TCM in August: Summer Under the Stars Highlights

It's time for Summer Under the Stars on Turner Classic Movies!

The annual August festival takes place from the 1st through the 31st, as usual. During August the regular franchises, including Noir Alley, Silent Sunday Nights, and TCM Imports, will have the month off, returning in September.

A different star will be featured every day of the month. For a quick overview of each day's stars, please visit my preview of a few weeks ago.

TCM has also provided a printable schedule.

Below are just a few of the month's highlights. Please click on any film title to read my extended review.

...The month kicks off with Lana Turner as the day's star on August 1st. I've seen all but two of the films, and this is one of my favorite days on the schedule. I particularly recommend an MGM "B" movie I enjoy, DANCING CO-ED (1939). The young Lana is very appealing, and she shows off her MGM training with credible dancing!

...Christopher Plummer has his debut as Star of the Month on August 2nd, and what's even better is that THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) has its very first TCM showing that evening! It's one of my all-time favorite films, and I'm delighted it will be shown complete and uncut on TCM.

...Audrey Hepburn's day on August 3rd includes LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957) with Gary Cooper. Billy Wilder directed and cowrote the screenplay. This film has its detractors, due chiefly to the leads' age difference, but I really enjoy it and try to recommend it often.

...I've seen all the movies showing on Howard Keel's day, August 4th, and it's a great day to watch the entire lineup! The movies include a personal favorite, LOVELY TO LOOK AT (1952), with Kathryn Grayson and a top MGM cast; another great favorite, CALAMITY JANE (1953) with Doris Day; and of course SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) with Jane Powell and an amazing cast of dancers.

...There are several favorites on April 5th, Claude Rains day, including CASABLANCA (1942) and NOTORIOUS (1946), but I especially want to recommend a personal favorite, FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938), in which Rains is the father of Priscilla, Rosemary, and Lola Lane, plus Gale Page. ; It's the star of a series which also included FOUR WIVES (1939) and FOUR MOTHERS (1941); the identical cast also filmed an unrelated story, DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS (1939).

...Another great day is August 6th, Judy Garland Day. Again I've enjoyed virtually all the films on the schedule. I especially recommend THE CLOCK (1945) and THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946). The first is a moving black and white romance opposite Robert Walker; the second is a wildly colorful musical with a great cast.

...Ruby Dee has her Summer Under the Stars debut on August 7th. I love Anthony Mann's THE TALL TARGET (1951), in which she has a notable supporting role. Dick Powell stars as a New York police detective trying to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln...in 1861, not 1865.

...One of my all-time favorite comedies, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! (1969), will be featured in prime time on August 8th, which is James Garner's special day.

...I love A DATE WITH JUDY (1948), in which the young Elizabeth Taylor, whose day is August 9th, costars with Jane Powell. This movie also just came out on Blu-ray, which I'll be reviewing here in August!

...Clark Gable was and is "The King," and he's celebrated by TCM this year on August 10th. This year I'll recommend a relatively little-known personal favorite, NEVER LET ME GO (1953), in which he plays an American reporter trying to get his wife (Gene Tierney), a Russian ballerina, out of the Soviet Union. Two favorite actors in a romantic, compelling story.

...Who doesn't love Glenda Farrell?! It's her day on August 11th. There are lots of fun movies that day. I especially recommend GIRL MISSING (1933) costarring Mary Brian. A dozen years ago I described it here as an "energetic, fast-paced comedy with an intriguing story and some great dialogue, much of it delivered at machine-gun pace by Farrell."

...August 12th Pedro Armendariz will be celebrated for the first time during Summer Under the Stars. The titles include John Ford's 3 GODFATHERS (1949), costarring John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. Ford's FORT APACHE is also on the schedule!

...GAMBIT (1966) was an odd yet amusing film I saw for the first time at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival. It stars Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine; MacLaine is being celebrated on August 13th.

...Sterling Hayden, an all-time favorite, will have a day on August 14th. I especially recommend CRIME WAVE (1953), which has become one of my all-time favorite movies.

...Another great favorite, Janet Leigh, has her day on August 15th. You can't go wrong with HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949), LITTLE WOMEN (1949), or ACT OF VIOLENCE (1949), all part of a remarkable year for Leigh when she was very new to movie acting.

...A young Charles Bronson appears in the Randolph Scott Western RIDING SHOTGUN (1954) on Bronson's August 16th Summer Under the Stars Day. It's Bronson's first time to have a day in the annual festival.

...Jennifer Jones will be celebrated on August 17th. I especially love PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948), which I revisited theatrically earlier this year, and Ernst Lubitsch's comedy CLUNY BROWN (1946).

...Character actor James Gleason debuts in the Summer Under the Stars lineup on August 18th. His films include a memorable role in the classic HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941).

...It's Hedy Lamarr Day on August 19th. I find her delightful in COMRADE X (1940) opposite Clark Gable. I've seen and enjoyed most of the lineup.

...LADY KILLER (1933) is a fun pre-Code showing on James Cagney's day, August 20th. Cagney plays a crook turned movie actor!

...I'm not a particular fan of Patricia Neal, but I really liked the Western RATON PASS (1951) in which she costars with Dennis Morgan and Steve Cochran. Neal's day is August 21st.

[Post to be concluded on August 1st!]

For more on TCM in August 2025, please visit my Quick Preview of TCM in August and TCM's Summer Under the Stars schedule.

Happy Summer Under the Stars month on TCM!

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