Your Dream Summer Under The Stars (SUTS) Schedule

[SableGamine]

Here's a space for us to post our dream SUTS schedules.  Which lineup of actors would constitute a perfect month for you, that would keep you smiling once it ended?  Would you like to see a month full of character actors, or underrated performers?  You don't have to post the entire month if you don't want to sharing a few choices is perfectly fine.  Feel free to also share why you've picked who you've picked. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

[SableGamine]

Okay, here's mine so far:
 
Day 1: Fredric March
Day 2: Deborah Kerr
Day 3: Louise Beavers
Day 4: Eleanor Parker
Day 5: Rex Ingram (the actor, not the director)
Day 6: Anna May Wong
Day 7: Harry Belafonte
Day 8: Angela Lansbury
Day 9: Leo Genn
Day 10: Ethel Waters
Day 11: Cedric Hardwicke
Day 12: Juano Hernandez
Day 13: Arthur Kennedy
Day 14: Olivia de Havilland
Day 15: Jose Ferrer
Day 16: Joan Blondell
Day 17: Dickie Moore
Day 18: Gregory Peck
Day 19: Cicely Tyson
Day 20: Brian Donlevy
Day 21: Henry Fonda
Day 22: Joan Collins

Day 23: Clarence Muse

Day 24: Omar Sharif

Day 25: Rod Taylor

Day 26: Dorothy Dandridge

Day 27: Lew Ayres

Day 28: Linda Darnell

Day 29: Maidie Norman

Day 30: Dean Stockwell

Day 31: Yvonne de Carlo
 

 

[speedracer5]

Mine I'm sure would raise complaints of too many of the same old same old if my schedule were put into fruition; but I don't care, I love these people and want to see more of their films.  I don't know if SUTS ever includes a day of a particular director's films, if so, I would perhaps sub out some people and sub in some directors, like:

 

Alfred Hitchcock

Michael Curtiz

Howard Hawkes

John Huston

William Wyler

Billy Wilder

Orson Welles

Frank Capra

Fritz Lang

George Cukor

Preston Sturges

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Vincente Minnelli

 

1 Errol Flynn
2 William Holden
3 Lucille Ball
4 Rosalind Russell
5 Bette Davis
6 Natalie Wood
7 Rita Hayworth
8 Olivia de Havilland
9 Joan Fontaine
10 Claudette Colbert
11 Paul Newman
12 Barbara Stanwyck
13 Jean Arthur
14 Myrna Loy
15 Clark Gable
16 Katharine Hepburn
17 Audrey Hepburn
18 Eleanor Parker
19 Jack Lemmon
20 Alexis Smith
21 Marjorie Main
22 Vincent Price
23 Edward G Robinson
24 Gene Tierney
25 George Sanders
26 Burt Lancaster
27 Grace Kelly
28 Claude Rains
29 Raymond Massey
30 SZ Sakall
31 Peter Lorre
 

[SableGamine]

Oh, and Rosalind Russell.  I'd add her in ANYWHERE.

 

[BasilBruce]

1. Dana Andrews

2. Gene Tierney

3. Robert Walker

4. Gail Russell

5. Basil Rathbone

6. Greer Garson

7. Joel Mcrea

8. Jean Simmons

9. Superman

10. Ruth Hussey

11. Tyrone Power

12. Jennifer Jones

13. CharLton Heston

14. Angela Lansbury

15. Albert Finney

16. Frances Farmer

17. Linda Darnell

18. Ronald Coleman

19. Sean Connery

20. Joan Fontaine

21. James Bond

22. William Powell

23. Ann Southern

24. Sandra Dee

25. Randolph Scott

26. Irene Dunne

27. Gail Patrick

28. Peter Falk

29. Leslie Neilson

30. John Saxon

31. Bobby Darin

[AndyM108]

In no particular order, these are the first 31 stars whose names would pop into my head if this were the first SUTS month ever.  IOW starting from scratch, in alphabetical order:

 

1. Edward Arnold

2. Lon Chaney

3. Ricardo Cortez

4. Joan Crawford

5. Bette Davis

 

6. Judy Davis

7. Alain Delon

8. Robert DeNiro

9. Richard Dix

10. Kirk Douglas (but no Bible epics)

 

11. Glenn Ford

12. Jean Gabin

13. Jean Harlow

14. Susan Hayward

15. Burt Lancaster

 

16. Laurel & Hardy

17. Ida Lupino

18. Toshiro Mifune

19. Robert Mitchum

20. Jeanne Moreau

 

21. Al Pacino

22. William Powell & Myrna Loy together

23. Edward G. Robinson

24. Rosalind Russell

25. Robert Ryan

 

26. George Sanders

27. Lizabeth Scott

28. Barbara Stanwyck

29. Lana Turner

30. Richard Widmark

 

31. Warren William

 

Biggest feature:  Lots and lots and lots of premieres, and the appearance of several stars who seldom get a lot of TCM play during the rest of the year.  As always, the great majority of the stars peaked in their careers between the 1930's and 1950's, keeping with the main focus of the network. 

 

The main change from the usual SUTS lineup would be the inclusion of five foreign stars (Judy Davis, Delon, Gabin, Mifune, Moreau) instead of the usual one, but since these five are universally acknowledged to be among the greatest actors of all time, there shouldn't be too much room for complaint.

 

Of course in order to pay for all the necessary rights and licensing, we'd have to tax the upper 1% an extra .01% off the top, but for such a good cause I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

[SableGamine]

Honorable mentions (just in case three more days were added to August, y'know):

 

Rosalind Russell (go brunettes!)

James Darren

Richard Egan

[AndyM108]

I don't know if SUTS ever includes a day of a particular director's films, if so, I would perhaps sub out some people and sub in some directors, like:

 

Alfred Hitchcock

Michael Curtiz

Howard Hawkes

John Huston

William Wyler

Billy Wilder

Orson Welles

Frank Capra

Fritz Lang

George Cukor

Preston Sturges

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Vincente Minnelli

 

 

I thought about that myself, though since I usually don't classify movies by directors, it'd be a harder list to make.

 

That said, I'd definitely like to see days devoted to these thirteen directors, at minimum:
 

Vittorio De Sica

Howard Hawkes

Alfred Hitchcock

Akiro Kurosawa

Fritz Lang

Oscar Micheaux

Yasujirō Ozu

G. W. Pabst

Eric Rohmer

Roberto Rossellini

Martin Scorsese

Francois Truffaut

Billy Wilder

 

And probably some more, if only I knew which films some of these others directed.  When I think of Hollywood movies, I think of the lead actors first, not the directors.

[SableGamine]

One change that I would make is to structure the entire month, or week, around different themes.  For example, devote one week to character actors, another to child stars, another to performers in niche films such as westerns or race films, etc.

 

[AndyM108]

Oh, and Rosalind Russell.  I'd add her in ANYWHERE.

 

Well, if I weren't happily married and Rosalind Russell wasn't dead, I'd run away with her to some long lost balcony in an abandoned Manhattan movie palace.  If ever I think of the perfect woman in a single movie, I think of Rosalind Russell in Roughly Speaking, where she's the absolute embodiment of human solidarity.

[SableGamine]

I know that Gregory Peck has had his fair share of rotation, but I just can't resist adding him in again.  As soon as he turned those gorgeous eyes at me and started talking, I'd turn to mush and start ordering wedding dresses.  (Sigh) 

 

[speedracer5]

Oh, and Rosalind Russell.  I'd add her in ANYWHERE.

 

Well, if I weren't happily married and Rosalind Russell wasn't dead, I'd run away with her to some long lost balcony in an abandoned Manhattan movie palace.  If ever I think of the perfect woman in a single movie, I think of Rosalind Russell in Roughly Speaking, where she's the absolute embodiment of human solidarity.

That sounds just like me except sub Errol Flynn for Rosalind Russell!  His appearance in Gentleman Jim is perfection to me. 

 

I love Rosalind Russell though.  I wish I could say I've seen tons of her films; but I haven't.  I love the persona that she conveys in her films.  She was great in The Women, Four's a Crowd and His Girl Friday.  One of my favorite performances of hers is in Picnic.  It's a semi-departure from her usual screen personality; but she was fantastic.  I also loved her in Gypsy. 

[SableGamine]

After going though these lists (which are awesome, by the way) I've noticed something; everyone has at least five stars in their lineup who are vastly underrated, who we'd like to see more of.  

 

[SableGamine]

Oooh! I just thought of another honorable mention:

 

Noble Johnson.  (You've probably seen him a thousand times without realizing who he is.)

 

 

[speedracer5]

I know that Gregory Peck has had his fair share of rotation, but I just can't resist adding him in again.  As soon as he turned those gorgeous eyes at me and started talking, I'd turn to mush and start ordering wedding dresses.  (Sigh) 

Gregory Peck is someone I'd like to see more as well.  He's really attractive, although I don't know if in real life, I could be with someone with such a deep voice.  It kind of freaks me out in a way.  I don't know why.  However, of the Peck films I've seen, he's excellent.  I still haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird.  I did read the book in 9th grade and enjoyed it, I'd like to see how the film plays out.  I also enjoyed him in Roman Holiday, Arabesque, Designing Woman, and Spellbound. I'd like to see more of his westerns and war films.

 

The more and more I comment on these boards, the more I realize that I haven't seen anything! It seems in 75% of my posts, I'm discussing a star that I recently "discovered" or at least had seen them in some film, and I've been stating my intention to seek out more of their films in the future.  It seems I only have a handful of stars whom I've seen a large portion of their work (Humphrey Bogart, Gene Kelly, Errol Flynn, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn...).  Oh well, I guess that's one of the benefits of being a member of these boards-- they're so educational!

[Kay]

1. John Barrymore

2. Charles Laughton

3. Jack Oakie

4. Susan Hayward

5. Robert Shaw

6. Walter Huston

7. Simone Signoret

8. Jack Buchanan

9. Fredric March

10. Sylvia Sidney

11. Robert Donat

12. Lee Marvin

13. Mary Astor

14. Ralph Richardson

15. Harry Langdon

16. Brian Donlevy

17. Gloria Swanson

18. James Cagney

19. Roland Young

20. Omar Sharif

21. Jack La Rue

22. Janet Gaynor

23. George Sanders

24. Jack Palance

25. Anna Magnani

26. Dan Duryea

27. James Whitmore

28. Conrad Veidt

29. Robert Mitchum

30. Alec Guinness

31. Red Skelton

 

Pretty biased list here, definitely not balanced. I see that I added a lot of silent actors, English character players, tough guys, and people named "Jack." Oh well, this thread is for hopes.

 

By the way, I think I support the idea of directors honored during SUTS. That would be a great way to mix it up during that month.

[sewhite2000]

This thread concept has been done at least once before a few years ago, and I participated. I'm too lazy to try to search for it to see if it still exists on the new message boards. All I really remember about my list was that I had like 22 men and nine women, so I tried to compensate a bit for that imbalance by putting all the women together in the middle of the month, so you would have nine straight days of female SUTS honorees. Also, I remember I made Brad Pitt one of my selections, which prompted at least one "highly unlikely that will ever happen" reply. I also sprinkled in a few people who were more character actors than stars, per se ... I think Barry Fitzgerald and Adolphe Menjou were among my selections. But I certainly don't remember all 31 of my picks.

 

So ... I will just start over from scratch. This is a fun game that can be played many times.

 

1 Jodie Foster

2 John Wayne

3 Edward G. Robinson

4 Jack Nicholson

5 Albert Basserman

6 Cary Grant

7 Barbara Streisand

8 Peter Sellers

9 Frederic March

10 James Stewart

11 Warren Beatty

12 Gary Cooper

13 Clark Gable

14 Robert Alda

15 William Holden

16 Dustin Hoffman

17 Jack Lemmon

18 Henry Fonda

19 Judy Holliday

20 Fred Astaire

21 Audrey Hepburn

22 Rod Taylor

23 Judy Davis

24 Humphrey Bogart

25 Meryl Streep

26 Mae West

27 Merle Oberon

28 Zero Mostel

29 Woody Allen

30 Marlon Brando

31 Montgomery Clift

 

I tried to mix up some people who get a SUTS practically every year or every other year but still have a large variety of films from which to choose (Wayne, Grant, Cooper, Gable, Stewart, Astaire, Fonda, Bogie) with some fairly offbeat choices. A few notes on my thinking process:

 

1) Albert Basserman and Robert Alda are two actors whom I've only ever seen in about three movies each, but presuming they have big enough bodies of work to fill up a SUTS day, then educate me, TCM! Let me learn what other films they've ever done.

 

2) If we're getting modern enough to have Jane Fonda and Faye Dunnaway days, then we have Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Jodie Foster and Meryl Streep days. Yes, we can.

 

3) Wow, a Judy Davis day. I'm already thinking of MY BRILLIANT CAREER, A PASSAGE TO INDIA, BARTON FINK, HUSBANDS & WIVES and ... um ... THE REF? Well, she's a great actress, and if we could get 10 or 12 of her best films together, I'm in.

 

4) The recent Mae West night inspired me to include her. Again, I really don't how many movies she ever made, but hopefully there's enough.

 

5) Again, I slight the ladies - 24 dudes, 7 chicks. Sorry for my chauvinism. Male names just seem to pop into my head more quickly than female ones.

 

6) Zero Mostel, I pretty much only know from THE PRODUCERS and THE FRONT, but apparently he had a highly successful pre-blacklist career. Let's see some of those films.

 

7) Woody Allen as an actor ... why not? As a change of pace, we could try to put in as many non-Allen-directed films as possible. WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?, THE FRONT, SCENES FROM A MALL, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM ... heck, even ANTZ, but that's probably dreaming.

 

8) And we'll close out with back-to-back days from Method acting powerhouses who transformed performing in the movies.

[hepclassic]

Day 1: Katharine Hepburn- feature her underrecognized films with her recognized. 

Day 2: Bette Davis- highlight her Pre-Codes a bit with her later work from the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Day 3: Luise Rainer- with the TCM premiere of 1997's The Gambler.

Day 4: Dorothy Dandridge- starting with 1937's A Day at the Races until 1960's Tamango

Day 5: Spencer Tracy

Day 6: William Holden

Day 7: Glenda Jackson

Day 8: Nina Mae McKinney- including her British films she made with Paul Robeson, and the short The Black Network

Day 9: Anna May Wong

Day 10: Fredric March

Day 11: Mae West

Day 12: Ruby Dee- she needs a day, I don't think she has ever been included in the list before

Day 13: Ossie Davis- include films he directed as well.

Day 14: Charles Laughton

Day 15: Elizabeth Taylor

Day 16: Spencer Williams- films as well as films he directed

Day 17: Ida Lupino- Films she appeared in as well as directed

Day 18 : Laurence Olivier

Day 19: Vivien Leigh

Day 20: Theresa Harris

Day 21: Barbara Stanwyck

Day 22: Maximilian Schell

Day 23: Dorothy McGuire

Day 24: Diahann Carroll

Day 25: Joan Fontaine

Day 26: Diana Sands

Day 27: Rex Ingram - actor not director

Day 28: Maureen O'Hara

Day 29: Gregory Peck

Day 30: Herb Jeffries- films and shorts

Day 31: Sessue Hayakawa

 

A diverse selection, but I think TCM should diversify their selections a bit and balance the familiar with the under-recognized. Summer Under The Stars can still be educational, but let's take it up a notch and include more. 

[SableGamine]

These are great to look at, everyone; keep them coming!

 

Another interesting idea would be to structure the month around composers. Just like performers, each composer has a signature. Wouldn't it be great to have a Miklos Rozsa day?

[ElCid]

Mine would be NO SUTS at all!

[SableGamine]

Mine would be NO SUTS at all!

Why? You don't like the summer lineup? Or do you feel that they should be SOTM versus getting one day?

[SableGamine]

Gregory Peck is someone I'd like to see more as well.  He's really attractive, although I don't know if in real life, I could be with someone with such a deep voice.  It kind of freaks me out in a way.  I don't know why.  However, of the Peck films I've seen, he's excellent.  I still haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird.  I did read the book in 9th grade and enjoyed it, I'd like to see how the film plays out.  I also enjoyed him in Roman Holiday, Arabesque, Designing Woman, and Spellbound. I'd like to see more of his westerns and war films.

 

The more and more I comment on these boards, the more I realize that I haven't seen anything! It seems in 75% of my posts, I'm discussing a star that I recently "discovered" or at least had seen them in some film, and I've been stating my intention to seek out more of their films in the future.  It seems I only have a handful of stars whom I've seen a large portion of their work (Humphrey Bogart, Gene Kelly, Errol Flynn, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn...).  Oh well, I guess that's one of the benefits of being a member of these boards-- they're so educational!

That's the wonderful thing about TCM ; you always discover something new. Even stars whom you're familiar with have at least two obscure films that don't get a lot of airplay. And it's wonderful to be able to share with others; I'm glad that you're enjoying the ride!

[hepclassic]

I hate to say this but there would not be enough films for a Mae West day. Even if one threw in Myra Breckenridge and Sexette (both of which sadly to say are botches), one would only come up with about 18 hours of Mae.

Well, I guess we'd have to include them to make a full day, won't we? 

[newclassicfilmfan1]

My choices:

 

1. Marlon Brando

2. William Holden

3. Vic Morrow

4. James Dean - his 3 films and also some tv guest starring roles he had

5. Edward G. Robinson

6. John Garfield

7. Bette Davis

8. Vivien Leigh

9. Jimmy Cagney

10. Richard Basehart

11. Montgomery Clift

12. Richard Widmark

13. Glenn Ford

14. James Garner

15.  Eli Wallach

16. Dana Andrews

17. James Stewart

18. Humphrey Bogart

19. Steve McQueen

20. William Lundigan

21. Ralph Meeker

22. Peter Sellers

23. Frank Sinatra

24. Burt Lancaster

25. Eva Marie Saint

26. Judy Garland

27. Al Pacino

28. Gary Cooper

29. Robert Taylor

30. Tyrone Power

31. Karl Malden

[ElCid]

Why? You don't like the summer lineup? Or do you feel that they should be SOTM versus getting one day?

SOTM is better.  As I have posted elsewhere, I do not like 24 hours being devoted to one person.  I like the variety of having different actors, genres, etc.  There are some actors I just do not like and that blocks out a whole day of movies.  

Another factor is that if one actor is featured in movie after movie after movie after movie, it confuses the characters and plots of each movie.  You are no longer watching movies, you are watching one person.