TCM Schedule for Tuesday, April 24th: Barbra Streisand's 70th Birthday

[CBHagman]

Hello, gorgeous!



It's also the birthday of one Shirley MacLean Beaty, better known as Shirley MacLaine.



Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

1:00 AM Stagecoach (1939)
A group of disparate passengers battle personal demons and each other while racing through Indian country.
Dir: John Ford Cast: Claire Trevor , John Wayne , Andy Devine .
BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC,



2:45 AM Fort Massacre (1958)
A possibly mad cavalry commander leads his troops through dangerous Indian territory.
Dir: Joseph M. Newman Cast: Joel McCrea , Forrest Tucker , John Russell .
C-81 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

4:15 AM Apache Trail (1942)
An outlaw and his brother are on opposite sides of a stagecoach robbery.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Lloyd Nolan , Donna Reed , William Lundigan .
BW-66 mins, TV-G,

5:30 AM Now Playing May (2012) (2012)
BW-23 mins, TV-PG, CC,

6:00 AM Fire Down Below (1957)
Partners in a tramp steamer both fall for a mysterious lady passenger.
Dir: Robert Parrish Cast: Rita Hayworth , Robert Mitchum , Jack Lemmon .
C-115 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

8:00 AM Night Fighters, The (1960)
An IRA member rebels against the groups efforts to help the Nazis during World War II.
Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: Robert Mitchum , Anne Heywood , Dan O'Herlihy .
BW-90 mins, TV-G, Letterbox Format

9:37 AM Man Who Makes The Difference, The (1968)
A behind the cameras featurette showcasing the action film "Ice Station Zebra" (1968) and the talents of John Stevens, renowned second unit/stunt photographer, who filmed the racing sequences in "Grand Prix" (1966).
C-7 mins,

9:45 AM Rampage (1963)
A romantic triangle complicates a big-game hunting expedition.
Dir: Phil Karlson Cast: Robert Mitchum , Elsa Martinelli , Jack Hawkins .
C-98 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

11:30 AM Two For The Seesaw (1962)
A conservative attorney considering a divorce gets involved with an emotionally fragile dancer in New York.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Robert Mitchum , Shirley MacLaine , Edmon Ryan .
BW-119 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



1:30 PM Two Loves (1961)
A conservative teacher struggles with her values while teaching natives in New Zealand.
Dir: Charles Walters Cast: Shirley MacLaine , Laurence Harvey , Jack Hawkins .
C-97 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

3:15 PM Some Came Running (1958)
A veteran returns home to deal with family secrets and small-town scandals.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , Shirley MacLaine .
C-136 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

5:45 PM Apartment, The (1960)
An aspiring executive lets his bosses use his apartment for assignations, only to fall for the big chief's mistress.
Dir: Billy Wilder Cast: Jack Lemmon , Shirley MacLaine , Fred MacMurray .
BW-125 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BARBRA STREISAND'S 70TH BIRTHDAY

8:00 PM Way We Were, The (1973)
A fiery liberal fights to make her marriage to a successful writer work.
Dir: Sydney Pollack Cast: Barbra Streisand , Robert Redford , Bradford Dillman .
C-118 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format



10:15 PM Funny Girl (1968)
Comedienne Fanny Brice fights to prove that she can be the greatest star and find romance even though she isn't pretty.
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Barbra Streisand , Omar Sharif , Kay Medford .
C-157 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format



1:00 AM Prince Of Tides, The (1991)
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Dir: Barbra Streisand Cast: Nick Nolte , Barbra Streisand , Blythe Danner .
C-132 mins, TV-MA, CC, Letterbox Format

3:20 AM Portrait Of An Actor (1971)
C-10 mins,

3:30 AM Owl and the Pussycat, The (1970)
When a bookworm gets a prostitute evicted, she moves into his apartment.
Dir: Herbert Ross Cast: Barbra Streisand , George Segal , Robert Klein .
C-97 mins, TV-14, CC, Letterbox Format

5:15 AM Funny Lady (1975)
Musical biography of Fanny Brice and her tempestuous marriage to showman Billy Rose.
Dir: Herbert Ross Cast: Barbra Streisand , James Caan , Omar Sharif .
C-138 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

[Matilda]

1. I looked up Barbra's work on IMDb,

and found she hasn't done much acting in the past couple of decades. That's a shame, because she's a good actress (and the two Fockers movies hardly count - utter rubbish, IMO).

"The Way We Were" is an interesting movie - there's really little chemistry between her and Robert Redford, which in a funny way is just perfect for the film. You can watch it and enjoy two completely disparate performances, but the end result is very unsatisfying, while being completely credible, in that it was inevitable that their relationship would never work.

How different is one that they're not screening tonight - probably my favourite Streisand film, "What's Up, Doc?". Ryan O'Neal is hardly in the same class as Redford, yet he and Streisand are a brilliant match for each other. Add the wonderful Madeline Kahn, and the film just zips along, silly gag after silly gag; heaps of fun all the way.

I also love "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" - it certainly wasn't her most successful film, but I think there's a case to be made for reincarnation, so I loved the subject matter. And she looked great, and played well opposite Yves Montand, not to mention the other luminaries making brief appearances.

It's a pity there doesn't seem to be a suitable vehicle for her these days.

[CBHagman]

2. Interesting that you mention vehicles...

Over the years I've often read criticism for Streisand's helming of vehicles she starred in herself. Yet men do that all the time, sometimes to dispargement, sometimes not...and sometimes to an Academy Award for Best Director. In fact Oscar has frequently rewarded the actor-turned-director, but that's another thread.

As for Streisand, I enjoyed Yentl, even though I regard it is a sin against God to cast Mandy Patinkin in a musical without letting him sing.

I feel precisely as you do about The Way We Were and What's Up, Doc? The latter is the kind of screwball comedy we always need more of, and the former, held up as one of the great romances of American cinema, was a real letdown for me.

I've had the chance to see both the stage and screen versions of Hello, Dolly! and actually saw a revival with the great Carol Channing. Yet I think Straisand is a fine choice as Dolly Levi, though evidently she and Walter Matthau did not get along in the least during the production.