Okay, let’s face it. I am super behind on this month’s post. So some of these films are already playing (or not) on TCM on Demand.
STAR OF THE MONTH: DOROTHY DANDRIDGE (SUNDAYS IN SEPTEMBER)
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The first African-American women to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar becomes Star of the Month for the first time with eight films co-hosted by Ben Mankiewicz and Dandridge’s biographer and friend of TCM Donald Bogle.
Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio to actress Ruby Dandridge who separated from her husband before Dorothy’s birth. Ruby eventually took Dorothy and older sister Vivian to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune. In 1934, Vivian, Dorothy, and another girl, Etta Jones formed a trio called The Dandridge Sisters. They attracted major attention which led to gigs in New York and L.A. The trio disbanded in the early 1940s. Dandridge started a solo career and toured with the tap dancing duo The Nicholas Brothers. The three appeared in the Sonja Henie musical Sun Valley Serenade performing the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” which was nominated for Best Song at the Oscars. You don’t have to watch the film. Here is their number.
She married Harold Nicholas in 1942 and their daughter Lynn was born the following year. Sadly, due to the loss of oxygen at birth, little Lynn was mentally challenged and needed round-the-clock care. Dandridge and Nicholas divorced in 1949.
Dorothy appeared in minor roles including a Tarzan film called Tarzan’s Peril (September 20 @ 10PM/9PM) and The Harlem Globetrotters (September 20 @ 11:30PM/10:30PM). She finally had a starring role in the MGM drama Bright Road which was also the film debut of Harry Belafonte. Then came a national casting call for the title role in Carmen Jones, a modern take on the Bizet opera Carmen which would take place at at WWII plant and featuring an all-black cast. Dorothy heavily campaigned for the role, but director Otto Preminger thought Dandridge was too classy and sophisticated to play the sultry Carmen. She showed him that she could be a seductress and landed the part. Because of the operatic nature of the movie, Dandridge and Belafonte were dubbed. Critics praised Dorothy’s performance which culminated in being nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars. She signed a three-picture deal with 20th Century Fox but roles were hard to come by. Following turning down the role of Tuptim in The King and I (which went to Rita Moreno), Dorothy would not return to the big screen until 1957 with Island in the Sun (September 27 @ 8PM/7PM) where her character would have an affair with-GASP-a white guy!!! (This is me attempting sarcasm, people.) Dorothy continued making sporadic appearances in some films like Tamango (September 20 @ 8PM/7PM) and The Decks Ran Red (September 27 @ 10:15PM/9:15PM).
By 1963, Dorothy’s career was in decline and she was seriously in debt. She had to put her daughter in a state-run institution and later suffered a nervous breakdown. She died of an overdose in 1965.
WOMEN MAKE FILM (TUESDAYS IN SEPTEMBER)
I decided to create a separate post for this monumental event.
TCM SPOTLIGHT: HONORING OUR MEDICAL HEROES (THURSDAYS IN SEPTEMBER)
TCM honors our front-line workers with a festival of the people who sacrifice every day to help others. Films on demand currently include Sister Kenny, The Doctor and the Girl, The Story of Dr. Wassell, People Will Talk, Dark Victory,The Citadel, and Dark Victory. Coming up on the 24th is Young Dr. Kildare, The Girl in White, The Hospital and No Way Out.
THE ESSENTIALS (SATURDAYS IN SEPTEMBER)
Only one new Essential this month on September 12; the poster boy for film noir, Out of the Past, starring Robert Mitchum as the chump and Jane Greer as one of the most evil femme fatales ever put on the silver screen. The rest are reruns of Buster Keaton’s magnum opus The General on September 19 and the film that made little girls want to become ballerinas, The Red Shoes on September 26. Check out the trailer for Out of the Past below:
NOIR ALLEY
This month’s lineup starts with the 1946 noir Night Editor airing only on Sunday morning due to the End of Summer Tour festival over Labor Day weekend. Followed by Danger Signal (September 12 & 13), the iconic Rita Hayworth film Gilda (September 19 & 20), and Robert Young cast against type in They Won’t Believe Me (September 26 & 27).
THE END OF SUMMER TOUR (SEPTEMBER 4-7)
TCM has a special treat for the Labor Day weekend with a three-day batch of concert films and rock documentaries. Films still available on Demand are D.A. Pennbaker’s Monterey Pop and the separate Jimi Hendrix set Jimi Plays Monterey, another Hendrix doc entitled simply Jimi Hendrix, the folk documentary Festival, a tribute to Cuban music legend Miguel Del Morales, Cuba Feliz, the Led Zepplin doc The Song Remains the Same, the 1970 Elvis doc Elvis: That ‘s the Way It Is, and The Who documentary The Kids are Alright.
LEONARD MALTIN’S SHORT-FILM SHOWCASE (SEPTEMBER 14)
Friend of TCM Leonard Maltin returns to co-host a night of short films (the You Tube videos of their day) which would play before the start of a film. Over 36 shorts will air tonight including the Oscar-winning How to Sleep
MICKEY ROONEY CENTENNIAL (SEPTEMBER 23)
Cary Grant once said he thought the most talented person in the history of movies was Mickey Rooney. The 2020s will be the first decade since the mid-1920s without a Mickey Rooney performance. That’s 9.5 decades of performances!
Mickey was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 to vaudevillians Joe Yule Sr. and Nellie Carter Yule. The Yules were appearing in a show in Brooklyn when little Joe was born. The tyke was performing onstage with his parent by the time he was 17 months old. The Yules split when Mickey was four and the following year mother and son were on their way to Hollywood. Little Mickey Rooney made his screen debut at the age of six. Nellie saw a casting call for a child to play the role of “Mickey McGuire” for a series of film shorts. Mickey attempted to change his name to Mickey McGuire but was met with a lawsuit. Therefore, that’s how “Mickey Rooney” was born. In the early 1930s ‘”the Mick” had small roles in The Beast of the City and Manhattan Melodrama. He played Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Life changed dramatically in 1937 when Rooney was selected to play Andy Hardy in the B-movie A Family Affair. The film was an unexpected smash hit and fourteen films followed, all but one between 1937 and 1946. The Andy Hardy films will be represented by Life Begins for Andy Hardy (12:15PM/11:15AM) aka the dark Andy Hardy film. He made 10 films with Judy Garland including Girl Crazy (2PM/1PM). Rooney held his own with Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (8PM/7PM). Mickey was nominated twice for the Best Actor Oscar, Babes in Arms in 1939 and The Human Comedy (9:45PM/8:45PM) in 1943.
Rooney was on top of the world in the late 1930s and the early 1940s. After he returned from military service, the roles began to dry up. He had some good roles like in the boxing drama Killer McCoy (4:30AM/3:30AM). He began to switch to character roles culminating in a Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Black Stallion (midnight/11PM) in 1979. Rooney kept working until his death in April 2014.
30 YEARS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (SEPTEMBER 30)
TCM celebrates the 30th anniversary of the civil rights law which ensures that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. Guest host is Lawrence Carter-Long who is the Director of Communications for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. The films airing tonight include the Oscar-winner for Best Picture of 1938 You Can’t Take it with You (8PM/7PM) starring Lionel Barrymore who was on crutches for his crippling arthritis which would soon put him in a wheelchair. He would continue acting until his death in 1954. Next is the ensemble piece Ship of Fools (10:30PM/9:30PM) where dwarf Michael Dunn received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, the documentary Titicut Follies (1:15AM/12:15AM), and the noir The Sign of the Ram (3AM/2AM) the first film actress Susan Peters made after being paralyzed from the waist down due to a hunting accident.
Mariah's Musings 