TCM hosts Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 22 and Raquel Welch on April 1

By April MacIntyre Mar 4, 2010, 20:57 GMT

Raquel Welch and Robert Osborne of TCM, courtesy of TCM

Turner Classic Movies will have two special guest programmers, Hoops legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 22 and screen siren (still!) Raquel Welch on April 1.

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and actress-businesswoman Raquel Welch are coming to TCM this spring to present a collection of favorite films in two new editions of the network’s guest programmer series. 

Abdul-Jabbar will join host Robert Osborne to discuss four of his favorite films on Monday, March 22, while Welch will join Osborne for four picks of her own on Thursday, April 1.

In this fun film event, TCM invites a celebrity to exchange star status for a role as a devoted fan of classic film by picking a few favorite movies and sharing with viewers what he or she has come to love about each one.

Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorerm and since retiring from basketball, Abdul-Jabbar has been an outstanding coach and bestselling author.  He also achieved success as an actor in such films as Bruce Lee’s last film, Game of Death (1978), and the comedy blockbuster Airplane! (1980).

The following is a schedule for Abdul-Jabbar’s Monday, March 22, stint in the programmer’s chair (all times shown are Eastern):

8 p.m.  The Big Sleep (1946) – Humphrey Bogart stars as Raymond Chandler’s classic detective Philip Marlowe, who becomes involved with a socialite, played by Lauren Bacall.  Howard Hawks provides the crisp direction in this highly entertaining thriller.

10 p.m. The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Bogart is Dashiell Hammett’s private eye Sam Spade in this quintessential film noir from director John Huston.  Mary Astor is the woman who comes to Spade to help in a case involving a priceless statue.  Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-star.

Midnight        The Shootist (1976) – John Wayne’s last film casts him as a gunslinger who tries to live out his last days in peace after learning he has cancer.  But his past continues to bring havoc.  Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard and such veteran stars as James Stewart, Richard Boone, John Carradine, Henry Morgan and Scatman Corothers co-star in this intelligent western from director Don Siegel.

2 a.m.  Stagecoach (1939) – Wayne became a star with this John Ford classic about a fateful stagecoach journey.  Part character study, part action adventure, this American masterpiece co-stars Andy Devine, John Carradine and, in an OscarÒ-winning performance, Thomas Mitchell.

Welch, 70, is one of cinema’s most iconic actresses.  Still a stunning woman, she her feature film career with the beach film A House is Not a Home (1964) and later achieved stardom with the sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage (1966). 

When Fox loaned her out to Hammer Studios for One Million Years B.C. (1966), the promotional photo of Welch in a fur bikini became one of the most popular pinup posters of the decade. 

Welch’s success continued with such movies as Bedazzled (1967), Bandolero! (1968), Lady in Cement (1968) and The Three Musketeers (1973), the latter earning her a Golden Globe.  Welch has received tremendous acclaim for her television work, including the 1970 TV special Raquel!; such television movies as The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982) and Right to Die (1987); and the series American Family.  She also starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and in her own show in Las Vegas.

Welch’s new book, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, will be published on April 1, 2010.  Her signature wig line is one of the biggest selling in the world and in 2007 she was face of MAC Cosmetics Beauty Icon series.  Welch was just named one of this year’s “10 Who Inspire” by AARP Magazine.

The following are the films Welch has chosen for Thursday, April 1:

8 p.m.  Adam’s Rib (1949) – This fourth pairing of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy casts them as lawyers working on opposite sides of an attempted-murder case.  The hilarious script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin is one of Hollywood’s best examples of a battle of the sexes.  Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne and Jean Hagen co-star under the direction of George Cukor.

10 p.m. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – One of Frank Capra’s most beloved films, this slice of Americana stars Jimmy Stewart as a young man who suddenly finds himself a member of the United States Senate.  There, his idealism is nearly crushed in the face of corruption.  Jean Arthur, Claude Rains and Harry Carey co-star.

12:15 a.m.      Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Audrey Hepburn brings sparkling life to Holly Golightly, the backwoods girl who comes to mod New York in this adaptation of Truman Capote’s romantic comedy.  George Peppard co-stars.  Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River” won an Oscar, as did Mancini’s outstanding score.

2:15 a.m.       To Have and Have Not (1944) – Humphrey Bogart is a skipper hired to help the French Resistance in this Howard Hawks drama based on the Ernest Hemingway novel and scripted by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman.  Lauren Bacall, in her screen debut, mixes toughness and sex appeal.  Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael co-star.