More On Tracey's Turner Classic Movies Episode

Tracey's TMC movie picks revealed. Watch Tracey host Turner Classic Movies, November 17, 2007.

Guest Programmer Month at TCM

This is kind of a nice month on Turner Classic Movies, since my beloved “best channel ever” is devoting every night of November to the guest programming of various well-known folk. It could have been a dud, I know, but luckily only three of the thirty celebrities fall into the “Who cares?” category (those would be Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and … Kermit the Frog). One can also quibble with the fact that a great deal of the movies chosen happen to be the same movies that TCM already plays all the time, ad infinitum.

For the most part, however, an eclectic array for both guests and films are in the offering this month. My personal favorite might be the playwright Charles Busch on November 8th, who picked a variety of overlooked leading lady performances which include Norma Shearer in Escape, Joan Crawford in A Woman’s Face, and Ida Lupino in The Hard Way. Although I’ve seen all three films, it might be worth tuning in just to see what Busch has to say. Crime fiction author James Ellroy has a bunch of cool noirs to share on the 13th, and I found it interesting that Matt Groening selected the wonderful 1941 Warner Bros. melodrama Blues in the Night to show on his night (11/14). Tracey Ullman’s offerings on the 17th include a few lesser-known British films and the eccentric Peter Sellers vehicle The World of Henry Orient (in which he plays a famous pianist hounded by two persistent teenage girls), which makes me love her all the more. Finally I also have to laud opera’s Renee Fleming for doing a night of classical music-themed romances on the 19th, and Mark Mothersbaugh for including the groovy combo of Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits and the cheese-o-rama Hot Rods to Hell on his night of the 29th. Guess I’ll have to set the TiVo for overtime.

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