TCM Star of the Month: Leslie Caron

The lovely Leslie Caron will be honored as the October Star of the Month at Turner Classic Movies.

16 Caron films will be shown on Monday evenings, along with a PRIVATE SCREENINGS interview with Robert Osborne recorded in 1999.

Monday, October 5th, is an especially notable evening as it features Caron's AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) and GIGI (1958), which each won the Best Picture Oscar; the memorable LILI (1953), for which she was nominated as Best Actress; and the Cinderella tale THE GLASS GLIPPER (1955).

I was fortunate to see all four of these films at various Los Angeles area revival theaters in years past. On one occasion I saw AN AMERICAN IN PARIS with director Vincente Minnelli in the audience.

I am fond of the little-known film THE GLASS SLIPPER, which I saw when my parents were enrolled in a class with the director, Charles Walters, at USC circa 1980-81. Leslie Caron plays Ella in this retelling of Cinderella, with Michael Wilding as the prince and Estelle Winwood as the fairy godmother. The supporting cast also includes Keenan Wynn, Elsa Lanchester, and Amanda Blake.

Monday, October 12th includes THE STORY OF THREE LOVES (1953), a very interesting film which was shot in gorgeous Technicolor. Caron appears with Farley Granger and Ethel Barrymore in the segment titled "Mademoiselle." The other segments feature James Mason and Moira Shearer, and Kirk Douglas with Pier Angeli. Again, I was lucky to see this quite a while back at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Since there aren't many revival theaters left these days, thank goodness for TCM!

October 12th also includes the family favorite FATHER GOOSE (1964), costarring Cary Grant and Trevor Howard, and FANNY (1961) with Charles Boyer and Maurice Chevalier.

October 19th features four films including THE MAN WITH A CLOAK (1951), costarring Joseph Cotten and Barbara Stanwyck.

The evening includes her Oscar-nominated role in THE L-SHAPED ROOM (1962).

The final night, October 26th, features four more films including Raoul Walsh's GLORY ALLEY (1952). Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden are in the cast; it sounds especially interesting for jazz fans.

I haven't seen several of the Caron movies playing in October and look forward to the opportunity to see them for the first time. Once again, TCM has provided another great month for fans of classic movies.

And coming as the November Star of the Month...Grace Kelly!