tylerminkis5 Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Has TCM ever aired a tribute to character actors? I would like to see Thelma Ritter profiled if she hasn't been already. Her work in All About Eve, Rear Window, Pillow Talk, and How the West Was Won is fantastic. She was nominated for six supporting Oscars before her death in 1969 and lost all of them. Her record is beat by Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole and tied with Deborah Kerr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bggalaxy Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 One of my favorite Ritter film - The Mating Season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evh55 Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 TCM has an ongoing series of shorts called What A Character! that spotlights some of these great actors and actresses. I've seen the one for Rags Ragland, Edna Mae Oliver, Marjorie Main, William Frawley, and Hattie McDaniel to name a few. They really are a delight, and include biographical info as well as reminisces by some of their co-stars. But as they are not listed on the schedule you can never tell when they will be on. It is very hit or miss. For example, I've seen the one for Bill Demarest several times, but have only seen Edna Mae once. Perhaps TCM can start listing them or even put together an hour or so of a number of them. That would be great! And definitely do one for one of my true favourites Thelma Ritter. I just love her in Rear Window when she is talking about the summer rain and says "All it does is make the heat wet." Maybe we could suggest she be made a Star of the Month. She certainly deserves it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 The only trouble with Thelma Ritter is that she made most of her gems for 20th Century-Fox including "Miracle on 34th Street", "A Letter to Three Wives", "All About Eve", "With a Song in My Heart", "The Mating Season", "The Model and the Marriage Broker", "Titanic", "Pickup on South Street" etc. and TCM doesn't have access to those films...yet. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylerminkis5 Posted August 12, 2004 Author Share Posted August 12, 2004 Good point, Mongo. How much did TCM have to pay to air Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? and I think TCM played All About Eve a few years ago, or maybe Im just imagining things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 As far as I know EVE has only run on AMC. That station has licensed much of the FOX library. So far other than BLOOD AND SAND, TCM has run few FOX films. Hopefully, when AMC's license agreement with FOX expires much of the library will move to TCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandykaypax Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 I've seen ALL ABOUT EVE on the Fox Movie Channel. I doubt that Fox would allow TCM to acquire the Fox catalogue of classic films since they have their own channel. Sandy K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grblover Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 I would love to see a tribute to character actors. Hugh Herbet and many from the old Warner Brothers movies that were in hundreds of movies it seems. They are like old familiar faces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwbear Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 I'm in complete agreement and have even gone the route of suggesting it to TCM and A&E's Biography. I'd love more info on: Gladys Cooper, Louis Calhern, Walter Brennan, Thomas Mitchell, Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Harry Davenport, S.Z. Sakall, Una Merkel, Sam Jaffe, Beulah Bondi, Billie Burke, Walter Slezak, Frank Morgan, Charles Coburn, Laura Hope Crewes, Cedric Hardwicke, Anne Revere, Finlay Currie, Peter Ustinov, Woody Strode, Judith Anderson, Robert Keith, Felix Aylmer, Burl Ives, Basil Rathbone, Ed Begley Sr, Raymond Massey - to name but a few... I could go on and on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealfuster Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I like the cheap chorines or trampy girls in the old MGM, Warners and RKO films, or in any B-film. People like Marion Martin, Joyce Compton, Veda Ann Borg, Isabel Jewell, Trudy Marshall et cetera. Of course the dowager queen title is apt also in characters annals, and people like Norma Varden, and Dame Mae Whitty often stole the show. Yes, a tribute to the great characters on film, would be marvelous. I am particularly fond of Henry Hull, and anyone who played a bit in "It's a Wonderful Life" which was a who's who of character acting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts