Before we begin, my apologies for the Friday weekend edition running a day late. There was an issue with the service I use (MadMimi) and the newsletter didn’t send until about 10:30 Saturday morning. I’ve been told that’s when the problem was fixed and that it should be smooth sailing going forward. Assuming it is, you should receive this Monday morning, just after 7:00 am ET. Once again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Born on this date: William Christie Miller in 1843; Hugh Herbert in 1884; Sam Warner in 1887; Henry O’Neill in 1891; Alan Crosland in 1894; Edith Johnson in 1894; Harry Richman in 1895; Walter Lang in 1896; Jack Haley in 1897; Norma Shearer in 1902; Curt Siodmak in 1902; Wesley Barry in 1907; Alexander D’Arcy in 1908; Noah Beery Jr. in 1913; Rhonda Fleming in 1923; and Martha Hyer in 1924.
All links lead to each actor’s IMDb page, set to open in a new tab.
Classic Movie Daily subscribers will find three images of Norma Shearer towards the bottom of today’s issue, plus a few smaller “birthday” pics at the bottom of this page. The rest of the issue is all Joan Crawford, today’s featured star on Turner Classic Movies.
TCM TV Alerts through tomorrow at 7 am:
These titles play on TCM’s US schedule and all quoted times are for my own local Eastern time zone.
—Monday, TCM Summer Under the Stars, Joan Crawford day (TCM.com link).
Following The Unknown (1927), which is winding down as I send this, here’s how the rest of the day goes:
- 7:15 am – West Point (1928), silent film starring William Haines.
- 9:00 am – Our Dancing Daughters (1928), classic silent featuring Joan and Anita Page.
- 10:30 am – Dancing Lady (1933) with Crawford and Clark Gable. Made all the more fun by debut of Fred Astaire and appearance of The Three Stooges.
- 12:15 pm – Sadie McKee (1934) – Lightning Review inside today’s mailing.
- 2:00 pm – Forsaking All Others (1934), with Gable and Robert Montgomery.
- 3:30 pm – The Women (1939) – Classic provides good excuse to celebrate Norma Shearer’s birthday!
- 6:00 pm – Strange Cargo (1940), with Gable again, plus Ian Hunter, Peter Lorre, and others.
- 8:00 pm – Possessed (1947), with Van Heflin and Raymond Massey (just in case you didn’t get enough this weekend!)
- 10:00 pm – Flamingo Road (1949), with Zachary Scott, David Brian, and Sydney Greenstreet.
- 11:45 pm – The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)
- 1:45 am – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
- 4:15 am – Trog (1970)
Probably not a surprise since I gave it the lightning treatment, but Sadie McKee is my personal pick of this bunch. I like Dancing Lady a lot too.
—6:00 am, Rex Ingram Summer Under the Stars (TCM.com link) begins with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955).
Cliff’s Note
—Two “Lightning Reviews” inside today’s issue. I had recorded Sadie McKee during a past Joan Crawford day on TCM, so after it ended I kept watching the next feature on my disc, which turned out to be The Shining Hour (1938). I wound up covering both titles.
—I’m not quite sure what I was browsing for, but I bumped into a new Universal Vault Series DVD-R release that got me excited the other night: Josef von Sternberg’s An American Tragedy (1931) starring Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, and Frances Dee. Looks like it just came out in July. This 1931 movie is my preferred version of the Theodore Dreiser novel which was adapted later to greater acclaim as A Place in the Sun (1951).
—Here’s my Hugh Herbert biography in case you were looking for a little reading material to mark his birthday. It will keep you busy for awhile!
—I’m probably going to skip tomorrow’s issue to spend some time scanning items I need to list for sale. I’ll definitely be back Wednesday, I’ll talk to you then —
Have a great day,
Cliff
Above: Edith Johnson
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