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TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 24, 2019 -- Summer Under the Stars: Shirley MacLaine
Today's Star is Shirley MacLaine. Her TCM bio:Broadway hoofer, dramatic talent, spiritual eccentric, activist, Oscar winner... Over the course of a varied and distinguished career, actress Shirley MacLaine earned these titles many times over. A former ballerina hopeful-turned-chorus girl, she rose to fame in the early 1950s after Hollywood producers noticed her in Broadway's "Pajama Game." She made the transition to features in a series of roles that emphasized her quirkiness and heartbreaking vulnerability, most notably in "Some Came Running" (1960), "The Apartment" (1960) and "Irma La Douce" (1963). The redheaded pixie dropped out of features in the late 1960s - watching her brother Warren Beatty rise to fame at that time -but reemerged in the late 1970s with several acclaimed performances in such films as "The Turning Point" (1977), "Being There" (1979) and "Terms of Endearment" (1983), the latter of which brought her a long-overdue Oscar for Best Actress. She remained a vital presence in efforts like "Steel Magnolias" (1989), "Postcards from the Edge" (1990) and "Guarding Tess" (1994), while extolling alternative beliefs in reincarnation and extraterrestrials that occasionally earned derision from pundits. Well into her seventies, the actress continued to command attention in acclaimed projects, ranging from the biopic "Coco Chanel" (Lifetime, 2008) to the black comedy "Bernie" (2012). Not that the validation was necessary, but an AFI Life Achievement Award merely punctuated the fact that MacLaine remained among the most gifted of Hollywood and stage performers for over 40 years - a distinction that she continued to earn well into the new millennium.
Born Shirley MacLaine Beaty on April 24, 1934, she was the daughter of teachers Ira Owen Beaty and Kathrine Corrine MacLean, who also raised a son, Warren, later a major Hollywood talent in his own right. MacLaine was born in Richmond, VA, but the family moved to several locations in the state throughout her childhood before settling in Waverly. MacLaine's most fervent desire was to become a dancer, which she had begun to train for at the age of two; by four, she had made her public debut and would appear on the professional stage just eight years later. So great was her desire to dance that while warming up before a performance of "Cinderella," she snapped her ankle. Not wishing to bow out, she bound her feet and went through with the production, after which she was dispatched in an ambulance. Eventually, the rigors of ballet proved too great for MacLaine to pursue in earnest, so she shifted her attention to acting. Just one summer shy of high school graduation, she lit out for New York in 1950 to audition for musicals and landed a part in the chorus for a revival of "Oklahoma!" She went back to Virginia to earn her diploma, after which she returned to the Great White Way to seek her fortune. Billed as Shirley MacLaine, she worked as a model while auditioning for musicals, eventually serving as Carol Haney's understudy in the Broadway production of "The Pajama Game."
In 1952, MacLaine had her big break in an amusingly showbiz way; Haney, who had garnered a reputation for never missing a performance, broke her ankle before curtain call. MacLaine was called in to replace her. The debut was a rough one, but MacLaine held her own. Three months later, Haney was again forced to miss a show, and MacLaine - now more familiar with the intricacies of the part - stepped in again. This time, director-producer Hal B. Wallis was in the audience and was charmed by her boundless energy. The veteran showman signed her to a five-year contract at Warner Bros., which commenced with "The Trouble with Harry" (1955) for no less than legendary director, Alfred Hitchcock. Though not one of the great filmmaker's biggest hits, the black comedy helped to establish MacLaine's screen persona: bubbly, irreverent and unquestionably alluring. She later belied that perception by showing a feistier side while engaging in and winning a highly publicized contract dispute with Wallis. She soon balanced light features like "Artists and Models" (1955) and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956) with more dramatic fare, which proved her to be among the more versatile actresses of the period. Most notable among the latter was "Some Came Running" (1960), in which she captivated as a small-town girl who overcomes her bad reputation in an attempt to find true love with Frank Sinatra's cynical war vet. Critics and audiences responded favorably to the turn, which netted MacLaine Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. Her participation in the film, which co-starred Dean Martin, made her an unofficial member - some said, sole female mascot - of Sinatra's Rat Pack, an allegiance that was solidified with her uncredited cameo as a tipsy woman in the group's iconic heist film, "Ocean's Eleven" (1960).
MacLaine hit her stride in movies during the early 1960s, where she divided her time equally between straight drama, light comedies, and her roots in musical theater. She received perhaps her best early showcase as the vulnerable young elevator operator who beguiles Jack Lemmon's salary man in Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" (1960). Her performance, alternately winning and heartbreaking, earned her a second Oscar nod and wins from BAFTA and the Golden Globes. She played variations on that role in "Two for the Seesaw" (1962) with Robert Mitchum, "The Yellow Rolls-Royce" (1964) as a moll for gangster George C. Scott, and "What a Way to Go" (1964), as the seemingly "cursed" widow of Dean Martin, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman and Robert Mitchum, among others. She also reunited with Wilder to once again entice Jack Lemmon as the French prostitute "Irma La Douce" (1963), which brought her a third Academy Award nomination and second Golden Globe. However, by the mid-1960s, MacLaine's career seemed to be in a rut. Musicals had faded as a money-making genre for studios, and executives seemed to have little idea of how to cast MacLaine as anything but the offbeat romantic lead in such largely unremarkable efforts as "Gambit" (1966) and "Woman Times Seven" (1967), in which director Vittorio De Sica had her tackle seven different roles. She continued to land Golden Globe nominations for her work, but the projects were simply not up to the standards of her past projects. She managed to land one final musical with 1969's "Sweet Charity" for director Bob Fosse. The project turned out to be a miserable failure, though it did leave MacLaine with a signature song, "If They Could See Me Now," which would later become a highlight of her singing engagements and TV specials.
MacLaine was largely off the screen for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s, preferring instead to work in other capacities. She was frequently on television during the decade, both as the star of her own short-lived sitcom "Shirley's World" (ABC, 1971-72) and as the star of several well-received TV specials that highlighted her song and dance talents, beginning with 1974's Emmy-winning "Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now" for CBS. MacLaine also defied her "kooky" screen persona by becoming deeply involved in politics; first as a delegate from California for Robert F. Kennedy and later, as a campaigner for George McGovern in 1972. The following year, MacLaine toured mainland China and recounted her experiences in a book, You Can Get There from Here, as well as in a documentary, "The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir" (1975), which earned her an Oscar nomination (shared with Claudia Weill) for Best Documentary. MacLaine also penned the first of several candid memoirs, Don't Fall Off the Mountain in 1973, and mounted an impressive return to Broadway with a one-woman show, "Gypsy in My Soul" in 1976.
Her feature film career began to rebuild itself in the mid-1970s with an Oscar-nominated turn as a former ballerina who locks horns with a longtime competitor (Anne Bancroft) in "The Turning Point" (1977). She matched this success with a sexually charged turn as the long-neglected wife of a powerful businessman who attempts to find relief from Peter Sellers' kindly gardener in Hal Ashby's "Being There" (1979). Both films helped to put an older but no less spunky MacLaine back on the Hollywood map. But her greatest screen triumph would come four years later with James Brooks' "Terms of Endearment" (1983). MacLaine unleashed the full brunt of her dramatic talents as the high-maintenance Aurora Greenway, who puts aside her differences with daughter Emma (Debra Winger) to care for her while she endures a terminal illness. The performance was hard-fought; MacLaine quit the production midway through, only to return for its completion, and reports from the set detailed numerous squabbles between the veteran actress and up-and-comer Winger, but it ultimately yielded her an Oscar which she famously won over her onscreen daughter.
Some of the goodwill and buzz generated by the Academy Award win was deflated by the release of MacLaine's memoir Out on a Limb (1983). The bestseller detailed her ongoing fascination with spirituality, including out-of-body experiences and multiple reincarnations. The decidedly unusual subject matter helped to brand MacLaine as a bit of an eccentric, a label she handled with remarkable good humor, as noted by her appearance as an afterlife version of herself in Albert Brooks' comedy "Defending Your Life" (1991). MacLaine was off the big screen for about four years after the release of Out on a Limb, during which she appeared as herself in an Emmy-nominated TV adaptation of the book for ABC in 1987. She also penned three similarly-themed follow-ups, Dancing in the Light (1986), It's All in the Playing (1987) and Going Within (1989); even releasing her own spiritual workout video, "Shirley MacLaine's Inner Workout" in 1989. She also played to adoring crowds in her second one-woman show on Broadway, "Shirley MacLaine on Broadway," in 1984.
MacLaine returned to movies with a vengeance in the late 1980s, starting with her Golden Globe win as an eccentric piano teacher in John Schlesinger's "Madame Sousatzska" (1988). She essayed numerous formidable matrons during this period, most notably Ouiser Boudreaux in the all-star adaptation of "Steel Magnolias" (1989), and a thinly veiled version of Debbie Reynolds in Mike Nichols' adaptation of Carrie Fisher's "Postcards from the Edge" (1990), both of which earned BAFTA nominations. Less acclaimed, but no less well played, were Golden Globe-nominated turns as a Jewish mother in "Used People" (1992) and as a flinty First Lady in "Guarding Tess" (1994). MacLaine also returned to Aurora Greenway for "The Evening Star" (1997), the long-awaited sequel to "Terms of Endearment," but the results paled by comparison to its predecessor, largely due to the absence of Debra Winger and their unique onscreen rapport. In 1998, her considerable body of work in film, television and stage was honored by the Academy with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. MacLaine's busy schedule in the late 1990s and early 2000s included several returns to made-for-TV efforts; among the most high-profile of these was the Carrie Fisher-penned "These Old Broads" (ABC, 2001), which pitted her against the equally iconic lineup of Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Joan Collins. MacLaine also tackled makeup maven Mary Kay Ash in "The Battle of Mary Kay" (CBS, 2002) and lent her star power to a supporting role in Joseph Sargeant's "Salem Witch Trials" (CBS, 2003). She also made her solo directorial debut with "Bruno" (2000), an unusual indie drama about a young boy with a taste for cross-dressing.
As she approached her seventh decade, MacLaine's rarefied talents remained in demand for features, and she was showcased in a trio of high-profile supporting performances in 2005. She offered a deliciously arch Endora to rival even Agnes Moorhead's original in Nora Ephron's big-screen version of "Bewitched," then dropped the glam to play the sympathetic grandmother to rival sisters Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in Curtis Hanson's "In Her Shoes." Her comic skills were also given a workout as Jennifer Aniston's grandmother, who may have been the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate" (1967), in Rob Reiner's "Rumor Has It." MacLaine received strong notices for each picture, earning her umpteenth Golden Globe nomination for "In Her Sh s." She then starred in "Coco Chanel" (Lifetime, 2008), delivering an icy turn as the notorious French fashion maven, which earned her yet another Golden Globe nomination; this time in the Best Actress in a miniseries or movie category. She also earned an Emmy Award nomination for the role in 2009. In her personal life, she continued to explore her spiritual interests in a flurry of books throughout the new millennium, including Out on a Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love (2003) and Sage-ing While Age-ing (2007).
Showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, MacLaine co-starred with Barbara Hershey in "Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning" (CTV, 2008), the fourth entry in the film series based on the characters of Lucy Maud Montgomery, in which an adult Anne (Hershey) recalls her childhood in the days before she arrived at the iconic Prince Edward Island farm. Two years later, she returned to theater screens as part of the ensemble cast of director Garry Marshall's romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" (2010) as a wife struggling with a secret she had kept from her husband (Héctor Elizondo) for many years. After another two-year respite, she co-starred with Jack Black in Richard Linklater's based-on-fact dark comedy "Bernie" (2012), in which she played a lonely, bitter widow whose intense relationship with a younger, well-liked local mortician (Black) takes a deadly turn. In June of that year, MacLaine was honored with the 40th American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in a ceremony that was later broadcast on the TV Land cable network. Rather than rest on her laurels, MacLaine further demonstrated her artistic vitality when she joined the cast of the critically-acclaimed British period drama "Downton Abbey" (PBS, 2010-16) as Martha Levinson, the widowed American mother of Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern).
Born Shirley MacLaine Beaty on April 24, 1934, she was the daughter of teachers Ira Owen Beaty and Kathrine Corrine MacLean, who also raised a son, Warren, later a major Hollywood talent in his own right. MacLaine was born in Richmond, VA, but the family moved to several locations in the state throughout her childhood before settling in Waverly. MacLaine's most fervent desire was to become a dancer, which she had begun to train for at the age of two; by four, she had made her public debut and would appear on the professional stage just eight years later. So great was her desire to dance that while warming up before a performance of "Cinderella," she snapped her ankle. Not wishing to bow out, she bound her feet and went through with the production, after which she was dispatched in an ambulance. Eventually, the rigors of ballet proved too great for MacLaine to pursue in earnest, so she shifted her attention to acting. Just one summer shy of high school graduation, she lit out for New York in 1950 to audition for musicals and landed a part in the chorus for a revival of "Oklahoma!" She went back to Virginia to earn her diploma, after which she returned to the Great White Way to seek her fortune. Billed as Shirley MacLaine, she worked as a model while auditioning for musicals, eventually serving as Carol Haney's understudy in the Broadway production of "The Pajama Game."
In 1952, MacLaine had her big break in an amusingly showbiz way; Haney, who had garnered a reputation for never missing a performance, broke her ankle before curtain call. MacLaine was called in to replace her. The debut was a rough one, but MacLaine held her own. Three months later, Haney was again forced to miss a show, and MacLaine - now more familiar with the intricacies of the part - stepped in again. This time, director-producer Hal B. Wallis was in the audience and was charmed by her boundless energy. The veteran showman signed her to a five-year contract at Warner Bros., which commenced with "The Trouble with Harry" (1955) for no less than legendary director, Alfred Hitchcock. Though not one of the great filmmaker's biggest hits, the black comedy helped to establish MacLaine's screen persona: bubbly, irreverent and unquestionably alluring. She later belied that perception by showing a feistier side while engaging in and winning a highly publicized contract dispute with Wallis. She soon balanced light features like "Artists and Models" (1955) and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956) with more dramatic fare, which proved her to be among the more versatile actresses of the period. Most notable among the latter was "Some Came Running" (1960), in which she captivated as a small-town girl who overcomes her bad reputation in an attempt to find true love with Frank Sinatra's cynical war vet. Critics and audiences responded favorably to the turn, which netted MacLaine Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. Her participation in the film, which co-starred Dean Martin, made her an unofficial member - some said, sole female mascot - of Sinatra's Rat Pack, an allegiance that was solidified with her uncredited cameo as a tipsy woman in the group's iconic heist film, "Ocean's Eleven" (1960).
MacLaine hit her stride in movies during the early 1960s, where she divided her time equally between straight drama, light comedies, and her roots in musical theater. She received perhaps her best early showcase as the vulnerable young elevator operator who beguiles Jack Lemmon's salary man in Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" (1960). Her performance, alternately winning and heartbreaking, earned her a second Oscar nod and wins from BAFTA and the Golden Globes. She played variations on that role in "Two for the Seesaw" (1962) with Robert Mitchum, "The Yellow Rolls-Royce" (1964) as a moll for gangster George C. Scott, and "What a Way to Go" (1964), as the seemingly "cursed" widow of Dean Martin, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman and Robert Mitchum, among others. She also reunited with Wilder to once again entice Jack Lemmon as the French prostitute "Irma La Douce" (1963), which brought her a third Academy Award nomination and second Golden Globe. However, by the mid-1960s, MacLaine's career seemed to be in a rut. Musicals had faded as a money-making genre for studios, and executives seemed to have little idea of how to cast MacLaine as anything but the offbeat romantic lead in such largely unremarkable efforts as "Gambit" (1966) and "Woman Times Seven" (1967), in which director Vittorio De Sica had her tackle seven different roles. She continued to land Golden Globe nominations for her work, but the projects were simply not up to the standards of her past projects. She managed to land one final musical with 1969's "Sweet Charity" for director Bob Fosse. The project turned out to be a miserable failure, though it did leave MacLaine with a signature song, "If They Could See Me Now," which would later become a highlight of her singing engagements and TV specials.
MacLaine was largely off the screen for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s, preferring instead to work in other capacities. She was frequently on television during the decade, both as the star of her own short-lived sitcom "Shirley's World" (ABC, 1971-72) and as the star of several well-received TV specials that highlighted her song and dance talents, beginning with 1974's Emmy-winning "Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now" for CBS. MacLaine also defied her "kooky" screen persona by becoming deeply involved in politics; first as a delegate from California for Robert F. Kennedy and later, as a campaigner for George McGovern in 1972. The following year, MacLaine toured mainland China and recounted her experiences in a book, You Can Get There from Here, as well as in a documentary, "The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir" (1975), which earned her an Oscar nomination (shared with Claudia Weill) for Best Documentary. MacLaine also penned the first of several candid memoirs, Don't Fall Off the Mountain in 1973, and mounted an impressive return to Broadway with a one-woman show, "Gypsy in My Soul" in 1976.
Her feature film career began to rebuild itself in the mid-1970s with an Oscar-nominated turn as a former ballerina who locks horns with a longtime competitor (Anne Bancroft) in "The Turning Point" (1977). She matched this success with a sexually charged turn as the long-neglected wife of a powerful businessman who attempts to find relief from Peter Sellers' kindly gardener in Hal Ashby's "Being There" (1979). Both films helped to put an older but no less spunky MacLaine back on the Hollywood map. But her greatest screen triumph would come four years later with James Brooks' "Terms of Endearment" (1983). MacLaine unleashed the full brunt of her dramatic talents as the high-maintenance Aurora Greenway, who puts aside her differences with daughter Emma (Debra Winger) to care for her while she endures a terminal illness. The performance was hard-fought; MacLaine quit the production midway through, only to return for its completion, and reports from the set detailed numerous squabbles between the veteran actress and up-and-comer Winger, but it ultimately yielded her an Oscar which she famously won over her onscreen daughter.
Some of the goodwill and buzz generated by the Academy Award win was deflated by the release of MacLaine's memoir Out on a Limb (1983). The bestseller detailed her ongoing fascination with spirituality, including out-of-body experiences and multiple reincarnations. The decidedly unusual subject matter helped to brand MacLaine as a bit of an eccentric, a label she handled with remarkable good humor, as noted by her appearance as an afterlife version of herself in Albert Brooks' comedy "Defending Your Life" (1991). MacLaine was off the big screen for about four years after the release of Out on a Limb, during which she appeared as herself in an Emmy-nominated TV adaptation of the book for ABC in 1987. She also penned three similarly-themed follow-ups, Dancing in the Light (1986), It's All in the Playing (1987) and Going Within (1989); even releasing her own spiritual workout video, "Shirley MacLaine's Inner Workout" in 1989. She also played to adoring crowds in her second one-woman show on Broadway, "Shirley MacLaine on Broadway," in 1984.
MacLaine returned to movies with a vengeance in the late 1980s, starting with her Golden Globe win as an eccentric piano teacher in John Schlesinger's "Madame Sousatzska" (1988). She essayed numerous formidable matrons during this period, most notably Ouiser Boudreaux in the all-star adaptation of "Steel Magnolias" (1989), and a thinly veiled version of Debbie Reynolds in Mike Nichols' adaptation of Carrie Fisher's "Postcards from the Edge" (1990), both of which earned BAFTA nominations. Less acclaimed, but no less well played, were Golden Globe-nominated turns as a Jewish mother in "Used People" (1992) and as a flinty First Lady in "Guarding Tess" (1994). MacLaine also returned to Aurora Greenway for "The Evening Star" (1997), the long-awaited sequel to "Terms of Endearment," but the results paled by comparison to its predecessor, largely due to the absence of Debra Winger and their unique onscreen rapport. In 1998, her considerable body of work in film, television and stage was honored by the Academy with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. MacLaine's busy schedule in the late 1990s and early 2000s included several returns to made-for-TV efforts; among the most high-profile of these was the Carrie Fisher-penned "These Old Broads" (ABC, 2001), which pitted her against the equally iconic lineup of Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Joan Collins. MacLaine also tackled makeup maven Mary Kay Ash in "The Battle of Mary Kay" (CBS, 2002) and lent her star power to a supporting role in Joseph Sargeant's "Salem Witch Trials" (CBS, 2003). She also made her solo directorial debut with "Bruno" (2000), an unusual indie drama about a young boy with a taste for cross-dressing.
As she approached her seventh decade, MacLaine's rarefied talents remained in demand for features, and she was showcased in a trio of high-profile supporting performances in 2005. She offered a deliciously arch Endora to rival even Agnes Moorhead's original in Nora Ephron's big-screen version of "Bewitched," then dropped the glam to play the sympathetic grandmother to rival sisters Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in Curtis Hanson's "In Her Shoes." Her comic skills were also given a workout as Jennifer Aniston's grandmother, who may have been the inspiration for Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate" (1967), in Rob Reiner's "Rumor Has It." MacLaine received strong notices for each picture, earning her umpteenth Golden Globe nomination for "In Her Sh s." She then starred in "Coco Chanel" (Lifetime, 2008), delivering an icy turn as the notorious French fashion maven, which earned her yet another Golden Globe nomination; this time in the Best Actress in a miniseries or movie category. She also earned an Emmy Award nomination for the role in 2009. In her personal life, she continued to explore her spiritual interests in a flurry of books throughout the new millennium, including Out on a Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love (2003) and Sage-ing While Age-ing (2007).
Showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, MacLaine co-starred with Barbara Hershey in "Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning" (CTV, 2008), the fourth entry in the film series based on the characters of Lucy Maud Montgomery, in which an adult Anne (Hershey) recalls her childhood in the days before she arrived at the iconic Prince Edward Island farm. Two years later, she returned to theater screens as part of the ensemble cast of director Garry Marshall's romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" (2010) as a wife struggling with a secret she had kept from her husband (Héctor Elizondo) for many years. After another two-year respite, she co-starred with Jack Black in Richard Linklater's based-on-fact dark comedy "Bernie" (2012), in which she played a lonely, bitter widow whose intense relationship with a younger, well-liked local mortician (Black) takes a deadly turn. In June of that year, MacLaine was honored with the 40th American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in a ceremony that was later broadcast on the TV Land cable network. Rather than rest on her laurels, MacLaine further demonstrated her artistic vitality when she joined the cast of the critically-acclaimed British period drama "Downton Abbey" (PBS, 2010-16) as Martha Levinson, the widowed American mother of Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern).
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- THE SHEEPMAN (1958)
A tough sheep farmer battles the local cattle baron for land and a beautiful woman.
Dir: George Marshall
Cast: Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen
C-86 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen -- William Bowers (screenplay) and James Edward Grant (screenplay/story)
Glenn Ford was almost 18 years older than Shirley MacLaine.
7:30 AM -- TWO LOVES (1961)
A conservative teacher struggles with her values while teaching natives in New Zealand.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Laurence Harvey, Jack Hawkins
C-97 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Shirley MacLaine wrote that she and Laurence Harvey did not like each other. She found him pompous and insensitive. Once right before the director shouted "action", Harvey leaned toward her, scrutinized her left cheek and asked "What on earth is that?" and acted as though she had a hickey the size of Mount Fuji. Just when she was about to ask for a mirror, Harvey said "Never mind, they'll never notice, it's not your face you should be concerned about". MacLaine did a slow burn and went on with the scene. The next day they were to film a love scene. Before it, MacLaine ate a clove of raw garlic. "That settled his hash", she wrote.
9:12 AM -- THE GOLDEN YEARS (1960)
In this instructional short film, bowling is made respectable and appealing to middle-class Americans through modernization and design.
BW-15 mins,
9:30 AM -- WOMAN TIMES SEVEN (1967)
Seven portraits of different types of women.
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Peter Sellers, Elspeth March
BW-101 mins, CC,
Curiously, in the end credits, only six stories, instead of seven, with the associated cast are displayed. The third story (with Vittorio Gassman) in which Shirley MacLaine played the character Linda was omitted.
11:14 AM -- PARIS ON PARADE (1938)
This short film takes the viewer to the Paris International Exposition of 1937.
Dir: James A. FitzPatrick
C-9 mins,
11:30 AM -- TWO FOR THE SEESAW (1962)
A conservative attorney considering a divorce gets involved with an emotionally fragile dancer in New York.
Dir: Robert Wise
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shirley MacLaine, Edmon Ryan
BW-119 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ted D. McCord, and Best Music, Original Song -- André Previn (music) and Dory Previn (lyrics) (as Dory Langdon) for the song "Song from Two for the Seesaw (Second Chance)"
Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman were both set to do this film but when Taylor became ill during the early filming of Cleopatra (1963), Newman was able to do The Hustler (1961) instead.
1:30 PM -- THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955)
A corpse creates a world of trouble for several passersby who each believe they may have caused the death.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Natwick
C-99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Unlike some of Sir Alfred Hitchock's other leading ladies, Shirley MacLaine became his "eating buddy", and he took her for breakfast every day before shooting. He never propositioned her, but thought of her as "a girl who needed to be fed". Having just been plucked from the poverty-stricken life of a Broadway chorus girl, it was a pleasant change for MacLaine. As a result, she gained fifteen pounds during shooting, resulting in a phone call from the studio telling her to stop eating so much, as she was going to "ruin her career before it had even begun."
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3:30 PM -- SOME CAME RUNNING (1958)
A veteran returns home to deal with family secrets and small-town scandals.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine
C-136 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Arthur Kennedy, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Martha Hyer, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White or Color -- Walter Plunkett, and Best Music, Original Song -- Jimmy Van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for the song "To Love and Be Loved"
It was during the making of this film that Shirley MacLaine found herself welcomed into what would later be called the "Rat Pack" fraternity that included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, her co-stars in this film. MacLaine says the group known as the "Rat Pack" was actually called "The Clan" by the members while "Rat Pack" was a term given in the 1950s to Humphrey Bogart and his pals by Lauren Bacall.
6:00 PM -- GAMBIT (1967)
A man dreams of the perfect robbery but can't seem to pull it off.
Dir: Ronald Neame
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Herbert Lom
C-108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- Alexander Golitzen, George C. Webb, John McCarthy Jr. and John P. Austin, Best Costume Design, Color -- Jean Louis, and Best Sound -- Waldon O. Watson (Universal City SSD)
The first draft of the screenplay was written by Bryan Forbes in 1960, when the story was designed as a vehicle for Cary Grant. He eventually dropped out of the project, which subsequently underwent many changes. It was eventually decided to make the girl the central character, and Shirley MacLaine was signed for the lead. After seeing The Ipcress File (1965), she suggested Sir Michael Caine as her leading man, which led to still more re-writing to accommodate his working-class cockney persona.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: SHIRLEY MACLAINE
8:00 PM -- TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
A mother-daughter relationship survives years of rivalry and romantic problems.
Dir: James L. Brooks
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger
C-132 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Shirley MacLaine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Jack Nicholson, Best Director -- James L. Brooks, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- James L. Brooks, and Best Picture
Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Debra Winger, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- John Lithgow, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Polly Platt, Harold Michelson, Tom Pedigo and Anthony Mondell, Best Sound -- Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell and James R. Alexander (as Jim Alexander), Best Film Editing -- Richard Marks, and Best Music, Original Score -- Michael Gore
Most industry insiders thought Debra Winger made a mistake putting herself in the "Best Actress" category. As a relative newcomer and a young actress in her twenties she could have easily positioned herself in the Best Supporting Actress category and won the award. By going up against Shirley Maclaine who had already been passed over several times; for The Turning Point, Being There, Sweet Charity, Around the World in Eighty Days and other movies; plus over twenty years in the industry at that point; Terms and Endearment was her turn, and unfortunately no one could take it away at the point. People said similar things when Mary Tyler Moore positioned herself in the "Best Actress" category for Ordinary People in 1980, and got beaten out by a spectacular performance by Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daugher (who had already been passed over herself for Carrie and Badlands); Moore could have put herself in the "Best Supporting Actress" category and won that year. It is well known that a lot of Oscar success is due to strategy and politics.
10:30 PM -- STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989)
Small-town Southern women help each other through the trials of life.
Dir: Herbert Ross
Cast: Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts
C-118 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Julia Roberts
When Bette Davis saw the off-Broadway play, she thought it would be a great film for her, envisioning herself as Ouiser, Katharine Hepburn as Clairee, and Elizabeth Taylor as Truvy. However, when she contacted the rights holders for the movie adaptation, she found out that they intended to cast much younger actresses.
12:45 AM -- SWEET CHARITY (1969)
A taxi dancer's faith in love leads her to one bad match after another.
Dir: Bob Fosse
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr., Ricardo Montalban
C-148 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -- Alexander Golitzen, George C. Webb and Jack D. Moore, Best Costume Design -- Edith Head, and Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) -- Cy Coleman
Shirley MacLaine was working with a painful infected tooth that required root canal treatment, yet she was such a trouper that she kept it a secret so as not to hold up production. She wrote that she was in so much pain, she could't even remember filming one of the exhausting Bob Fosse dance numbers.
3:20 AM -- THE CAR THAT BECAME A STAR (1964)
This short documentary follows the story of the antique Rolls that appeared in the title role of MGM's "The Yellow Rolls Royce" (1964).
BW-10 mins,
3:30 AM -- THE YELLOW ROLLS-ROYCE (1964)
A classic car changes the lives of three sets of owners.
Dir: Anthony Asquith
Cast: Rex Harrison, Jeanne Moreau, Edmund Purdom
C-123 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
The Rolls-Royce used in the film was a pale blue 1931 Phantom II Barker sedanca de ville, which MGM technicians covered with twenty coats of yellow paint; a few coats of black were added to the top of the hood, the roof, and the wings.
5:42 AM -- BEAUTY AND THE BULL (1954)
In this short film, a group of models attend a bullfight. Vitaphone Release 2454A.
Dir: Larry Lansburgh
Cast: Bette Ford,
C-17 mins,