TCM Schedule for Monday June 21 - STAR OF THE MONTH: NATALIE WOOD

[rdmtimp]

More with Natalie Wood; plus, birthday tributes to Jane Russell and Judy Holliday.

(all times Eastern)

6:00 AM Double Dynamite (1951)
A bank teller reaps the rewards of saving a gangster's life, but can't reveal where he got the money. Cast: Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, Groucho Marx. Dir: Irving Cummings. BW-81 mins, TV-G, CC

7:30 AM His Kind Of Woman (1951)
A deported gangster causes problems for guests at a Mexican resort. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price. Dir: John Farrow. BW-120 mins, TV-PG, CC

9:45 AM Las Vegas Story, The (1952)
When newlyweds visit Las Vegas, the wife's shady past comes to the surface. Cast: Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price. Dir: Robert Stevenson. BW-88 mins, TV-PG, CC

11:15 AM Montana Belle (1952)
The Daltons force Belle Starr to help them on a dangerous raid. Cast: Jane Russell, George Brent, Scott Brady. Dir: Allan Dwan. C-81 mins, TV-G, CC

12:45 PM Macao (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix. Dir: Josef von Sternberg. BW-81 mins, TV-PG, CC

2:30 PM Adam's Rib (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women's rights case. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday. Dir: George Cukor. BW-101 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS

4:15 PM It Should Happen To You (1954)
A dizzy model in love with fame rents a billboard and puts her name on it. Cast: Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford. Dir: George Cukor. BW-87 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

5:45 PM Bells Are Ringing (1960)
An answering service operator gets mixed up in her clients' lives. Cast: Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Jean Stapleton. Dir: Vincente Minnelli. C-126 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

8:00 PM West Side Story (1961)
A young couple from dueling street gangs falls in love. Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno. Dir: Robert Wise. C-152 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

10:45 PM Gypsy (1962)
A domineering mother pushes her two daughters to burlesque stardom. Cast: Natalie Wood, Rosalind Russell, Karl Malden. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. C-143 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

1:15 AM Love With The Proper Stranger (1964)
When a one-night stand results in pregnancy, a musician and a young girl try to resolve the issue together. Cast: Steve McQueen, Natalie Wood, Tom Bosley. Dir: Robert Mulligan. BW-100 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:00 AM Sex And The Single Girl (1964)
A journalist sets out to expose a female sex expert but falls for her instead. Cast: Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda. Dir: Richard Quine. C-114 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

5:00 AM Cash McCall (1960)
A corporate spoiler makes a play for a failing company and the owner's daughter. Cast: James Garner, Natalie Wood, Nina Foch. Dir: Joseph Pevney. C-102 mins, TV-PG

[Matilda]

1. TCM here showed "Sex And The Single Girl" a couple of weeks ago.

The book had made a big splash back in the sixties, but I'd never seen the film before.

Natalie Wood didn't have to do much beyond looking beautiful, and she did that very well. Lauren Bacall was a caricature of herself, and Henry Fonda moved unhappily through the whole film looking as if he was wondering what had made him sign the contract.

But Tony Curtis – he was the glue that held it all together. He was the only one who seemed to be wholeheartedly there – he was funny and totally credible in a very silly script. I sat through the whole stupid film just to watch him work.

Curtis was so often underestimated because of his pretty boy looks; even today he's often riduculed in spite of having done some top class drama. And he's a damn good painter too! (The only film where I think he was ludicrously miscast was "Spartacus" – that accent, opposite Olivier's crisp English delivery, could never work.)