Turner Classic Movies’ Ninth Annual Summer Under The Stars, details

By April MacIntyre Aug 1, 2011, 4:34 GMT

04/30/2011 - Robert Osborne - Peter O\'Toole Hand and Footprint Ceremony at Grauman\'s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on April 30, 2011 - Grauman\'s Chinese Theatre - Hollywood, CA, USA © Andrew Evans / PR Photos

Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Humphrey Bogart and Shirley MacLaine among Stars Celebrated During Turner Classic Movies’ Ninth Annual Summer Under The Stars.

Month-Long Celebration of Hollywood’s Brightest Stars Showcases a Different Actor or Actress Each Day

TCM’s Summer Under The Stars is back for its ninth year, as the network pays tribute to 31 different stars, with an entire day’s lineup dedicated to each of them.

The film event features cinematic giants like Marlon Brando (Aug. 1), Bette Davis (Aug. 3), John Garfield (Aug. 5), Shirley MacLaine (Aug. 10), Claudette Colbert (Aug. 12), James Stewart (Aug. 13), Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 17), Debbie Reynolds (Aug. 19), Montgomery Clift (Aug. 20), Cary Grant (Aug. 21), Joan Crawford (Aug. 22), Burt Lancaster (Aug. 25), Carole Lombard (Aug. 28) and Marlene Dietrich (Aug. 31). As a special spotlight during this year’s SUMMER UNDER THE STARS, TCM will celebrate the life and career of the incomparable Lucille Ball on Aug. 6, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

This year, more than half of TCM’s Summer Under The Stars roster is made up of actors and actresses featured in the showcase for the very first time. The 17 newcomers to the programming festival include Paulette Goddard (Aug. 2), Ronald Colman (Aug. 4), Charles Laughton (Aug. 7), Orson Welles (Aug. 8), Ann Dvorak (Aug. 9), Ben Johnson (Aug. 11), Ralph Bellamy (Aug. 14), Lon Chaney (Aug. 15), Joanne Woodward (Aug. 16), Jean Gabin (Aug. 18), Conrad Veidt (Aug. 23), Joan Blondell (Aug. 24), Peter Lawford (Aug. 26), Linda Darnell (Aug. 27), Anne Francis (Aug. 29) and Howard Keel (Aug. 30).

Summer Under The Stars also features 44 films making their first appearances on TCM, including the rarely screened Trent’s Last Case (1952 – Aug. 8), starring Orson Welles; a silent version of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1922 – Aug. 15), with Jackie Coogan in the title role and Lon Chaney as Fagin; the William Faulkner adaptation The Sound and the Fury (1959 – Aug. 16), starring Joanne Woodward; the German expressionistic thriller The Hands of Orlac (1925 – Aug. 24), starring Conrad Veidt; and Luchino Visconti’s lavish drama The Leopard (1963 – Aug. 25), starring Burt Lancaster.

TCM’s popular franchises The Essentials, co-hosted by TCM’s Robert Osborne and Emmy®-winning actor Alec Baldwin, and The Essentials JR., hosted by Bill Hader, will continue throughout SUMMER UNDER THE STARS.

Saturdays at 8 p.m. (ET), The Essentials offerings include Stage Door (1937 – Aug. 6), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962 – Aug. 13), A Place in the Sun (1951 – Aug. 20) and the TCM premiere of A Letter to Three Wives (1948 – Aug. 27).

Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET), The Essentials JR. will feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 – Aug. 7), His Girl Friday (1940 – Aug. 14), Gunga Din (1939 – Aug. 21) and My Man Godfrey (1936 – Aug. 28).

www.tcm.com.