis & James Cagney come to mind).  She was happy to be working and needed to be working and kept on making her standard contract wage, whereas Davis and Cagney were making much more because they fought for their careers and were willing to take the risk of being put on suspension.  It seems that Blondell didn't want to make waves and thus, did what was asked of her at the wage that she was given.  Maybe if Blondell had not played it so safe, she would have been a bigger name? But that could have easily backfired on her as easily as it could have benefited her.  Who knows? 

 

Blondell was a big star during the early 1930s and appeared in a lot of the great precodes of the day.  By picking Blondell, we'd get to see more of these great precodes and hopefully with her selection would come the premiere of The Blue Veil, which I *don't* think has ever been on TCM.  Also, TCM if they could get the rights back, could air The Perfect Specimen, which to my knowledge, has not aired on TCM in quite some time.  

 

We could also get to see a lot of the great precode musicals of the day like my personal favorite The Golddiggers of 1933.  I also wouldn't mind a repeat of Nightmare Alley and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I also really liked her in Desk Set.  

 

Joan Blondell deserves her time in the spotlight! 

 

 

THere was a discussion some years ago about Blondell and the consensus was the powers that be dont consider her a big enough star to get one. I'd be ok with it though.