A short list of stars + days worth checking out during TCM’s “Summer under the Stars”

• Saturday, August 14 - Gene Tierney. One of the most unsung Hollywood actresses. The Shanghai Gesture at 1 PM is a rare screening, and if you’ve never seen Leave Her to Heaven (8 PM), do so.
• Friday, August 20 - Katharine Hepburn. But of course. Christopher Strong (7:30 AM) is interesting for its portrayal of a female pilot in the early 1930s (also directed by a woman). You can’t go wrong with Woman of the Year, the first Tracy/Hepburn film (8 PM).
• Saturday, August 21 - Paul Newman. It’s hard to find a bad one in this list. I have a soft spot for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1:45 PM), the first film I ever saw him in.
• Monday, August 30 - Thelma Todd. One of the most engaging of the early Hollywood actresses, whose life and career were cut short. Her appearances with the Marx Brothers in Monkey Business and Horse Feathers start at 8 PM.

Preserving the Golden Age

We’re extraordinarily lucky that technology progressed to the point where we could so easily capture and share the stories and legends of mid-century movie stars in those stars’ own words before they’ve all faded away. TCM is the primary instrument of this, with their interview series that they release uncut in audio podcast form. The most recent edition, with Debbie Reynolds, is delightful. The Creative Screenwriting podcast also recently recorded and released a discussion between Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau at the TCM film festival screening of North by Northwest. It’s beautiful to hear reminisces of being directed by Hitchcock or given dancing instruction by Gene Kelly by the performers themselves, and how fortunate we are that we can now hear them ourselves.