TCM Star of the Month: Natalie Wood

Actress Natalie Wood is TCM's November Star of the Month.

Over two dozen Wood films are on TCM's November schedule. The movies will be shown on Friday evenings beginning on November 4th.

The schedule follows roughly the same pattern as the Wood tribute of 2010. Below is a look at some of the highlights; please click any hyperlinked title for the corresponding review.

The series kicks off this Friday with several of Wood's films as a child actress. Titles will include TOMORROW IS FOREVER (1946) with Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles, in which she gives a rather remarkable performance as a German war orphan; CHICKEN EVERY SUNDAY (1948) with Celeste Holm and Dan Dailey; and NEVER A DULL MOMENT (1950) (also reviewed here). NEVER A DULL MOMENT stars Irene Dunne as Wood's new stepmother; Fred MacMurray plays her father.

Four additional films from early in Wood's career screen on the 4th.

On November 11th the titles focus on Wood's young adult roles, including A CRY IN THE NIGHT (1956) (additionally reviewed here), BOMBERS B-52 (1957), REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955), and THE SEARCHERS (1956). In THE SEARCHERS, one of the truly great American films, she plays a small but pivotal role as John Wayne's kidnapped niece.

November 18th moves into the 1960s, including SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961), WEST SIDE STORY (1961), LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER (1963), and THE GREAT RACE (1965).

I consider WEST SIDE STORY another of the great American movies, and Wood is equally outstanding in LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER, in which she and Steve McQueen movingly deal with unexpected pregnancy.

November 25th will focus on Wood's films from the late '60s, '70s, and into the '80s, including INSIDE DAISY CLOVER (1966), THE CANDIDATE (1972), and her final film, BRAINSTORM (1983), which completed production after her untimely passing.

For more on TCM in November, please visit TCM in November: Highlights and TCM's complete online schedule.