As summer TV winds down, Turner Classic Movies adds some starpower.
That’s its annual “Summer Under the Stars.” Each day in August focuses on the films — usually the best ones — from one actor.
Some of these stars still have strong followings. This opens with Doris Day (shown here) and Humphrey Bogart. One stretch (Aug. 14-16) has Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood and Cary Grant; two days later, it’s Robert Redford. John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn are back-to-back on Aug. 22-23, James Stewart and Bette Davis on Aug. 26-27. Scattered around are Steve McQueen (Aug. 8), Groucho Marx (Aug. 12) and Marlon Brando (Aug. 20).
And others? Well, when was the last time you had a spirited discussion about Marie Windsor, Dana Andrews, Bonita Granville or Basil Rathbone?
That’s the beauty of TCM, delivering both the eternal and the now-obscure. Some stars re-appear on many Augusts, but this will be the first time for Joan Bennett (Aug. 6), George Hamilton (Aug. 10), Windsor (Aug. 21), Granville (Aug. 25) and Brock Peters (Aug. 28).
The broad range is shown quickly, with the opening weekend — Doris Day on Saturday, Aug. 1, Humphrey Bogart on Sunday, Aug. 2.
Day and Bogart? One was bright and sunny, one dark and deep. One sang that “whatever will be will be,” the other kept asking for the song about time going by.
In the American Film Institute’s list of all-time best movies, Bogart has three of the top 40. “Casablanca” (No. 3) is at noon ET Aug. 2; the others — “The Maltese Falcon” (No. 31) and The Treasure of Sierra Madre” (No. 38) — are for another time. For the AFI ‘s top-25 actors and actresses, he and Katharine Hepburn have the No. 1 spots. Day, of course, is absent from such lists.
Still, don’t count her out. Like many actors, she covered a huge range.
Yes, Day made lots of bland comedies. One of them, the 1960 “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” gets a prime slot at 6 p.m. ET Aug. 1. Many others, in the 1960s, are logically omitted.
But there are also some sharp comedies. Prime examples on Aug. 1 are “Teacher’s Pet” (1958) at 3:45 p.m., and “Lover Come Back” (1962) at 8.
In the first one, she teaches journalism, unaware that a prominent editor (Clark Gable) is one of the students. In the second, she’s competing with an ad executive (Rock Hudson).
Both films have smart, Oscar-nominated scripts and good supporting roles. There was an Oscar nomination for Gig Young in “Pet,” a Golden Globe nomination for Tony Randall in “Lover.”
And after those comedies on Aug. 1, we see Day in some surprisingly serious (albeit less-praised) films. At 10 p,m. is “Midnight Lace” (1960), a murder mystery with Rex Harrison; at midnight, she’s with James Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of his own “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
Yes, that’s Doris Day with classy actors and a great director. Anything is possible, when you glide through movie history.
Here are the month’s stars, followed by the specifics for Day and Bogart:
DAILY STARS (each for 24 hours, starting at 6 a.m. ET):
— Aug. 1, Doris Day; 2, Humphrey Bogart; 3, June Allyson; 4, Glenn Ford; 5, Joan Bennett; 6, Diane Keaton; 7, Basil Rathbone; 8, Steve McQueen; 9, Gene Tierney; 10, George Hamilton.
— Aug. 11: Barbara Stanwyck; 12, Groucho Marx; 13, Susan Hayward; 14, Jack Lemmon; 15, Natalie Wood; 16, Cary Grant; 17, Rosalind Russell; 18, Robert Redford; 19, Hattie McDaniel; 20, Marlon Brando.
— Aug. 21, Marie Windsor; 22, John Wayne; 23, Katharine Hepburn; 24, Dana Andrews; 25, Bonita Granville; 26, James Stewart; 27, Bette Davis; 28, Brock Peters; 29, Rita Hayworth; 30, Joel McCrea; 31, Ava Gardner.
DORIS DAY (Aug. 1)
— “Romance on the High Seas” (1948), 6 a.m. ET; “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1953), 7:45; “The Ballad of Josie” (1967), 9:30; “Calamity Jane” (1953), 11:30.
— “Love Me or Leave Me” (1955), 1:30 p.m.; “Teacher’s Pet” (1958), 3:45; “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” (1960), 6; “Lover Come Back” (1962), 8; “Midnight Lace” (1960), 10.
— “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956), midnight; “Storm Warning” (1951), 2:15 a.m.; “April in Paris” (1952), 4.
HUMPHREY BOGART (Aug. 2)
— “Kid Galahad” (1937), 6 a.m. ET; “Dark Victory” (1939), 8; “Across the Pacific” (1942), 10.
— “Casablanca” (1942), noon; “Beat the Devil” (1953), 2 p.m.; “We’re No Angels” (1955), 4; “The Big Sleep” (1946), 6; “Knock on Any Door” (1949), 8; “The Harder They Fall” (1956), 10.
— “Dead Reckoning” (1947), Midnight; “Dark Passage” (1947), 2 a.m. ; “China Clipper” (1936), 4.