Quick Preview of TCM in July

The July Turner Classic Movies schedule is now available online. A number of particularly interesting titles are slated for July, including movies made by the Star of the Month, actor-director Leslie Howard.

Roughly 20 films starring and/or directed by Howard will be screened by TCM this summer. Although Howard's career was sadly cut short when he was killed during WWII, he amassed quite an impressive list of credits, including, of course, GONE WITH THE WIND (1939).

Along with his best-known films, I'm particularly interested in checking out Howard titles like STAND-IN (1937), costarring Humphrey Bogart and Joan Blondell; OUTWARD BOUND (1930), costarring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; THE GENTLE SEX (1943), a WWII morale booster which Howard directed; and especially BERKELEY SQUARE (1933), which was memorably remade with Tyrone Power as I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU (1951), also known as THE HOUSE IN THE SQUARE.

A random smattering of other interesting titles coming in July: Dorothy Malone and Errol Flynn starring as Diana and John Barrymore in TOO MUCH, TOO SOON (1958); Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery in UNTAMED (1929); Loretta Young in BIG BUSINESS GIRL (1931); Ann Rutherford, Frank Morgan, and Billie Burke in THE GHOST COMES HOME (1940); and Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, and the recently deceased Patricia Medina in PLUNDER OF THE SUN (1953).

I'm also pleased by the return of Jane Russell in UNDERWATER! (1955) as my DVR went on the blink when I planned to record it last summer!

And only on TCM can film fans find a ten-movie salute to Marjorie Reynolds, best known as the leading lady in the Christmas perennial HOLIDAY INN (1942). How cool is that?!

Coming to TCM in June: Teen Idols. And for those who are wondering about Summer Under the Stars, the names of the first half dozen stars to be celebrated this August have been disclosed at the TCM site: John Wayne, Myrna Loy, Johnny Weissmuller, Marilyn Monroe, Claude Rains, and Van Heflin.

There's lots of good viewing ahead on TCM this summer!